Pigeon control

moose112

Ok I am after getting two more farms on my books:D one of which is a pretty large tillage farm and full of lovely rabbits. The farmer has asked me to do a bit of pigeon control (vermin control) this year for him which I am only to happy to help. problem is I have never done it before can anyone recommend a DVD which might give advice in hide building and so on. I see field sports Britain are selling a DVD at the moment anyone ever see it?
I am aware that pigeons may only be controlled if they are destroying a crop. I will be after the pigeons with my shotgun but could I use my trusty 17hmr?

meathstevie

moose112 wrote: »

Ok I am after getting two more farms on my books:D one of which is a pretty large tillage farm and full of lovely rabbits. The farmer has asked me to do a bit of pigeon control (vermin control) this year for him which I am only to happy to help. problem is I have never done it before can anyone recommend a DVD which might give advice in hide building and so on. I see field sports Britain are selling a DVD at the moment anyone ever see it?
I am aware that pigeons may only be controlled if they are destroying a crop. I will be after the pigeons with my shotgun but could I use my trusty 17hmr?

Don't bother with DVD's, have a look at flight lines, feeding spots and approach and camo yourself up properly ( don't forget hands and face ). If there's no hedges or stands of trees make a hide with a few poles and get some appropriate netting or other camo material. Keep in mind you're going to be setting in it a good while at a time so think of your comfort.

I imagine your pigeon control is going to be done with crops standing in the field so I'd be very carefull about using a rifle for shooting at pigeons dropping in and I'm not 100% sure about the legalities either. Pigeons are game and game birds can not be shot with a rifle, where I'm becoming a bit doubtfull is the crop protection angle and the according derogation whether it allows the use of a rifle or not. Personally I haven't bothered looking into it that far because I only use my shotgun for it.

buckshotbrolan

moose112 wrote: »

Ok I am after getting two more farms on my books:D one of which is a pretty large tillage farm and full of lovely rabbits. The farmer has asked me to do a bit of pigeon control (vermin control) this year for him which I am only to happy to help. problem is I have never done it before can anyone recommend a DVD which might give advice in hide building and so on. I see field sports Britain are selling a DVD at the moment anyone ever see it?
I am aware that pigeons may only be controlled if they are destroying a crop. I will be after the pigeons with my shotgun but could I use my trusty 17hmr?

If your in Cork and would like some help I would be glad to give you a hand. Just give me a PM. Cheers

moose112

meathstevie wrote: »

Don't bother with DVD's, have a look at flight lines, feeding spots and approach and camo yourself up properly ( don't forget hands and face ). If there's no hedges or stands of trees make a hide with a few poles and get some appropriate netting or other camo material. Keep in mind you're going to be setting in it a good while at a time so think of your comfort.

I imagine your pigeon control is going to be done with crops standing in the field so I'd be very carefull about using a rifle for shooting at pigeons dropping in and I'm not 100% sure about the legalities either. Pigeons are game and game birds can not be shot with a rifle, where I'm becoming a bit doubtfull is the crop protection angle and the according derogation whether it allows the use of a rifle or not. Personally I haven't bothered looking into it that far because I only use my shotgun for it.

I will be using my shotgun was interested to know about the rifle as if I was out after rabbits and came across pigeons in a feild damaging crops could I or could I not protect the crop.
What size cartridges do you use on them.

moose112

buckshotbrolan wrote: »

If your in Cork and would like some help I would be glad to give you a hand. Just give me a PM. Cheers

Thanks for the offer buckshotbrolan I am up in the midlands though cheers anyway

meathstevie

moose112 wrote: »

I will be using my shotgun was interested to know about the rifle as if I was out after rabbits and came across pigeons in a feild damaging crops could I or could I not protect the crop.
What size cartridges do you use on them.

32g 6, good general purpose hunting cartridge.

JackSnipe

check out these boys they have 5 Videos on pigeon shooting over standing crops, there not like a guide, but i am sure you will pick up some tips.

http://www.rathcormacgunclub.ie/section423127.html

blackstairsboy

Learning from scratch is best done through someone who knows the ropes showing you. Failing that in my opinion a good book is hard to beat. I have one from the eighties written by John Humphreys which if you pm me your address you can borrow no problem. I do not use any whirlies or flappers so find books written before there time more helpful as modern books tend to concentrate around the use of these electronic machines. Briefly I will try and give you some advice.
There is an open season on pigeons from November 1st until 31st of January so they do not have to be damaging a crop during this time to shoot them. Outside of that you will have to be able to prove that they are damaging a crop to shoot them. I have never encountered problems but do be careful as there have been shooters brought to court over it. Personally I rarely shoot pigeons after the middle of March until the middle of September unless I am asked to by the farmer. This is just my way as pigeons will be breeding and not flocked up so will not cause as much damage.
When you have a shotgun, cartridges and some dull clothing you should nearly be able to get cracking. You should buy at the earliest opportunity half a dozen shell decoys and an army surplus net. Cut yourself some hide poles from hazel and use a 5 gallon drum as a seat. If you get an opportunity to buy a bouncer you should as it really makes your decoys more visible. But it can wait.
When you find a field pigeons are feeding on regularly you will have to watch that field. A pair of binos are useful. Just sit in at different times for a couple of days. You will find out what time the pigeons use the field at and also what approach they take. When you discover a particular part of the ditch pigeons fly over when they approach the field you have found a flightline. Flightlines are funny things, sometimes you spot it a mile away and other time it takes 2 or 3 days to find the best spot. Either way when you find it you now have to think about where exactly you will set up along it. Factors to take into account include safety (roads, houses), sun and most importantly wind. Wind is the single most important element in determining either a good or a bad days decoying. Idealy you will want the wind to your back so pigeons will approach the hide from the front. The worst direction is blowing straight into your face as pigeons will approach unseen from behind and it is also uncomfortable spending a day facing into a force 6 gale. Any direction bar into your face is workable depending of course on the flightline. Every situation is different and that is only a general statement. Set your decoys facing into the wind. Do not have them as uniform though. Set the in a u shape into the wind. I set the decoys at about 30 yards from the hide this means birds over the decoys are 30-40 yards out and the shot patterns best at that range. I use 32 gram sixes shot through my side by side choked 1/4 and 1/2. Do not allow the decoys to become cluttered with dead birds and dispatch flappers straight away. Use any dead birds as decoys with the head pegged up on sticks. On a drizzly day take in your artificials when you can afford to as rain will cause them to glisten unnaturally and put birds off.

That is only a brief outlook but there is much more to go through. Hopefully it will be enough to get you started and there will never be a shortage of advice from the lads here;)

fodda

blackstairsboy wrote: »

Set the in a u shape into the wind. I set the decoys at about 30 yards from the hide this means birds over the decoys are 30-40 yards out and the shot patterns best at that range. I use 32 gram sixes shot through my side by side choked 1/4 and 1/2. Do not allow the decoys to become cluttered with dead birds and dispatch flappers straight away. Use any dead birds as decoys with the head pegged up on sticks.

Also you will find that the new arrivals will try to land ahead of your decoys as they are very greedy so if you have them too close your pigeons will just be ruined.

Your shot birds should be picked up ASP because pigeons only ever face in to the wind and any shot awkward ones will discourage new arrivals.

Your face from the sky looks like a search light so it should be completely covered otherwise you have no chance.

Try not to ruin the meat as it is or should be highly priced by resturants or yourselves.....never eaten it but told it is great and makes fantastic pies.

Another reason why not to blow them up with a rifle.

ghostmantra

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jamesanthonyryan/index.htm hope this helps

rugerman

blackstairsboy wrote: »

Learning from scratch is best done through someone who knows the ropes showing you. Failing that in my opinion a good book is hard to beat. I have one from the eighties written by John Humphreys which if you pm me your address you can borrow no problem. I do not use any whirlies or flappers so find books written before there time more helpful as modern books tend to concentrate around the use of these electronic machines. Briefly I will try and give you some advice.
There is an open season on pigeons from November 1st until 31st of January so they do not have to be damaging a crop during this time to shoot them. Outside of that you will have to be able to prove that they are damaging a crop to shoot them. I have never encountered problems but do be careful as there have been shooters brought to court over it. Personally I rarely shoot pigeons after the middle of March until the middle of September unless I am asked to by the farmer. This is just my way as pigeons will be breeding and not flocked up so will not cause as much damage.
When you have a shotgun, cartridges and some dull clothing you should nearly be able to get cracking. You should buy at the earliest opportunity half a dozen shell decoys and an army surplus net. Cut yourself some hide poles from hazel and use a 5 gallon drum as a seat. If you get an opportunity to buy a bouncer you should as it really makes your decoys more visible. But it can wait.
When you find a field pigeons are feeding on regularly you will have to watch that field. A pair of binos are useful. Just sit in at different times for a couple of days. You will find out what time the pigeons use the field at and also what approach they take. When you discover a particular part of the ditch pigeons fly over when they approach the field you have found a flightline. Flightlines are funny things, sometimes you spot it a mile away and other time it takes 2 or 3 days to find the best spot. Either way when you find it you now have to think about where exactly you will set up along it. Factors to take into account include safety (roads, houses), sun and most importantly wind. Wind is the single most important element in determining either a good or a bad days decoying. Idealy you will want the wind to your back so pigeons will approach the hide from the front. The worst direction is blowing straight into your face as pigeons will approach unseen from behind and it is also uncomfortable spending a day facing into a force 6 gale. Any direction bar into your face is workable depending of course on the flightline. Every situation is different and that is only a general statement. Set your decoys facing into the wind. Do not have them as uniform though. Set the in a u shape into the wind. I set the decoys at about 30 yards from the hide this means birds over the decoys are 30-40 yards out and the shot patterns best at that range. I use 32 gram sixes shot through my side by side choked 1/4 and 1/2. Do not allow the decoys to become cluttered with dead birds and dispatch flappers straight away. Use any dead birds as decoys with the head pegged up on sticks. On a drizzly day take in your artificials when you can afford to as rain will cause them to glisten unnaturally and put birds off.

That is only a brief outlook but there is much more to go through. Hopefully it will be enough to get you started and there will never be a shortage of advice from the lads here;)

every thing said here will do the job only thing i would differ is the ammo i always use 7 1/2 28gr half and open chokes but then im shooting them with a good number of years get to know ur distance and never fire outside it and if a flock is passing i never fire just at the singles and doubles coming in make sure every shot is a kill and the rest will follow

blackstairsboy

I agree with your view on cartridges. I used to use 28 gram 7.5 but ended up wounding so many birds one windy day over winter stubbles I decided to up to 6s as that is what I use for everything else and I think if you pick your cartridge whatever it might be and stick with it you will shoot better.;)
Having said that I am considering going pack to 7.5 for a while and see how I get on purely for a financial reason. Cutting costs from 75 per 250 to 40 per 250 is substantial for me and may allow me to stop counting my shots too much:D

rugerman

im not too bad i shoot over 900 acres of corn and 600 acres of turnips so the farmer pays for the ammo but evidencemust be seen bought a new gun last year and the barrell resembles stainless steel but back to topic if he just sticks to one shot one kill reigeme he cant go too far wrong if ther any houses within half mile just pop in let them know what ur at its the best sport of them all so enjoy

wildfowler94

Im In The MidLands Shooting Pigeons For Years If You Want A Hand!!;)

clivej

JackSnipe wrote: »

check out these boys they have 5 Videos on pigeon shooting over standing crops, there not like a guide, but i am sure you will pick up some tips.

http://www.rathcormacgunclub.ie/section423127.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anTlnQopIwU