Pigeon shooting questions.

Hunter21

Massive local tillage farmer near me asked me to shoot over his crops as pigeons are destroying the his seeded crop.
I know its illegal to decoy at the minute so my questions are;
Do pigeons change there flight pattern after a few hours? Had a bit of success on one path this morning, then around 12 o clock I seen them flying into the land a different way.
Also seen them flying into the wind and flying with the wind Taught they really only flew into it.
Also will the flight pattern change everyday/every few days/ every week or what?

rugerman

u need someone to show u the ropes:D:D:D if there destroying crops then its legal to shoot them they stick to same flight pattern unless its getting pounded if u have ur gear set up proper then they will come in with the wind best shooting of them all is the pigeon

Hunter21

rugerman wrote: »

u need someone to show u the ropes:D:D:D if there destroying crops then its legal to shoot them they stick to same flight pattern unless its getting pounded if u have ur gear set up proper then they will come in with the wind best shooting of them all is the pigeon

Might sound ignorant but I want to learn for myself Eager student.. lol
As for the gear, have a hide well set up well hidden and camo'd Im camo'd aswell.. When you say gear also are you on about decoys? Decoying in the close pigeon season is illegal so I read

cavan shooter

I am not being awkward here or nothing, but Why cant you use decoys?, I thought this was all put to bed in a a couple of high profile cases where the word "Likely to cause damage was looked into "

Once they are being shot under the derogation, for the purpose of crop protection the use of decoys to attract the birds that are causing the damage into range.

Take that argument 1 step further, Next we will be told we cant use the back of our hand or a widgeon whistle or whatever to call a fox into range to shoot it because it is likely to cause damage to poults, chickens Lambs etc....or bait a rat trap or amink trap

I'd guess this argument will go on and on...

wildfowler94

Just To Clear This Up... Pigeons Can Be Shot All Year Under Degregation If They Are Damaging Or Destroying Crops!!:D

And You Say You Want To Learn... The Best Way Is For Someone Who Knows What There Doing To Show You! Let Them Take You Out....
This The Only Way To Do It. You Can Learn More By Doing Then Us Simply Trying To Explain On This!!

Hunter21

cavan shooter wrote: »

I am not being awkward here or nothing, but Why cant you use decoys?, I thought this was all put to bed in a a couple of high profile cases where the word "Likely to cause damage was looked into "

Once they are being shot under the derogation, for the purpose of crop protection the use of decoys to attract the birds that are causing the damage into range.

Take that argument 1 step further, Next we will be told we cant use the back of our hand or a widgeon whistle or whatever to call a fox into range to shoot it because it is likely to cause damage to poults, chickens Lambs etc....or bait a rat trap or amink trap

I'd guess this argument will go on and on...

Its a very grey area... You know there flying over the land in search of a feast so why not be allowed grab their attention in order to despatch of them before they kill your crops.. I cant see any reason why it should be illegal to decoy.. Its like telling the police you cannot use a bait car to catch a serial car thief...

wildfowler94 wrote: »

Just To Clear This Up... Pigeons Can Be Shot All Year Under Degregation If They Are Damaging Or Destroying Crops!!:D

And You Say You Want To Learn... The Best Way Is For Someone Who Knows What There Doing To Show You! Let Them Take You Out....
This The Only Way To Do It. You Can Learn More By Doing Then Us Simply Trying To Explain On This!!

On another note getting someone to show me the ropes is a bit hard when Ive asked around and no one knows anyone that knows much if anything about pigeon shooting..
Also id learn on here if you went to the bother of making a productive post and reply to the orig post's questions... I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning I know... lol

rugerman

i shoot pigeons for three farmers with over 1200 acres of corn peas and turnips on a good day i could shoot up to 300 birds with the most of 643 pigeons over rape ive often brought lads to show the ropes and lads think its a free for all belting off ammo and scaring birds when i have to account for the ammo sometimes the best way to learn is the hard way get the gear toghter (rotar is essential and a flapper)sit and learn a flight patter has to be watched for a couple of mornings and evenings before u set up and dont go mad with ur ammo make every shot count and u will learn fairly quick ammo choice and choke selection is vital aswell

blackstairsboy

I am no expert but I thought myself same as you want to do. Read a lot of good books on the topic to get the basics and then trial and error from there.
Pigeons will generally fly along the same flightlines but it can change with weather, seasons etc. Along stands of trees and powerlines are usually used but every situation is different so you will have to get out and look for them. Pigeons will always land into the wind but this does not mean that they will not fly with the wind. Often pigeons will approach the decoys with the wind then swing around and land into it. It is possible for more than one flightline going into your field so when pigeons begin using it it is probably time for you to move. When I decoy I travel light and may move 3 or 4 times in a day. Some people will set up in one spot and if the pigeons do not come in will pack up and say they did not want to play ball today or else try everything to draw the pigeons near them. I move to the birds which I find is more rewarding. Getting out and trying different things is the only way you are going to learn and you will have to learn from your mistakes.

Hunter21

rugerman wrote: »

i shoot pigeons for three farmers with over 1200 acres of corn peas and turnips on a good day i could shoot up to 300 birds with the most of 643 pigeons over rape ive often brought lads to show the ropes and lads think its a free for all belting off ammo and scaring birds when i have to account for the ammo sometimes the best way to learn is the hard way get the gear toghter (rotar is essential and a flapper)sit and learn a flight patter has to be watched for a couple of mornings and evenings before u set up and dont go mad with ur ammo make every shot count and u will learn fairly quick ammo choice and choke selection is vital aswell

Ya making shots count is key, no point entertaining them and acting like a crow banger. Plus its soul destroying if you miss too many. There hard bucko's to shoot at times, but great practice all the same.
The farmer I shoot for is buying me cartridges too, and he likes to see rewards too not poinless banging about.

What chokes and cartridges do you favour Rugerman? I feel the 7's are very light. Too light for my liking.

blackstairsboy wrote: »

I am no expert but I thought myself same as you want to do. Read a lot of good books on the topic to get the basics and then trial and error from there.
Pigeons will generally fly along the same flightlines but it can change with weather, seasons etc. Along stands of trees and powerlines are usually used but every situation is different so you will have to get out and look for them. Pigeons will always land into the wind but this does not mean that they will not fly with the wind. Often pigeons will approach the decoys with the wind then swing around and land into it. It is possible for more than one flightline going into your field so when pigeons begin using it it is probably time for you to move. When I decoy I travel light and may move 3 or 4 times in a day. Some people will set up in one spot and if the pigeons do not come in will pack up and say they did not want to play ball today or else try everything to draw the pigeons near them. I move to the birds which I find is more rewarding. Getting out and trying different things is the only way you are going to learn and you will have to learn from your mistakes.

Another man with my mentality- learn from your mistakes. Best way to do things, experiment and experience for yourself. Its harder but you'll learn more valuable lessons.

Some days the place I shoot is very weird though, if you fire one shot they'll all get up and head to another patch of crop owned by the same farmer about 3 miles away. Wait wait and wait they might not come back to the fields Im in. Then you drive over to the other patch a couple of shots and off they go again. This is only the case if you arrive in the middle of the day.
In the mornings they use a path ive observed a couple of days now. Proving productive too. But seen them changing path about late morning, one of the reasons I asked the questions.

cavan shooter

When I was a lad:rolleyes: I shot more pigeons in the Skerries/Rush area of north County Dublin using 8 shell decoys in a horse shoe pattern sitting in the back of a ditch with a Parka jacket and what you shot you set up with as a decoy with a forked twig under its neck. Never once used a whirly thingy, but would mount a pigeon on a cradle as a bouncer.

To this day if I go shooting Pigeons I only ever bring the handful of decoys and a couple of 100 shells

You dont need lots af gadgets to start with, anyway get out and give it a go, alot of people think you have to be hitting 100's of pigeons to have a decent day.

I use 32g 6 on Pigeons

meathstevie

cavan shooter wrote: »

When I was a lad:rolleyes: I shot more pigeons in the Skerries/Rush area of north County Dublin using 8 shell decoys in a horse shoe pattern sitting in the back of a ditch with a Parka jacket and what you shot you set up with as a decoy with a forked twig under its neck. Never once used a whirly thingy, but would mount a pigeon on a cradle as a bouncer.

To this day if I go shooting Pigeons I only ever bring the handful of decoys and a couple of 100 shells

You dont need lots af gadgets to start with, anyway get out and give it a go, alot of people think you have to be hitting 100's of pigeons to have a decent day.

I use 32g 6 on Pigeons

Sounds like my kind of approach. Shoot about 10 to 20 a day over a couple of days while wheat is getting ripe for a tillage farmer in my area. He's got a massive amount of land with clumps of woodland in it and I find this method keeps the two of us happy. The pigeons tend to move on a bit when they get hassle over a few days and I still get a right few for the freezer.

Hunter21

Some people think pigeon shooting is numbers number numbers... A few good shots on any given day would do me fine.
Ive no intention of buying spinners as I dont plan on bagging a million of them. Decoys will do me fine, sometimes I dont even need them. They just come in anyway.

32g 6s are a great shell, mighty all rounder. Even seen a mate knock a fox with one. 40yard shot :O

beretta686s

i used 28g eley 7s last year knocked them out to 40 50 yards u dont need heavy loads either knocked bird after bird:)

marlin vs

beretta686s wrote: »

i used 28g eley 7s last year knocked them out to 40 50 yards u dont need heavy loads either knocked bird after bird:)

Same here, I also used 28gr 8s and they done the same job, all you have to do is know you'r limit's.

yessam

lads - listen to the lads that know how to pigeon shoot. you are improving tour chances by doing things right and definitely more enjoyable. i think the land owner will cop on to which shooter is making the best efforts to protect hic crop also.

A job worth doing is worth doing right