decoying do's and don'ts

snipe02

wanted to start this thread so i could increase what little knowledge i have about pigeon shooting, i started shooting pigeons about seven years ago and had nobody to show me the ropes just got a couple of decoys and started going out and it was difficult to say the least but but i persavered and learned from mistakes and read as much as possible and tried putting it all together and after the first year or 2 began to get the hang of it and have had great success since but anyway, have been asking myself for the last couple of weeks what i think is the single most important thing ive learned about decoying and i think, it is to do recon and\or make sure the pigeons are feeding on the field before setting up or building a hide and use the part of the field they are using if possible if not find a flightline ive learned this the hard way now i would happilly sit in the car and wait rather than setting everything up and having to move it again and lose twice as much time, anyway my thinking is that someone else reading this might learn from my mistakes, and please everyone add to this so myself and anyone else getting into pigeon shooting\decoying can learn from ye

charlie10

dont wear bright coloured clothes,dont waste time ,(if there not feeding move),dont leave pigeons belly up in the pattern (as ur shooting them check them when theres a lull)dont leave shells everywhere,

do use a hide and dont make it bigger than needed ,put it against a solid background as to eliminate your siloutte,bring a seat,bring a hundred shells more than u think!!possibly toilet roll! these are some things that i do or bring that i have found i needed after i was finished shooting/****ting my pants:(;)

beretta firearm

charlie10 wrote: »

dont wear bright coloured clothes,dont waste time ,(if there not feeding move),dont leave pigeons belly up in the pattern (as ur shooting them check them when theres a lull)dont leave shells everywhere,

do use a hide and dont make it bigger than needed ,put it against a solid background as to eliminate your siloutte,bring a seat,bring a hundred shells more than u think!!possibly toilet roll! these are some things that i do or bring that i have found i needed after i was finished shooting/****ting my pants:(;)

i find its better to keep the wirly at the front of the pattern.i would use dead birds.if things arent going right change things ..move,bring in wirly..do a 'clean up'
look at andy crow on you tube.

charlie10

beretta firearm wrote: »

i find its better to keep the wirly at the front of the pattern.i would use dead birds.if things arent going right change things ..move,bring in wirly..do a 'clean up'
look at andy crow on you tube.

i use dead birds too but make sure they r not on their back. i see in shooters digest to put spinner in front of hide then decoys in front of that

beretta firearm

charlie10 wrote: »

beretta firearm wrote: »

i find its better to keep the wirly at the front of the pattern.i would use dead birds.if things arent going right change things ..move,bring in wirly..do a 'clean up'
look at andy crow on you tube.

i use dead birds too but make sure they r not on their back. i see in shooters digest to put spinner in front of hide then decoys in front of that

Yes flappers go a the back.and air pro decoys are also good on the wirly

flanum

dont forget milk for the flask of tae.... bottle water and bowl for the dog, bog roll, pliers/knife/twine for emergency hide repairs, plenty of yarns/jokes prepared in advance for the lull..., binliners for empty shells/trash..., a big duffel bag or a crate or 2 for the quarry. mobile phone switched to vibrate, and dont forget etiquette and manners, lad to the left takes the left birds etc.. if a lefty shooter let him sit on the right and the right hander on the left for the swing.

J.R.

Also remember...........as little movement as possible in the hide.
Even with full camo - birds will detect movement as they approach.

Pigeons have brilliant eyesight, much better than ours and can see colours (more colours on the spectrum than we can see....ultra violet etc) Make sure the shiny flask etc are well hidden.

Try to have the hide so you can see through it or peep over it with no movement.

I've seen lads I brought out who begin to mount the gun, pushing the barrels out over the hide and up to their shoulder when they see birds approach....45 - 50 yards away.........they immediately veer away when movement spotted.

Have the gun at the ready, barrels just slightly over the netting (so they won't snag) and wait until the birds are well within range before mounting & firing.

goss101

+1 on the movement and on the clean up, i was out on sunday morning, had a decent day for the conditions, got soaked setting up, but towards the end of the morning i shot my 3rd grey back of the day and decided not to pick it up as i was nearly finished, 3 times after that pigeons approached only to veer off at the last minute, i went out to tidy up the pattern a bit and the grey back was belly up and wings spread, after i picked him up a couple more pigeons came straight into my pattern no problems, to their detriment!!

charlie10

on a side note went out today to two places being cut and not as much one pigeon what the **** has happened :eek:

beretta firearm

same here charlie

snipe02

charlie10 wrote: »

on a side note went out today to two places being cut and not as much one pigeon what the **** has happened :eek:

i know up this way there were only a few places cut and it really concentrated the birds then the few good days last week a lot of cutting was done and it seemed to spread them everywhere 10's and 20's here and there when ya set up they find somewhere else:mad: i think it will take a week for them to settle and zone in, that along with the bad weather has upset the hole show around me anyway im probably way off the mark maybe im just trying the wrong places but thats what im thinking .

back to the do's and don'ts keep a couple of dead birds in the freezer for the bouncers and magnet their the only job and its a pain waiting to shoot a few to stick em up this is something i only do now and then but its really handy when i casn hide them on the missus that is

Mallard123

Also, make sure you put the decoys in a V shape, with the head of the V pointng into the wind, and 1 or 2 directly behind the head of the V(Still inside the actual shape, if you understand). i don't know why exactly, but it's how the pigeons feed and it does make a difference.

johnny3

all ways scout the day b4 to get the flite lines this can and probly will change and b4 setting up watch it for at least an hr and have ur back to the wind even the slitest breaz will make a dif and of course clean up after ..........

snipe02

i keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in the car for when im eating and the likes was sitting in the car yesterday watching a stubble field and the amount of rats was unreal they are always out on the stubbles

anthonyos

im heading out decoying in the morning at 6 am the farmer said there are loads of them around but i dont have a pigeon magnet yet im just wondering how much of a draw back it is????iv only 12 shells two floaters as soon as i get dead birds for them they will be in the pattern aswell

snipe02

anthonyos wrote: »

im heading out decoying in the morning at 6 am the farmer said there are loads of them around but i dont have a pigeon magnet yet im just wondering how much of a draw back it is????iv only 12 shells two floaters as soon as i get dead birds for them they will be in the pattern aswell

you dont need a pigeon magnet, the floaters will do the trick the magnet is handy but not essential the only thing ya need is feeding pigeons they will come to the shells

dev110

I'm just back in after two and a half hours decoying. All I have is 5 shells and I shot 16 pigeons and 2 crows.

Ding Dong

just out of interest, would you pluck and breast those pigeons or put in freezer or give them away to friends etc?

dinnybyrne

dev110 wrote: »

I'm just back in after two and a half hours decoying. All I have is 5 shells and I shot 16 pigeons and 2 crows.

got 7 shells in birr the other day.any tips on how to effectively spread such few shells?