should you get birds off the field before you set up?

goss101

just wondering what you lads think, i just got new permissions there today for a good few acres, the farmer started cutting silage today and the place is alive with crows, obvioulsy the crows are damaging the bales so need to be curtailed, if you were going in to set up on a field that was full of birds would you walk them off the field first before they see where you plan to set up or just go in and set up straight away?

Padd2

id set up the night before and arrive early morning wen there feeding better and hop into the hide sit all day popping as many as u can :D:D

snipe02

If you cant set up the night before anyway no garuntee they will arrive and ya might end up moving anyway walk them off well set up sit in the hide and dontmove let them get relaxed but worse thing is sometime most come back at once dont fire if this happens simply scare themoff againand shoot the ones and two that come if they do some shootin when it goes right good luck with it

goss101

i usually am set up beofre the birds are in but in this case i'll only be able to get to the farm after work and the place is full of them, 4 fields that were cut on monday so the birds will be on the field when i arrive this evening, i think i'll walk them off and let the father set up the hide as i do, then it'll only take a minute to throw out the decoys, i'll let ya know how i get on 2mr. if its good i could need a sick day tomorrow!!!

FISMA

goss101 wrote: »

...if you were going in to set up on a field that was full of birds would you walk them off the field first before they see where you plan to set up or just go in and set up straight away?

I would walk in, set up, and fire away. Why scare them off?

Whenever I am out stalking, I always dread a quiet forest or field, it's an indication of danger and the wildlife know it.

I have literally walked up on deer when the birds are chirping and the cows mooing.

Try to keep the situation as natural as possible, until the first sonic boom! Then reset and try again...

snipe02

FISMA wrote: »

I would walk in, set up, and fire away. Why scare them off?

Whenever I am out stalking, I always dread a quiet forest or field, it's an indication of danger and the wildlife know it.

I have literally walked up on deer when the birds are chirping and the cows mooing.

Try to keep the situation as natural as possible, until the first sonic boom! Then reset and try again...

ye probaly best to let them see ya set up then fire when they are still in the field be the last ya see of them for a while they are not completely thick better to let them think yourgone you want them coming in dribs and drabs crows can and all fly in at once after being put off remember these are silage fields they have prob being only there a day or two not really ingrained in their heads as the place to get food yet they wont persist in coming back

they will just **** off somewhere else

goss101

well arrived about 6 o clock last night and all the fields were cut and silage taken off, bout 200 crows between two fields so i drove in and they all lifted anyway and went down the far end of the farm, so i set up the hide quickas i could and put about about a dozen decoys and one mag decoy. then i got back into the car to see if i could shift the crows again from the far end of the farm, i got a few to move alright but they were basically just moving from field to field as i drove up to them, so went back to the hide and waited, very quite for the first hour, had one nice shot on a mag at about 50 yards, then for the next hour had a bit of sport on the crows, coming in in 2's and 3's which was perfect, they decoyed like a dream considering no wind and the sun was straight in my face, felt like it was 40 degrees out!! had 4 doubles so happy enough with that, ended up with a mixed bag of 29 for 3 hours, went very quite after 8 o clock, just seemed to be a few jackdaws moving around. also heard a nice few cock pheasants crowing and seen one at a drinking trough so looking good for november too!!!!!

J.R.

goss101 wrote: »

well arrived about 6 o clock last night and all the fields were cut and silage taken off, bout 200 crows between two fields so i drove in and they all lifted anyway and went down the far end of the farm, so i set up the hide quick as i could and put about about a dozen decoys and one mag decoy. then i got back into the car to see if i could shift the crows again from the far end of the farm, i got a few to move alright but they were basically just moving from field to field as i drove up to them, so went back to the hide and waited, very quite for the first hour, had one nice shot on a mag at about 50 yards, then for the next hour had a bit of sport on the crows, coming in in 2's and 3's which was perfect, they decoyed like a dream considering no wind and the sun was straight in my face, felt like it was 40 degrees out!! had 4 doubles so happy enough with that, ended up with a mixed bag of 29 for 3 hours, went very quite after 8 o clock, just seemed to be a few jackdaws moving around. also heard a nice few cock pheasants crowing and seen one at a drinking trough so looking good for november too!!!!!

Just letting you know, in case you're not aware, that even though the crows are damaging the bales, entitling you to shoot them, if requested by the land owner, under derogation, crow & magpie decoys are not allowed to be used. Neither are decoys that attract crows in - owls, hawks etc. - allowed.

You will see these decoys for sale in every gun shop in the country. There is nothing illegal about selling them. It's using them to decoys crows & magpies in, to shoot them, that's the problem. The shop owners can argue that they are on sale for bird watchers and photographers who want to use the decoys to entice the birds in to photograph - nothing wrong or illegal with that.

The only decoys permitted under the Wildlife Acts are pigeon, duck & geese decoys.......nothing else.

A crow or magpie can only be used as a decoy, if alive in a Larsen Trap, under derogration.

I think it's an absolutely ridicilous rule ........You can decoy one pest species for causing damage (pigeons) but not another (crows) even though they may be attacking and damaging the same crop at the same time!!!!!!!!!!............crazy law..............but the law is the law!

I'm surprised the NARGC have not fought this one.


There is nothing wrong with using the dead crows shot as decoys - just prop their heads up with a twig or kekab stick. Nowhere in the Wildlife Acts does it state that it's illegal to use a dead animal or bird as decoy (as far as I'm aware)

goss101

yeah i know the story, no callers either but sure i would of been better off with me flute in me hand if i had nothing with me yesterday. and an unhappy farmer and then no pheasants for me come november, i've yet to see a video on youtube for crow shooting with no decoys or callers but i guess thats the risk we take to help get rid of vermin!?

J.R.

goss101 wrote: »

yeah i know the story, no callers either but sure i would of been better off with me flute in me hand if i had nothing with me yesterday. and an unhappy farmer and then no pheasants for me come november, i've yet to see a video on youtube for crow shooting with no decoys or callers but i guess thats the risk we take to help get rid of vermin!?

A lot of those decoy videos are from the U.K. where decoys are permitted & encouraged.

What baffles me is we are all in the E.U., under the same laws, so how come decoys are illegal in 1 EU country and not the other, which is next door??....................we are all under the same E.U. Derogration rules.

goss101

true but a lot of videos from down the south of ireland too, yeah doesn't really make sense that and the fact that we are plagued with corvids and magpies i wouldn't mind if they were starting to get scarce or something, the only thing thats scarce around my way are the game birds.