Rook shooting

[Peter Eaton]

Off topic I know but the farmer on the permission I have has asked me to shoot some rooks for him. Whats the best way about this and how do I do it? Never shot them so whens the best time of day, wind direction ect. Di I decoy for them and shoot with my shotgun or decoy and bait and pick them of with a rifle?? If I need decoys why is the best place to get some that are easy to carry and dont cost a fortune...oh and that actually work )))

Cheers

p

 

[old keeper]

it would help to know what they are doing and what damage they are causing. Along with the rest of the corvids they are not the easiest birds to shoot. They will decoy, but after you find where they are gathering you want to get there really early before first light and get set up before they start arriving.
If you get there after they have started feeding they will push off out of range and wait till you've gone. If your farmer friend has an old horse box or similar get him to park it in range for a few days then use that as a hide. Whatever you do they will cotton on to it quite quickly, so ring the changes from time to time.

 

[pete evans]

remington 700 shoots heaps over decoys. use dead birds on cradles and a flapper. forget the rifle use the shotgun.

 

[mereside]

pigeon decoys work well sprayed black.like old keeper says they do learn fast so change your tactics around ,atb wayne

 

[Peter Eaton]

remington 700 shoots heaps over decoys. use dead birds on cradles and a flapper. forget the rifle use the shotgun.

Yeah I know he does but he has sod off to Scotland shooting Reds , if I use the shotgun hope they land, stay still , that way I might hit them with it

 

[bewsher500]

I have a very fine PCP air rifle for sale that works very well from under rookeries!

 

[logburner]

Find the flight line then shoot them with shotgun,another way is to put some dead rabbits out in the field and shoot them at distance with a centrefire.

 

[User00003]

Find the flight line then shoot them with shotgun,another way is to put some dead rabbits out in the field and shoot them at distance with a centrefire.

that's the 'fun' option and where those heavy barrel jobbies come in

 

[CWMMAN3738]

YEAH MUCH MORE FUN plus they don't generally flap away if you hit them with a centrefire unlike a shotgun and any old carcas will do pegged out in a field i'v used and old dead lamb from roadkill with great effect at range they can't resist it.

 

[sir-lamp-alot]

ive heard that they come in well to pidgeon magnets, but obviously with rooks on instead of pidgeons plus a few rook decoys scatered around for good measure but all of this will cost you money so what i suggest is that you fine the flightline build your hide then just kill one rook and put it on its back in plaine view and as the rooks come over they go mad circling and mobing the dead bird and it also takes there attention off which gives you enough time to stad up and take aim with your shotgun, it works really well i was using this technique on a maize clamp earlier this year and the rooks were total oblivious to me as i stood up from behind a stack of pallets taking some shoots under 15yrds

 

[VSS]

pigeon decoys work well sprayed black.like old keeper says they do learn fast so change your tactics around ,atb wayne

Not sure if the colour is that important. A mate of mine had a bright blue corvid decoy, and it worked a treat!

 

[basil]

Where in the South are you?
PM if you prefer.
basil.

 

[trouble]

a mate of mine shoots alot using a magnet with rooks on it and a fox with a stick pushed up its rib cage to its neck so its sat upright next to the magnet

 

[basil]

Have you looked into building a ladder trap if your aim with a shotgun isn`t so good?
basil.

 

[miffy]

If it's not to far away get them at the roost.

 

[sir-lamp-alot]

a mate of mine shoots alot using a magnet with rooks on it and a fox with a stick pushed up its rib cage to its neck so its sat upright next to the magnet

thats a feckin good idea

 

[hangfire]

years ago when i was in hampshire the local keepers used to get a few lads from the village, and blast all the nests in the rookeries

 

[MrYou]

We pin shredded black bin liner & peg the strips in the ground with twiggs, about 1hr or so before dusk. Once you get the 1st couple down, the rest follow. Keep well out of site .. semi auto 12g & No 5's 32+ work well. Muck spead fields this time of year are class with a 17hmr/ 22 hornet & mod. Good luck

oh yeh..one of the lads uses a 'Kazoo' a childs type plastic musical instrument (cheep thing) to direct the rooks, crows his way

 

[DavieH]

For crows I have used a Winged Crow on one arm of a Pigeon Magnet and a Winged Kestrel on the other, works for me.

ATB

DavieH

 

[bubble]

I'm shooting crows at the moment with either 17hmr at around 100 yards, or a 12 bore using no. 5 shot. (6 shot produced too many 'runners'). As has already been said, corvids are wiley sods and soon learn to change fields. I have also found that they can be found in cosiderable numbers on a field one day, withing nothing the next, with no obvious change in conditions.