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Roost shooting

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Roost shooting

Postby Gary Foster » Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:10 pm

Just had the first roost shoot of the year yesterday, I was one of 12 guns. We're shooting through most of march and the rest of this month. The reason I'm posting is that I was pretty unsucessful yesterday can anyone give me some tips on getting good bags?

cheers

Gaz
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Re: Roost shooting

Postby humperdingle » Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:48 pm

I tend to find that rolling a ciggy or have a cuppa seems to bring them in... They just know when you're not paying attention!

Seriously though, good concealment and a few lofted decoys will help.
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Re: Roost shooting

Postby Mr. Gain » Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:27 pm

I was pretty unsucessful yesterday


Just to clarify things, was that because you weren't getting many chances, or because you were missing them? :grin:

In the first case, as ever with pigeon shooting, keeping an eye on the pigeons' movements and the wind conditions is vital. In light winds and with clear skies they'll often circle high like duck and then drop straight into the trees, giving you little choice other than to shoot them out of the branches. But when the wind is stiffer and the clouds are low the pigeons will tend to come in lower too, keeping in the lee of the wood before flaring up over the treetops and dropping into their chosen roosting spot.

In the first sort of weather an air rifle would be my tool of choice, but there's nothing like a shotgun for the blustery evenings. Personally, I find lofted decoys more help when airgun hunting, since they can bring the birds right in close, but when out with the shotgun I see positioning as more important. You don't always need to be in the roosting wood itself, either, as often a spot on a downwind hedgerow gives better visibility and fields of fire.

There's a roost in a narrow wooded valley near me, where when the wind is right the pigeons stream in low over a pasture with a long ridge in the middle. If you stand with your back to the wood and watch the ridgeline it can be like your own private grouse drive! On occasion I've even lined out half a dozen guns along there and we've all had plenty of shooting.

But it only works if the weather's right. Each wood will have a set of conditions that makes it the one to go for on a given evening, and part of getting to know your ground is figuring out what these are. You won't get it right every time, but at least you'll know which way to bet. Just make sure when it starts to come together that you don't over-shoot any one spot - make the pigeons do the guessing for a change!
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Re: Roost shooting

Postby Sidebyside » Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:52 pm

One of the woods I roost shoot is part hard wood and part pine wood, I have found on a warmer evening the pigeons prefer the hard wood whereas they favour the warmer protective density of the the pines in colder weather .I roost shoot with a 410 and find it the ideal weapon for the job , I can hear you all thinking "cartridge prices for 410 " :shock: :shock: I check magazines and buy private , I now have a good stock of 410 cartridges at low cost 8-) .
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Re: Roost shooting

Postby Mr. Gain » Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:06 pm

sidebyside wrote:I have found on a warmer evening the pigeons prefer the hard wood whereas they favour the warmer protective density of the the pines in colder weather.


Seconded. :thup:
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Re: Roost shooting

Postby Born Again » Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:18 pm

Pigeons also like trees with lots of ivy growing high up.
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Re: Roost shooting

Postby Sidebyside » Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:26 pm

Born Again wrote:Pigeons also like trees with lots of ivy growing high up.


Thats true ......Some of the hard wood trees in my wood have a good lot of ivy on them and when the pigeons do use them to roost they tend to select the ivy cladded ones .With most types of shooting local land knowledge and many hours observing movements of quarry are needed , in the end it will reward you .
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Re: Roost shooting

Postby Novicegun » Sun Feb 16, 2020 7:03 pm

I have been given the opportunity to shoot in a mostly pine wood so visibility is not great, I have been located in the end of a central ride but the only opening in the canopy is the narrow ride. So most of the time you don't see the birds until they fly over the narrow gap (4 maybe 5m wide), which doesn't give much chance of getting a good shot at them unless they turn and fly down the opening.
Any tips for improving the situation (other than shoot somewhere else lol)?
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