Best shot size for magpie?

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TheArmyMan204

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So grandma loves feeding and watching the birds at her farm but she's got some magpies ruining that for her. My shotgun experience is limited to shooting clays in the sand pits and some buck shot and slugs just for fun

Shotgun is just so standard Mossberg 500 with interchangeable chokes.

So what choke and shot size do I use? I know these birds are pretty smart and won't let me get too close. Thanks in advance
 
The killzone on a magpie is pretty small for how much feathers they have. I use #7.5 or #8 shot in heavy trap loads for them, same as partridge. With a modified choke you can get kills at 30 yards.
 
Not sure about the OP but in our case they chase away all other birds (especially the songbirds we put feed out for) and eat all the feed. They also are harsh predators on most songbirds hatchlings.
 
Hirsch said:
Not sure about the OP but in our case they chase away all other birds (especially the songbirds we put feed out for) and eat all the feed. They also are harsh predators on most songbirds hatchlings.
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Out of curiosity, you ever try hanging a dead mag pie in a tree (or decoy?) To scare off other magpies? My grandpa used to swear by this but now he's a bit too old to be shooting his guns, which is why I'm going out there. Kinda makes me sad in a way now that I put it that way haha
 
Magpies like fresh meat Nasty predators on warblers, song sparrows and such. I shoot magpies with 8 or 9 shot...9 being the best choice. They are tough as they come in low and through the lower branches. You can call them in easily with a dying rabbit squeal much like yotes.
 
TheArmyMan204 said:
Out of curiosity, you ever try hanging a dead mag pie in a tree (or decoy?) To scare off other magpies? My grandpa used to swear by this but now he's a bit too old to be shooting his guns, which is why I'm going out there. Kinda makes me sad in a way now that I put it that way haha
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Tried it, worked for a week then they were back. They figured out what the 12 gauge was for real quick as well.
 
Magpies are cagey little buggers!! The size and strength of their nests is beyond compare for such a small bird too. I had 4 nesting pairs here until last night, now I have 2 1/2 prs left to get rid of. Buggers are hell on the songbirds. We don't feed the birds but have lots of birdhouses out. Between the crows and magpies were all but songbirdless until I started shooting the crows and magpies last year. The songbirds responded right away and the little houses were full. I am doing the same this year. I've shot a good number of crows so far over the e-caller. Been using my Model 12 with 3 dram 7.5's. Plenty of cannon fodder for crows and magpies. And yes magpies respond very well to distress sounds, especially the coyote pup distress call on my Foxpro.
 
TheArmyMan204 said:
Take over nests and generally just scares off other birds. At least according too my grandma haha I'm no expert

And thanks for the replies guys. That's kind of what I figured but wasn't sure.
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Naw, they don't take over the nests. Magpie nests, once you see them, are pretty distinct. Look like a collection of all the fire starter wood from about a hundred miles around, a great big clump of sticks in a bush or tree.

They are heck on the songbirds, though. Eat eggs, eat the young, and generally prey upon them as a food source.

Tough buggers! But still just birds. Pretty much anything you can hit them with, will do. They will pretty quickly learn to go elsewhere. Corvids (the crow family of birds) are pretty darn smart and adaptable.

Well worth learning to ID the introduced species that are out there as well, stuff like English Sparrows, Starlings, etc., that can be hard on native species, as well as the (IIRC) Grackles, which, I think, lay their eggs in other bird's nests for them to raise.

In any case, there is likely a list of species that are basically considered fair game for extermination. Good job for an air rifle, actually.

Cheers
Trev
 
I use .22 shorts or CBs for magpies at the farm and acreage. They don't go far or damage anything much past 50 or 60 yards.
 
The ones we have around here tend to be pretty wary, like ravens.
You can walk in and out of the house 3 times with no gun, and they just keep an eye on you.
Walk out of the house with a gun, and they are gone before you take step 2. :)
 
here's a trick I learned from Ripley's Believe it or Not (believe it or not)
when magpies mate they are monogamous til one dies, then the mate will stay near the body of the dead mate and make a godawful racket which all the magpies for mile around to see what the hell is going on (whether its a new mating call or not i don't know)

So my mom raises old english sheep dogs and the magpies come in the runs and peck at the puppies to scare them a way fro m the food to which I'm dragged out of bed one morning after a night shift and told to do something about the damned magpies

My sleep deprived memory brings up the RBITON fact to the forefront of my brain and after setting up a super secret snipers hide in the bathroom so i can shoot out a partially opened window i shoot the first magpie with a Remington subsonic, the others fly away but one comes back almost immediately and goes into full squawk mode.
Within minutes more and more magpies come, I pick them off one by one but never shoot the loudmouth. 30+ dead birds in no time, finally shoot the loud one and go back to bed.

or you can google "magpie trap" which works too
 
I hate the little c*cksuckers. They're everywhere here in Edmonton and if only I could shoot the bastards! 7 shot should do it.
 
doc25 said:
There are also traps availiable. Two compartment ones that once you catch one you keep it alive as bait.

http://www.magpietrap.com/
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build your own trap,cheap and easy and they work a treat.
i think the hardest thing will be to find a magpie decoy here in canada.i had to import mine.

if you do build a trap and catch a bird,keep it fed and watered,DONT KILL IT.
use this bird as your call bird and it will bring more magpies to the trap.

keep moving the trap around the property once a week.

in a six week period i trapped over 70 birds.

it would be even better if you know of another person who traps them and swap
call birds every now and then,this will draw more magpies to the trap.


if you buy or build a trap and need a plastic magpie decoy,PM me i might have one to sell
 
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Incredibly smart birds. I've taken potshots at them at my parents farm, and for years afterward when I showed up the flocks would disappear.

Mom would marvel at how just the day before there were magpies all over the farm, then as soon as I showed up, none were to be seen.

If you could get your grandma to shoot at a bird or two, it might work to scare the magpies away. (can you get a 410 for her?)

Seeing Grandma around, even without a gun afterward, might keep the magpies at bay. And it might work when your not there.

It takes a few rounds to punch through the nest, but sometimes you can catch one of them in the nest.
 
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