pigeon hunting

[jcbruno]

i am just curiouse i have a friend comming from england this fall to do some deer hunting with me, but he tells me about hunting pigeons in the uk as one of the most popular hunting game in the UK has anyone here went after pigeons with a shotty i of course would only be interested in the rural pigeons living in old barnes etc

 

[tracker]

We shoot lots of pigeons for farmers between crow shooting. shot over 100 last year and now have another three barns to clean out this year.

 

[Why not?]

I shot a pile of them when I lived in Ontariariario, and also in Saskatchewan. We used to roast them in the oven and they were delicious!

 

[Boer seun]

Over sunflower in SA buy a case of #7's and have fun they fly fast! usually shot between 40 and 90ish in a afternoon if they fly well

 

[MauserMike]

Does he mean hunting pigeons or actual live pigeon shooting? (the game that spawned trap shooting)

Actually, is there still any live pigeon shooting events in the UK? They still do it in Spain I think. Big bucks changes hands at these events!

 

[JifeLacket]

,.,.,.

 

[jcbruno]

thanks fellas i will give it a try maybe with the old boy from england
but will check the regs my guess as far as alberta goes it is probably all year round no licence required

 

[220Swifty]

Flying vermin. I learned to shotgun on pigeons wiht my grandpa, still take a shotty with me from time to time and give it a whirl, good fun and good wingshooting practice.

 

[SuperCub]

I shot a pile of them when I lived in Ontariariario, and also in Saskatchewan. We used to roast them in the oven and they were delicious!

My father ate pigeons during the depression. He said they were good to eat, but later in life he raced them instead.

Also, I knew some Italians in Guelph, Ontario that kept a good sized coop in their back yard, just for eatin'.


.

 

[RR]

When you raise them to eat you call them Squab . When you eat wild ones you call them Rock Doves instead of flying rats.

Rich

 

[impala]

I thought squab was the freshly hatched birds.never tried eating them I shoot them but never ate one.makes sense that they would be good.All they eat is grain around here.

 

[Beadwindow]

A couple of years ago I confirmed with a CO that pigeons are fair game in Ontario year round, and can be hunted with a small game license. Shooting feral/barnyard pigeons was a common practice in Ontario up until their numbers declined substantially in the 1960s due to all of the pesticides that farmers began to use until the first wave of the environmental movement successfully banned them in the early seventies. It took about another 10-15 years for them to become common again, though it seems as though most hunters today are unaware of their value as quarry, except for perhaps some European immigrants. A couple of years back I purchased several pigeon decoys from Al Flaherty's in Toronto, though I unfortunately never had the opportunity to use them.

In the UK, the species that is hunted there is known as Wood Pigeon, and is a major pest to farmers. It is consequently one of the few species of game available to hunters who haven't the time or money to commit to a club, syndicate or the commercial shoots that would probably cost them dearly. They can provide a considerable amount of shooting and good meat. The practice of releasing pigeons from a trap for people to shoot at is long gone from the UK, where the practice would surely draw a mob of animal rights fanatics who'd lynch anyone involved.....

Cheers,

Frank

 

[Sharptail]

Jcbruno, pigeon hunting in the UK is vastly different than anything you could show him here. They spend big bucks on animated lures and the like, not to mention they often have to pay for the rights to shoot on a property. It is popular because a) you get to shoot a lot, and b) grouse and pheasant are way too expensive for most people to shoot.

The man sounds like a good wingshot, treat him to a grouse or pheasant hunt (but explain that it is walk up hunting, not driven grouse). He won't get anything like it in England. For example:

Morsgail, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides
Fully catered accommodation
Cost: £6,850 which includes fishing for salmon,
sea-trout and brown trout on river and loch and
walked up grouse shooting over Estate pointer.
Extra charge for stalking and fuel for the sea boat.

Canada has it's advantages.

Sharptail

 

[jcbruno]

thanks alot fellas

 

[Silvermallard]

We use them to train dogs in the field here in Quebec so that give us a chance to hunt then all summer while training are dog. You can alsow buy them live for 3 $.

 

[Aries-]

just be carful your not shooting someones raceing pigions.

ask the farms and houses around the area first if anyone races them before blasting away. (or if they are someones general pets... i know yuppies around my parents place that year round feed the ratbirds and treat them as pets)

 

[KDX]

When the population gets too high I go over to the local elevator and knock them down with my AirForce Condor and leave them for the cats to clean up. I can park across the street and nail them off of the top on a calm day. One of the joys of living in a small town.

 

[soldier506]

They are just target practice around here in redneck country.

 

[Hack]

I would LOVE to do this. Anyone know how I could get in contact with a farmer who needs some pigeons shot? I remember this summer they were begging hunters to come out west to help out with their ground rat problem.