The wild dove has such a large number of fans that have duck hunting or hare, but sport is attracting more fans of fast and accurate shooting.
The fact that the pigeon has a kind of flight and is small in size, which makes the hunter the task of vysalivaniya and hit him.
Thus, during the hunting of wild pigeons can develop their skills by firing from a hunting rifle, as this bird’s manner of flight is not an easy target.
You can hunt several species of pigeons: pigeon common or ringed, stock dove, rock dove, wood pigeon. These are the most common types which opened to hunting.
On your way of life and habits they are similar, but the wood pigeon is considered the largest and most careful, so the hunt for him harder than the others. For more detail about hunting it can read in other articles on the website.
The hunting season for doves is very short, because in the middle belt of the European part of Russia by the end of September – beginning of October, the pigeon is flying away in the more southern region, and to meet him in the fields at this time can be extremely rare. Well, the dove migrate to the South even earlier – at the beginning of September.
So hunters of the Moscow region and the more Northern areas could hunt pigeons a month and a half, but wintering in Mediterranean countries, intensive hunting and trapping of our birds as pests of cultivated crops. In recent years, hunting for pigeons began to open with the beginning of hunting waterfowl. And can be used, for example from 1 August.
More recently, it was allowed to extract this kind of field game only with the opening of hunting on upland, that is, in the beginning of September (in the suburbs). It is unclear why the pigeons referred to upland game. Apparently, due to the fact that the majority of species breeds in forests. However, most of the time they spend in the fields or on the fringes, gathering fallen grain or seeds of various herbs and only after ripening to an abundant harvest of acorns sometimes feed in the forests.
Mainly produce three types of pigeons: pigeon (sometimes called virtutem), rock dove (pigeons) and the European turtle dove (turtle doves). Stock dove in recent decades has become rare and is listed in the Red books of several regions (including Moscow), the European turtle dove is also now not often seen in our fields, so hunting is done mostly on the wood pigeon and the rock dove.
This game is characterized by great caution, great vision and phenomenal fortress on the wound, despite the looseness of the pen cover. Have had to watch as after a shot clearly wounded bird flew 200-400 meters and fell down dead. So always follow eyes shoot in the fields of the wood pigeon, using for this purpose a pair of binoculars.
Where to find wild pigeon hunting?
There are several techniques for hunting pigeon. For example, hunting from the approach, hunting from a pit, hunting with decoys. Details of application of each of them is described in other materials on the website, so do not be lazy to study them.
Now we will discuss a topic on where to look for the dove. Dove by nature loves to fly with the flock, but that does not mean that he is not flying solo or couple. In late summer, and this is the beginning of the hunting season, doves are constantly flying at the stern of the field as small groups, pairs or alone.
What field you want to go the hunter to find the pigeon? Most pigeons in late summer you can meet on harvested fields of wheat. Here is concentrated the bulk of the pigeons.
There comes a time when the wheat fields are beginning to plow. After this the pigeon can still fly, but not so intensively.
In addition, pigeon can fly at fields of corn, sunflowers, peas or oats. For example, the sunflower dove fly to feed in the autumn, when it ripens and is there until the flight.
Not every wheat field or sunflower field to meet a dove, so there are some important signs that will help You first to select individual fields.
For example, a wheat field, along which there are forest plantations of acacia with the presence of dead wood, more attractive to the dove. In addition, the power line along the field also attracts pigeons.
If you pass along the shelterbelts, it is possible to gradually raise the pigeons from the trees and make them the shots, but not have illusions, because often pigeons are raised at a great distance from the hunter. Here you need skill and experience hunting pigeons in such conditions.
The pigeon has his own agenda, based on which, you need to take certain steps to get him to the feeding box. Fed this bird at a certain time. As a rule, about six o’clock in the morning the dove leaves the field to peck the grain.
Already at ten o’clock the bird tends to return on a day’s rest. To dine the dove begins in thirteen or fourteen hours. Dinner starts about seventeen or eighteen hours. After that day he finishes. If during the day overcast, pigeons can fly all day, so this fact must be taken into account.
Now Your hunt of wild pigeons can be significantly more successful, because You know where you should look first in the summer and fall.
The gun should have a sharp and heap fight, it is advisable to use cartridges with a Cup of numbers of shot 4 or 5. Pigeons – birds are gregarious, feeding grounds, gather in large groups 30-50 and sometimes 200-300 individuals, so immediately turn up, seeing his own kind. Based on this, one of the main ways of hunting – with profiles or stuffed animals. About them the author wrote in the magazine “Hunting and hunting farm” (№ 8, 1987).
Will focus on the basic techniques of hunting. First, it is necessary to conduct on-site reconnaissance, to find the fields visited by flocks of birds. Make it easy to perevarivaya and soaring in large flocks of birds in the binoculars can be clearly seen.
Pay special attention to planted or are already harvested but not plowed fields, which grow or have grown the following crops (in order of preference): peas, sunflower, vetch, wheat, corn, rye, buckwheat, barley, millet, oats. Happy wood pigeon and rock pigeon visit and have just sown fields in the autumn with winter wheat or rye, surprisingly quickly finding the square and collecting badly patched in the ground grain. Even more, they love to feed on already germinated seedlings, pecking away at the swollen grain with sprouts than cause considerable harm to agriculture. Birds fly in such fields as long as the green winter crops will not grow up to a height of 4-5 cm.
Finding visited by flocks of pigeons, field and determining what part birds feed most often and what angle to fly the forest, build a hut on the path of flight and feeding. Requirements for tent and his cloak are the same as those for goose hunting, because, again, the pigeon is very watchful and cautious bird.
To build a temporary shelter in the fall just because of the building material abound. This is primarily unharvested straw, its shafts, stacks, and now the pellets, 3-4 a roll which you can roll along and more comfortable to hide between them. In the absence of straw, stick around yourself a dozen cut willow branches, securing them between bunches of grass, put in the center of the blind folding chair, set of effigies and observe the environment.
It is important that the tent was as low as possible, not much different from the surrounding terrain to the top for shooting in flight was open, and was located on the very edge of a jutting out into the field Nkosi or bushes. The best shelter, of course, will be excavated and camouflaged by all the rules of hole that will require additional time and effort.
Stuffed and profile put in 20-30 m from the shelter to the stubble and the most frequent departure of flocks of birds on the field. Put them up on mounds, heaps of earth, piles of straw, head in one direction, against the wind. If the crop still not harvested, and pigeons fly, for example, of sunflower or corn, you find a place with the fallen, broken, weighed down to the ground stems and put the stuffed animals on them, hiding nearby.
20-30 years ago, the sale was not stuffed pigeons, so had to do them yourself. I cut out the profile of birds of plywood, impregnated them with linseed oil, painted matte (no glare, which is very important), and instead of legs has pricipal copper or aluminum tube, in which are inserted the pegs. Effigies carved from basswood first, and then from a dense foam head birds do separately, which is convenient to carry. All these years Scarecrow and profile serve me on dove hunts, I prefer duck. During this hunt it is not necessary to go through the swamps in knee-high boots dripping with sweat and often meeting with colleagues of passion, exposing itself to the danger of being sprinkled with buckshot from excessively gambling hunter.
As for PPE (poludohlyh) doves, hunting them is much easier and domiciliee: seeing the person and nesting near their houses, they are not as shy as the wood pigeons. In forage fields near farms, elevators, villages sometimes fly flocks of thousands of these birds are responding well to the stuffed of its kind.
Shooting in flight is of considerable interest, arrow requires quick reactions, skill and gives a lot of positive emotions, as the flight of birds very quick and agile. If you don’t have stuffed animals, then, having obtained one or two pigeons smooth their feathers and tucking the wings will put the carcass in front of the hut, resting his head on the bottom with small sticks with a fork at the end.
Very often stuffed are attacked by hawks. Funny to see how dramatically flapping wings, flying over the stubble a hawk. Noticing the stuffed animals, spread its wings and making the arc a “combat turn”, he plans the attack on the prey and on the last metres, having exposed forward the yellow claws bites into the profile of one, two, three, and then, completely stunned and feeling the claws of the living, beating heat, thrown on the ground profile, and bulging yellow eyes, flies away.
So the day of the hunt is repeated more than once, and to add insult to injury, Goshawk trying to steal just fallen and still beating after the shot in the land of Viduta. So, the hunter, think fast! In my eyes, when hunting grouse with all the stuffed animals in the Vologda region old female Goshawk my friend Volodya had taken a rag stuffed grouse, standing on selinah.
In pigeons, like other birds and mammals, there are certain behavioral traits that a hunter can use to their advantage. So, it must be remembered that the wood pigeons, doves, and rock doves begin to fly into the feeding not at dusk and hour after dawn. Morning feeding continues until 10:00, rarely up to 11:00, followed by a break until 14:00 when the hunt is followed by a lull; then evening feeding until 17:00, until 01:00. Eating poultry with full grain goiters selected fly to the woods for the night.
Such places, usually located one or two kilometers from the forage fields on the hills among old spruce, less pine or deciduous forests, and stand out among the other plantings greater height of the stand. Under the canopy of “sleeping” fir-trees the grass is littered with the feathers of moulting birds. To find such a place – a great success for hunters, have some patience and endurance.
It is necessary to wait for the departure of birds to the evening feeding, to seat, to sit under the trees and shoot arriving for the night birds, which, as the saturation arrive separate in small groups, pairs and singly. However, this short-term hunting, it is possible to shoot only a day or two, as birds quickly oriented in the atmosphere and change the place overnight.
Interesting hunting doves at a waterhole, especially in the dry season. Observant hunter finds in the vicinity of the aft field a small pond, which arrive regularly fed the pigeons drink some water, makes the blind beside him. This is a small puddles, sand pits with pools of water, ponds, streams. It is important that the shore was no herbage, and gentle slopes.
Most, in my opinion, an exciting and interesting hunt wood pigeons with a blind approach. This method of extraction of birds from the hunter requires patience, observation, acute vision and hearing, and most importantly – a good orientation in the terrain. It is based on features of birds to monitor the environment only on top, but don’t look down, wondering what is under the trees on which they rest and put in order the molting plumage.
After spending the night, the wood pigeons fly to feed the field immediately, but first be sure to sit on “prisliste” trees. It is often clumps of fir trees, sometimes birches, aspens, pines, growing among the plantings in 100-300 m from the edge of the field, or into the edge of the field the trees on the edges of ravines, streams, distinguished by their height.
Arriving on the aft field patient hunter watching with binoculars for such clumps of trees, waiting for the approach and landing of individual or single flocks of wood pigeons, pinpoint the approximate distance to the birds from the edge of the field, birds of the compass or by visual characteristics of the trees in the landing site (dry trunks, branches, crooked trunk, broad crown, etc.). To go across a field straight at the birds easier, but they are alert and 200-300 m beginning to fly.
So I go as if to the side as long as the wall of the forest does not hide the hunter from dozens of watchful eyes. Rush does not make sense. Sitting on the spruce tops and the nearby branches, “grape” pigeons begin to clean feathers, pereporhnut from branch to branch, old males, remembering the spring, are even cooing. In General, behave quite noisy and sit at the chosen place for 20-30 minutes, if not disturbed the hawk screaming or the bottom of the mushroom.
Positives and carefully observe the situation on the fodder field, a careful wood pigeons fly at him. This occurs faster if the field already fed individual members of the pigeon tribe, or are stuffed. Deep in the forest, the hunter on the compass or “by eye” is trying to pass the planned distance, strictly adhering to pinpoint the directions and trying to identify in the forest set of field guidelines.
As you get closer to presage to move more wary, peering into the tree tops. If STO-len doves reliable assistant is a breeze and, of course, clothing, protective, color. The wind hides the noise from inadvertently chrostowska branches, and young trees and bushes close to the hunter from the prey. It is necessary to come as close as 20-30 m, and sometimes under the spruce, closing their trunks and crowns.
Sometimes it happens that some birds you suddenly noticed and flew off. It seems that flew the whole pack and STO-len has failed, but there are always two or three” lazy” birds that are hiding and to fly would not. At certain skill and caution STO-len is almost always successful, because the pigeons don’t watch what’s going on downstairs, but it is good to hear.
Sometimes you can take a shot two or three people sitting next to bird, and then shoot took off in a panic pigeons. Unfortunately, woods could not trace the flight of a wounded bird, but if she fell in the nettles near, then heard the noise of falling and flapping of wings that will help the hunter to find the trophy. Taking the prey, the hunter returns to the field and watch where you sit, the pigeons next time, starting the approach again. But you can stay in the shooting, if there is confidence that this constant prisada. At such places there is always litter and lots of feathers on the grass. After the shot, the pigeons arrive on the same trees or sit somewhere nearby fairly quickly. Hearing the noise of the landing of the pack, you can carefully start STO-len.
Pigeons start to fly at the field in mid-July, the time of earing of grain, and fly away in late September – early October. Mass migration to the suburbs occurs in late September – early October, then dove hunting is most attractive. Spring hunting is prohibited, as these birds raise their young in pairs.
Pigeons meat is flavorful, tender, and delicious in soup, in stew and in my opinion, much superior to duck and even a little dry meat grouse.
