Went Rooking on Sunday

[rosspti 2]

Got out Rooking with my best mate on Sunday. Scanned the farm for crows but it was unusually quiet. Eventually caught up with them hanging around on a big barn roof from which they were flitting to and from the growing barley.

 

This particular patch of barley was a neighbour's, and we didn't want to disturb the crop. Also figured that after one shot the hundreds would soon diperse from the barn roof!

 

Anyway between the hedge and the barley there was a 10 foot high earth bank with a post and barbed wire fence on the top of it. The otherside of the fence there was a deep ditch on the edge of the barley field.

 

Came up with the idea of hooking wire decoy cradles on to the fencing posts, five in a row, with a rook decoy on each one. This made it look like rooks were sitting on the fence posts looking in on the crop.

 

I hid down in the ditch, right below the decoys - and took them on the aproach. Not a huge bag, but we had 24 in two hours. Great fun, and will definately try the technique again! Only needed a few plastic decoys, and the trusty rook call to get me going. Then gradually replaced plastics with my dead birds.

 

I am sure it is common to put decoys on posts, etc. to draw attention to a pattern on the crop. However, this time we were actually decoying the rooks on to the posts. Birds were coming in to land on the posts along from our decoys - presumably hoping to sit and look at whatever they thought our decoys were looking at! The funny thing is that the posts are far enough apart so that the live ones couldn't inspect the dead ones up close, and were happy to sit there for ages.

Edited August 26, 2009 by rosspti

[muddy 6]

Great post mate! Sounds like you had fun.

[bedrock 16]

Good post mate well explained atb bedrock