Corvid Control and Calamities

With the spring drillings well under way, now’s the time to do battle with the black hordes. Will Edwards reveals his master plan, but will he emerge victorious?

- Will Edwards

Now that the game season is well and truly behind us we can all play a part in the essential role of pest control. This is not only a great way to help those who have run shoots this season (they will most likely be grateful for a hand after five months of entertaining teams of Guns), but also our farmers and landowners in general. Around about now, they start preparing the ground for the new spring drillings, so this is a mega moment to cull the bad dudes. By hitting them hard now, not only are we preventing future crop damage and the theft of expensive grain from feed hoppers next season, we are also stopping them dead before they have their own clutch of eggs and start rearing their young. And trust me, when there’s a nest full of the little critters, the parents will be desperately searching for food.

What you’ll need

Okay, so how do we go about it, and what are we going to need? The good news is that it won’t require much financial outlay from your pocket if you already shoot pigeons over decoys. The format is basically the same but we want to coax in the crows and rooks, so a dozen full-bodied, flock-coated crow decoys is all you’re going to need (if I can, I try to keep some shot birds back from a previous encounter to help a fellow Gun set up his decoy pattern). I like to place a couple on top of fence posts, even on a water trough or by a splash in the field if there’s one close to my hide; remember, they need to drink as well as feed. I’ll place the rest a few yards apart, informally dotted about and not all facing the same way. If you have a flapper with a random timer that’s a bonus as it will help catch the eye of these naturally inquisitive birds. So, when you have your first shot bird on the deck, it’s time to set it up. Remember that you’re always trying to set the scene to be as realistic as possible.