Hides and seek

Peter Theobald reflects on how decoying has evolved over the years, as well as his approach, the equipment at his disposal and the behaviour of the birds

- Peter Theobald

It is well known among decoyers what an adaptable bird the woodpigeon is. It is happy to live in any environment that is within easy flying distance of arable farmland. It is equally at home in suburban gardens as it is in the open countryside. It is the supreme opportunist, able to take advantage of practically every crop the farmer may plant at some stage in its growth. This is why it remains the farmer’s number one pest, causing millions of pounds worth of damage every year.

This is where we, the decoyer, enter the scene, providing the farmer with a free pest-control service, trying to reduce numbers. We are fortunate, indeed, that woodies are fantastic to eat, but also provide one of the best wing shooting challenges of any bird that flies.

Change

So what, if anything, has changed, in the pursuit of pigeons over the 50-plus years that I have been pitting my wits against them? In the early days, certainly before they became urbanised, woodies would generally be much more wary than they are now. Maybe it was because my fieldcraft was not up to scratch, but I paid much more attention to hide building and decoy placement than I do nowadays. Hides would be built from natural material found on-site, with every effort made to blend it in with the surroundings. Decoy patterns were kept tidy, with any shot bird lying on its back picked up immediately and added to the layout. Even so, pigeons would routinely ignore my set-up, to land elsewhere.