# Pigeon Hunting



## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

Anyone hunt Pigeons in ND? I know a lot of times farmers want them removed from Barns and stuff. In CT I use to get in between the flyways and shoot a couple and set the dead ones up as decoys. Then it seemed like you could not keep the other pigeons out. They decoyed really nice! Anyway just wondering what kind of Pigeon hunting opportunities there are.


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

I prefer the clay ones!!  Not much for pigeons in our area. a few here and there but it would be tough to find enough in one area to justify a hunt. Unless you can find a way to hunt on top of the Wells Fargo building in downtown Minot!! :lol:


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

Shuxx! Nothing like Garlic Butter Pigeon.


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

We'll shoot them for target practice but I've neve actually tried eating one...I've heard they're pretty good??? We usually go to grain bins that have the top off them and sometimes they'll just be loaded full of pigeons. They come "flushing" out the top very similar to any other game bird. It's a lot of fun. We still haven't got an all white one...YET. This could be our year. :beer:


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

I went to school in Chicago for 4 years and I always wondered how many of those things got eaten by the homeless. I never really knew anyone else ate them. They really taste good!!!????


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## BRYAN_REMER (Sep 24, 2003)

At least once a year we have pigeons buzz us when we are in the field. We usually let keep flying until we are ready to pick up, and I would be damned if everytime I shoot at the flock I get a double.  I don't know why I can't do that everytime a flock of ducks or geese come in. :roll:


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

you do hit em especially if you flock shoot...its just ducks and geese are a little harder to kill than pigeons


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## Guest (Mar 11, 2004)

Man, I've probably killed more pigeons than anyone in Wisconsin. I trainedmy dog to retrieve pigeons while laying at the foothole of my Finisher. The real pigeon trophy is a red hued with white wingtips!!
We shoot some from the silo's, then lay the dead out with cardboard silo's, lay in our blinds, and practice as though we were really hunting. They can't get enough of the "decoys", especially in harsh weather!!


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## stolenbase (Aug 23, 2003)

oh yah i hunt pigeons all the time! I have great success. The key to cooking them is to put the pieces back together and make sure you scrape off the blaze orange. :lol: seriously it sounds kinda fun ACTUALLY hunting pigeons...ive never even really heard of people doing it in ND.


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## Wood Duck (Mar 22, 2002)

I've had some great pigeon shoots the last few winters. Someone mentioned getting an all white one... well I got one of those this winter. I had a few opportunities to shoot pigeons as they came pouring out of a silo, load and shoot as fast as you can untill you run out of birds. this only works on dumb pigeons that havent been shot up before, after they get blasted a few times they all come out in one big flurry and the shooting is'nt near as good. 
For the off season I call it the PC Patrol...pigeons and crows. I honestlywould rather havea good crow shoot (say 15-20 birds) than shoot a limit of ducks. Its also a lot more challening to outsmart crows than ducks.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

I know a few that put traps out to catch pigeons and then basically one guy releases the bird and shoots it and the other guy sends the dog after it. Great training tool. Then you can freeze them for reuse.

#1waterfowler do you do shoot them in WI? I am in Forest Jct right now and I have been seeing a bunch. Also saw about 200 crows in Grant/WI Rapids area.

As far as eating them they are also known as Squab in the fancy restaurants. As long as they are eating grain and other good things then they are fine to eat. Alot probably depends on the time of year and weather conditions.

I guess I love they way those suckers decoy! They just drop down like tired migrating honkers. Cupped and committed.

Dblkluk we may have to do some Operation Pigeon Trap and Move. Of course they would probably just return back to Wells Fargo. I know a lot of business would appreciate you getting rid of those pesky pigeons

One other thing I use so know this guy that would shoot these pigeons, some would be banded, he would find out who the owners were and send them the band enclosed in a shotgun hull. I wonder how many people he ****** off. I have shot one banded pigeon. It would not fit on my lanyard though!


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Awww yes, good ol' pidgies.... 

If you see a grain bin and there's a pidgeon on top there's usually a lot more inside.

Give the bin a kick and they'll all fly out single file...the rest is up to you. 8)


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

I don't think i could ever appreciate the taste of a pigeon...it would be right up there with rat to me...but the hawks sure like em. A couple years ago I was plugging away in my office and wak....a pigeon smoked my window fell on the sidewalk flopping around and a hawk swooped down and started picking this dudes brains out while he was still alive. It was actually a little disturbing, but such is nature. I let him do his business right outside my window. I didn't realize how much blood is inside those things...crazy.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

I guess I will have to host the first ever Minot pigeon fry!


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## stolenbase (Aug 23, 2003)

sounds good to me!


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2004)

Going on a pigeon shoot this Sunday. Birds should work well in WI, sounds like crappy weather will keep them in the decoys. Good practice for the dog for the upcoming snow shoot.
Listen to this, I catch pigeons at night, they're dumb as rocks in the dark. Anyways, I catch them but cats always seem to get to them in their cage. Wish I could've bred them, then the babies would've stayed around home!!!  :sniper:


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 1:23 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



> I guess I will have to host the first ever Minot pigeon fry!


 I'll bring the beer! :beer:


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## torf (Mar 11, 2002)

I like using Chris's method for pigeons. Throw something at a grain bin and let 'em have it. It gets pretty crazy when you empty your gun and try reload before they're all gone. Even if some fly away you can just wait by the bin and they usually come back in 5-10 minutes for round two. :sniper:


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

For ALL of us that never went through the depression. My grandparents tell of the neighbors all getting together in the Fall and going through one barn each night in search of....you guessed it.....pigeons. Like you said they could be easily taken off the roost at night and butchered. I put one in a crockpot one time with a bunch of doves. They taste just like a big dove. (just a one time experiment). Anyway, hope none of us has to hunt for them in barns in the future. They used to shoot pheasants by having the wives drive pick-ups and the men would shoot hens and roosters over the top of the cab....100 at a time would not be unusual. Canned pheasant anyone. I guess you might do anything if you were hungry enough.


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## Militant_Tiger (Feb 23, 2004)

who in gods name would be hungry if you could kill 100 phesants at a time? and what depression was this pickup driving exactly? i dont seem to remember a cheby in any of my grandpas old stories.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

Whats a Cheby???

FH is right. My grandparents came over on the boat. You would eat what you could get. I know some of the old Italians that still eat the starlings. This one guy would set a trap (a giant coup) in his back yard and when it would fill up with them he would go into it with a tennis racket and start swinging. He made some for us one time. Cooked them in spaghetti sauce. I would not hesitate to eat them again. Hell people eat crows these days.


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## christopher (Mar 25, 2004)

I enjoy a good pigoen bake :sniper:


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## Blake Hermel (Sep 10, 2002)

Commandments of "Pigeons Unlimited", a group of college students that hunt pigeons in the summer, and whose job it is to protect the pigeoon population through good practices:

Pigeon Hunters creed-

1. Thow shall not step on laid eggs in a bin.
2. Thow shall not shoot birds that cannot fly.
3. Thow shall not show anyone else your newly discovered bins unless that person is apart of our club.
4. Thow shall uncap any questionable bins for future production.
5. Thow shall not hunt on windy days that can deter ones shooting ability.
6. Thow shall shoot 4 shot or higher.
7. Thow shall abide by these rules while scouting for any other fowl.


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## Guest (Mar 31, 2004)

Man, I should be a member of this group's board, or at least, how you sign up??? You have to go to college? If so, I say we make one here!!! :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: uke:


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## Fetch (Mar 1, 2002)

I've never ate one - But I'd guess they are a lot like doves & they are excellent

http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=slv1- ... -8&p=Squab


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## stevepike (Sep 14, 2002)

Pluck them (don't skin). Salt and pepper inside and out, shove a piece of onion and a little butter inside the body cavity. Wrap with tinfoil and put on the grill for about 25-30 minutes. Serve with cold beer.

They are pretty good. Grain fed pigeons from the country are way different than LA or NYC pigeons.


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## Fetch (Mar 1, 2002)

I would guess there is a lot more meat than a dove  Even all the dang pigeons in GF mainly eat spilled grain along all the railroad tracks

It is funny how somethings have got such a stigma to them

I hate that Fear Factor show & applaud those that say forget it & walk on some of the nasty stuff they ask them to eat

Just reminds me how stupid some can be over Money :eyeroll:

I don't know about pigeon skin though - wouldn't bacon be better wrapped around the cut out breast ??? - sure is good on Doves


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## Harsnd2 (Apr 5, 2004)

Idea of dragging ground blind, dog and setting up decoys for pigeons sounds like fun. I am sure it would make for main topic of evening at local bar. 
Full body Pigeons Decoys http://www.autolifeinc.com/index.html 
Pigeon hunting tips http://www.outdoorsite.com/site/index.cfm click on Hunting then go to article on The Anytime Birds
Hars


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2004)

Like I said, I do it all the time with the two of my only hunting . It's great training for the dog when she lies at the end of my lay out blind. She gets to mark out all the birds that fall, multiple retrieves.


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## PJ (Oct 1, 2002)

You gotta luv it!!


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## Guest (May 7, 2004)

Ooooo I can't wait, tomarrow this time I'll be rakeing down some pigeons breaking in my new Extremma. Anyone ever see what a 3 1/2" will do to a pigeon??!!! :lol: It'll be good to get the dog out again, remind her how to act when fieldhunting outta my blind.


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## Goldy's Pal (Jan 6, 2004)

3 and a halfs at a pigeon?? Why?? I stand around the old silos myself now and then just to get out and blow the dust off things. I just shoot some 2 and 3/4 lead shot at em'. If they don't fall it sure isn't the guns' or ammos' fault. :roll:


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## Guest (May 8, 2004)

Nah, I'll just be blowing 5 boxes of 3 1/2" shell through the new gun to break it in. They say shooting 2 boxes of heavy rounds through an extrema is the normal break in period.

Of course, if a pigeon happens to fly into our cardboard silouettes while I'm in my blind, then I'll have to take action!!! :lol: :sniper:


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