Bird Trapping

[Hoodoo]

Well...for some reason Tone made me moderator of this forum. Initially I thought Tone was a pretty level-headed guy but I guess now I may have to revise my opinion.

So to start out I thought I would post this information I culled from an old book written by George Herter. According to Herter, this technique originated in England so I thought maybe some of you here might be familiar with it and can critique it.

From Herter's Professional Guide's Manual vol. II:


SURVIVAL METHOD OF CATCHING PHEASANTS, PARTRIDGE, GROUSE AND QUAIL WITH ONLY MATERIALS OF NATURE
Take a piece of tree bark such as birch bark or the smooth inner bark of most any tree. Make a cone from it like an ice cream cone or a little larger. Hold the cone together with a piece of twig, wood or vine. Smear fresh sticky tree resin on the inside of the cone. Fill the end of the cone with the seeds or grain that the birds you desire feed on. Lay a trail of seeds or grain up to the cone. Place the cone in a place the birds frequent. Pheasant, grouse, partridge, or quail will feed on the trail of seeds or grain up to the cone and then will reach for the seeds in the end of the cone. The sticky resin will stick to their head feathers and hold the cone onto their head. They will not struggle but will just sit and not move at all. You can walk right up to them and kill them.

This cone trick of getting game birds originated in England. Poachers have used it for centuries. Today they make the cones from paper and glue a one inch strip of fiy paper inside of the cone to stick on the bird's head feathers. A good poacher in two weeks' time can get every game bird in the area he puts his cones out in.

 

[Keith_Beef]

SURVIVAL METHOD OF CATCHING PHEASANTS, PARTRIDGE, GROUSE AND QUAIL WITH ONLY MATERIALS OF NATURE
Take a piece of tree bark such as birch bark or the smooth inner bark of most any tree. Make a cone from it like an ice cream cone or a little larger. Hold the cone together with a piece of twig, wood or vine. Smear fresh sticky tree resin on the inside of the cone. Fill the end of the cone with the seeds or grain that the birds you desire feed on. Lay a trail of seeds or grain up to the cone. Place the cone in a place the birds frequent. Pheasant, grouse, partridge, or quail will feed on the trail of seeds or grain up to the cone and then will reach for the seeds in the end of the cone. The sticky resin will stick to their head feathers and hold the cone onto their head. They will not struggle but will just sit and not move at all. You can walk right up to them and kill them.

This cone trick of getting game birds originated in England. Poachers have used it for centuries. Today they make the cones from paper and glue a one inch strip of fiy paper inside of the cone to stick on the bird's head feathers. A good poacher in two weeks' time can get every game bird in the area he puts his cones out in.

That brings back memories of reading "Danny, the Champion of the World"!

I'm sure the cone technique is described in there.
Another technique is raisins and horsehair. Cut horsehair into 3/4" lengths and push them through raisins. The bird pecks up the raisin, which sticks in its throat. Teh bird just stands there, bobbing its head up and down trying to work the raisin down... and you just grab it.

There's a third technique, but it involves sleeping tablets...

Keith.

 

[Stuart]

dont forget pricking a whole bunch of raisns and soaking them in rum!!!

then they just get drunk and fall over!!

you have to have rum first though obviously :-D

 

[bigjackbrass]

you have to have rum first though obviously :-D

Having the rum isn't the problem. Sharing the rum with the damn birds is the problem...

 

[Roving Rich]

Hi Hoodoo, Just about every kid knew that tecnique from Roahl Dahls childrens classic Danny the Champion of the world. I never took it seriously though, I may have to go and try it.....
Rich

 

[Hoodoo]

Thanks Rich. I will have to find that story. Now my question is: does it work or is it one of those things that gets repeated to the point that people just assume it works? Anyone here who has actually tried it?

 

[Roving Rich]

Hoodoo, Danny t.c.o.t.w is also out as a movie starring Jeremy Irons
Cheers
Rich

 

[mike the pike]

Hey Rich,if you do decide to give that method of pheasant procurement a go i've got a tip for you,wear your running shoes!Trouble is where you would find pheasants on a regular basis(and in numbers worth trying that method,or a baited hook or snare) there's normally a gamekeeper watching out and these methods normally involve you leaving them and returning a short while later.I've never tried these methods(or done any other poaching )but i'm sure they all work.If you want an unusual method of coming by rabbits, pheasants or other small game then check this site out www.geocities.com/blowgunhunter/ .This method really does work,but it's probably illegal,but in a survival situation....Cheers Mike

 

[ally]

Another method is to thread the food over a length of cotton (etc), mrs birdy eats away until she gets to the end of the cotton securely fixed somewhere sensible patiently waiting for a smack around the back off the 'ead

bless her.......

 

[Tony]

not sure if this should be here or in Fair Game :yikes: :biggthump

 

[Keith_Beef]

Hey Rich,if you do decide to give that method of pheasant procurement a go i've got a tip for you,wear your running shoes!Trouble is where you would find pheasants on a regular basis(and in numbers worth trying that method,or a baited hook or snare) there's normally a gamekeeper watching out and these methods normally involve you leaving them and returning a short while later.I've never tried these methods(or done any other poaching )but i'm sure they all work.If you want an unusual method of coming by rabbits, pheasants or other small game then check this site out www.geocities.com/blowgunhunter/ .This method really does work,but it's probably illegal,but in a survival situation....Cheers Mike

That site was down, for having exceeded the allowed data transfer...

You can read the first page here, in Google's cache:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ca...nhunter/+blowgunhunter&hl=en&start=1&ie=UTF-8



Keith.

 

[Tony]

it's quite cool. I wonder if it deserves it's own thread :sword:

 

[clcuckow]

when I was a kid I made a blowpipe out of my landing net (after watching a Charlie Bronson film) and shot 2" nails into our wooden garage. I got quite good until I got busted by my parents ;-)

 

[TheViking]

dont forget pricking a whole bunch of raisns and soaking them in rum!!!

Must it be strong, for example Stroh 80%??

Sharing the rum with the damn birds is the problem...

No... Just 'borrow' some of mama's and pappa's! ):

Has anybody tried the fish-hook method??

 

[steve a]

For the cone method and many more ways of taking Longtails and other Game, fish, rabbit etc. a very good read is Ian nialls 'the poachers handbook'
or the reprint 'the new poachers handbook' .
Great read and very entertaining.

 

[Ed]

For the cone method and many more ways of taking Longtails and other Game, fish, rabbit etc. a very good read is Ian nialls 'the poachers handbook'

An even better one (as far as I'm concerned) is G.Bedson's 'The Notorious Poacher' which goes some way to correct mistakes/misconceptions which are in 'The (New) Poachers Handbook' (unfortunatly the author takes great pleasure in doing this). It covers the same sort of things, but with more prints and a few diagrams of nets.... oh and a lovely last chapter entitled 'Making Profitable Use of the Countryside' .....

A classic read.

Ed

 

[rapidboy]

A guy i went to school with used to use small fishing hooks baited with bread and attached to a house brick via a length of fishing line to catch feral pigeon's for his ferrets.
I made him a board with some mouse traps neatly screwed to it.
Covered with bread it caught starlings and sparrows ,again for the ferrets.
Not really very sporting but he lived in the centre of town and using airgun's was not an option.
RB

 

[Realgar]

I don't like the idea of the fishhook method except as a survival tool. Another variant is to tie a piece of bacon fat to a string, tether the string and the bait to the ducks, the first should eat it and it will pass through quickly leaving the bird threaded, another duck then eats it and the same happens...

again - cruel but better than starving.

How long does it take for a pigeon to get under the influence of rum - I have visions of them flapping off and colliding with trees.

 

[Ed]

I agree. The methos above are SURVIVAL methods of catching birds. Catching birds in these ways in the UK is illegal and would get you introuble with the law. Many poachers have used these methods to great effect and most have paid heavily for it...... do not do it


Ed

 

[bushwacker bob]

has anyone tried building an old english crabbit type cage trap as shown in mr Mears coffe table book?