Shooting Times & Country – 21 August 2019

Airgunning

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 33

“Someshooters

areadeptat luring

squirrelsoutfrom

coverwithsome

light conversation”

Mymagpiecallcouldnotbesimpler,nor

cheaper.It is anoldplastic35mmfilm

canister—forthosereaderswhoare

oldenoughtorememberthem

—filledwitha fewheavy

airgunpellets to create

a rattle.

Thiscallworksvery

wellwhendecoying

magpies,eitherwith

a fakenestorimitation

owl,duringthespring

monthswhentheyare

particularlyterritorial.

Myusualstrategyis toretire

tothehideandletthedecoy

arrangementdothework.

A swiftshakeoftherattleis often

requiredtosteertheattentionof

resident birds towards my trap.

A fewrattlesareusuallyenough

togeta response,afterwhichI tendto

mimictheclackandchatterofincoming

birdsuntilI thinktheyare

closeenoughtospotthe

decoyarrangement.

Aswithcrows,

it paystostopcalling

whenbirdsareclose

bybecauseyoudon’t

wanttodrawtheir

attentiontoyour

hidingplace.

Remembernottoleave

thiscallinthepocketof

yourhuntingjacket,too,

asit hasanannoyinghabit

ofrattlingwhenyoudon’twantit to

—usuallywhentryingtocreep within

range of skittish rabbits.

MAGPIES

Thecrowcallis probablytheone

I havebeenusingthelongestand

it canbeveryeffective.I havetried

a varietyovertheyearsbuthave

foundsomeofthecheapplastic

onessounda bittoosqueaky.

MichaelBellatCallsoftheWild

recentlymademea fantasticcrow

callfromAfricanblackwood,which

hasa realisticthroatycroak.By

blowingfromthebackofmythroat

andpronouncingthe“graw” ofa

crow,I canproducea convincing

call.Thisbrilliantpieceofkithas

helpedmetomakesomegreat

bagswiththeairrifleandshotgun.

Myusualapproachwithcrows

is tosetupa discreethidewithin

rangeoftheareatheyaretargeting

thenusedecoystolurethemback.

Theroleofthecallis simplytodraw

theattentionofpassingcrowsto

mydecoys,typicallybygivingit

threeorfourblasts.Oncecrows

haveclockedtheimitationbirds,

I ceasecallingbecausetoomuch

raspingrunstheriskofalerting

incoming corvids to my position.

CROWS

Themagpiecall’s

rattlecansteer

birds’attentionto

the decoy pattern

Mat’smagpiecalleris
a simplerattle,which
heshakestomimic
the birds’ chatter

Threeorfourblastsonthecallis

enough to lure in crows to decoys