66 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
M.
MANNING
Withskittishponiesruling outthe useofa shotgun,Mat Manning
picksup his FAC-rated .22 air rifl e for a hushed-up corvid shoot
T
hecrowsinmylocality
appeartohavehada very
goodbreedingseason.
This,coupledwitha serious
layoffinpestcontrolintheweeks
betweentherevocationoftheold
generallicencesandtheintroduction
ofnewones,meansa lotoffarmsare
swarmingwiththesefeatheredpests.
Theimpactofsomanycorvidsis
cleartosee.Songbirdsarenoticeably
lessplentifulkintheareaswhere
crows,magpiesandtherestofthe
mob are most abundant, and the
farmswheremassgatheringsof
corvidshavebeendroppingintofeed
arecakedinwhitedroppings.
Onefarminparticularwashitvery
hardbyflocksofcrowsdescending
ontosilageclampsandintotheyard
totakecattlefeed.I managedtomake
somebigbagswiththeshotgunin
June.Myvisitsmadea bigdifference,
butwerecutshortwhensomeflighty
poniesweremovedintoanadjacent
field,rulingoutthenoisy12-bore.
Thebulkofthecrowshadeither
been dealt with or had backed away,
buta steadytrickleofbirdswas
continuingtomakeraidsonthefarm.
Iknewtheactivitywouldattract
others,whichwouldinturnbringin
evenmore,andtheplacewouldvery
likelybeinundatedagainbeforelong.
Reluctanttoseemyprevious
effortsgotowaste,I decidedtotry
a sessionwithanairrifle. It would
bequietenoughtouseinrelatively
closeproximitytotheponiesandI
reckonedI couldpersuadea fewbirds
topitchwithinrange.AsI needed
static targets, I had to shift my hide to
Crow
control
on the
quiet