Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

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