NITEHAWK Clear View Camo Hunting Hide Net 4m x 1.5m Pigeon Shooting Net

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Mat doesn’t hang around, as he wants to get the decoys in place without being spotted by his quarry. With the imitation birds in position, he slips into his hide ready to make his final preparations before any crows start to arrive. Most imitation owls will wind up corvids during the spring and summer months, but ones with really piercing eyes seem to aggravate them the most. What is important is to set up the decoy in a prominent spot where passing birds won’t fail to miss it.

Additional info: Crows are sharp-eyed and very wary of man. Getting within range usually takes a high level of fieldcraft and concealment. Mat uses his caller to replicate the calls of the first crow when the owl decoy initially caught its attention. A reply comes after a few minutes and Mat keeps calling until the bird is within sight, and then stops immediately. The incoming crow is now close enough to see the decoys, so Mat leaves it to them to coax it in closer. It pays not to get too flustered when corvids gather like this. Don’t be tempted to take chancy shots at birds that pitch into trees at the limits of your effective range, as you will account for more if you hold your nerve and wait for easier opportunities. I use between five and eight poles and multiple nets to provide a good-sized, natural and strong hide. I don’t go over the top space but I like to be able to move comfortably and, most importantly, be able to move my feet. Natural hide Your shooting window follows the same principle as the door, in that it should be just large enough for your needs, and no larger. Sighting through your scope, make sure you can cover the most popular branches on the sitty tree and snip away just enough foliage to allow clear shots. I then tie on a sturdy section of branch to the base of my window to act as a rest for my rifle during aiming. I can’t stress enough how important it is to make the shot as clinical and straightforward as possible, and I do everything I can to make dropping each bird a formality.If you are going to shoot from a seated position, your choice of seat is important. I see so many shooters with the wrong seat – and, especially, the wrong height of seat, which is absolutely crucial. It is key that your seat is set at a height that ensures that your knees are below your hips when you are seated. This will allow you to stand comfortably, slowly and correctly to shoot. In this, the second part of my hide-hunting feature, I’ll explain the system that has worked for me these past 20 years and more. I’ve been hunting for many more years than 20, though, so you can immediately see that I spent a huge amount of time trying all sorts of methods that were nowhere near as successful as the ones I use now. The whole point of this feature is for me to pass on what all those years of experience, and my many, many failures, have taught me, so you learn from my mistakes and save yourselves a whole lot of time. I tend to use a spade to level the ground if it’s not level. It’s important to have a comfortable standing that allows you to move your feet nicely.

Carry on attaching those smaller branches until you have a network of twigs that will support the hide’s final covering. Don’t worry about making a door or windows at this stage, these can be cut out later. Another important aspect is to try and maximise the extent to which you can see incoming birds without being seen. Any movement or a flash of a face is easily spotted by birds. By using multiple nets you can create visibility spots through the net, which means you can sit in your hide watching comfortably and not constantly having to bob your head up over the hide, which is guaranteed to put off approaching birds. Mat almost always uses a beanbag seat for hide shooting. Filled with polystyrene balls, the bag doesn’t just improve comfort, but also makes for a stable sitting position, which really helps when you need to settle the crosshairs on aim. Mat places his decoy owl on a patch of short grass in a clearing about 25 metres from his hide. It is a relatively open area of woodland that should make it easy for passing corvids to spot the intruder. For decoys to work properly, you need to place them in an area where the pests you are targeting are already active. It is all about knowing your ground and the habits of the birds that live and feed there.I believe it’s really important to make yourself comfortable throughout your hide-shooting sessions. You’ll be more relaxed, more successful and you’ll definitely get more enjoyment from your hide hunting. Many shooters cause themselves problems when shooting from a
hide purely because the hide set-up
is wrong. If this happens, it can actually end up being a hindrance as opposed to an advantage. All members of the corvid family are notoriously sly, which can make it very difficult to get within striking distance of them. However, despite supplementing their diet with the contents of other birds’ nests, crows and their cousins become extremely protective of their own territories during the spring and summer nesting season. This is a trait that can be used against them.