Starling Decoy? Will this work?

[SilentSquirrel]

I too have had this problem, I live on 10 acres just out of town and we have litterally thousands of starlings getting around at first I could get at them with my 177 springer at around 30 to 40 yards.

But that increased to 100 or so and I can't use a 22 just too many small farm's.

So I purchased a my first PCP a hatsan airmax .22 and it really shoots well with the new FX slugs and once I learned the trajectory I have accounted for many more.

But my tip is try using your phone with starling mating/ nesting calls played through a Bluetooth speaker!

I get random birds popping up in the tree tops well within range but combined with your decoys and food... Could be a real winner but yes a good quality PCP is needed

Starlings are survivors, so it comes as no surprise that they quickly learned your range & moved out of it.

My experience with them is that they also learn very quickly where you are shooting from.

Even if you shoot from indoors

As soon as the window slides open they are gone; and if the window is left open for a few hours they learn that too

I've been mixing it up by shooting from 1st floor, 2nd floor & side door

This catches them by surprise often; but then you still get one shot only & then then they scatter.

I must admit that the only reason I shoot starlings is that they eat up all the squirrel bait used to tempt the rodents away from the fruit trees & to their demise

Just my 2 cents

Ed

 

[badammo]

Starlings always have look outsi in nearby trees. They generally won't land on the ground unless the sentries are there. After a few get shot the sentries will have located your position.

Suet, old bread and apples are good bait. They seem to like the old apples under the tree. Using a camo mask and gloves help hide my face and hands.

They are wary and a challenge, but we'll worth the effort.

 

[Exitpupil]

Last spring before the tree's got leaf's I shot a starling that got hung up in the tree, about every starling that flew by and spotted that dead 1 swung in for a look at ther buddy and I was ready for them! Long story short I gathered the dead and froze some, later when I needed a decoy out came the fishing pole and I would cast 1 up in that tree!!! It worked to decoy some in!!! Call me crazy but it wrks for me!!! I was a bird taxidermist for a lot of yrs so have'n birds in a freezer is just part of being a hunter...

I do the same casting over a limb with crows, works great. Alarmed crows even announce their presence when it is time to go shoot.

The starlings will communicate a "no fly zone" quickly. I would let them feed unmolested for a few weeks to establish a feeding pattern and confidence, then pick off the last one about to leave so as to not train the murmuration. Bag up the deceased quickly before the word spreads.

I have corn in the yard year round for turkey and deer but the local crows will not land until I am gone on vacation for a few days. I see them flying around the house looking in the windows regularly to see if anyone is home. Migrating crows don't know the local no fly zones and get eliminated from the gene pool.

 

[Calbarry]

At Halloween, the Dollar Store has mini ravens. They are the same size as Starlings. I bought a dozen of them and painted the beaks yellow. They're cheap and they work. 

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

Getting a single crow decoy may work to attract them. Set up the crow on a short roost and have higher roosts around the crow for the starlings to land on, to keep the starlings landing there to attack that decoy. They are a bit predatory in that sense and you can use it to your advantage.

 

[Hoytwon]

They definitely know the no fly zone that 1 hanging in the tree gets the better of them sometimes!

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

Nice decoy Brian. I wonder if having a group might be better. They may feel safer if they see a group. Starlings are very smart for sure. In the spring they come to check all cavities for nesting and I always get a few at the flicker boxes. I’m thinking about putting up more boxes in the spring just to lure them in. This could also be the perfect excuse/reason to buy a long range .177 and a high magnification scope so you can reach them!

Yes I have two at the moment, going to put one on the ground near the feeder and one on a perch near by, see if they work at all. Might buy more as well. Unfortunately at my current property I cant take shots at them when they are in neighbors trees or far away lol

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

I like the looks of your large feathered ones. There are some listed in ebay that are probably closer to correct size, but don't have the detail the feathered ones have.

I think I'll try some.

Yeah I might give those solid plastic ones a try as well, just testing. Figured the feathered ones might appear more life like given the feathers will blow in the wind. 



And yeah I have seen that fella's YouTube vid of him using soda cans and black socks. Skeptical on that working for me, he was already on a farm that the starlings fed at regularly. Mine have yet to ever land. Could be worth a shot, nice and cheap to test.

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

Last spring before the tree's got leaf's I shot a starling that got hung up in the tree, about every starling that flew by and spotted that dead 1 swung in for a look at ther buddy and I was ready for them! Long story short I gathered the dead and froze some, later when I needed a decoy out came the fishing pole and I would cast 1 up in that tree!!! It worked to decoy some in!!! Call me crazy but it wrks for me!!! I was a bird taxidermist for a lot of yrs so have'n birds in a freezer is just part of being a hunter...

Lmao thats funny af, unfortunately I have libtard neighbors atm and casting dead birds into trees wont go over too well  

If and when I kill one I will def keep him frozen and use him for a decoy. And or pluck some feathers to make a more realistic one.

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

I too have had this problem, I live on 10 acres just out of town and we have litterally thousands of starlings getting around at first I could get at them with my 177 springer at around 30 to 40 yards.

But that increased to 100 or so and I can't use a 22 just too many small farm's.

So I purchased a my first PCP a hatsan airmax .22 and it really shoots well with the new FX slugs and once I learned the trajectory I have accounted for many more.

But my tip is try using your phone with starling mating/ nesting calls played through a Bluetooth speaker!

I get random birds popping up in the tree tops well within range but combined with your decoys and food... Could be a real winner but yes a good quality PCP is needed

Very interesting, I think I will give the speaker a try along with the decoys! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

I too have had this problem, I live on 10 acres just out of town and we have litterally thousands of starlings getting around at first I could get at them with my 177 springer at around 30 to 40 yards.

But that increased to 100 or so and I can't use a 22 just too many small farm's.

So I purchased a my first PCP a hatsan airmax .22 and it really shoots well with the new FX slugs and once I learned the trajectory I have accounted for many more.

But my tip is try using your phone with starling mating/ nesting calls played through a Bluetooth speaker!

I get random birds popping up in the tree tops well within range but combined with your decoys and food... Could be a real winner but yes a good quality PCP is needed

Starlings are survivors, so it comes as no surprise that they quickly learned your range & moved out of it.

My experience with them is that they also learn very quickly where you are shooting from.

Even if you shoot from indoors

As soon as the window slides open they are gone; and if the window is left open for a few hours they learn that too

I've been mixing it up by shooting from 1st floor, 2nd floor & side door

This catches them by surprise often; but then you still get one shot only & then then they scatter.

I must admit that the only reason I shoot starlings is that they eat up all the squirrel bait used to tempt the rodents away from the fruit trees & to their demise

Just my 2 cents

Ed

Tricky birds, I like the challenge. I shoot from second floor through a tree so the tree branches provide me some visual cover and I keep the room dark. I haven't even had them land yet. If and when I attract them I will keep an eye out for how they learn my range.

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

Starlings always have look outsi in nearby trees. They generally won't land on the ground unless the sentries are there. After a few get shot the sentries will have located your position.

Suet, old bread and apples are good bait. They seem to like the old apples under the tree. Using a camo mask and gloves help hide my face and hands.

They are wary and a challenge, but we'll worth the effort.

Very interesting, Im getting excited now on my quest to attract and wack em

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

Last spring before the tree's got leaf's I shot a starling that got hung up in the tree, about every starling that flew by and spotted that dead 1 swung in for a look at ther buddy and I was ready for them! Long story short I gathered the dead and froze some, later when I needed a decoy out came the fishing pole and I would cast 1 up in that tree!!! It worked to decoy some in!!! Call me crazy but it wrks for me!!! I was a bird taxidermist for a lot of yrs so have'n birds in a freezer is just part of being a hunter...

I do the same casting over a limb with crows, works great. Alarmed crows even announce their presence when it is time to go shoot.

The starlings will communicate a "no fly zone" quickly. I would let them feed unmolested for a few weeks to establish a feeding pattern and confidence, then pick off the last one about to leave so as to not train the murmuration. Bag up the deceased quickly before the word spreads.

I have corn in the yard year round for turkey and deer but the local crows will not land until I am gone on vacation for a few days. I see them flying around the house looking in the windows regularly to see if anyone is home. Migrating crows don't know the local no fly zones and get eliminated from the gene pool.

Jezzzz, this might be harder than I thought. Going to be hard to let them feed unmolested for weeks thats for sure lol. I will try my best, thanks for the tips!

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

Getting a single crow decoy may work to attract them. Set up the crow on a short roost and have higher roosts around the crow for the starlings to land on, to keep the starlings landing there to attack that decoy. They are a bit predatory in that sense and you can use it to your advantage.

Interesting, I'll see what I can come up with.

 

[bubblerboy64]

Interesting. I see them landing in flocks in the fields if there is feed available. I get them nesting and feeding young. I rarely get a shot at one on the ground. Most of the ones I get are invading my friends purple Martin houses.

All of these birds. Crows starlings and pigeons are pretty hard to hunt. I think you have to be pretty well commoed or back some considerable distance.

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

Thoughts on the second one? I think its only slightly larger than a starling, looks bigger in the pics I feel

 

[HeyU]

Should be fine.I don't think they'll notice or are quit as bais as us,sad I know,lol. You should look into tempting the quarry with the oppisite sex. Tried and true. Let me pass on a day in the life of mwaw. I shot a starling out of a tree. I took that bird and set him in the yard with a little twig with a Y propped under it's throat. With-in minutes another landed near the decoy. Repeat,repeat, repeat.It got easier because since the decoys did not instantly fly away the others were not alarmed. Crowd mentality I guess. The males were even trying to mate with the decoys. Unhappy ending for them,to say the least,lol. Time flew by,an hour or so, and I went inside for a snack. When returned the buzzards had shredded and ate all my decoys.

 

[greenterror]

One use of a starling as a decoy by Ted, the founder of Airgun Nation forums, and a good guy.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBg_NroPXSo

the vid does play, and I'm sure most of us have seen it.

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

Should be fine.I don't think they'll notice or are quit as bais as us,sad I know,lol. You should look into tempting the quarry with the oppisite sex. Tried and true. Let me pass on a day in the life of mwaw. I shot a starling out of a tree. I took that bird and set him in the yard with a little twig with a Y propped under it's throat. With-in minutes another landed near the decoy. Repeat,repeat, repeat.It got easier because since the decoys did not instantly fly away the others were not alarmed. Crowd mentality I guess. The males were even trying to mate with the decoys. Unhappy ending for them,to say the least,lol. Time flew by,an hour or so, and I went inside for a snack. When returned the buzzards had shredded and ate all my decoys.

Awesome!


Ill definitely try to decoy with real birds if I can wack some 

 

[Brian_D_Smith]

One use of a starling as a decoy by Ted, the founder of Airgun Nation forums, and a good guy.









https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBg_NroPXSo







the vid does play, and I'm sure most of us have seen it.

Yeah I’ve seen every single vid of his multiple times lol. Watching his vids back when I graduated high school in 2010 is what got me into this hobby. I bought a marauder and a hand pump and got quickly turned off cause of tank prices and got super sick of hand pumping so I’ve gone all this time not shooting, then last year sparrows decided to take over the nests in my area and I decided to deal with them. So I got a hw95L and cleaned house. Then I got turned on to the gauntlet by Hajimoto and here I am back into the hobby balls deep with a new gun, tank, scope cam etc trying to attract anything and everything I can legally shoot lol 



I didn’t know he founded this forum, that’s cool. Love his vids! Wish he posted more. I just came over to this forum, I was using GTA but this one seems much more active.