# Trapping/Catching Pigeons?



## Terrabus (Jul 7, 2004)

I've always heard pigeon is good eatin' and I wanna get me some, but there's gotta be a way to trap them so I don't blast one to pieces with a shotgun. Anybody have any experience with this? Plus, pigeons are in our downtown and there's no reason to leave them all for the hawk who hunts that area. I could get on a roof and trap all day long, prolly. 

I was thinking a big old pole with a net at the end, but if I could put a trap of some kind for them to go into, it would be better.


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## tn_junk (Nov 28, 2006)

You can buy commercial traps, or make a very simple box trap. Pigeons ain't real bright. 

The Pigeon that people most often eat is "squab", which is very young pigeon. Older pigeons can be tough and a little gamey tasting. Best way to fix them, at least for me, is to chop an onion, little garlic, black pepper, butter and wrap the breast with the preceding in aluminum foil and cook on a campfire (or in an oven). I never fool with anything but the breast.
Place I fish and camp a lot has many pigeons roosting in a couple of bridges. So if we get no trout, we have pigeon for dinner (thanks to my fishing buddy, who is deadly with a pellet pistol).

alan


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## Terrabus (Jul 7, 2004)

Thanks for the info. I'm so new to all of this. My dad and I only hunted together twice. The second time hunting by myself, I got my first rabbit. It was my only one. I'm looking to sort of hang around a hunter to get some training. It'll be interesting wringing their necks and cleaning them for the first time. But, I like to eat. :1pig:

Looks like I'll have to make my own. I'll keep you updated.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I'm planning on buying some pigeons soon, and needed a way to transport them, so I threw together a wire cage. I also happened to have an extra "one way door", so I used it on one end.

A couple of days after I made it, my neighbor came by and asked if I had a pigeon trap, because he had been seeing a large flock of pigeons in a field by his house. He said I was welcome to try and trap them if I wanted to

That was a week ago, and I've had 9 pigeons enter the trap, and I've managed to get 7 of them into my coop. The first one I lost was killed by a fox that checked the trap before I did, and the other one managed to get back out on it's own.

http://www.gundogsonline.com/bird-supplies/pigeon-house-door.html

This is the door I used, and it works really well. You could possibly build one, but after seeing these, I decided it would be far easier than making one. It can be locked open also.

I havent eaten any of the birds I've trapped. There are still about 25-30 using the field, and I'm hoping to get enough pairs to start breeding them.

I'll try to get a picture of the trap later today. I made it from 1/2 X 1/2 hardware cloth, 24 inches wide, 16 inches tall and 36 inches long, and it only took about an hour to put it together. I used cracked corn for bait, but you could use most any type of grain or even old bread.


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

I used to trap them for dog training and did âOKâ at 1-2 per day. 

The best method Iâve found is hitting overpasses at night with a couple guys, lights, and a fishnet pole on an extended handle. Weâd get 30-40 in a couple hours this way. 

Chuck


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

If I were to change anything about it, I'd add another one way door at the end, and a large door in the top to remove the birds.


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

Nifty trap!

On the grain docks in Savannah they have a huge cage quite similar to yours, only with food and water left in so they only have to empty it once a week or so. Its about 4ft high and 6x6 wide and long.

If you are trapping on a rooftop you could do something along the same size and keep the roof baited as well as the trap so they know there is always food there for them.

They sure know that about the grain dock LOL


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## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

As a kid, I trapped hundreds. if not thousands. The basic wire cage as above, except I used two to four doors. A wood square, as above, with a U shape wire, about 1 1/2 inch wide, made from a clothes hanger. Using two fence staples, I would hang the wire from the top of the wood frame, so it would hang down below the bottom board, on the inside. I used two or three wires, for a total width of about 6 inches. The pigeons will push the wires in to enter, then they will fall back in place and keep them in.


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