Gun Dog Forum

I have cabin fever here in md been snowed in since December it feels like. So being behind on e everything I decided to start homing my birds out a little farther than the half mile that distance I routinely train at. So I load up 35 of my best birds and drive out 2 miles dump the birds out thinking my best male will lead them back. After I dumped them out and seen how they struggled to group up due to the heavy winds it hit me what a dumbass I was for pushing the envelope on such a crappy day. I think I just lost my flock. This Sucks!!

A few years back I did the same thing. Lost all my homers.

Have they come back?

2 miles is home territory. I'm sure when the weather breaks they will find the food bowl...
If they don't ?...They ain't very good 'Homers' .
I used to 'Race' Homing pigeons as a young lad. Very proud to have all mine be released in Nantes (France) and find their way home to Central Scotland.

I did this once myself, I went about 5 miles. Let go the whole flock of about 45 birds. 10 or 12 came back but it took several days to a week.

It doesn't sound like some of these birds are homers to start with. I don't think you would want birds that didn't beat you home from only two miles away. You may have done yourself a favor.

I left home and it was a lovely day. Five miles away where we were to train the wind was howling and the rain horizontal. We went ahead and trained and all the birds were safely home in their loft when we got home. It's times like that that I really love my pigeons.

Any of you who have had experience flying pigeons know it is a crap shoot from any distance and it has little to do with the quality of the birds. What does cause it is something that we all wonder about. I have a friend that lost 40 on the first toss from 2 miles. I lost 10 and 12 last year from 10 miles and they had already flown from there once. Young birds are always a question but as they get older and more experienced it gets better. Last year one of the guys had a year old bird win the race one week and was lost the next week. Got a call from western Iowa that someone had found the bird. He got it back and sent it again the following week and it won again. Till we have a way of tracking them it will remain a mystery just what really happens.

Some of them will probably figure it out and get back in the next few weeks. It seems to me they have problems if the ground is covered with snow and they aren't use to that. Any change in their surrounding cause them great concern.

Ezzy

Never had that problem in the years I was 'Racing'!..Mind you, I always 'single tossed' my young birds as part of the early training . They had to find their Own way home ..and Trust it !
Only ever lost 2 birds in twenty years ! "bleep" Hawks. Guess these two just weren't fast enough to win any ways.
Fog is the 'Killer' I have found rather than snow or snow covered ground. ..
The airlines have the same problem.

The returns aren't as good as they use to be but will admit I have never heard of anyone only losing 1 bird in ten years. I saw where some of the biggest and best of the one loft races lost over 50% of there birds including S.Africa and some of the European and English races too. Don't know if it was true or not but do know one of our best races lost about 75% and that is not good. It seems maybe the cell towers are part of the problem and we don't know what the reduced magnetic north is doing. Also have the sun spots and solar flares that some think cause some problems.

Anyway it happens and happens to everyone.

Ezzy

ezzy333 wrote:The returns aren't as good as they use to be but will admit I have never heard of anyone only losing 1 bird in ten years. I saw where some of the biggest and best of the one loft races lost over 50% of there birds including S.Africa and some of the European and English races too. Don't know if it was true or not but do know one of our best races lost about 75% and that is not good. It seems maybe the cell towers are part of the problem and we don't know what the reduced magnetic north is doing. Also have the sun spots and solar flares that some think cause some problems.

Anyway it happens and happens to everyone.

Ezzy

Both were in the same year 'Ezzy' !..Mind you ..I ran a loft of only 20 ,with another loft of 20 breeding only pairs
Same , with the dogs, but less numbers.
The Bigger the Flock, sometimes the percentages are incremental ?.
Solars,and Sun,and magnetics have been talked about over here just the same in 'circles'. I just kept training.Perhaps I may get the urge to get 'in the scene' again ?.For now
I just keep white doves for training , and I kinda like them about the place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb0bbznFCPo

When I train my birds, I never single toss them but, when I'm training dogs they go one at a time. I never train birds that haven't been flown alone. I always turn loose some older trained birds with them. Still loose some now and then but I think hawks get them. With ferals, I've had great luck with them homing. Coming home from 5 mi is nothing. I haven't had a feral in years that wasn't hatched here, maybe that helps? If the weather isn't so good I leave my pigeon's and my butt in the house! That's how an old man does it!

DonF wrote:When I train my birds, I never single toss them but, when I'm training dogs they go one at a time. I never train birds that haven't been flown alone. I always turn loose some older trained birds with them. Still loose some now and then but I think hawks get them. With ferals, I've had great luck with them homing. Coming home from 5 mi is nothing. I haven't had a feral in years that wasn't hatched here, maybe that helps? If the weather isn't so good I leave my pigeon's and my butt in the house! That's how an old man does it!

Hmmmm!
Well what ever floats your boat.
Like I said before ..Can't remember the exact miles from France to Scotland?..Pretty sure it's more than 5 miles , and when you are competing of course it's the velocity over that distance....?..So I'm Sure that dang bird is truckin on a straight line home no matter what ....
I was young then however.....

Well only 5 made it back and yes old faithful mack daddy is home. Hopefully the rest will fine there way but I doubt it. Dam I just should not of went so far the first time out In this wind and snow on the ground.

Hattrick wrote:Well only 5 made it back and yes old faithful mack daddy is home. Hopefully the rest will fine there way but I doubt it. Dam I just should not of went so far the first time out In this wind and snow on the ground.

Yup!..should ave just kept them in lookin pretty safe...Just let old faithful out in the snow.
Sorry to labour' the point....Homing pigeons..er 'Racing' pigeons fly 2 mile circuits for fun!...when they are 4 weeks on the wing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8rXJWwNBbc

My son and I let all the white homers out this evening just a mile or so from the house just for fun. At least it was fun til a hawk nailed one. It happens.

Nate

polmaise wrote:

Hattrick wrote:Well only 5 made it back and yes old faithful mack daddy is home. Hopefully the rest will fine there way but I doubt it. Dam I just should not of went so far the first time out In this wind and snow on the ground.

Yup!..should ave just kept them in lookin pretty safe...Just let old faithful out in the snow.
Sorry to labour' the point....Homing pigeons..er 'Racing' pigeons fly 2 mile circuits for fun!...when they are 4 weeks on the wing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8rXJWwNBbc

Looked at the video. If I had that class of birds, I wouldn't train dog's with them! I've had racing homer's about 4 yrs now. I don't race but the guy I got them from does. I think he said he fly's the 300 mi races. near as I can tell, if wouldn't be a good idea to race older birds that are worth a bunch of money. Went to a Central Oregon Racing Pigeon Club meeting many years ago. I was told that there are pigeon's worth many thousand's of dollars. I can not imagine turning a bird like that loose. To a hawk, it's just another pigeon. My own birds have only been flown a hundred miles. Pretty expensive getting them out farther than that. I've had a lot of feral that have homed from 50 mi and got a couple back from right at a hundred miles. When no hawk's are around I let my birds free fly a lot. Not sure how far they really range but I generally take them five miles out to start and they do beat me home.

DonF wrote: Pretty expensive getting them out farther than that.

How the times change
When I was racing/training I would take a basket of birds to the local rail station and kindly ask the porter to release them at the end stop,or go to the local truck stop and ask the same.

The local Club often organised a training flight where we all shared the cost for the Truck man.