Gun Dog Forum

To attach cardboard or a hose to a pigeon's feet, what's the best knot? Seems like a silly question, but I'm having a tough time getting the string off of the foot/leg. Thanks.

You can buy ready made pidgeon "cords" from training supply catalog that will make it easy for you. I would tell you the know if I knew how to explain it in writing. Sorry, but I can't figure out how to explain the way I use a loop and circle it back over itself. See what I mean, doesn't make sense when I try to explain int. LOL

I use small zip ties. Easy to put on and you leave one on put another to connect.

Thanks for the responses. Not sure what I did wrong, but both pigeons I put out this morning fairly quickly slipped the slip knots and flew away. So I broke down and got the commercial hobbles from Lion Country.

I use an 8" piece of parachute cord. I burn both ends to keep it from unraveling, then tie a simple overhand knot on each side, then another one over the cord. The knot you use to attach monofiliment line to a spinning reel spool. This makes it real easy to loosen on the pigeons foot and also the para cord is bulky enough to not injue the pigeons leg. I then use a snap swivel to attach the hose to the " leg harness".

I have played with hobbles before and never really liked them. Seems they would not be heavy enough and the bird would fly to a nearby tree and then it is a hung up bird, and sometimes I would have to leave the bird hang in the tree. The problem was either too heavy or not heavy enough. So I had a brainstorm one day and made these. So far so good. I have different lengths of chain so I can adjust the weight as needed or I can add one link at a time. I will have to use them more too see if I run into a problem with them, but so far they work good. I think it cost me about $3.00 to make.

Looks good, Vman. Thanks for the responses.

I did something similar to what vman did.

I went to a sewing supply store and got a pair of those cord stops(that is what they are called, BTW) that you find on the bottom of rain coats and windbreakers. I took about 15" of 1/8" braided cord and made a loop on each end that I could tighten with the cord stop. I then tied alength of that same 1/8" braided line to the middle of the 15" piece. The bird thus has a hobble on each leg.

I have too many trees and neighbors nearby so cannot easily use carded pigeons. I will put the bird in a launcher or under a wire basket or dizzied and planted, depending on what I am trying to do with the dog. The bird is tethered to a 20-25' length of cord which has a horseshoe on the other end.

They get up a decent head of steam and when they hit the end of the cord they drop like a stone. If I time the shot correctly, it appears that I have killed the bird. The bigger birds will take the horseshoe for a short ride, but not more than a few feet.

I tried using a single leg tether but it would occasionally cause a broken leg on the bird. Since I have been using the double tether, I have not injured a pigeon or chukar.

RayG