What's the most humane way to kill an injured bird?

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It is not ethical to leave a pricked bird any longer than is strictly necessary.

Friday, 15 June 2007

What's the best way of despatching a pricked pigeon? Will a pricked bird flapping around near the decoy pattern stop other birds coming in or might it even encourage them?

Pigeons
PETER THEOBALD says: Probably the most humane way to kill any injured bird is to knock it on the head with a purpose-made priest that fishermen use. This is a small, heavily weighted club which can easily be stowed in a pigeon bag.

However, an even easier method is to break the bird's neck. I hate to see people doing this by holding the bird by the head, then swinging it around until the neck breaks. At best, you stretch the neck so you can no longer tie the bird up, or, the head parts company with the body.

The way I do it is simplicity itself: you just hold the bird firmly in your right hand, so the wings cannot flap, then, taking the head between your thumb and first two fingers, turn it until you feel the neck dislocate, normally after two or three rotations.

Also, it is not ethical to leave a pricked bird any longer than is strictly necessary, not because it might deter incoming pigeons, quite the opposite in fact, but purely because it's every sportsman's duty and responsibility to keep unnecessary suffering to a minimum.

If fresh pigeons are still piling in, and you don't want to disrupt the flightline, then the quickest option is to shoot the injured bird again while it's on the ground. Pigeons are not nearly as frightened away by the sound of a gunshot, as they are by the sight of a human being scurrying around the field despatching wounded birds.

I tend not to use a gundog when shooting from a hide, but there are times when a well trained retriever can be a boon, especially when a bird falls out of shotgun range. A dog that knows its stuff will sit until ordered to fetch… then get out quickly to the bird – and back again – without any arm waving, whistling or shouting from the handler. Such a dog will keep disturbance to a minimum and cause little disruption to the flightline.

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