When we think about shooting rooks and crows to protect crops, most of us will most likely picture days spent on arable farms targeting birds on fresh seed drillings. My latest corvid control sessions have been taking place somewhere rather different though, as these troublesome birds have been causing problems on a cider farm.
Rooks in particular had homed in on the orchards, swooping down onto the apple trees to nibble at forming buds. Bearing in mind that those vulnerable buds form the basis of his livelihood, the farmer was very keen to get the problem sorted. His previous efforts with flags and scarecrows had failed to discourage the ravenous corvids and, because the orchards are quite close to several homes, bangers were not an option. With non-lethal methods proving ineffective, he contacted me to ask if I could help him to convince the birds that his orchards were not a good place to frequent.
Eager to help, I arranged to visit the farm for a look and, sure enough, there were a lot of rooks around. Some were so impressed with the abundance of food to be found around the orchards that they were beginning to build nests on the tops of tall ash trees that flank the main cidermaking site. The last thing the farmer wanted was for hordes of rooks to set up home on the edge of his orchard and, after chatting with the owner of one of the nearby cottages, it was clear that his neighbours were also somewhat unimpressed with all the noise and mess emanating from the emerging rookery.
During my recce I earmarked promising vantage points while carefully noting safe shooting angles as well as areas to be avoided. Satisfied that I had the measure of the new ground, I caught up with the farmer and confirmed that I would return for my first shooting session on the following day.
Below top: The rooks were wrecking the apple crop by pecking off emerging buds
Below bottom: Mat loads up the Daystate Blackwolf with Rangemaster Sovereign pellets in readiness for the shoot
Being used to a fair amount of human disturbance, the rooks didn’t take much notice of me as I loaded up by the car. Gun choice for the day was a Daystate Blackwolf that I was putting through its paces. The .22 calibre gun had proved to be very accurate during my range testing – it didn’t appear particularly pellet-fussy but was bang on target with 15.9-grain Rangemaster Sovereign ammo. Being sub-12ft/lb, this gun seemed a great choice for pest control in relatively close proximity to the village and fitted with a 0dB Pro System Silencer, it was extremely quiet – just what you need when discretion is order of the day.
My first shot came extremely quickly – these birds certainly didn’t realise see me as a danger – and I managed to drop the first rook of the session as I made my way towards a small wooded area from where I could shoot in a safe direction. Paired with an MTC King Cobra 6-24x50 scope, the Blackwolf was deadly accurate, and made easy work of that first shot at about 25 metres. Another rook made the mistake of lingering as I reached the spinney and fell to another well-place shot from the Blackwolf.
Below top: Mat lines up the Daystate Blackwolf for the first shot of the session
Below bottom: Shooting the rooks proved straightforward to begin with
That second shot triggered a distinct change in the behaviour of the rest of the rooks in the flock. Birds that had previously paid no attention to me lifted from the trees and drifted away to a stand of trees on the neighbouring farm.
Having seen how eager the rooks were to peck at the forming apple buds, I was fairly confident that they would return. I tucked myself against the trunk of a chestnut tree on the edge of the little wood flanking the orchard and readied myself for a long wait.
I didn’t have to be as patient at I’d thought and a small flock of rooks came circling back over the treetops less than ten minutes after I’d settled in. It appeared that I had positioned myself in exactly the right spot, as the birds seemed to be using the taller trees on the edge of the spinney as a lookout from where they could check that the coast was clear before swooping down to raid the apple trees.
Three birds fell in quick succession – the Blackwolf’s oversized sidelever handle making for fast and positive reloading in the heat of the action. The shooting was hectic for a while but, once again, the rooks soon became suspicious and drifted away again.
Below top: The shooting becomes hectic as the rooks return
Below bottom: The Daystate Blackwolf was quick to reload, thanks to its positive sidelever action
The rest of the evening was much slower, with odd shots coming as single birds occasionally flighted back to the tall trees where they were trying to establish their nests. Again, the Blackwolf gave an excellent account of itself. This airgun has a terrific trigger mechanism, and its crisp, predictable let-off enabled me to take full advantage of the new mechanical Daystate’s full accuracy potential. The wallop of the .22 Rangemaster Sovereign was enough to cleanly dispatch rooks with well-placed heart/lung shots, but this setup was so precise that I had the confidence to take head shots when they were on.
Below: The accuracy of the Daystate Blackwolf / MTC King Cobra combo enabled Mat to take confident head shots
Having faith in your gear makes a huge difference to your results, especially when opportunities are few and far between.#
The rooks continued to grow more and more cautious as the evening wore on but, thanks in no small part to the Daystate Blackwolf’s precision and the MTC King Cobra’s enviable twilight performance, I managed to account for nine before I ran out of light.
Although that tally got me off to a reasonable start, it will take more visits to make a serious impression on those rooks. Rather than eradicating the flock, the main aim is to convince them that the orchard is not a good place to good place to live and to seek out an alternative nesting site.
With the birds really wising up, I will probably try different tactics over future visits. As the rooks grow more suspicious, I will probably have to resort to hide shooting tactics.
GUN: Daystate Blackwolf (sub-12 cylinder version with walnut stock)
SCOPE: MTC King Cobra 6-24x50
AMMO: Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign (.22 cal,15.9 grain)
SILENCER: 0Db Pro System
JACKET: Jack Pyke Weardale Field Jacket (Digicam)
People controlling pest birds in the UK must do so in compliance with the guidelines set out by the relevant general licence. Click here for information on General Licences for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
First published 27th March 2025
