Propane Gun

[Lowcountry Boy]

Anyone ever have any success with these?

http://www.suttonag.com/ZonGun.html

Or am I just pissing in the wind?

[turbo]

They work.

You can do the same with an air compressor and solenoid valve.

I think the propane guns are louder, though.

[Wad Shooter]

From what I have heard they need to be set up so they fire at random intervals. Otherwise the birds or other pests get used to the repetition.

[Palmetto Bug]

There used to be one set up on the old degaussing pier in Charleston Harbor to scare away gulls and pelicans. I was flounder gigging and poling the boat under it when that sombitch went off and I about jumped out of my skin.

I don't think it would work for deer at my place. There is so much regular gun fire around that they often don't even react to fairly close shots.

[nitro5x6's]

If you are talking deer , I have no idea... My experience on our place in WA for birds... - It's been an evolution on how we do bird control..

First method was shotguns - killing grackles and sparrows by the hundreds did wonders - until we got shut down by the State. (lots of fun and beneficial to one's wing shooting skills)

Second- used the propane cannons - with a 360 degree swing head that moved to four positions on the compass- every 15 seconds. Worked for a while- the birds hunger for Cherries overwhelmed the fear of the noise. Propane expenses went through the roof of course.

Third (and so far most cost effective and "environmentally friendly" ) We hire a Falconer from Utah - he brings Bird handlers from British Columbia in and they stay the season.. Flighting Hawks, Gyrfalcons and other Raptors over the orchard.

A few days of the mere presence of a Raptor has the pest birds leaving the area. It's expensive, but works.

The raptors stoop over the trees and the pests flee..

Our other option (financially impossible for us ) is to cover the entire block in a net.. One of our neighbors (who grows for Harry and David) has a system of netting over an entire section..........like 60 acres...He has no bird issues. We don't have that kind of capital..

Good luck.

[Lowcountry Boy]

My hope is to use it some for both. I'd like to keep the deer at bay for a couple of weeks as the corn starts to come up, then use it to keep the blackbirds out of the rice after it heads out.

We shall see, I just ordered one, to experiment with. From what I've heard, changing up the intervals and locations is critical.

Thanks for the quick replies. Now if the tides would get a little lower and we could get the fields drained proper...

[nitro5x6's]

Just a little more insight- our cherry block is roughly 65 acres..

We had 12 cannons placed according the Rep's recommendation. After a few weeks, we were pizzing in the wind.

For deer - lead poisoning works the best. Our bird problems have been minor compared to the fence repair costs after this harsh winter- Elk will pull a fence down. Bears had some impact in October. They were dealt with as well.