How to catch a cockerel

This may seem like the average question that i have read posts from others asking the same thing however i think mine scenario is more complex. There is a woodland close to me where people dump all there cockerels, as cockerels do they often fight each other and can sometimes kill each other. I decided i would have one of them before it gets killed or kills another. How can i catch it? They all roast in trees about 10-12 foot high so i can't just grab him at night which is when i go to catch him. If i scare him down he often runs away and the wood is covered in shrubs and nettles so he can easily hide from me. I did climb the tree and got close enough to grab him but then realised, how do i climb down the tree with a cockerel in one hand. I have spent around 3 hours so far trying to catch him with no look. I will try again tomorrow night.

Any advice on how to catch him and devices that i could use would be good, i don't want to buy anything in however i have a variety of materials available.

 

Some great ideas thank you. I like the idea of a bag and could try it out however it may be difficult to hold him and hold the bag out while i put him in it. When i grab him by the legs he often takes off and we get stuck in the branches so i generally have to let him go. I could perhaps use a bag as a net and try to put the bag over him while he's roosting.

I like the idea of a trap however it isn't suitable as the woodland is a public area so i don't want anything that may get me in trouble, it would look bad if i caught somebodies dog! People dump anything they don't want, i've seen ducks, a hen that follows you everywhere (1 hen with around 8 cockerels, so i had to take her) and even a rabbit that looked like a pet one. Someone else has taken most of them when i went last night, either that or they have gone elsewhere or been killed. There are now just 4 cockerels.

I intend to try again tonight in about 9 hours from this post. I will take a bag and try different methods as suggested. From last nights experience i will also take a lot of torches as i lost it because it went too dark. If i can follow him though the woods without loosing him he may tire and just roost on the ground and then i'll grab him, simple as that, i wish! I will also try out a method i though of.

A lanyard clip attached to a piece of string/rope. I can get pritty close to them when it gets dark so i thought i could clip a lanyard around its leg. A piece of string/rope could then lead from the lanyard to me. I would then be attached to the cockerel by the lanyard and string/rope, i would then reel him in as when i start to pull he will run away like crazy. It may be daft and not work but i might give it a go.

Thanks for all the advice and keep it coming, it makes great reading.

 

nice idea redjunglefowl, that sounds good to me. Perhaps if i put my hen in a cage i could get the cockerel to just walk straight in to it. I somehow don't think it would be so easy. I'll give it a try it sounds like the best idea to me. chickengeorgeto i wouldn't be able to fit such a large board in to my car and i've tried dazzling them with a light however they just run off so i don't think that would suitable.