Releasing pheasants DURING the shooting season

Tamar

Well-Known Member
I read that codes of good practice advise against it, and know many guns (including myself) would walk from a shoot where if they thought it was happening - but is it illegal to release pheasants or partridge during a shooting season to 'top-up' bird numbers?

If not, why is it not (more) common? It seems likely to greatly increase relative return rates, and if the only objection is that it is unnatural, then it could equally be argued that expecting a 300+ bird day is equally unnatural. For corporate 'guns' who simply want to treat a driven day as a squawking simualted clay day, perhaps the ethical objections of mid season release could be outweighed by the economic and (from my perspective) the environmental benefits of releasing fewer birds but getting a similar return.

Obviously, for people who want to shoot wild(ish) birds, it's an anathema and fair enough, but these guns are often not the ones wanting the 300+ days.

Just some random thoughts stimulated by a weekend walking around Exmoor:)
 
Keeping adult pheasants until mid-season sounds expensive.
I have heard of a shoot catching up from a new drive that wasn't working out, and moving them to a good established drive on the other end of the estate. I would think it would be prudent to release them into a pen after dark.
 
Topping up by releasing birds would only be acceptable if it was done well before the shoot.
It is a specific offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to release captive
birds for immediate shooting .......
 
I read the WCA as prohibiting live trap shooting, where a box is opened and the birds flushed into the air to be shot (don't some countries do similar with pheasants - launching them off towers in the tree tops?). But this would not seem to cover, say, placing birds into a pen the night or a couple of days before the shoot, or doing what some American shoots do where a 'trophy' bird is selected from a pen by the hunter, and released onto a reserve in the morning to be tracked and shot. Unethical and immoral - maybe, but illegal - I'm not sure.
 
I was told in parts of spain/portugal if u pay for a 30 bird day they give u a crate with 30 birds in it and 'flush' them for u

In the US some of the HPR FT are ran that way, from wot i can gather ran aggainst the clock and dogs have to work there beat as quick as possible and all birds shot. They put a set number of dizzied birds out in the same place for each dog so all 'fair' and every dog has the same chance. A very different way of shooting and working ur dog, thank god not done over here
Think they do the tower thing in america too as well as on the contient

The problem will be keeping any ammount of game birds in pens and in good nick, plus when u release them will be like releasing ex layers and they will just wander off the ground.
I have heard of it going on with reds, think would be far more difficult with pheasants.

While it may be unnatural now in our vermin rich environment some of those old wild bird shoots were shooting some truely massive bags back in the day. But they would not be shooting as often, some big commercieal boys are shooting 100+ days a season.
Woud not give any new birds much time to settle in
 
Countryboy,
Don't believe everything you hear. Throwing birds off a tower???? In America?? Never herd of such. Sounds more like a European thing. Not the UK, more like Spain or Italy. From what I have seen and read, pen reared birds die withing days or weeks of being released. They are either shot, get eaten, starve, or die of shock/exposure. Don't believe it, why do you have to stock them every year? The state here stocks some pheasants and they have a special hunt for them in September. Why September? Because in October it starts to rain a lot and the birds mostly die of exposure. I would think that stocking during the season would be the only way to go. What would be wrong with releasing the birds on Monday afternoon and begin hunting them on Tuesday or Wednesday? By the way, and this was something I was surprised by, the number 1 reason for pheasant mortality in areas where it freezes is suffocation. While the birds are sleeping and a snow fall begins, the birds nostrils get covered in snow and it freezes causing the bird to suffocate. Perhaps you all knew that, I didn't. I always thought they starved after the freeze. Check this out, all wild birds. Pheasant Hunting Unimaginable numbers of wild birds. Never hunted there but I have driven through there, the amount of birds you see is simply amazing.
 
Countryboy,
Don't believe everything you hear. Throwing birds off a tower???? In America?? Never herd of such. Sounds more like a European thing. Not the UK, more like Spain or Italy.

When I lived in Dallas in the late 1980's we visited a hunting ranch where pheasant were taken in a crate in the back of a pick up to the top of a hill. The guns stood at the bottom.

It happens.
 
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Willie,
It happens with jerks. I assure you that that is not an accepted practice here. Nor is it even talked about, out of shame likely. I have never heard of it until reading it on this site today. I have also heard of people getting dogs and cats out of humane shelters and then shooting them just for fun. It may happen but it is not done by your average American. I lived in Dallas in the late 80s too. By the way, did you know Texas has some fantastic wild pheasant hunting? Out in the panhandle. Excellent.
 
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Countryboy,
Don't believe everything you hear. Throwing birds off a tower???? In America?? Never herd of such. Sounds more like a European thing. Not the UK, more like Spain or Italy. From what I have seen and read, pen reared birds die withing days or weeks of being released. They are either shot, get eaten, starve, or die of shock/exposure. Don't believe it, why do you have to stock them every year? The state here stocks some pheasants and they have a special hunt for them in September. Why September? Because in October it starts to rain a lot and the birds mostly die of exposure. I would think that stocking during the season would be the only way to go. What would be wrong with releasing the birds on Monday afternoon and begin hunting them on Tuesday or Wednesday? By the way, and this was something I was surprised by, the number 1 reason for pheasant mortality in areas where it freezes is suffocation. While the birds are sleeping and a snow fall begins, the birds nostrils get covered in snow and it freezes causing the bird to suffocate. Perhaps you all knew that, I didn't. I always thought they starved after the freeze. Check this out, all wild birds. Pheasant Hunting Unimaginable numbers of wild birds. Never hunted there but I have driven through there, the amount of birds you see is simply amazing.
ohcachobe Florida
mates head man on a large ranch that do quail partridge and pheasant the later from very high towers .not been but my stalking pals been twice .birds go up tower released every bird is high ..shoot with 28 and 410s birds are then caught up over the next few days ready for the next shoot day not everyone's cup of tea but hey .superb ranch with wildhog and whitetail and various ground vermin .
Norma
 
Willie,
It happens with jerks. I assure you that that is not an accepted practice here. Nor is it even talked about, out of shame likely. I have never heard of it until reading it on this site today. I have also heard of people getting dogs and cats out of humane shelters and then shooting them just for fun. It may happen but it is not done by your average American. I lived in Dallas in the late 80s too. By the way, did you know Texas has some fantastic wild pheasant hunting? Out in the panhandle. Excellent.

Yes, there's some good hunting in Texas.

The ranch I am talking about is still going, but doubtless over 30 years practices - and attitudes - have changed.
 
It's very common in parts of France for local hunting associations to release pheasants on the morning the season opens. People know the release points and wait there. The whistle goes at 9am on the first day of the season, and that's it for the bemused poultry. As you may expect, this is very polarising. On the one hand you have that part of the membership that insist on maintaining this practice as a value for money thing: "I've paid my subs, so I'm owed some game". On the other hand, you have those who besides finding this distasteful, think it's just completely counterproductive. For a start, it swallows up a vast proportion of these associations' funds that could be better used in things like trapping, habitat work, things that would encourage the establishment of wild game populations. But that takes time, patience, restraint, and who's providing my cheap meat in the meantime? There's a generational thing going on here too. The transactional approach is more widespread amongst the older bunch, but they are the majority. Once a year, they have an AGM, the membership votes to spend money on buying in pheasants to release, and often, the others leave the association to go and find somewhere that reflects their view of hunting. Unfortunately that means they leave the clubs in the hands of people who do the image of hunting a huge amount of damage.
 
After logging off last night, I remembered we do have canned "Game Ranches" in the US. That might be the kind of places you are talking about. I don't know anything about them as it is not hunting and it is something that I would never consider. Fenced in areas where they put animals for people with guns to shoot. Those are not hunters in my book and it is not hunting. If people are throwing game birds off towers and shooting them, it is sick and wrong. I'm not sure but I think that kind of thing would likely not be legal in most states here. Can anyone show me an advertisement in the US for that kind of "shoot"? Again, I have never heard of this, perhaps because I only associate with real hunters and sportsmen. Any other Americans heard of this? I can't imagine how something like that could escape media attention. Tell me the names of those places that shoot birds off towers and I will report them myself.
 
After logging off last night, I remembered we do have canned "Game Ranches" in the US. That might be the kind of places you are talking about. I don't know anything about them as it is not hunting and it is something that I would never consider. Fenced in areas where they put animals for people with guns to shoot. Those are not hunters in my book and it is not hunting. If people are throwing game birds off towers and shooting them, it is sick and wrong. I'm not sure but I think that kind of thing would likely not be legal in most states here. Can anyone show me an advertisement in the US for that kind of "shoot"? Again, I have never heard of this, perhaps because I only associate with real hunters and sportsmen. Any other Americans heard of this? I can't imagine how something like that could escape media attention. Tell me the names of those places that shoot birds off towers and I will report them myself.

If you type 'pheasant tower hunt' into YouTube you will find lots of this sort of thing.
 
I'm not really sure where the sport is in killing birds like this. You might as well just kill the pheasants and give them to the customers oven ready and launch some clay pigeons off these towers instead for them to shoot at.
 
Lets make it clear that in the UK pheasants are released to augment wild stocks.
They are released into open top pens at about 7 weeks old in July.
Over the next few weeks they begin to fly out the release pen
and populate the nearby countryside.
Pheasant shooting does not commence until October 1st or even later,
giving the birds 4 months to mature and wild up.
Only around 30 to 40 % are shot during the season and many
birds successfully overwinter. Obviously some of the young birds
will fall victim to foxes, buzzards etc. as do the wild chicks.
 
Countryboy,
Don't believe everything you hear. Throwing birds off a tower???? In America?? Never herd of such. Sounds more like a European thing. Not the UK, more like Spain or Italy. From what I have seen and read, pen reared birds die withing days or weeks of being released. They are either shot, get eaten, starve, or die of shock/exposure. Don't believe it, why do you have to stock them every year? The state here stocks some pheasants and they have a special hunt for them in September. Why September? Because in October it starts to rain a lot and the birds mostly die of exposure. I would think that stocking during the season would be the only way to go. What would be wrong with releasing the birds on Monday afternoon and begin hunting them on Tuesday or Wednesday? By the way, and this was something I was surprised by, the number 1 reason for pheasant mortality in areas where it freezes is suffocation. While the birds are sleeping and a snow fall begins, the birds nostrils get covered in snow and it freezes causing the bird to suffocate. Perhaps you all knew that, I didn't. I always thought they starved after the freeze. Check this out, all wild birds. Pheasant Hunting Unimaginable numbers of wild birds. Never hunted there but I have driven through there, the amount of birds you see is simply amazing.

In Florida I believe not my idea of sport
 
Lets make it clear that in the UK pheasants are released to augment wild stocks.
They are released into open top pens at about 7 weeks old in July.
Over the next few weeks they begin to fly out the release pen
and populate the nearby countryside.
Pheasant shooting does not commence until October 1st or even later,
giving the birds 4 months to mature and wild up.
Only around 30 to 40 % are shot during the season and many
birds successfully overwinter. Obviously some of the young birds
will fall victim to foxes, buzzards etc. as do the wild chicks.

Thanks Badbob for summarising that for non-UK folk.

My original thoughts were prompted by just those sorts of figures, and crucially the one that only 30-40% are shot making for a very poor return on both the economic investment and the ecological problems of releasing large numbers of birds in the hope that 1/3 will get through.

My thoughts at the end of a day wandering round Exmoor where some of these biggest releases occur were: if you're going to ask for (in my view) unnatural bag sizes of many hundreds of birds, what is the objection to the equally unnatural way of providing them in the form of 'top-up' or 'on-the-day' releases? This would be beneficial financially to the shoot organiser and could even be beneficial ecologically with fewer released birds disrupting local fauna and flora and perhaps fewer dead poults feeding the foxes, badgers, crows etc. I understand that this kind of 'canned' hunting would provoke outrage from some, and personally I'd not touch it with a bargepole, but this could be offset against relative benefits.

I'm not advocating this or defending it, simply throwing an idea out to have it shot down (rather like releasing a pheasant from a box in the trees......)
 
I did look on Youtube and viewed the above video. What utter crap. I never would have believed it. Looks like this is quite the thing. Embarrassed that this goes on in the US. I don't think it would fly in my state. There are so many real hunts a guy can go on from dove to everything else, can't see how any one would want to do this, not even if your in a wheel chair. This is not hunting, guess that's why I never heard of it. Fair chase is the only way to hunt. If you can't hunt by fair chase, take up sporting clays or checkers. Disgusted.
 
Lets make it clear that in the UK pheasants are released to augment wild stocks.
They are released into open top pens at about 7 weeks old in July.
Over the next few weeks they begin to fly out the release pen
and populate the nearby countryside.
Pheasant shooting does not commence until October 1st or even later,
giving the birds 4 months to mature and wild up.
Only around 30 to 40 % are shot during the season and many
birds successfully overwinter. Obviously some of the young birds
will fall victim to foxes, buzzards etc. as do the wild chicks.

Does this apply to the birds that are shot in the driven hunts?
 
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