anyone started on the pheasants yet

keeperstweed

Well-Known Member
we had our first day no the pheasants today.
boy was it warm, 1st nov beating in shirt sleeves.
the birds struggled to get high, 60% low fliers and they seem to be slow in
maturing. probably due to the warm summer we had, and it was my best year
in rearing poults. nowhere near the amount i would usually lose with the wet summers
in the past. hope it gets colder or it could be a poor season.
good luck to all this season!!
 
We started last month, slowly at first but we had the birds earlier this year. just a problem with poaching at the moment!
 
Our first day Saturday just gone & as keeperstweed says a lot of very low birds, very lethargic & our cocks this year have not developed their tails as much as previous seasons even though we buy in & release 8 week old poults at much the same time each season.

Cheers
Chris
 
Our first day Saturday just gone & as keeperstweed says a lot of very low birds, very lethargic & our cocks this year have not developed their tails as much as previous seasons even though we buy in & release 8 week old poults at much the same time each season.

Cheers
Chris
very much the same up here..very lethargic/low flyer's,and cocks underdeveloped,i never thought about it until reading thismobile 008.jpgfirst cock bird from the start of this season compared tonew 002.jpg
first bird of last seasons!
 
You can't expect too much from early birds especially if they have not been regularly dogged in and not used to being chased into flight. Give them a couple of days being shot at. I bought all my birds from the one source and were all between 7 and 8 weeks. Some are fully tailed and in excellent condition whereas others could do with another few weeks to condition up. Early days I ask the guns to be very selective in what they shoot.
 
We had our first day on Saturday. Much the same as everyone else is reporting, the phezzies were very low fliers, the low bright sun not helping, and my best partridge drive was ruined by a dog fox going through it early on, but we were saved by some spectacular duck drives. The students did very well, give it another day or two and the pheasants will be up to par I'm sure.
 
gazza, i take on board what you are saying.
the birds have been dogged in and can fly well when need to!
been on this shoot for 10 yrs and try, to keep to the same practice each year.
a few shoots in n.hants area have put back there shoot days for 2 weeks, as birds seem
underdeveloped this year! is it the so called global warming!!!!
regards mark.
 
Just a quick calculation - my birds are now 22 (ish) weeks old but as said some cock birds could do with another couple of weeks or so although their body weights are good. Hen birds have done very well indeed and most are in excellent condition.
As long as the wet weather is not prolonged and it does not go cold I am of the opinion that a bit of rain helps feather the birds up and is beneficial. I can see your thinking as keeping to the same practices every year but you have to accept that we are dealing with keepered wild birds that can upset the norm even if you do exactly the same each year. If my birds were not just ready and needed a bit more time I would also be asking to cancel a few days. Keepers and guns want the same thing - sporting birds.
 
We had our first day on Saturday.
Pherasants have been dogged in (with dogs and flags) since back in mid august and have held very well in our early drives.
As with most shoots, we have far more challenging birds with a bit of wind to give them height and curl. Saturday had 35mph wind and horizontal hail for a good part of the day!
Testing birds, fathers and sons day, and off to a flying start to the season
Partridges flew very well, but I was careful not to drive them too much in the wet, especially as we lost close to half of them early on in September with Hexamita
 
we had our first day on saturday, only 41 head, mainly partridge,

had an invite yesterday a 150 bird day, (actually 154 and counting) on one drive I had 13 shots for 9 birds, it cannot last:rolleyes:
 
gazza, totaly agree with you.
my hen birds are tiptop, but the cocks are slow going, but getting there.
yes the wet weather does help as do cold spells to feather them up.
but this year has been a very warm and dry summer, hence the birds seem to slow down on growth.
when i say i try to keep to the same practice, i mean general husbandry. i know one year is never
the same as the other, or the next. as working with mother nature we never know what she has to
throw at as us.
 
We had our first day on Saturday. We're a woodland shoot, and the amount of leaf cover didn't help things. The birds flew reasonably well, and those that didn't were left. 46 pheasants at a shot ratio of about 2.5:1; I was bloody relieved, as we had a day last year when the bag was 3 birds for 90 shots..............:banghead::banghead::banghead:
 
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Why not wait until the leafs are more or less off the trees
If your birds arnt in full feather they any ready to be shot are they ?
They will be much better birds in winter
Isnt it better to have a later start and shoot them when they are at there best
 
trufflehunting.
we have birds at different ages, some young some old.
the birds down on growth are left till later in the season, if they
or low fliers go over the guns are left for another day.
dont forget that the shooting season is quiet short, 3 months.
so to get some sort of return, 1st nov is the norm for most shoots.
happy shooting.
 
We used to get our birds late but this year got them six weeks earlier, I was surprised how well they flew this october. Today whilst zeroing I saw a lovely group of full feathered cock birds!
 
Why not wait until the leafs are more or less off the trees
If your birds arnt in full feather they any ready to be shot are they ?
They will be much better birds in winter
Isnt it better to have a later start and shoot them when they are at there best

I sell these days way, way in advance, alas I do not have that flexibility!
 
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