Is the bad weather good for you

sakoson

Well-Known Member
Being a member of a pheasant syndicate has the bad weather helped to hold your birds with only one day left we need one more bird in the bag to achieve a 50% ratio.Has anybody else had similar results for this season.
 
Yes and no..... Last years hard weather came later and lasted longer and really dragged the birds back and I produced a record season.

This year we got the hard weather in early november resulting in the game crops and root crops being ruined early on. Though the main coverts were stuffed with birds anything else was left near barren. Im down on last years but still having a very good year and am currently standing at 68% with keepers day and cocks day to go so no complaints.

On the down side we seem to have lost a number of Roe to the extreme weather and ive suffered with many feed hoppers being constantly knocked over by Roe and Red.
 
Cockerdog You say that last season you broke the record on your shoot what percentage did you achieve? To be up to 68% with two shoots to go is some achievment ,how many birds do you release ? How do you hold on to your birds , your not sandwiched between two large shoots are you?. . I am lucky to shoot 40% of birds released ,do you release Partrige ,Pheasant,and Duck .Any tips on holding birds would be gratfully recieved Chill
Yes and no..... Last years hard weather came later and lasted longer and really dragged the birds back and I produced a record season.

This year we got the hard weather in early november resulting in the game crops and root crops being ruined early on. Though the main coverts were stuffed with birds anything else was left near barren. Im down on last years but still having a very good year and am currently standing at 68% with keepers day and cocks day to go so no complaints.

On the down side we seem to have lost a number of Roe to the extreme weather and ive suffered with many feed hoppers being constantly knocked over by Roe and Red.
 
We have lost unknown numbers to badgers (oops badgers don't take pheasants do they)and buzzards plus the odd fox or two but still having a relatively good year.Our feeders sustained some damage early on but soon sorted, plus we got the odd sight of some roe on a couple of drives.
 
There are so many factors involved in percentages it is almost impossible to read much into them. I know od shoots that produce 50% results but are surrounded by big shoots and put down small numbers. I know of one shoot that puts down none and records results of 200%!!!
The
 
excuse my ignorance but to achieve a percentage you first must have total of birds put down divided against birds shot .If you don't put birds down you can't have a percentage you only have birds shot.ps we don't have any big shoots nearby
 
excuse my ignorance but to achieve a percentage you first must have total of birds put down divided against birds shot .If you don't put birds down you can't have a percentage you only have birds shot.ps we don't have any big shoots nearby

Firstly gents I didnt post my returns to be accused of poaching birds from other shoots or having my abilities questioned.
I wish that I was surrounded by large shoots who flooded the area, unfortunatly its the opposite and I am surrounded by land which feeds, plants crops and doesnt release.
Yes I do have one small 30 acre wood which is miles from the main shoot which is close to a large shoot, but we only shoot that a couple of times a year due to access.
I invest a serious amount of time undertaking predator control running trap lines for months, constantly walking the ground not driving like most modern keepers do. Fox control is a constant battle and not just an hours flash with a lamp once a week.
I am lucky to have excellent mixed woodland with new investment always on the cards and have farmers who are in the higher level set a side scheme and am looking at another 20+ acres of game crops because of it in the next year.
The shoot habitat is a diverse mix of ancient native woodland/15-20 year old plantations and softwood blocks along with a mix of traditional rotational arable and permanent pasture mixed in along with acres of sssi and wetland habitat.
So all in all its an almost ideal situation for game and along with sound tradional keepering methods I can, weather permitted, gain extra stock from wild birds.

I make sure that feed is constantly available and will top hoppers up in the dark to do this if necassary and have enough feeders so that the birds dont have to fight along with hand feeding on certain drives.
Top quality wheat is fed along with a constant mix of cracked maize blended in and no I dont use spices or aniseed.

I get my arse out of bed early to dog in every shoot day and have lads who help me with this and will chase down every last runner even if it means a half mile slog at the end of the day.
We shoot every week from the end of October and if needed I could shoot 3 days back to back without covering the same ground and though not overly large days we shoot 60-90 a day

Yes I wish every years return was as high and of course I have had alot lower but for the record last years was 78.9% and I would lay that down to the fact that I was fortunate to be trained on a very traditional estate where it was dilled into me to spend as much of your waking life on the ground as possible and to do the job right with true dedication and passion and to constantly improve the habitat and security for game.

Cockerdog
 
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