Poult to shot-pheasant rates

[User00003]

Right, for every 1000 pheasants you put down, how many would you expect would end up being a 'productive' bird - ie. shot at around £25-30 + VAT?

would I be far off assuming around one third, if lucky!?

 

[bogtrotter]

40 % is about right

 

[Gazza]

I know of keepers who boast of 60% but I would say around 40% is more the average. I knew of one keeper who used to brag of 100%+ but he was a master of boundary feeders.

 

[User00003]

40% sounds pretty good - was just thinking of the bigger game keepers putting down around 20,000 birds, if you shot 40%, ie. 8,000 at £25, less 50 tonnes of wheat and other 'stuff', you'd be looking at a gross profit of around £190,000 - not bad! ok, if a bird costs £3 each to buy, you're down to £130K, still not too bad, take off some keeper and equipment costs, say £30K - and you're still looking at £100K pa gross rev...could be worse than sitting in the office all day.. LOL

 

[www.yorkshireroestalking.]

Most shoots look at 40% pheasants and 30% partridge above this and your winning.
We don't hold pheasants well on my shoot and we are very lucky for 40%.
Partridge returned 50% last season.
We have alot of water soget alot of wild duck mixed in with the reared so return 110% often.
The trouble i have is my shoot is the biggest in the area and others around me feed in, so the drain is one way.
I know a local shoot is surrounded by x3 big estates and they return 200% on pheasants.

 

[www.yorkshireroestalking.]

40% sounds pretty good - was just thinking of the bigger game keepers putting down around 20,000 birds, if you shot 40%, ie. 8,000 at £25, less 50 tonnes of wheat and other 'stuff', you'd be looking at a gross profit of around £190,000 - not bad! ok, if a bird costs £3 each to buy, you're down to £130K, still not too bad, take off some keeper and equipment costs, say £30K - and you're still looking at £100K pa gross rev...could be worse than sitting in the office all day.. LOL

In the real world you are no where near.
Most shoots struggle to break even.
The bigger they are the more at risk.
House, insurances, wear and tear, gamecrop costs, fuel, extra labour, it goes on and on.

 

[bogtrotter]

40% sounds pretty good - was just thinking of the bigger game keepers putting down around 20,000 birds, if you shot 40%, ie. 8,000 at £25, less 50 tonnes of wheat and other 'stuff', you'd be looking at a gross profit of around £190,000 - not bad! ok, if a bird costs £3 each to buy, you're down to £130K, still not too bad, take off some keeper and equipment costs, say £30K - and you're still looking at £100K pa gross rev...could be worse than sitting in the office all day.. LOL

I wish, realistically its very hard to make a shoot pay 30K won't look at the cost of a keeper these days, wages, cost of suppling and maintaining a vehicle, suppling him with a house think of what that house could earn you in a monthly rent if it was not tied up with a keeper in it.

Then there are the other benefits that a keeper gets these vary from estate to estate but for example these are the ones I got when I was last employed full time keepering more than twenty years ago, dog allowance £2 per week per dog , all my electricity, telephone bills, house rates, no rates now but the lad that went there after me got his council tax paid, milk, potatoes, and eggs all estate produce while not amounting to a vast amount it all helped.

Feeding costs, shooting day costs transport,beaters, pickers up, the list goes on and on.

 

[countrryboy]

I'd say ur looking at nearer 200+T of wheat +pellets at £400 a T + 20ish (if following guidlines) acres of pens to build and rent to pay can be from £1 and acre up to ? depending on various things. If it was that easy everyone would be doing it plus 20k would be looking at 2/3 keepers ideally althou i know some estates will do it with 1 working v hard. Plus beaters and pickes up could be 20-30+ on a shoot day at £35-40 and all to be transported around, it all adds up. Even terrible weather at release time, foxes or disease can all ruin a season before it's even started.

Like everything the more u put down its ecomies off scale but also works other way at low no's easy to get a couple off extra% but when u need 100's for every 1%.
I beat and pick up on a few different shoots and sometimes is very hard to see how they would a make a profit, and there all good keepers who know there stuff and get there returns yerar after year.
Probably the hardest part off the job could be selling the days, esp in the current climate unless u can offer consistantly good sporting birds drive after drive u will struggle.
Like others have said i dinae think it is that easy to make a profit, i think smiths gore and guns on pegs publish a survey every year which is usually in the shooting times which tells u % of shoots making profits

 

[norma 308]

I wish, realistically its very hard to make a shoot pay 30K won't look at the cost of a keeper these days, wages, cost of suppling and maintaining a vehicle, suppling him with a house think of what that house could earn you in a monthly rent if it was not tied up with a keeper in it.

Then there are the other benefits that a keeper gets these vary from estate to estate but for example these are the ones I got when I was last employed full time keepering more than twenty years ago, dog allowance £2 per week per dog , all my electricity, telephone bills, house rates, no rates now but the lad that went there after me got his council tax paid, milk, potatoes, and eggs all estate produce while not amounting to a vast amount it all helped.

Feeding costs, shooting day costs transport,beaters, pickers up, the list goes on and on.

i know of at least one very large landowner with estates in the north and south who now makes his keepers pay ,community charge,gas ,electric ,water if he does it whos to say many others wont follow suit !

 

[bogtrotter]

i know of at least one very large landowner with estates in the north and south who now makes his keepers pay ,community charge,gas ,electric ,water if he does it whos to say many others wont follow suit !

Aye thats true, a keepers wages were never brilliant, especilly if you consider the hours you put in, it was the perks that made the job worth while.

 

[nell]

i know of at least one very large landowner with estates in the north and south who now makes his keepers pay ,community charge,gas ,electric ,water if he does it whos to say many others wont follow suit !

Is thatxxxxxxxxx estate by any chance.... its rumoured that if the sporting side does'nt show a profit this season its curtains..... this is only a rumour mind