Lack of Pheasants?

djflawless

Lads just a quick question..gun club only started in me homeplace this year.less than 100 birds released over 1000 acres.not including club birds, has any one else noticed a shortage of wild birds?

endasmail

at this stage of the game alot of places will be shot out
hard enough to come across them now

Birdnuts

djflawless wrote: »

Lads just a quick question..gun club only started in me homeplace this year.less than 100 birds released over 1000 acres.not including club birds, has any one else noticed a shortage of wild birds?

There are few enough wild birds at the best of times - as a ground nester they are very vulnerable to expert egg thieves like hoodies,magpies, mink and Grey squirrels. Plus modern intensive farming has hit all ground nesters hard such as Corncrake, Grey Partridge etc.

Another factor which I feel is often overlooked is our damp climate, especcially given that pheasants(at least the types most commonly released) are used to often drier climates in their original ranges in Asia - particualry during the breeding season when chicks are very vulnerable to cold rainy weather. This factor alone is thought to have nearly wiped out Corncrakes in the Shannon Callows in recent years:(

steyrman2

hi i was out today for 4 hours met 6 cocks got shots at 3 and nailed them i hunted in a place well away from the beaten track the birds are not straying to far away from home but the will be in the last place you think of one of the cocks was in a old walled in grave yard i gave a sporting chance he could have ran out but he decided to fly tough break for him

Spunk84

Shame of you shooting in a graveyard:D

cavan shooter

Its been said above , there are wild pheasants about and they tend to be very wild and hard to hunt. Even the birds you let out if they survive there first season they will get wilder by the months, hence its important to always be topping up the birds every year and never fall for the "sure the countryside is alive with pheasants theres no need to buy any this year"

You also have to be on top of the vermin, Fox, and corvid. Since the new year most of my Sundays is spent on fox drives, We have got 4 last week, 6 this week on to 6 shot with the rifle the past couple of weeks.

Come the first of Feb, the remaining cocks and hens will be let out, these are good strong birds raised as poults since June. Pen raised birds will turn wild and they will survive I shot a cock this year which was put out 3 years ago (I leg tag annual releases)

EPointer=Birdss

100 birds in a 1000 acres is very little.
Few tips, hold back & release young poults late Sept/Oct. These birds wont be pinked come Nov so don't shoot em! Release in an area where you don't allow shooting for 2 or 3 fields away from the release run. In a 1000 acres this should be possible, if not in 2 sites. Have plenty of feeding/ roostin spots here & traps etc. What I find happens is these birds hang around here & it's not until Jan that I notice them moving out - I suppose getting ready for breeding & filling the voids left by the decreased numbers. How I gauge this is by the tag colours.
You need to hit the vermin in your area this spring also to give the wild birds a chance. This I find will give better yields than releasing 100s!
If you can coax a few farmers or local land owners not to cut silage on the above mentioned few fields until very late - this also gives great hatching grounds.
Also pray for a dry April/May/ June!

jellybaby21

Plenty of wild birds still around me but very hard to get anywhere near them this late in the season.I was out today and saw 8 cocks and 4 hens.

steyrman2

Spunk84 wrote: »

Shame of you shooting in a graveyard:D

no one inside the walls complained so im happy enough :rolleyes:

EPointer=Birdss

steyrman2 wrote: »

no one inside the walls complained so im happy enough :rolleyes:

djflawless

Well ive been out every sunday since the 1st.apart from the duration of the ban.have actualy shot 2 and seen 10 altogether

beretta686s

thats a lack of birds alright,was out just 4 the morning today only saw 3 cocks,was in a little valley d other day and put up 13 cocks think i could get a shot at 1:mad:,went into same valley 2day with my buddy john so i thought we mite get something and there was only 1 in there today,so where did all them go,we had rough night up here lastnight so maybe that drove them around or they just moved up to some stubble fields anyway there is birds around u just have to find.come the end of the season they'll be every where like they always are i swear they have an app 4 it!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

cavan shooter

djflawless wrote: »

Well ive been out every sunday since the 1st.apart from the duration of the ban.have actualy shot 2 and seen 10 altogether

Where is the shortage in that,

Octopus

January is my favourite month. It's when the 'shooters' retire and the hunters come into their own. Don't get the wrong impression, i'm not preaching about
the lads shooting all around them when the birds are handy, thats in every club.
This is the time of year when you have to work that little bit harder for your bird. You'll see several, flush the odd one within range and be happy with one at the end of the day.

What kind of ground are you shooting over, any snipe, woodcock?

jellybaby21

Octopus wrote: »

January is my favourite month. It's when the 'shooters' retire and the hunters come into their own. Don't get the wrong impression, i'm not preaching about
the lads shooting all around them when the birds are handy, thats in every club.
This is the time of year when you have to work that little bit harder for your bird. You'll see several, flush the odd one within range and be happy with one at the end of the day.

What kind of ground are you shooting over, any snipe, woodcock?

Thats exactly what happened today without the one at the end of the day (I MISSED) but did get a woodcock.Im shooting on stubble and grass fields and some wet land with plenty of snipe and a nice few woodcock this year.

djflawless

Jaz im on 19 snipe so far and absolutely delighted about that.and as far as woodcock go im not to familiar with them so i wouldnt have a clue what 1 looked like when it got up let alone fire at it.havent had a whole lot of experience with them.im happy enough seein 10 pheasants but 6 were cocks.and 3 of them 6 were only rose on weekdays.but then again as earlier stated, 1st year and apparently some of the birds got gapes.wasnt exactly givin out about it but was just asking was any1 else finding cocks scarce.i suppose the cold snap could be a bit of a factor?

EPointer=Birdss

Cold would definitely be a factor but more so if feeders weren't topped up.this year has been a great year bird wise Here & We still have loads of birds around with the majority of what shot been wild birds! I could go out today & meet 20released cocks in the sanctuary type area near the release run but they can stay there until the last Wkend or so & even at that there'll be plenty left for breeding!
Been a great season for wild birds. Summer Weather is such a key

terminator2

myself and spunk84 walked all day yesterday seen 4 cocks 5 hens,got two nice birds and a couple of snipe

Spunk84

It's coming to the end of the season and the birds are well wise to people now and shots going off. As soon as they see or here anyone, I'd say there out of the area quickly if they can. I've seen more hens this season than cocks which is really great to see, they survived that cold snap we had, so hopefully we will have more wild birds next season:D this time of year you have to double your efforts, walk further and really get into places where you didn't before as the cocks are now seasoned enough to evade you:eek: which I think is better shooting, I'm not fond of seeing a cock in the middle of the field just waiting to get shot:mad: I'd rather put a good days hunt in, get the pheasants which will drive you mad trying to find:D, better hunting.

snipe02

walked all day yesterday my self got two lovely cocks old and wise really hunted hard for them good test of a dog to get birds this time of year but i find where you meet hens at this time of year the cocks are not to far away but they are very clever and are usually a step ahead back to the point i was talking to a farmer the other day at a place i shoot late jan every year and always get birds there but i met him on way back to the car after getting nothing and only meeting one hen and told him he said he did not see or here a pheasant around the place since the cold spell and he did not see or here anyone shooting or hunting there either was also talking to a lad involved in a small shoot and he said the cold spell seemed to wipe out the birds on their shoot and that would be well managed so the cold snap seemed to have an impact down this way at least