Sowing gamecrop & releasing pheasants

garyc007

Hi lads

I dont think the gunclub are going to release pheasants again this year so im thinking of releasing my own and planting some crop in a little area for them too.Im just wondering when I should do this or any tips ye have for me? Is it too early to release pheasants now that have been caught up of shoots?

Cheers

Gary

terminator2

go ahead and sow your game crop its a great idea , my advice is to put out a few feeders in the meantime they will hold your birds until your game crop matures ;)

garyc007

is it okay to sow it now and what do ye reccomend? i have a couple of feeders out that a couple of wild hen pheasants are feeding off already

terminator2

watch the fields when you see the farmers sowing you do likewise

Birdnuts

As for cover crops, it largely depends on the type of soil and climate you are dealing with. As you are in the NW something like maize or sorghum probably wouldn't thrive in the averge year. However the likes of oats, kale, fodder turnips and maybe millet sowed in alternative rows should work:)

mallards

I did about one and a half acres last year. It was a wild bird mix of kale triticale and quinoa. The Kale is a cover crop but will last two years and go to seed this year giving food and shelter. The other two just provided seeds last year but is still standing well due to the mild weather.



It was ploughed last April and sowing time is March to May, earlier the better.
It was then power harrowed to break up the clumps and give a fine seed bed.



Bit of fertalizer and the seed was all broadcast by hand with a seed fiddle. It was then lightly harrowed again with the tractor and an old harrow.



It took about two weeks for the seed to sprout.









I see Rathcormac gun club do a nice video on game crop.

Good Luck!

Mallards

Double Barrel

Nice job Mallards.
A couple of years ago I disked a field next to the pens and just let the weeds grow. The pheasants thrived.

garyc007

thanks for that mallards

garyc007

any advice on buying these birds that are caught up lads?is it okay or a no no?

garyc007

did a little work this evening on the area i plan to hold them and sow some crop. afterwards the auld lad told me i might not be able to sow it as its a nature reserve through reps.has anyone had this problem before?

deeksofdoom

Has anyone got a number for a fellah caled Ian Dowling/Downing from wicklow he has adult pheasants for sale in the autumn, could you please PM me his number.

Sika98k

garyc007 wrote: »

any advice on buying these birds that are caught up lads?is it okay or a no no?

One of these reasons that we put 6 or 7 week old birds out in a pen is to give them a sense of home. In as much as any wild creature has a home per se.

We rear them and they become accustomed to their surroundings and as long as you feed them regularly they will to a large extent stick around the area.

I feel myself that putting adult birds out in strange surroundings is an oddity. unfamiliar land,no sense of direction etc etc and lets be honest the pheasant couldnt be described as the most intelligent of birds.:D

Thomas Drennan

Well i dont mean to knock it but i found most game crops a wast of time i tried most the wild bird mix the worse all came out of it was small birds not even a crow would light in most of them and that says it all i went back to traditional crops wheat turnips potatoes and cabbage much better

djflawless

as far as planting crop goes. .
We were discussing this at a g.c meeting during the week.i suggested johns delight.got the shooters digest today and low and behold johns delight is the cover pic!
Great section in this issue about different game crops and a few pics to show the finished product

pfizer

Anything will help, however I agreed with the view of Thomas Dreenan above, we have tried most of the commercial game crop mix's including John's delight and had no success for pheasants, (great for song birds) these mixes are more like a commercial cereal crop with older varieties, the stems are too strong and the crop won't lodge, therefore unless your pheasants can hoover 2foot of the ground they wont feed, Last year (with the help of a patient farmer) we planted alternating 3meter strips as follows, rape only, and then our own mix oats, barley and linseed.
We were also fortunate that we have a guy who can collecting forklift damaged bags of various seeds from the local store, therefore reducing costs.
These plots held birds all season. however, the farmer has suggested that we should try to get sugar beet and turnip seed and add it to the mix.

terminator2

heres some that was planted in kildare

garyc007

terminator2 wrote: »

heres some that was planted in kildare

whats planted there terminator2?

also does anyone know where i could get some security fencing for a release pen or is that what ye normally use?

terminator2

Gamecrop...........im not sure what the mix is but i can find out if you want , all i know is that the feedback has been very posotive;);) from the clubs that planted it

garyc007

ya looks a different mix to some of what iv seen. im not sure what to go with! also looking for security fencing for a pen is proving difficult

garyc007

im full of questions! how do ye transport the pheasants lads? cos i dont think the crates are big enough for fully grown ones??

mallards

garyc007 wrote: »

im full of questions! how do ye transport the pheasants lads? cos i dont think the crates are big enough for fully grown ones??

Click on the picture of the crate in my post earlier. Its a video of me releasing partridge but I use that same create for moving adult pheasants. You can get about ten in it if you are only moving them a short distance of a couple of mile.
Mallards

Thomas Drennan

Well the proof is in the pudding i had lots of these crops some with tall sun flowers would take your breath away but thats all they would do come winter when the stalks are all dead and theirs nothing only the odd field mouse and a flock of hedge sparrows flying out of it you would think different,work ok on the estates when they drive down the middle on quads spreading wheat into it.

garyc007

okay so i cant get security fencing so im going to build a bit of a pen myself,have found pheasants close enough at a good price so im nearly sorted!

garyc007

pen is half done and pheasants on the way saturday!

Browning2010

I'm not trying to sound smart here or anything,

but whats the reason behind buying adult pheasants at this time of the year? Is it too let them out and hope they breed with the hens or you planning on them still been around come next November?

garyc007

No you don't sound smart at all. To answer your questions yes and yes. I'm getting them at discount prices and will have them for breeding and shooting when I want, well most of them I hope. I also hope to do some training with the pointer on them

garyc007

some pics of the pen and birds,very happy with them.more work to it than you think when your doing it on your own but should be worth it

terminator2

would you not be better putting out hoppers around the land you have and filling them with wheat , and maybe rear poults in your pen ,

garyc007

terminator2 wrote: »

would you not be better putting out hoppers around the land you have and filling them with wheat , and maybe rear poults in your pen ,

already done. i have hens feedin off the hoppers already. i might rear some poults after a while,wel see how things go!

Browning2010

I know I've kind of asked this question already but what exactly are you hoping to get out of this?

How many birds have you put in the pen?

garyc007

please read posts before posting a question that is already answered!!!
its simple lads,im increasing numbers,which will result in breeding, birds to train the dogs on, and more birds during the season. i have tagged them aswel so i will know how many stick around

Browning2010

garyc007 wrote: »

please read posts before posting a question that is already answered!!!
its simple lads,im increasing numbers,which will result in breeding, birds to train the dogs on, and more birds during the season. i have tagged them aswel so i will know how many stick around

The chances of reared hens rearing young is pretty slim, there known to be useless mothers.

In my opinion once you let them birds out they'll probably stay around for a while but eventually be in the next county. I dont believe for a min that these birds will be around come 1st of Nov or any birds related to them.

Caught up pheasants are a waste of time in my opinion unless you have some serious cover and food supply to hold them.

I appreciate you've put a lot of work into this but I wonder if you've taught it through?

terminator2

sorry to be the one to tell you this gary , but browning is right in everything hes saying , take my advice and put out hoppers and release those adult cocks before they start pulling the feathers out of themselves.

garyc007

iv hoppers already out which some of the wild hens are feeding off. im stubborn im afraid lads and like to try things i have in my head ,il give them another few days before release, and if theres none to be seen after a while, itl be poults next time

Browning2010

garyc007 wrote: »

iv hoppers already out which some of the wild hens are feeding off. im stubborn im afraid lads and like to try things i have in my head ,il give them another few days before release, and if theres none to be seen after a while, itl be poults next time

Look who knows what might happen maybe a few of the cocks will be around, maybe they might breed with any wild hens there is about.

In my opinion you'd be better of buying in 75-100 cocks(7wk old) rear them for a few months, then next season hopefully you'd shoot maybe 35-45% of them.

Concentrate on your vermin control, magpies, greys, foxes, mink, squirell and maybe any of the truly wild hens about might be able to rear a brood succesfully.,

garyc007

i released a few the other day and they are sticking around so far.there are a few crows knocking around but i hope to sort that out tommorow.its only my own land im stocking but if they move a bit i dont mind as im the only one for miles that shoots pheasant here, but there are quite a few that lamp foxes so that will help me. i may get poults later or next year,but maybe 50 or so,dont think id manage any more or have the time for them

TriggerPL

garyc007 wrote: »

i released a few the other day and they are sticking around so far.there are a few crows knocking around but i hope to sort that out tommorow.its only my own land im stocking but if they move a bit i dont mind as im the only one for miles that shoots pheasant here, but there are quite a few that lamp foxes so that will help me. i may get poults later or next year,but maybe 50 or so,dont think id manage any more or have the time for them

gary we have a area of ground that we released cocks and hens on and theres is alway birds knocking around and i use the ground for training the pointer . as long you keep the feed to them they wont go to far . the lads are right about breeding it slim but it can happen , we had alot of young cocks last year that we didnt release in the area . so they had to come from somewhere.

terminator2

For the last couple of years our gun club has released a mixture of cocks and hens , we bought these hens as poults we didnt buy ex layers and like the last poster said we have seen a return for this , having said that last year we seen a lot of hens so this year we are buying mostly cocks , just to keep the balance , its nice to see the odd phesant with a few poults tagging along behind . My advice is always listen to lads that have experience in rearing phesants and they will tell you they are notoriously hard to rear from day olds , that is not to say either that it cant be done . Good luck with what ever you decide and keep us posted

garyc007

Iv only released a handful and a couple of the wild hens are mixen with them. Tho mr fox took one. I'm after callin him in. A big dog fox. I knockd fur outa his tail but tink he's stil goen

terminator2

wanna get the .223 out lad hell be back for more;)

TriggerPL

garyc007 wrote: »

Iv only released a handful and a couple of the wild hens are mixen with them. Tho mr fox took one. I'm after callin him in. A big dog fox. I knockd fur outa his tail but tink he's stil goen

what ever night your up for it gary !

garyc007

Iv no rifle and its a rushy field with no road beside it so itl be a matter of sit and wait!

TriggerPL

try a fox trap gary , if ya can get your hands on one

garyc007

I don't no anyone with one so I tink I'll hav to get someone in with a rifle or a few terriers

TriggerPL

garyc007 wrote: »

I don't no anyone with one so I tink I'll hav to get someone in with a rifle or a few terriers

If your willing to meet me in Carrick il give ya mine to try ,

TriggerPL

garyc007 wrote: »

I don't no anyone with one so I tink I'll hav to get someone in with a rifle or a few terriers

If your willing to meet me in Carrick il give ya mine to try ,

garyc007

that would be great trigger,it wouldnt take me too long to shoot up to carrick,thanks

garyc007

so i still have most of my pheasants around bar one or two that the fox took but thanks to trigger there is a trap set for him now.most of them travel a bit during the day but stay close to the release pen at night

inthefield

Mind me asking what gamecrop you are doing?
I was thinking of using the following type if I could get it locally (Athlone)
https://www.cotswoldseeds.com/node/369

Stevegeraghty

Hi Gary, just wondering are your birds still around?

What size is your pen?

garyc007

hi steve,

yes they are. they were a little tame when i released them first but werent too long getting flighty after working the dogs on them. i have a few feeders out and spread some feed in areas i know they are in at times. the pen is about 7 foot high, about the same in width and maybe 15 foot long