Quist

Just watch the status of the goalposts in the proposed updates to the Natural England licenses

They also moult this time of the year and may not be able to fly so they have to walk everywhere. They like to stay quite close to water to escape to if threatened though. I think they find Rye grass a bit tough and prefer the softer grasses that you find on Golf Greens.

It could be something to do with the length of grass. They like it short

Its no longer legal in the UK. The manufacturers withdrew it because they couldnt afford to have all the necessary EU testing done. Sadly missed IMO

If youve got deer on the property, you could try suspending the feeders from trees since it stops the deer from knocking them over.

Hi, I'm looking for a half gun in a syndicate in the Exter-Torbay area. PM me if youve got something

Hilux, its got all the grunt you need when in matters

Unlucky to slaughter rooks by their nests and not eat them. "Curses like Rooks's fly home to roost in bosoms and bairns"

Yep, there's a reason for those bone-like tendons in the drumsticks. They didn't get them by flying everywhere!

You don't say much about cover or feeding. Check that there is plenty of understorey, bramble, bracken etc for them. Try a battery operated grain spinner on a timer. I think Cabelas do them. Whatever you do, you aren't going to be able to shoot every bird you put down.

Buzzards are quite territorial so, if you have a pair on your shoot, they will tend to try and drive off others, other raptors and even their own young when grown. They don't feed every day and the number of losses you could put down to them over the course of a year is probably quite small. Since you can't legally do anything to drive them off, the sensible thing to do is protect yourself. Put a cap net over the pens until you new birds can properly fly and make sure that there is lots of groundcover and understory for your birds to hide in. Put out rabbits, crows and other vermin for them. Every one of those they eat is a pheasant less. Warn the guns on shoot day briefings so that some silly sod doesn't mistake one for a hen pheasant. You will lose some birds to them. Pheasants are even more stupid than sheep and will go out into the middle of open spaces to feed. However, they will soon learn that Buzzards are to be avoided and hug the cover more. Keep up the predator control, you can still lose more in a single night to a fox or mink than a buzzard will take in a year.

Yep, IanF is good. That is, if he's the guy that shoots the West end of Dorset area? I went out with him a couple of times and learned a lot.

It may have got imprinted on the operater at the hatchery and is confused as to who you are and its relationship with you. In the wild it would imprint on its mother follow her around and learn feeding and other behaviours from her. Maybe your parenting skills are lacking 80)) Since their early months are in an artificial environment, you can expect a percentage to grow up a bit loopy!

You see the problems but miss the points both about the law and those willing to prosecute it.

Put up a notice by the pen saying killing or wounding pheasants with an air rifle during an act of trespass probably counts as "Armed Trespass" and if cuaght, they could do time for it. The RSPCA would be only too pleased to have their scalps too.