Ireland's Finest! Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 (edited) Well lads very happy with the first morning. Me and the aul lad set off at 08.30, we were the using the German pointer, we decided to do two fields of kale on the edge of the gun club land first, I'd seen good numbers here over the last few days. The dog had a bit too much energy starting off, he was going around like a mad man, lucky enough there wasnt anything in the first field cause I doubt we'd have got a shot off with the way the dog was working. We moved into the next kale field, the one were we've a feeder placed, the dog was on something straight away, he had the nose too the ground and started belting along, I new we had a runner, the dog ran on about 60 yrds and just before the ditch two cocks got up. Nothing you could do. So we moved on up the field and not too long after a cock gets up in the middle of the field, we was closest to the aul boy, about 25-30 yards away, first shot of the season rings out, down the cock came. Pointer straight after him picked him up and brought him back to me(The dog knows his master ). So first bird in the bag wasnt a great bird, aul boy said he probably shouldn't have pulled on him, but sure you no how it is the first(itchy trigger fingers). So we moved onto the edge of the 'wet bog' were theres great cover, I put ten birds out of it saturday. I went straight into the cover with the dog, the aul lad standing out the field were the birds were likely to go. Hen got up first, she sailed on then a nice cock got up, aul lad had penty of time on him, he let him come across to get a good look at him, nice long tail so bang, number two in the bag, retrieved by the pointer. Another bird got up and landed straight on a tree, safest place for him(then again depends who was after him . So we moved on out into the 'wet bog' proper and the pointer picked up another scent I was following him for about 10 mins he was constanly going on point then moving on another bit(I knew the bird couldnt have been far away.) He brought us right up to next ditch were bang the dog froze, few seconds later the bird tries to get up, couldnt break free of the branches the dog was on top of him like a light , out he comes delighted with the bird in his mouth. So we moved on with the dog now having got more birds than me.. Walked for another 20 mins then the dog took interest in a heavy ditch. In he went, straight on point, my turn to bag a bird waited a while sent the dog in on the bird, up the bird gets, bang, bang, and on he flies.. So we move on down the lane, meet the uncle coming up, he'd not seen any. We decided to do a ditch together, had we not met the uncle we probably wouldn't have bothered doing it at all. Aren't we glad we done it now, the two pointers now working the ditch, first cock gets up, aul boy fires at him, miss, another cock gets up, aul boy fires at him, miss, third cock gets up, I fired, down he came, Happy with the first bird. Bit of a gap then the fourth gets up(out of practially the same position as the others) comes straight out at the aul lad, bang, plugs him(his lot for the day). The fifth and final bird gets up, bit far out I fired but never touched him. So we move on, leaving the uncle to go his own way. We decided to do the 'bog' a big heavy ditch runs along it, not long after the pointers on point, out the cock comes nice big bird, bang, nailed by myself. So six pheasants in the bag, more than enough, we headed on home, in the house by twelve, the dog was knackered coming home. He had a shaky start but was on the birds great at the end. All in all great first day. Seen about 25 birds overall. Edited November 1, 2011 by Ireland's Finest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ireland's Finest! Posted November 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 The bag! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 good write up and a nice bag what carts were you using because they seem to make your heads spin a bit :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon123 Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 Well done mate, Good shooting :good: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 Good bag mate. We have our first shoot on Saturday, the birds are in great order and I can't wait to get started. Nice to see you only shot cock birds, was this intentional? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garygreengrass Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 Nice bag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ireland's Finest! Posted November 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 Good bag mate. We have our first shoot on Saturday, the birds are in great order and I can't wait to get started. Nice to see you only shot cock birds, was this intentional? Cheers, ye I'd say you cant wait, is it rough shooting you's do or driven? I wouldn't dream of lifting the gun to a hen, its pointless in my opinion. I think all people who release birds and only do rough shooting should adopt this policy, if you don't shoot the hens they'll rear broods which means more birds. I know it will rarely run that smoothly but if only say 30% of the hens on your ground successfully rear a brood, wouldn't it be worth it? Were thinking of buying 30-40 hens in the spring and letting them out and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullet boy Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 Good Shooting.Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samyw Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 Good shooting and bag fair play leaving the hens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kermitpwee Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 (edited) Good bag mate. We have our first shoot on Saturday, the birds are in great order and I can't wait to get started. Nice to see you only shot cock birds, was this intentional? It is illegal to shoot hens in the south unless you have a licence that you would have on an estate shoot, for the rough shooting man its cocks only Edited November 2, 2011 by kermitpwee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 Cheers, ye I'd say you cant wait, is it rough shooting you's do or driven? I wouldn't dream of lifting the gun to a hen, its pointless in my opinion. I think all people who release birds and only do rough shooting should adopt this policy, if you don't shoot the hens they'll rear broods which means more birds. I know it will rarely run that smoothly but if only say 30% of the hens on your ground successfully rear a brood, wouldn't it be worth it? Were thinking of buying 30-40 hens in the spring and letting them out and see what happens. Our shoot is just a syndicate, rough shoot. We do shoot hens though as it would greatly affect your percentage return if you shot cocks only. Also pheasants are rubbish parents and they won't raise as many young as you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ireland's Finest! Posted November 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 Our shoot is just a syndicate, rough shoot. We do shoot hens though as it would greatly affect your percentage return if you shot cocks only. Also pheasants are rubbish parents and they won't raise as many young as you think. It doesn't affect our returns as we only release cocks anyway, I know were told that reared hens don't make great parents, but sure I reckon if I see one or two more extra broods around the place then it will be worth it, like its Kermit said its illegal anyhow but it wouldn't be that hard to get a permit too shoot them tho! Good luck for the season Ollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kobidog Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 reared pheasants are bad parents, its the same with partridge..however with predator control and habitat management wild birds can do well, so it is a good idea to leave wild hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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