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pheasant shooting the american way


midlandsman
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I have a friend who shoots in South Dakota and where they shoot they are all wild birds. When they shot there last year he said there was ten,s of thousands of wild pheasants. They have a bird limit of cocks only and there are about 20 guns out and they did not start shooting until midday and are finished in a couple of hours.

 

olddogfox

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If they are all wild birds (And I have no reason to believe that they are not) then they really do know the "secret" of keeping them around, and fair doos to them for that! At least they have a rule of no ground birds and no low fliers.

It can sometimes be difficult to judge the distances when you see a video like this so I could be wrong but some of the birds shot seemed a bit close, especially being hit with 4 shot, I would rather see the birds given a bit more "law" in some of those shots.

Whilst it looks like a great set up I don't think it would really be be my cup of tea!

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It can sometimes be difficult to judge the distances when you see a video like this so I could be wrong but some of the birds shot seemed a bit close, especially being hit with 4 shot, I would rather see the birds given a bit more "law" in some of those shots.

 

 

I have shot extensively in the US and a lot of areas similar to this require steel shot to be used.

That would explain the higher shot size.

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Really enjoyed that...brilliant!One or two birds I personally would have left,but who am I to criticise?All seemed safe and immensely enjoyable,and as someone else said,not to different to a walked-up day over here.We sometimes get flurries of half a dozen birds on one of our rough shoots when the dogs put them up,but nothing like those numbers!What a fabulous day out!Thanks for posting it.

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I have shot extensively in the US and a lot of areas similar to this require steel shot to be used.

That would explain the higher shot size.

 

Im sure the boxes read lead fella,but ill have a wee check again.Aye,the Winchesters are lead fella.Just a typical walked up day with great sport and the main difference with me is i would use 28g of 7.5s,which would also be frowned upon.

Edited by sako751sg
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its too early to remember dates and names , but in all fairness to our us counterparts , us english gentle men used to shoot pheasants whilst they sat on the floor , it wasnt until king thingymebob went on a shoot to france he saw that it was a lot more fun shooting them in the air .

 

wikipedia is proving a point at the mo and has shut down for 24 hours but this is more indepth .

 

"Practical hand-held firearms arrived on the British scene circa 1500 - we know Henry VIII was an enthusiast - and it seems probable that pheasants and other creatures were shot sitting or perching from this point on. Shakespeare makes reference to "birding" in The Merry Wives of Windsor, first published in 1602, (an allusion that may denote shooting). During the Civil War years game populations were generally depleted by foraging soldiers (armed, as far as their guns were concerned, with heavy matchlock muskets)."

 

 

Shooting flying is most likely traced to the Restoration, coming to England with Charles II's returning courtiers, who brought lightweight flintlock guns, but did not become really popular until the late 18th century. The first illustration of a shot pheasant in Britain may be found in Blome's Hawking or Faulconry, 1686, but the bird appears to have been killed with the old static shooting technique of gun and stalking horse.

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This style of walked up is typical of most American set-ups. They mostly shoot over pointing dogs and although different to the UK, it's a fairly exciting way to shoot. As far as "wild birds" go, they are mostly not wild - You buy your license at the gun store or from the local plod and it will have a set number of birds that you can tag (same for wildfowl, deer and 'gators). Where pheasant and chukkar are concerned, the County (or whoever the licensing authority are) will then release a set number of birds in their hunting areas appropriate to the number of tags sold - These are mature reared birds. The start of shooting season is really quite spectacular with gazillions of hunters all descending on the same area at the same time (Same goes for public trout/salmon fishing where you have to moderate your cast to avoid hitting the guy 5ft away from you)

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For me some of those shots are unsporting because of the close range. I dont have any problem with walked up game being shot going away having being flushed but some distance is needed for it to be sporting.

 

Also nice to see semi`s being used, some were using 3 shots but i would prefer to see them use just 2 at a time and also it isnt such a bad idea to have some of the flourescant orange, personally it wouldnt be so terrible to see beaters over here using it occasionally.

 

Strange how they only shoot the c0cks but all shout "rooster" when they get up ! And one hell of alot of birds there also !

 

Anyone know why they favour the 20 and 28 bore over the 12 ? :hmm: I thought for the americans the bigger the better !

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This is GRIM - no wonder discerning American shooters come to the British Isles for their sport.

 

It is one thing to have an informal walk-up pottering around the hedges, ditches & spinneys with a few friends, but this is on an industrial scale and scores zero on the sporting scale.....

 

Each to their own but it is not for me.

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