timb Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 Hi, I have noticed that one of my permissions has loads of partridges, and it would be nice to shoot some later in the year if possible. Is there anything I can do to stop them wandering off ? Any advice appreciated. Ta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin g Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 (edited) Are they English grey partridge, if so how many roughly, or are they redlegs.. Link may be of use also http://www.gwct.org.uk/education__advice/gamebird_management/gamebird_releasing/1189.asp Edited June 15, 2012 by Martin g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2244tone Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 If they are greys,trap shoot kill any vermin on the the legal list that eats them.Up to you if you want to shoot them.If they are reds happy hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timb Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 Just checked google images. Definately grey partridges, saw at least eight, maybe a dozen on the fronges of a 20 acre field. Usually just shoot pigeon and rabbit there. Would it be best NOT to shoot them then ? Dont want to take anything endangered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reece Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 (edited) The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust has a lot of valuable information on grey partridges. GWCT management factsheets The page has a number of factsheets, including many on grey partridges. I have all of them downloaded onto my computer. They contain a lot of information on grey partridge habitat management, feeding, and predator control. Those documents should be useful to you, so have a good read through them. If you follow the advice in those documents, you should get a decent population, especially if there is a good number of them nearby. Grey partridges have clutches of around 15 eggs so the potential for them to recover quickly is huge provided conditions are right. If you can get a good population, shooting the odd one will be all right provided that it is only the odd one. Hope this helps. Edited June 15, 2012 by Reece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timb Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 Reece, thanks for that, very helpful. Will limit myself to one for Christmas, and do whatever I can to keep the others local and predator free. Timb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2244tone Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Top man nice to know their doing ok in some areas.Lovely little birds and one at Christmas would be a treat cos their quite tasty to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmos05 Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 shoot 1 befor end off november because english tend to pair up in december. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy130 Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 shoot 1 befor end off november because english tend to pair up in december. Eh? Partridge end to pair up in march/april!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmos05 Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 english partridge split up from coveys and pair up from december time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tikka lad Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 english partridge split up from coveys and pair up from december time. You are very much right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmos05 Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 (edited) Thankyou tikka lad thats why lots off small game shoots stop shooting english in december or or should i say try not to if the guns can tell the differance. Edited June 17, 2012 by cosmos05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillmouse Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Make a rule not to shoot any, ever, for any reason on pain of a sensible fine, say £20. Then mistakes made keep it to a reasonable bag and the fines have the advantage of paying for a bit of feed and a few traps. I was a wild partridge keeper and worked with them every day and still managed to shoot two on a driven day despite every effort to leave them all. .......and yes, they do pair up in December, will covey up again in snow, but by mid-January to February will be pretty muched paired up and on their home range for the rest of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmos05 Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 do you have many your way out then hillmouse, have you seen any chicks yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillmouse Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 I am in Devon at the moment and they are sadly a vague memory in most areas down here. Uncontrolled vermin, mostly magpies and crows, highly intensive grassland for dairy silage and a high rainfall have pretty much seen them off. I am moving to a huge estate in Norfolk next week and the first thing I saw when viewing the houses last week was a pair of English, one of many, I hope. We increased the stock from 33 pairs to almost 700 individuals in 3 seasons, illustrating the incredible powers of recovery given predator control and habitat management and a lot of luck with the weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipdog Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 To increase English Partridge numbers you should shoot the birds that pair up the earliest. The older brids pair up first and demand a bigger teritory than younger ones, so by shooting pairs in December you should end up with more breading pairs of partridges in an area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmos05 Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 well i can honestly say i havent herd that 1 befor, we seem to be getting good results the way we are doing it some will carry on this way. diffrent people used different methods just got to go with what works the best for you i supose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillmouse Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 One certain fact is that dead partridges lay no eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Nah, in this day and age I cannot agree with zipdog! Even estates with good numbers of greys still have far less than they would have had in days gone by when such a rule may have been applicable. Although I have heard the same about Red Grouse and that one of the keepers jobs is to shoot as many old cock grouse as they can if there is a good stock left on the hill. Aas Hillhouse said, a dead partridge is'nt going to lay any eggs! Good luck with the new job! Is it proper wild bird ground? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tikka lad Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 (edited) To increase English Partridge numbers you should shoot the birds that pair up the earliest. The older brids pair up first and demand a bigger teritory than younger ones, so by shooting pairs in December you should end up with more breading pairs of partridges in an area. I have never heard such ****! as hillmouse says no dead partridge lays eggs,, if these old partridge have successfully reared broods in the past season then surely they are worth keeping not killing? If too many cocks were present than I would consider thinning for fertility reasons but that would be with more pheasant than partridge as them who understand english will know the hen decides on her mate......! I would take hillmouses advice introduce an affordable fine and if on your own why not make it a plan on the lines of, if you would like to shoot 1-2 this season why not invest in a broody and some eggs next season? p.s. congratulations on the new job hillmouse mate, I know its been hard for you! Edited June 17, 2012 by tikka lad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2244tone Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Not sure the chap who started this post could tell the difference between old and young birds in flight in December not to sure if anyone can! Best to try and shoot as many invading french as you can and leave the English alone and if you,re unsure dont shoot any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillmouse Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Being ever mindful of the Thought Police and Political Correctness/Racism aspects, yes do by all means shoot the French, as in Red-Legged Partridge. Not for any sinister xenophobic reasons, but simply that most redlegs are a) replaceable and B) have all the maternal instincts of a housebrick in about 85% of cases. As far as competition goes the indigenous Grey will win every time. However they are also very tolerant of red-legs and I have seen wild Grey/redleg nests within feet of each other numerous times. What you do not want is too many pheasants as they will dump eggs in any nest they find, including that of grey partridges. Much of the job on wild nest management was whizzing pheasant eggs out of a greys nest. To illustrate the relative parenting skills of the redleg V grey I had two nests about 8 feet apart, grey on the bank top 3 feet south of an oak and a redleg 3 feet north half way down the bank. (Who said greys won't nest near trees?) Both had 13 eggs, both sat around the same time. On expected hatch day an horrific thunderstorm raged all night and through to mid-morning. Checked the nests and the grey was sat tight as a rock first thing and had hatched all 13 by lunchtime and taken them off. The red-leg abandoned the whole clutch when I got to them and they had part pipped,were fully formed in the egg but blue and barely moving. Shoved them under a sitting bantie but it was too late for them. In the August brood counts that pair of greys still had all 13. Average brood size on greys in a poor year for weather was 4.85 and for redlegs was 0.45. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2244tone Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Redlegs seem to be able to rear broods very sucessfully in treir native countrys which seem to be of a much warmer climate.Maybe its the tame/reared birds that flood this country that have difficulties with maternal instincts,and as is mentioned they are easily replaced unfortunatly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timb Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Not sure the chap who started this post could tell the difference between old and young birds in flight in December not to sure if anyone can! Best to try and shoot as many invading french as you can and leave the English alone and if you,re unsure dont shoot any. 2244tone is quite right. I will try to get one for the pot early in the season and then call it a day and do what I can to protect / encourage the rest to stay around as its nice to see them. Thanks to all for the information - very helpful. Timb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Just one thing make sure you have permission to shoot game as I had a guy pigeon shooting but was quite so he went for a wander I found him with a pheasant in his bag that was the last time he came here. cheers john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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