Mikkel Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Hi I have been managing my own little shoot for a couple years which is mostly woodland, but also moorland. I release pheasants and ducks on the shoot. Most of the drives is sited on the moorland because this is where i have most experience. But it is time for me to gain some new knowledge and this forum seems to the right place to ask. I have been feeling a bit guilty to the syndicate, because the woods on the beat have a lot of high steeps and also holds a lot of potential for making some good drives with very high birds. The woods contains all sorts. From very young (2 years with lots of canarygrass and bramble) to very old woods with good roosting trees. The only problem is that I have very little experience with wood drives. The woods are heavily connected and difficult for the small number of beaters we have room for to hold the birds in front of them during the beat. I dont know where the birds prefer to be at now but i will of course use a lot of time this year looking for the natural holding places. The best i can think of for improving the wood drives is: * Creating rides for feeding and rides for the shots to be on peg * Setting up hoppers strategically around the drive * Making straw rides on the drives (for the birds entertainment) * Planting cover/crops for flushing points (or making some with the trees that have been cut for rides) I will appreciate all the advice i can get from you guys and :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin g Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Welcome to the site Mikkel, where are you located. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikkel Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Thank You :-) The shoot is in Denmark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pheasant Feeder Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Welcome to the site. Things that can be done, ensure that the tree canopy is not too dense, this allows sunlight to reach the woodland floor encouraging ground cover. Any thinings can be used to create windbreaks and if stacked right can provide somewhere for the birds to get under for additional cover. Also plants like holly, laurels, etc provide ground cover and warmth, there is nothing worse than a bare woodland floor for holding pheasants the wind blows through and the birds won't hang around. There is a good book called 'Wills Shoot Revisited' by Will Garfitt where he eplains that the greatest biodiversity is found in the woodland margins, and he cut his rides in the shape of a 'H' as that gives him the greatest length of woodland margins for the area. Ensure that if the guns are stood in the wood that there are sufficient windows in the tree canopy to be able to shoot. The straw on the feed rides is a great idea as it makes the birds work harder for their food they stay on the ground longer, as when feeding from an hopper they can get their food easier then go wandering. The down side is you have to feed the straw rides daily. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Feed the birds where you want them to be. Fed straw rides are very good, hoppers are another option, always have alot. Try and keep them out of sight of the guns, in my opinion the guns should not see shoot equipment, keep it as natural as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikkel Posted July 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 Thanks a lot for your answers :-) The poults is of course still on grower pellets in the release pen. When and how should i start feeding into the wood drives? On the moorland i have had the pen and the drive connected but this situation is kind of different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pheasant Feeder Posted July 19, 2012 Report Share Posted July 19, 2012 (edited) As Scolopax says put the feed where you want the birds. The birds will naturally start to explore, just before they do make sure you have feed nearby and slowly move the feed further away. If you have mature birds left over from last year then start the feed rides in time for when any crops are harvested nearby. Then when they loose that feed source they will start to look elsewhere, thats when they'll come back to your wood. What I used to do was alternate the feeders one with a spice mix such as this, and the next one just feed. On the basis that if the birds got bored of the aniseed they didn't have to stray off the shoot to find just wheat. Hope that helps. Edited July 19, 2012 by Pheasant Feeder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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