Proudly Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 We've just taken a rough shoot on which is about 600acres, mostly hedgerows with couple of strip woods which is the outskirts of a bigger commercial shoot. Pheasant, partridge & ducks on the river. The tenants who had it last season didn't do much shooting & I don't think they fed it properly. We had a quick check of the hoppers y'day & some of them still had barley in them from last season. Surely this is telling us wheat would be a better choice for this coming season? Any suggestions thanks, looking to feed the ducks on the river also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfkiller Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 Pheasants should be on wheat, ducks on barley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proudly Posted August 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 Thanks, this will be my first season shooting game. Need to quickly source our wheat then, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 (edited) Difficult but ethically, as you say you are next to a big shoot and I assume will be shooting birds which wander over from their side, then feeding is not really on in my opinion. If it is a big commercial affair then you should have plenty to shoot without encouraging more by feeding. Edited August 10, 2014 by scolopax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinF Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 Difficult but ethically, as you say you are next to a big shoot and I assume will be shooting birds which wander over from their side, then feeding is not really on in my opinion. If it is a big commercial affair then you should have plenty to shoot without encouraging more by feeding. I agree with Scolopax. Although feeding next doors birds on to your patch and shooting them isn't illegal, it won't win you any friends locally or help relations with the keeper/shoot next door. We are not a commercial shoot, but one of our neighbours does this to us, so I know how frustrating it can be. The way around it is to release some birds of your own. No one will complain if you are making a reasonable effort on your side of the boundary. The ducks on the river are likely to be wild, and you should feed them barley as mentioned above. If they are wild, you should hand feed or use an automatic feeder in a shallow area of the river, if you have one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 I agree with the above 2, it is a bit of bad craic to feed all ur neighbours brds in. Shooting is generally a very small world and everyone knows each other so not worth upsetting ur neighbours if u can. Esp in ur first season Possibly siting a few hoppers on the other side of the farm (assuming no shoot on that side) or in the middle might not be frowned upon too much as 600ac is a decent size, just try not ot take the p *** U could use the barley from the hoppers to fed ur ducks, not really very fussy and will eat owt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proudly Posted August 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 You're missing the point lads, the 600 acres is let to us by the main shoot. We're not expected to put birds down, just feed & shoot as we want. The head keeper keeps several fields to dog back in. Theres no bad etiquette as its the way the estate has always let the shoot. Sorry for any confusion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr pigeon Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 But what happens if you feed say a mix of beans and pulses, which you could as no other costs. Then shoot big bags as you would want? Will the keeper be ok with you making inroads into his numbers? If so you are very very lucky in my opinion. Perhaps talk to him with a plan in mind, straw rides hand feeding etc so he is not surprised when you start banging away on your shoot days. Atb mr pigeon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proudly Posted August 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 I understand what you're saying but we'll not be buying anything other than wheat. Theres little cover on the 600 acres we have & of the 6 members only 2/3 of us will be shooting game. The others only joined for the vermin, can't complain at £115 each as theres plenty rabbits & several crop fields ready to cut with plenty decoying to be had. We will be speaking in depth with the keeper soon as we intend to put more hoppers in & make sure everythings ready for the season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr pigeon Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 If all is ok then I would do the following, bearing in mind only three of you game shooting: Feed thicker hedges by hand, straw any sheltered areas. Hopper feed into flushing points, this way you can flush birds easier as only a couple of you, ie bramble bushes or thicker hedge where birds might stall. Get automatic duck feeder and feed wheat to them, if it feeds on the bank aswell then you may get pheasants there aswell. I imagine you would only want to shoot a brace each so you shouldn't need much wheat or many hoppers. Don't forget though the best way would be to feed where you see the birds mostly, if you wouldn't want to be there, would they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proudly Posted August 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 Thanks for the advice. The last tenant did mention the keeper was going to let them push a big wood through thats not on the land, supposed to be a decent bloke so looking to work with him as against him. Will post out progress in time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinF Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 Thanks for the advice. The last tenant did mention the keeper was going to let them push a big wood through thats not on the land, supposed to be a decent bloke so looking to work with him as against him. Will post out progress in time Sounds like a very good, but unusual position to be in. You should get to know the keeper as soon as possible, you will need him much more than he needs you! Good luck with it, I will look forward to reading your updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr baddoo Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 Think i've just read a post from the twighlight zone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proudly Posted October 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 Just an update for the doubters lol, it seems we are in a fortunate position. We are not expected to put birds down & can shoot what we want, we can't put feeders near the fields the keeper retains for dogging his partridge back. We had a walk round 2 weeks ago & put plenty of partridge up but we'll have to look at doing mini drives as they got up too far infront. We also put a decent number of pheasant up but won't start shooting them until end of Oct. Looks like decent numbers of duck on the river but we have to wait until the beasts are moved before we start feeding barley. It seems like the last lads didn't bother to put the time/work in, think we could have a decent season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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