Small Acre Shoot

[dannyboy]

Hi Guys looking for any advice. Looked through lots of old topics and haven't really seen anything about very small DIY shoots for walked up or mini driven.

 

I have order the book Wills Shoot (successful 69 acre shoot and conservation project) http://www.countrybooksdirect.com/product.php/18/42/wills-shoot-revisited

 

Looking at starting a DIY shoot, just for myself and a few friends to have some walked up fun with the dogs.

 

My parents have decent amount of land and 50 acres is being planted for Maize this year.

 

Which got me thinking it might be a good year to potentially start a small shoot as part of their conservation project.

The land is flat and there is no woodland etc which isn't ideal. Could be a stumbling block, but a friend of mine in Essex has a flat shoot on arable land.

 

I was thinking that red leg partridges would be best due to the lack of woodland and flat topography. Mainly after reading this a little while ago - http://www.fieldsportsmagazine.com/Shooting-Partridges/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-redleg.html.

 

Any ideas on what might be a suitable number of birds to put down ?

I have all the enthusiasm and time needed, I was thinking that the amount I spend on days normally I could invest into this and would be slightly more rewarding and still get the odd invite (hopefully!!).

My question really aside from any advice is, would you bother ? I.E. spend the money on a peg at a few high bird days or start the process providing some fun small days at home?

 

Would be great to get any thoughts, Thanks!

[r1steele]

where do we start? How much land have you got? big open fields or smaller with good hedgerows and headlands? what crops are grown? do you have any wild birds to start with and if so are they redlegs or greys? have you got the enthusiasm to keep the vermin down or know people who will? More information is needed as we don't really know how big this 'very small' project will be. For some it's a couple of hundred, others it's a few thousand.

[pg123]

Partridge are a very jumpy bird and easier to drive than walk up in my opinion. Can you put in a few corners or strips of game crop and release a few pheasant??

 

Also have you any water that could be dug out to make a flight pond??

[dannyboy]

Thanks for the response's.

 

Relatively small amount - just a little off 100 acres.

 

The fields are all split up into about 12 acre ish fields. With hedge rows splitting them up.

 

There are drainage rhyne's dividing up the fields and hedge rows on either side.

 

No wild pheasant or partridge, some ducks knocking about on the rhyne's and there is one small pond. So possibly digging another flight flight pond could be a good option.

 

This 50 acres will be maize, there will be one field of barley and the rest is grass for hay. So no designated cover crop, I was thinking about applying for the stewardship grant and getting some wild bird seed mixture in, to provide some food and hoping the maize would do a good job.

 

I'm happy to do the pest control and my mum has a full time gardener / handy man, his brother is a game keeper. So he is very clued up and we have done a fair bit of shooting together. I'm sure he will be keen to get stuck in.

 

Cheers

[scotslad]

If u have quite alot of small fields bounded by hedges u have something to start with, better than just big fields with no cover.

 

Ur really better getting eyes on the ground, so the keeper u know would be ur best bet for advice.

Even just putting feeders out now might help, a lot of shoots dinae feed this time of year so mibee draw a few extra birds in that might nest.

Will be all sorts of things u could do, mainly thickening up ur hedge rows with some decent bottom/vegetation and provided margins round them either wild bird mixs or brood rearing/nesting cover or insect rich. Have a look on either Kings Oakbank or Brights seeds website to get an idea of just how many different types of cover crop and conservation mix there is.

 

Possibly leave some crop standing right throu unharvested? both barley and maize

 

Personally i find grey partridge a far better bird for walked up shooting, tend to sit fat tighter than reds (which will just run on) and do hold pretty good to if they like ur ground

[casts_by_fly]

the challenge you're going to find with arable fields is cover when the crops are harvested. The local fields I shoot on are similar to yours. They are planted with grass, beans, sprouts, and various other crops. You will hold birds just fine from now through september. Once the hay is cut, the birds have few places to hide. Maize will help if it is left uncut, especially it there is a lot of grass/wheat growing among the stalks, but you need some form of hearty cover that will give shelter from October through Feb. If you have a lot of hedgerows to build from, you could potentially put wild bird strips that are 10-20 yards wide the length of a hedge on many of the hedges. That will give you some walking around areas big enough for 2-3 people and a dog.

 

thanks

rick