Extreme high pheasants

[JohnfromUK]

Don't think anyone has suggested a 90m or 300 foot pheasant is a sporting bird however I do feel a 150 foot bird can't be IF the gun is a capable shot.

150 feet is 45 metres - and I agree is what I regard as a good high bird - and a testing one for most of us.

[Old farrier]

Hi

There's a few on here that have shot the extreme birds a few more that shoot high birds on a regular basis there opinions I value you can't beat actual experience 😋

 

For those that can't judge height a electric pylon is 40 yards to the top not the wire the top

Plenty high enough for most a 1oz load will kill them up there

The higher you go the more you need

In shot kinetic energy and skill

All the best

Of

[14Supersport04]

Watch some of the videos on youtube of Dave Carrie shooting at duncomb park and the other high bird estates, i think he uses 42gram 4s out of a 32" full choked miroku. I would imagine his shoulder hurts afterwards though👍

[scotslad]

Must admit some of the hieghts are truely staggering.

A local shoot claims to have some of the highest partridge drives in uk, sure it will be there or there abouts but not sure exactly how high they are.

100m is a long long long way up.

 

Most trees will only be 20m ish high, it takes a tall tree to be over 100ft and most hardwoods probably won't be that. So on most shoots it genuine 30m bird is a high bird and probably above average

 

An old woodcutters trick for measuring tree hieght is eiither bend over and look at the tree top from between ur legs, when u can just see tree top thats where tip will land, then pace back to base, look like a complete idiot doing it thou.

The easier way is to hold a stick up the same length as ur arm to eye, hold it at 90 with ur arm out from body at 90, when ur hand is level with base and top is level with top of the stick ur at the same distance, just pace back again. Surprisingly accurate

 

 

While i have no problem with teams of good experienced guns shooting these high birds, folk should know there limitations and shoot within them althou still testing themselves a we bit, its just knowing the ,limit

[Smokersmith]

A local shoot claims to have some of the highest partridge drives in uk, sure it will be there or there abouts but not sure exactly how high they are.

 

Would that be Drumlanrig?

[scotslad]

Aye, they say 1 or 2 up by the kirk are the highest, picked up on a few of the other beats but only early season, got some good pheasant drives too, which i know far better.

But too be fair plenty other shoots in this area are doing similar type of drives, reds or pheasant of very high bracken banks. All pretty high birds

 

I found it hard to estimate hieght as so little landmarks to guage them off. Not sure how people really tell which is the highest they'll all be so high it won't make a lot of difference

[Smokersmith]

I shot there several years ago ..., pheasants am, partridges pm.

 

The mornings were great, every drive a picture, and some wonderful birds. The afternoons were depressing ... just looking into the valley they would be driven over and my exact thoughts were "you're having a laugh".

 

This was towards the end of the season, and they genuinely looked like sparrows going over. I fired very few shells on those drives, and wouldn't do that part again.

[scotslad]

Aye i can believe that,there some hieght up there. Got some cracking pheasant drives thou and most of them are hardly 'average' birds.

Almost shot it a few years ago but no longer any decent deals up there now for the locals, they used to be ok.

 

Think when it comes to which is highest like argueing over which super car is fastest as all so fast its reallty irrelevant

[Underdog]

Where is Drunlanrig? Sounds familiar.

 

As for bending over and looking up my own donkey!

I doubt my back and gut will let me these days :,-(

[Stonepark]

Where is Drunlanrig? Sounds familiar.

 

As for bending over and looking up my own donkey!

I doubt my back and gut will let me these days :,-(

Buccleuch between dumfries and sanqhuar

[JDog]

I had a day in the Borders two years ago, not at Drumlanrig but in very similar terrain.

 

On the first drive the first two birds over the line were two cock pheasants which must have been between 80-90m high. No one shot at them but most of the line gave a 'whoop' at seeing such high birds. It turns out that they were disturbed by a flank end beater before he could get into position.

 

My thoughts were 'what have I let myself in for here'? Though there were some very high birds after that the drives were managed superbly and partridges mostly were sent over the gun line between 30 and 60m high for the rest of the day.

 

Not being a high birds specialist (pigeons hovering over the decoys are just about my limit) I didn't do the birds justice until the third drive when my brain finally cranked over and I started to shoot a few.

[Underdog]

Buccleuch between dumfries and sanqhuar

Thought so, spent alot of time there. I love it up there :-).

[casts_by_fly]

You sound like you have forgotten the golden rules of how shot guns work!

They work by accumulative effects from multiple strikes, not individual pellet energy.

 

I will stick to numerous pellet strikes as in my actual experience it is no worse and due to a huge pellet count difference I increase the odds for head and neck strikes which by default also don't need that much energy! :-)

 

No, that's not exactly true. The pellets need to have enough energy to reach vital locations- CNS, break mobility bones, vital organs (in order of lethality). Each location requires a little different amount of energy for a given bird. Assuming the same load weight and speed (and thus the same energy for the total shot load, but not each individual pellet) there are upper and lower limits. A load of #12 dust shot will be inadequate at 30 yards to kill a going away pheasant cleanly- there just isn't enough energy for each pellet to kill despite the full load of pellets having the required energy to do so. At the other end of the spectrum (as you note) you need enough pellet strikes to ensure a good quantity of hits on a bird. I wouldn't be shooting 00 buck at pheasants- while one pellet to the body would thump a bird, the likelihood of getting that one good hit would be far less than using a normal pheasant shot size. These two examples are quite extreme, but they show that there is a limit on either end for each argument (big vs little shot, many vs fewer hits). It is simply physics- energy vs momentum. You need enough of both to get the job done. Within the realm of 'normal' pheasant shot (which I would define as 4-6 UK shot size) and normal presentations it is personal preference as they will all get the job done. When you start pushing to the edge of normal or beyond then you need to consider if you should adjust something else to accommodate.

 

thanks,

rick

[Underdog]

I define normal pheasant shot between #7-#4 but preference #7-#6.

 

An gent long gone now shot all over country as well as his own shoot.

He shot a Churchill, 25" barrels and next to no choke.

 

Hull cartridge would deliver pallets of their paper cased shells in #7-#6.

He never shied from any bird!

[CharlieT]

I define normal pheasant shot between #7-#4 but preference #7-#6.

 

An gent long gone now shot all over country as well as his own shoot.

He shot a Churchill, 25" barrels and next to no choke.

 

Hull cartridge would deliver pallets of their paper cased shells in #7-#6.

He never shied from any bird!

 

My default when shooting "normal" driven pheasants is still an old pair with 26" barrels bored imp and 1/4 using No 6

.

However, when I spend my hard earned on days at these really high birds those guns would just not cut the mustard, simply put, they are not up to the job.

My experience has proved that longer, tighter choked barrels, mine being 30" with 3/4 and full using No 5 shot, is what puts birds in the bag for me. If I was to use my standard game guns I may as well wave my finger at the birds

 

I tried patterning my 26" pair at 75 yds once, enough said !

[Old farrier]

Hi

Can we build into the equation the forward speed of the bird and its weight given that we are shooting high driven birds in front

Just a thought 😋

 

All the best

Of

[motty]

 

My default when shooting "normal" driven pheasants is still an old pair with 26" barrels bored imp and 1/4 using No 6

.

However, when I spend my hard earned on days at these really high birds those guns would just not cut the mustard, simply put, they are not up to the job.

My experience has proved that longer, tighter choked barrels, mine being 30" with 3/4 and full using No 5 shot, is what puts birds in the bag for me. If I was to use my standard game guns I may as well wave my finger at the birds

 

I tried patterning my 26" pair at 75 yds once, enough said !

 

Is the barrel length relevant?

[CharlieT]

 

Is the barrel length relevant?

 

No, not at all. Except (for me) where it helps me maintain swing.

[Guest cookoff013]

http://www.hullcartridge.co.uk/highpheasex.htm

 

High pheasant, more 4s than 6s

[scotslad]

 

Is the barrel length relevant?

 

I think a longer barrel gives a tighter pattern, as charlie said it should also help maintain swing possibly be more pointable and also be heavier so help with recoil if ur firing bigger loads. More like a traditional wildfowls gun really

 

Read an article in ST a while bck and some hing bird specialists were using 32" and 34" barrels

[SuperGoose75]

 

I think a longer barrel gives a tighter pattern, as charlie said it should also help maintain swing possibly be more pointable and also be heavier so help with recoil if ur firing bigger loads. More like a traditional wildfowls gun really

 

Read an article in ST a while bck and some hing bird specialists were using 32" and 34" barrels

 

That is Kinda what I was going to put.I wouldnt be so sure about tighter patterns but what a longer barrel does apart from being more pointable and maintain Swing Is to give a Better/longer Sightplane.

Put your hand up to your nose and point a finger at something and then extend your arm whilst still pointing and you will get what i mean.

 

As you say that is why some modern Goose/Wildfowling Guns have pretty long tubes say uop to 36 inches.

Of course that is speaking of S/S's and O/U's as we know a S/A's are a different story due to the action and a 26 or 28 would feel more like a 30 on a Double barrel.

 

I know very little about Driven pheasant and have never shot driven pheasant but Shooting at high Wildfowl surely is more or less the same principle although Wildfowl are tougher birds.

 

I remember watching the sporting Scence Video's yrs ago and the pheasnt one showed one of the supposedly top game shots in England tackling High Pheasnats at the "Gurston Down Shoot" abd his philosphy was 30 inch tubes on a Beretta Choked Full and Full and he said he either Hit them right or missed them Clean, Cant remember what cartridge he used though.

[Penelope]

Philip Fussel I believe.

 

 

That is Kinda what I was going to put.I wouldnt be so sure about tighter patterns but what a longer barrel does apart from being more pointable and maintain Swing Is to give a Better/longer Sightplane.

Put your hand up to your nose and point a finger at something and then extend your arm whilst still pointing and you will get what i mean.

 

As you say that is why some modern Goose/Wildfowling Guns have pretty long tubes say uop to 36 inches.

Of course that is speaking of S/S's and O/U's as we know a S/A's are a different story due to the action and a 26 or 28 would feel more like a 30 on a Double barrel.

 

I know very little about Driven pheasant and have never shot driven pheasant but Shooting at high Wildfowl surely is more or less the same principle although Wildfowl are tougher birds.

 

I remember watching the sporting Scence Video's yrs ago and the pheasnt one showed one of the supposedly top game shots in England tackling High Pheasnats at the "Gurston Down Shoot" abd his philosphy was 30 inch tubes on a Beretta Choked Full and Full and he said he either Hit them right or missed them Clean, Cant remember what cartridge he used though.

[casts_by_fly]

 

I think a longer barrel gives a tighter pattern, as charlie said it should also help maintain swing possibly be more pointable and also be heavier so help with recoil if ur firing bigger loads. More like a traditional wildfowls gun really

 

Read an article in ST a while bck and some hing bird specialists were using 32" and 34" barrels

 

It doesn't change the pattern, but a longer barrel gives you the longer sight plane (small improvement) and more forward weight to keep the barrel moving (more significant on longer birds). Short whippy guns take more focus to keep moving through birds. Not saying it can't be done, but it is harder.

 

thanks,

rick

[Old farrier]

Philip Fussel I believe.

 

That was the chap

Granted there high birds at gurston but mostly within range of any gun

Wouldn't class them as extreme

All the best

Of

 

It was cold zoom into the valley bottom

Edited December 9, 2015 by Old farrier

[propercartridges]

I travel the country to shoot high birds weather it is pheasant and pigeon and my preferred choice is 36 gram of 4.5 which is mm 2.9 let me get sorted out with courier and I will send you some free of charge now are we talking plastic or fibre thanks George 07714 323 909