Bullets do the strangest things

[Benthejockey]

Here’s one for you, I’ve had rifle bullets or bits of bullets come out or appear in obscure parts of an animal before but this is one of the most perculiar I’ve seen. I went for an end of season walk round the boundaries last week, the dog put up a cock pheasant, a nice easy crosser but going over a high hedge into the next field. Fired the first barrel, he jinked but didn’t stop so I assumed I’d scared him, swung through but the shot disappeared because of the hedge. I kept an eye on him and he was gliding away, all of a sudden he started flapping and climbed about 30ft vertically and then fell out of the sky like a stone. It was very bizarre. When I undressed him one pellet had gone straight through the centre of his heart. 

[Walker570]

Yep, towering bird. Good advice to always watch a bird you think you may have hit.  Over the years I have often had pickers up stationed a couple of hundred yards behind me, come over and say they had picked my bird when I didn't realise I had hit it.  Yours just ran out of juice.  Very often if they set their wings and glide, they have been hit. When I did a fair bit of picking up back in the 80s I always went and had a look at those, often to find the bird as you say stone dead wings still straight out. Pleased you got your bird.

[mel b3]

i remember hitting a pigeon a few years ago , it went straight up in tiny circles until it was just a dot in the sky , it eventually gave up and plummeted back down.

[Smokersmith]

It was a piece of shot, and it did nothing strange.

You'll see it happen many more times now you've seen it once. Good training to keep your eye on the bird.

[scotslad]

Aye I've seen when I picked up on some real high drives could be standing 1/2 a mile or more behind the guns (its only 800m not as far as u think) and birds could easy set there wings and glide to the area where I stood, but also seen some fly almost normal flapping away only to stop suddenly and just fall to the ground stone dead.

On the grouse any bird that pitches in within 200m of the butts I usually go to investigate, later on in season they are quite often hit.

 

Must admit I was told that towering birds were shot in the lung and that was the birds flying higher looking for air, but to be fair I've never examined 1 and just took his word for it.

[washerboy]

My favourite pass time is walking a sugar beet field behind my local shoot, I find dead birds with my Lurcher as folks have shot  them as they glide over the hill and they make it into the beet field without being seen. 

[Benthejockey]

10 hours ago, Smokersmith said:

It was a piece of shot, and it did nothing strange.

You'll see it happen many more times now you've seen it once. Good training to keep your eye on the bird.

I know it was a piece of shot but thought my title and intro was a lot more interesting than ‘Lead shot kills pheasant’. I’ve had many dead birds glide on but never seen the towering effect before. It was quite incredible to watch. I always keep an eye on the birds because if I miss and I’m out rough shooting I mean get another shot later. 

[Penelope]

On 2/6/2018 at 22:29, scotslad said:

Aye I've seen when I picked up on some real high drives could be standing 1/2 a mile or more behind the guns (its only 800m not as far as u think) and birds could easy set there wings and glide to the area where I stood, but also seen some fly almost normal flapping away only to stop suddenly and just fall to the ground stone dead.

On the grouse any bird that pitches in within 200m of the butts I usually go to investigate, later on in season they are quite often hit.

 

Must admit I was told that towering birds were shot in the lung and that was the birds flying higher looking for air, but to be fair I've never examined 1 and just took his word for it.

I have read this from Arthur Cadnum, the bird lifts its head to try and breathe and as a consequence flies higher.

[stagboy]

I used to have a dog that would keep his eye on any goose I shot at. On at least two occasions he spotted a goose fall long after I had stopped watching it. In one case, the goose had travelled a good 400 yards before it fell, having shown no sign of being hit beforehand.

[kernel gadaffi]

Saw it happen many years ago when I was but a young nipper on the fells. A guy shot a Grouse which proceeded to go vertical, after several seconds it was almost out of sight, heading towards the sun like Icarus, eventually, it was puckered and started to fall to earth. But the tale doesn't end there, as it gathered speed, it was coming down like the proverbial stone and I thought, "I could be another victim here" as it was heading in my direction, I took a few steps to one side and watched open mouthed, a split seconds later, it made contact with a dry stone wall I was stood next to, it burst open like a melon hit by a sledge hammer, I was coated in feathers and guts, the keeper said he was going to dock my wages that day for eating one of the grouse! 

[Hamster]

I have known it happen with pigeon at least a dozen times over the years, I too read that it signaled a lung shot which seems as plausible as any other but must admit can't give credence to it flying higher to seek more oxygen , it's just some kind of instinctive nervous system based occurrence. It does tend to happen with birds that have received no more than one or two hits though and often they tower soon after the shot is taken and very close to the decoys. 

Edited February 10, 2018 by Hamster

[Hamster]

It could for instance be as a result of that particular injury scrambling up their sense of direction and general awareness, coupled to the urgent sense of survival they continue to flap but are unable to summon their other faculty senses to direct the flapping forward so to speak. Over exertion (in lifting the body upwards) leads to fatal hemorrhage and a quick demise.  

[Walker570]

70yrs ...yes that long ago, my grandfathers farm was crawling with wild bred grey partridge and he held four shoots a season and occasionally I was let off school for the day to go along.

It was not unusual to see two or three towering birds in a day. I don't know why but partridge appear to be more prone to it, if that's the term to use. The thought back then was a pellet had hit an artery and eventually what appeared to be a bird not hit would run out of juice and the brain would close down causing the towering.  Eventually total loss of blood causing the muscles to give up as well.

The farm has now vanished under the M42 and what little remained has been turned into a prairie farm. Hence no more grey partridge.

[Benthejockey]

3 hours ago, kernel gadaffi said:

Saw it happen many years ago when I was but a young nipper on the fells. A guy shot a Grouse which proceeded to go vertical, after several seconds it was almost out of sight, heading towards the sun like Icarus, eventually, it was puckered and started to fall to earth. But the tale doesn't end there, as it gathered speed, it was coming down like the proverbial stone and I thought, "I could be another victim here" as it was heading in my direction, I took a few steps to one side and watched open mouthed, a split seconds later, it made contact with a dry stone wall I was stood next to, it burst open like a melon hit by a sledge hammer, I was coated in feathers and guts, the keeper said he was going to dock my wages that day for eating one of the grouse! 

What did grouse tartare taste like ?

[buze]

I've don't have 70 years of experience in my bag, but I've already seen a few pheasants that 'lock wings' -- more or less dead-ish, but will still fly down 1/4 mile until the wings fold, or they hit the earth. I now always watch out for any 'jitter' or any feathers in a bird and tell the keeper or the picker ups. You don't always get them, there's one crosser I shot earlier this year that i *know* I more or less slammed, but we never found it.

From what I've seen, ducks are a lot 'worse' so they are so incredibly resilient, and this year I've seen a mallard having to take 2 barrels of one gun, plus an extra one to finally go down. Incredible birds. When you pluck mallards you find pellets in the felt at the front, where there actually failed to pierce the skin. amazing.

[motty]

48 minutes ago, buze said:

I've don't have 70 years of experience in my bag, but I've already seen a few pheasants that 'lock wings' -- more or less dead-ish, but will still fly down 1/4 mile until the wings fold, or they hit the earth. I now always watch out for any 'jitter' or any feathers in a bird and tell the keeper or the picker ups. You don't always get them, there's one crosser I shot earlier this year that i *know* I more or less slammed, but we never found it.

From what I've seen, ducks are a lot 'worse' so they are so incredibly resilient, and this year I've seen a mallard having to take 2 barrels of one gun, plus an extra one to finally go down. Incredible birds. When you pluck mallards you find pellets in the felt at the front, where there actually failed to pierce the skin. amazing.

If pellets are found on a bird that don't even enter the skin, I would suggest that they are out of range!

[scouser]

 2 crows one about 10ft behind the other, had a go with the rimmy,first one flew off, rear one stone dead, watched the first fly about 500yds then tumble straight down.

[Hamster]

7 hours ago, buze said:

I've don't have 70 years of experience in my bag, but I've already seen a few pheasants that 'lock wings' -- more or less dead-ish, but will still fly down 1/4 mile until the wings fold, or they hit the earth. I now always watch out for any 'jitter' or any feathers in a bird and tell the keeper or the picker ups. You don't always get them, there's one crosser I shot earlier this year that i *know* I more or less slammed, but we never found it.

From what I've seen, ducks are a lot 'worse' so they are so incredibly resilient, and this year I've seen a mallard having to take 2 barrels of one gun, plus an extra one to finally go down. Incredible birds. When you pluck mallards you find pellets in the felt at the front, where there actually failed to pierce the skin. amazing.

It's amazing the ranges some people will shoot at mallard and no doubt geese, I'd say those are gifts left by a chancer on a different day possibly even last year. 

[Benthejockey]

I shot a crow the other week and swore I’d missed but watched him fly on whilst I waited for his mates, he flew 3/400 yards and his engine cut out and he went splat. But I’d never seen towering until that pheasant. 

[buze]

1 hour ago, Hamster said:

It's amazing the ranges some people will shoot at mallard and no doubt geese, I'd say those are gifts left by a chancer on a different day possibly even last year. 

Definitely possible -- I found some lead #6's in my last batch; and I'm pretty sure nobody was stupid enough to shoot /that/ at ducks in our party..

[ditchman]

On 06/02/2018 at 22:29, scotslad said:

Aye I've seen when I picked up on some real high drives could be standing 1/2 a mile or more behind the guns (its only 800m not as far as u think) and birds could easy set there wings and glide to the area where I stood, but also seen some fly almost normal flapping away only to stop suddenly and just fall to the ground stone dead.

On the grouse any bird that pitches in within 200m of the butts I usually go to investigate, later on in season they are quite often hit.

 

Must admit I was told that towering birds were shot in the lung and that was the birds flying higher looking for air, but to be fair I've never examined 1 and just took his word for it.

thats excactly what i always thought.............my dog spaniel had a talant and that was he knew when a bird was hit as he turned and tracked it in the sky....then it would tower and go down sometimes 3-400 yds away..................more often than not it would be on the partridges,,,,....

[Penelope]

On 2/10/2018 at 11:59, Hamster said:

I have known it happen with pigeon at least a dozen times over the years, I too read that it signaled a lung shot which seems as plausible as any other but must admit can't give credence to it flying higher to seek more oxygen , it's just some kind of instinctive nervous system based occurrence. It does tend to happen with birds that have received no more than one or two hits though and often they tower soon after the shot is taken and very close to the decoys. 

From what I understand it's because the bird raises its head to aid breathing and that then causes the bird to gain altitude. Kind of makes sense.