jall25 Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 Guys Wondered if any game shooters / keepers would advise on their stocking density Not in the pens but actually how many birds do they stock per acre of shoot Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonepark Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 Stocking density depends on cover and food availability. What habitat does your shoot hold, pasture, arable, heather, rush, arable crops, game crops, young forestry, mature forestry, etc? Total area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jall25 Posted February 2, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 11 minutes ago, Stonepark said: Stocking density depends on cover and food availability. What habitat does your shoot hold, pasture, arable, heather, rush, arable crops, game crops, young forestry, mature forestry, etc? Total area? Yes i get that - i realise its how long is a piece of string - but so can a pen be too Some of commercial shoots i have heard are circa 50 birds an acre - Just after any other numbers really for interest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted February 4, 2023 Report Share Posted February 4, 2023 NGO will provide your answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jall25 Posted February 4, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2023 5 hours ago, Scully said: NGO will provide your answer. Thanks Scully Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted February 4, 2023 Report Share Posted February 4, 2023 The stocking density PER PEN is advised as one yard of perimeter wire per bird, which is ridiculous as it means a pen 100 yards square should only be used for 400 pheasants whereas a pen that size would often be used for 1000/2000. I have no idea of the recommended density per acre, but it must surely depend on terrain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weihrauch17 Posted February 4, 2023 Report Share Posted February 4, 2023 On 02/02/2023 at 21:47, jall25 said: Guys Wondered if any game shooters / keepers would advise on their stocking density Not in the pens but actually how many birds do they stock per acre of shoot Thanks in advance They all naff off anyway with our mild winters so it's immaterial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jall25 Posted February 4, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2023 Ours love the warmer weather and go in the cold ! - Where to ? No idea ha ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave at kelton Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 I rented a shoot in Oxfordshire for 25 years from Forestry Commission and they imposed a stocking ratio which I recall was around 2.5 per acre. They also commissioned a study with game conservancy see bulletin 106- Woodland Management for Pheasants. Outdated but the principals won’t have changed. They eventually decided to stop the shooting and I moved on anyway although the shoot had been going for over 50 years and still would be but for their attitude! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Essexfowler Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 (edited) This is what I have always gone off for my birds. Page 3. https://basc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/CoGSP-compliant-Release-Pen-.pdf For Pheasants I go off my total area of woodland in metres squared divided by 3, then divide by 10. This means you use no more than a third of your total woodland for overall pen area, so you avoid overstocking your shoot and gives you the total amount of birds to release giving each bird 10m squared of room each. However the 10 changes if you are on ancient semi natural woodland or on SSSI etc where you follow the rules of a licence. This is an example for my old syndicate. 14,120m^2 / 3 = 4706m^2 / 10 = 470.6m^2 = 470 Pheasants at 10m^2 in the pen Hope this helps. Edited February 5, 2023 by Essexfowler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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