- Total Bag: 75
- Pheasants: 70
- Partridge: 3
- Pigeon: 2
- Drives
- Oliver’s and the Dell
- Beeches
- Frank’s to Main Pond
- Shed
- Sandy’s
The day started with considerable relief. The weather for the proceeding week had been very wet and the Saturday’s had spent most of last season shooting in the rain. They were met however with bright sunshine, a team of beaters and an enthusiasm to kick off the season
Driving to the first drive we were presented with an unusual experience of chasing a dozen or more pheasant off the road into Oliver’s field. We certainly seem to have attracted a lot of birds into this area with our feeding. The drive itself however continues to cause us to scratch our heads as we try and think about the best way to shoot it.
The beeches worked, but with inexperienced pheasants it was a challenge to get them going forward with many giving some sport to the rear guns. The reflections on this drive is to bring the guns up from Keilor Road to the bottom of the game crop and try and ensure they go forward rather than backward.
The youth of the birds meant that they flew quite low, but there is certainly a terrific volume on the Estate and so leaving the lower non-sporting birds for later in the season was no hardship.
The Shed drive, re-implemented after last season, was the drive of the day. Partridge and pheasant sored over the hedge to the waiting guns. Many of the pheasant landed in front of the plantation, but in the weeks to come I am sure they will add to the drama as they retreat to the birch wood.
The last drive of the day was Sandy’s drive. We used this as an opportunity to test the result of driving it towards the Estate rather than Keilor Road. This worked really well and with some clever gun placement would suggest that this is the future method for shooting it and the start of an exciting new drive for the shoot.
The shoot briefing highlighted several points. The first of which is waiting until all guns are in place before starting to shoot. This can be hard to determine when most of the guns are not in direct line of site, but some common sense would suggest waiting a reasonable passage of time. The second point was the shooting of pigeons before the drive begins. A lot of effort occurs in advance of a shoot day and it is a shame that this can be potentially undone by shooting at stray pigeons. Please curtail your enthusiasm for the woody until after the pheasant drive has begun. The final and most important item discussed was the sporting aspect of the shoot day. The birds are young and inexperienced so please be selective for sporting birds only. It is better to leave one for another day and it is usually safer to have this attitude towards your shooting.
A great start to the season.
