trouble with blacknecks

[ratattack 111]

can you not thin the deer out??

 

Hand feeding or a spinner on a quad fed into straw will keep the birds hunting for food instead of gorging on wheat and going for a wander, which will probably end up miles away, and finding a neighbours feeder! You may find the neighbouring shoots are benefiting from your lack of regular feeding. 2 weeks is a long time not to feed or dog the birds back home especially when the deer are hammering the feeders!! No wonder the birds have scarpered. Try using additives in the feed to hold the birds/ aniseed etc.

 

Without a lot of regular work on a shoot it will never work. often syndicates tend to relax their regimes once the birds are out of the pens and hope the birds will be there for shooting later in the year. Just when they need looking after the most!

[Blakloks 5]

the estate holds the rights to the deer stalking, what other stuff apart from aniseed would you use? Do you just get a half hundred weight and split it into your hoppers??

[ratattack 111]

You are stuffed on the deer then unless they will knock em back a bit.

 

This sort of stuff

http://www.gamekeep.co.uk/on-the-pull.asp

 

It gets mixed in with a 25kg sack of grain then put into feeders when mixed. A big batch can be mixed in something like a cement mixer etc

 

May be worth giving it a go

[comanche 3,045]

Grasping at straws like feed additives will not magically transform your Shoot if the feeding is'nt right in the first place . Some spice mixtures also are attractive to deer !

Ratatack's advice about hand feeding is good though. Especially if you lay out some thinly spread straw and scatter the corn amongst it by hand . The birds will have to work for it and it will keep them occupied.Some people advise against mixing hopper and hand feeding but if done with a bit of thought it does work .

Tricks like starving the birds before a Shoot are best avoided as it seems like your feed regime is pretty hit and miss anyway.

Imagine going to your usual corner shop and finding that they've suddenly started operating random opening hours and are often shut -sometimes for a couple of days at a time .

At this time of year with cold weather and short days the birds need to be able to find food quickly and without using too much energy.

A lot of people find that there really is no such thing as a part-time Shoot.There are big Shoots and little Shoots. Some people are happy to scatter a bit of corn about on a hillside or fill half a dozen hoppers every two weeks and only shoot a handfull of birds each season . For decent returns though, any shoot needs almost daily input of action or thought.

Still wishing you luck !

[Blakloks 5]

sorted some hoppers today to stop the deer and a few of us put went round the hoppers checking and feeding there is still alot of pheasant tracks i could see in the snow so hopefully the cold weather and full hoppers will pull birds back in going to check them xmas eve. 1 of the pens that the birds semm to go back to alot i scattered some feeding around it to keep them busy

[hobnob 0]

I joined a syndicate this year with about 14 guns on it they had more last year and they put down 1200 pheasants but nobody bothered there arse to feed so the birds wondered this year we only put down 600 and a hardcore unit of 4 of us has been feeding hoppers trouble is we dont seem to be shooting alot 25 being are best to date it is quite a large area but we have been feeding all the main drives in the hope to keep the birds in the middle of the shoot i was hoping we could shoot 50% of our birds but it doesnt look like thats going to happen are these blacknecks wondering or is there anything we can do to improve things??? The plan is to put more down nxt year but we could get the same problem

try changeing the breed of bird to a canzas blue pure breed, they hold really well in high forestry locations

[danw 1,748]

To be honest mate you can get any pheasant you like but if you don't look after them you will always loose the lot.

I am sure any keeper will tell you that you can loose the birds in 1 day if you don't catch them straying as poults. I put 3000 in 1 of my pens and every year after about 2 weeks in the pen (the pen covers 6 acres) they make a break for it along 1 particular hedge and I don't mean 1 or 2 running I mean 1000 to 2000 really going for it.The only way to keep birds is to keep an eye on them and dog back as necessary. As you are hopper feeding you have no control of their feed the birds will come off roost grab a bite to eat then they have all day to p#ss off and if no one is there to stop them you have just lost your years sport.

[wezbnp09 0]

have you checked for bundles of feathers, pheasant carcuses ect. the shoot i used to attend had a problem like this and the keeper did abit of detective work and found out that birds of prey in the area were having good dinners and the stoats were also joining in aswell so next time you feed just have a little look round to see if you can find any evidence of stoats, birds of prey or even poachers that have been in the area. ATB with the rest of the season.

[Hoolit 2]

You seem to know where your problems lie and have had a lot of good advice, as per the deer problem have a word with the estate office and find who the stalker is for the estate , let him know the problems you are having ,im sure he or she will be only to glad to help.