Stocking the woods with game

[GazDavison_91 14]

I have just gained permission on a 100+ acre site with a large wooded area.

 

I'm thinking of stocking the woods with pheasant etc, for private shoots with friends and family.

 

Never done anything like this before have shot and been on shoots and ferreted but the first time i would attempt anything like this?

 

The site must have been shot on before hence the pheasant hides that have rotted and corroded away, going to repair or replace them.

 

Anyone have any suggestions, hints or tips?

 

What do I need to do, who's the best person to talk to?

What could i stock it with?

What would the costs be?

 

Would it be worth it?

 

Regards

ATB

[dymented 2,220]

What do I need to do, who's the best person to talk to? The land owner normally rents the land to a shoot

What could i stock it with? pheasant & partridge , duck

What would the costs be? depends on how many birds you want to put down and how bad the pens are

Would it be worth it? financially NO the smile on friends and family face yes

[GazDavison_91 14]

Cheers mate.

[lanber 3]

If there is evidence of shoot being there before, I would speak to the farmer and find out how it was run, you may get lucky and find it was his own shoot or may be put you in touch with a local keeper. To finance on your own to start up will cost a fair bit of cashfor fence posts, pen wire netting, drinkers, feeders, corn. will you have time to go daily and check on your birds, top up feeders, stop birds from straying off onto neighbouring land.

 

If there are any wild birds about now, then I would just focus on these, and put the time in inproving the habitat for them, and step up on the preditor and vermin control.. You can get advice from BASC and GWCT.

[The one 8,479]

Your going to need more than woodland mate birds will come out to feed and just keep going if theres no food in the woods , your looking at food cover and shelter

[Born Hunter 17,763]

Quite simply mate, unless you have a few years experience of running a shoot I really wouldn't bother. If you haven't got a couple of grand you don't mind potentially loosing or an experienced keeper to help you out you will need a team of guns to stump up the cash for a seasons shooting to pay for it all. You really need an experienced hand to get you through the first few seasons.

 

Are there any ponds for wild duck? Would the land owner be open to the idea of putting some in? What is the ground like in it's current state in terms of flaura and fauna that inhabit it? Does the land owner want rent, especially if you start releasing game and running a few shoot days? Perhaps put the hours in to land management, feeding and predator control and just run it as a small rough shoot relying initially on a few wild birds and pigeon/rabbit etc.

 

Edited to add; FFS keep the landowner sweet!!!! 100+ acres of woodland to shoot over sounds like a sweet deal.... but if a syndicate comes along and offers him some serious coin for the shooting rights he may very well give you the boot.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Born Hunter

[GazDavison_91 14]

Quite simply mate, unless you have a few years experience of running a shoot I really wouldn't bother. If you haven't got a couple of grand you don't mind potentially loosing or an experienced keeper to help you out you will need a team of guns to stump up the cash for a seasons shooting to pay for it all. You really need an experienced hand to get you through the first few seasons.

 

Are there any ponds for wild duck? Would the land owner be open to the idea of putting some in? What is the ground like in it's current state in terms of flaura and fauna that inhabit it? Does the land owner want rent, especially if you start releasing game and running a few shoot days? Perhaps put the hours in to land management, feeding and predator control and just run it as a small rough shoot relying initially on a few wild birds and pigeon/rabbit etc.

 

Edited to add; FFS keep the landowner sweet!!!! 100+ acres of woodland to shoot over sounds like a sweet deal.... but if a syndicate comes along and offers him some serious coin for the shooting rights he may very well give you the boot.

 

The land is a family members who has taken over the site on a long term 15 year lease. So as for keeping the occupier of the site sweet i think im ok on that score.

 

There is evidence of a shoot being there before, whilst walking through the wooded area there are several hides scattered about.

 

Yes there are three lagoons around the wooded area. All in all the site is 180 acre. Also used as a quarry with ducks landing on the pond, birds nesting in the trees, seen a couple of partridge around, and plenty of rabbits and one Mr.Fox i spied in my lam the other night when i was having a walk about to see if/what was out.. I also know a local game keeper who is a friend of my fathers who can also offer me advice.

 

As i said it was something i considered not something i was 110% going to do. will more than likely just leave it as it is. Just wanted to know what you guys thought.

 

Thanks Guys.

[Born Hunter 17,763]

With feeding and vermin control it sounds like you will have a tidy rough shoot with varied sport at the very least. Look after it and enjoy it,

 

As for releasing birds, an experienced hand on site will guide you better than any of us on the net. That local keeper sounds like a good fella to have a chat with.

[GazDavison_91 14]

With feeding and vermin control it sounds like you will have a tidy rough shoot with varied sport at the very least. Look after it and enjoy it,

 

As for releasing birds, an experienced hand on site will guide you better than any of us on the net. That local keeper sounds like a good fella to have a chat with.

 

Yeah mate im going to pop and see him friday and have a word.

Thanks for the advice though.

 

ATB

[moley 115]

you don,t need syndicates paying silly money,get yourself a few traps, make a few feeders, the most expensive thing is corn , buy it at harvest time and pay cash , you will get it a bit cheaper , you can feed the ponds with sweepings up or old corn for now,ducks arn,t fussy ,don,t go daft, just see how it goes,don,t expect too much at first, feed ,cover and vermin control is the most important things for wild game

[jimmy.jim86 1]

The hides your indignation in the woods sound like deer hides, you don't tend to shoot pheasant from a hide. You don't hae to hand feed everyday just make sure you've got your feeders full, and check which they use more regularly. If you put birds down you've got to pen them up or they will jus walk away at 8 weeks old.

[paulus 26]

I agree with most of what has been said. I think ducks would be your best bet for getting some shooting. dont go mad with the food. one bucket of corn will do EVERY night. its important to feed every night to keep them coming back. also leave at least 10 days more if you can between nights shooting to let them come back in. If you want a decent number of wild pheasant/partridge you must kill EVERYTHING that poses a threat to them. And even if you get rid of every predator on the place a bit of rain will wipe out young broods so you might struggle.

i have access to a fair amount of land and pritty much the sole shooting rights, there is a very large pupulation of wild pheasants,deer,pigeon,duck,rabbit,hare. the odd partridge as the ground is not ideal for them, when everything is wild rather than farmed (stocked pheasents ect) there is no need for the, kill everything mentality associated with rearing and release pens, its all about balance and understanding, i like to see the odd fox,stoat.weasal, even rats,crows and squirrels have a place in the countryside

[kenny14 656]

I agree with most of what has been said. I think ducks would be your best bet for getting some shooting. dont go mad with the food. one bucket of corn will do EVERY night. its important to feed every night to keep them coming back. also leave at least 10 days more if you can between nights shooting to let them come back in. If you want a decent number of wild pheasant/partridge you must kill EVERYTHING that poses a threat to them. And even if you get rid of every predator on the place a bit of rain will wipe out young broods so you might struggle.

i have access to a fair amount of land and pritty much the sole shooting rights, there is a very large pupulation of wild pheasants,deer,pigeon,duck,rabbit,hare. the odd partridge as the ground is not ideal for them, when everything is wild rather than farmed (stocked pheasents ect) there is no need for the, kill everything mentality associated with rearing and release pens, its all about balance and understanding, i like to see the odd fox,stoat.weasal, even rats,crows and squirrels have a place in the countryside

 

Course they do.........................................We've got to keep our eye in through the close season

 

Flak jacket on!!

[paulus 26]

I agree with most of what has been said. I think ducks would be your best bet for getting some shooting. dont go mad with the food. one bucket of corn will do EVERY night. its important to feed every night to keep them coming back. also leave at least 10 days more if you can between nights shooting to let them come back in. If you want a decent number of wild pheasant/partridge you must kill EVERYTHING that poses a threat to them. And even if you get rid of every predator on the place a bit of rain will wipe out young broods so you might struggle.

i have access to a fair amount of land and pritty much the sole shooting rights, there is a very large pupulation of wild pheasants,deer,pigeon,duck,rabbit,hare. the odd partridge as the ground is not ideal for them, when everything is wild rather than farmed (stocked pheasents ect) there is no need for the, kill everything mentality associated with rearing and release pens, its all about balance and understanding, i like to see the odd fox,stoat.weasal, even rats,crows and squirrels have a place in the countryside

 

rabbit hare deer duck etc is by the bye. if you want to shoot good numbers of wild game(e.g. driven days) predator control is one of the main factors. I'm not sure where this 'kill everything mentality associated with rearing and release pens' has come from? with released birds there is a much more of a balance between game and vermin when compared to a shoot relying on wild birds.

lab-tastic

[PatterJack 11]

when everything is wild rather than farmed (stocked pheasents ect) there is no need for the, kill everything mentality associated with rearing and release pens, its all about balance and understanding, i like to see the odd fox,stoat.weasal, even rats,crows and squirrels have a place in the countryside

 

Sorry mate but you've got that the wrong way round. The sole reason people release game birds is because it is easier than producing that same number of real wild birds.

 

When it comes to wild birds, especially low ground birds such as pheasants and partridge, the main two factors that will effect your success are the weather and vermin/predation. Habitat and artificial feeding come second.