doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Wild Birds vs. Game Preserves

I am writing a story on game preserves and the attempts of the better preserves to provide hunters with a real hunting expereince. How many of you hunt on preserves and how many only hunt wild birds. If you do both, could you give me a percentage please.

Thanks so much, Dick Jones

Dick, I was invited to a preserve once and once was enough for me.

Dick,
I do both. In terms of time afield; wild 75%, preserves %25. Preserves are shooting and dog training, not hunting in my experience. We call it cathouse hunting; you pays your money and you get your birds.

Your definition of 'preserve' interests me.

Here in the UK shooting is often organised by a group (syndicate) renting the shooting rights to an acreage of land.

The group pays a gamekeeper (or take on this work themselves as working parties) to catch wild pheasants, hatch the eggs, rear the chicks and release them into the wild, then make sure there is plenty of food in the woods and that vermin are controlled by shooting and trapping.

Shooting may be driven, with teams of beaters and dogsflushing birds to the 'Guns', or there may be two teams of 'Guns' taking turns to walk and drive the cover or stand and shoot. Alternatively, small parties may go out with dogs and hunt part of the ground, shooting any game flushed by the dogs.

If this is what you class 'a preserve' it is the norm in the UK and ensures there are birds in good numbers each season. As the birds are living wild and are free to leave the land if they choose (and a good percentage do), the sport is much like hunting wild-bred birds. The breeding and release system ensures that numbers are sustainable.

True wild bird shooting is inland duck flighting and woodpigeon decoying and flighting. If you encounter a pheasant in the wild, chances are that it was released as a poult somewhere, by someone.

I have heard rumours of places overseas where coverages of game crops are laid out and a set number of captive birds are released and then hunters 'hunt' the crop and shoot the birds they have released as they flush. This does not happen in the UK.

I have also heard tell of towers with live birds launched out of them like clay pigeons (apparently ducks or pheasants are the norm). Again, this is illegal in the UK. I have no experience of either practice.

I am not usually one to knock another man's sport, for we all have our preferences and our own moral and sporting outlook. However, I should not wish to participate in either of the latterly described pursuits.

They do not seem to me to be what our great sport is about.

Preserve hunting is like fishing a stocked trout pond. I have done it once, when my dog was young and I wanted to get him on some birds, but I hope I never have to do it again. It is not even close to wild bird hunting.

King
There are several ways that preserve hunts are put on. You can have someone "plant" the birds (dizzy them and place them on the ground in a disoriented state) or you can simply release the birds in the middle of the property. To me planted birds are only good for dog training or maybe teaching a young hunter the fundimentals. There is a state run facility near where I live that releases birds and I enjoy hunting there very much. It's still not nearly as challenging as wild birds, but it keeps my dog in tune and I increase the challenge by using either one of two .410's I own or lately a 36 gauge percussion sxs. Yes, not nearly as many birds hit the ground dead, especially with the 36 gauge, but my golden retriever quickly (and always) finds them for me.
Dick
I started to put together a numbers answer for your original question, but with on-going family health issues turning my life upside down (my wife has been fighting breast cancer for several years now) I just couldn't come up with a meaningful answer for you.
Steve

Dick,

As a piedmont NC resident preserve hunting is about all that's locally avaliable to me. When I was a kid 30 + yrs ago there were wild quail to hunt but farming practices around here have all put an end to small game hunting, but that another story for another day. If your going to preserve hunt in my opinion you should stick to quail or chuckers.

Derrick

I hunt only wild birds.

I have no interest in shooting preserve birds of any species at all.

The first is hunting, the second is shooting.

Brent

Brent
Easy to say when you live in Iowa, Illinois was tough 30 years ago when there were lots of pheasants to hunt because it's nearly all private land. Perhaps you don't realize how great you have it in Iowa. Ya ya ya, I should move, I'd love to! I only wish it was that easy.
Steve
PS I really like Iowa and there's a good chance I'd move there given the opportunity, even though it's a little too close to Illinois for comfort.

Steve, I've lived in a lot of places. Including Illinois. Not far from you - St. Chuck.

Iowa is almost all private land as well you know.
I'm not a big fan of Iowa actually, but I do prefer it to Illinois.

Brent