chasing and catching pheasants...

[locum76]

i have heard several stories of late suggesting that it is possible to chase and catch a pheasant. these range from cornering them in a fence to rolling spare car wheels down hills to try and knock them over.

i've tried catching some cocks but never get closer than a few yards, maybe its easier with the hens because of their tendacy to sit tight when alarmed.

can anyone confirm this rural myth?

 

[leon-b]

well pheasants are pretty damn fast and can outrun me although i am pretty slow lol
leon

 

[The Joker]

If you marinade Raisins in alcohol (whisky) and sprinkle them in a favourite eating place for pheasants, once they've eaten a few you can just walk up and pick them up

.........................But sssshhhhhh be quiet they may have a headache

 

[Montivagus]

i have heard several stories of late suggesting that it is possible to chase and catch a pheasant. these range from cornering them in a fence to rolling spare car wheels down hills to try and knock them over.

i've tried catching some cocks but never get closer than a few yards, maybe its easier with the hens because of their tendacy to sit tight when alarmed.

can anyone confirm this rural myth?

Definitely not a myth! I've hand caught six; four of those times it was around New Year, when the cocks seem to be hanging about with a small harem. If you approach them the cocks hang back in a Darwin Award-winning show of bravado and if you worry them to fence lines they can claim said prize.
I’ve also simply crept up on two in hedgerows.

 

[Goose]

A technique I have heard of but never really tried, is to make a paper(birch bark) cone and get the inside sticky(resin, pritt stick?) Then put a stick in the ground and make a cone shaped hole by turning it, place cone in the hole and bait it. Bird comes along and sticks head in the hole to get bait and lifts head out with "dunces cap" over head, go and pick up your bird, don't know how long I would be rolling laughing for though


Ps I can't see any problems with welfare issues for the bird using this technique, apart from it looking a bit stupid , but not sure about the legality of it so obviously check local laws if you try this technique!

 

[Too Much Kit To Carry]

Give it a try on a VERY cold early morning when the birds haven't had much of a chance to get mobile and warm after roosting for the night,

Phil.

 

[The Joker]

A technique I have heard of but never really tried, is to make a paper(birch bark) cone and get the inside sticky(resin, pritt stick?) Then put a stick in the ground and make a cone shaped hole by turning it, place cone in the hole and bait it. Bird comes along and sticks head in the hole to get bait and lifts head out with "dunces cap" over head, go and pick up your bird, don't know how long I would be rolling laughing for though


Ps I can't see any problems with welfare issues for the bird using this technique, apart from it looking a bit stupid , but not sure about the legality of it so obviously check local laws if you try this technique!

Its worth giving it a go just for the laugh ability

 

[sam_acw]

Danny the Champion of the World?

 

[locum76]

i wonder what the local authorities would have to say about an enquiry on cone trapping.

 

[British Red]

Again, just for interest sake....a deep but narrow hole can be dug, seed scattered around the edge and in the hole. Pheasants jump into hole but cant extend wings to fly out again (needs to be quite deep though as they spring a long way up on take off).

BTW, I often find partridges sat in the middle of paths looking confused and wet during thunderstorms. Pick them up and move them if they are in danger and they seem to have gone next morning (either recovered or "Charlie" knows this trick too

Red

 

[dommyracer]

Danny the Champion of the World?

Exactly what I was thinking. God I loved that book, wouldn't mind reading it again.

 

[locum76]

i havn't read it (believe it or not). i take it danny catches one?

 

[dommyracer]

Well, you'll have to read the book!!

I remember the sticky cones thing being in it, as well as thread a horsehair through a raisin.....

 

[Tengu]

One of my favorite all time books.

 

[TallMikeM]

A technique I have heard of but never really tried, is to make a paper(birch bark) cone and get the inside sticky(resin, pritt stick?) Then put a stick in the ground and make a cone shaped hole by turning it, place cone in the hole and bait it. Bird comes along and sticks head in the hole to get bait and lifts head out with "dunces cap" over head, go and pick up your bird, don't know how long I would be rolling laughing for though


Ps I can't see any problems with welfare issues for the bird using this technique, apart from it looking a bit stupid , but not sure about the legality of it so obviously check local laws if you try this technique!

I can't see how, from a legaility point of view, it would be viewed as any different from snaring. Other than permission from the landowner I can't see why anyone would be able to stick their nose in. I hope not as it's a technique I hope to use when time allows.

 

[British Red]

Thinking about the legality angle, pickers up on shoots pick up and despatch birds all the time so I cant see a problem. Clearly landowners permission is key, game birds are bred and released and most landowners would take a dim view of people nicking their living. They do "roam" though so permission on a farm where there isn't a shoot should be okay

Red

 

[malcolmc]

Round here pheasants are reared for the guns. I’ve been told that during rearing there is a point where they are fed out of the back of a Land Rover. (Could explain their behaviour on the roads.) They will closely approach vehicles, but not a very sporting way to get hold of them. On another legal note all the birds are owned by someone even if they are not on their land, some owners are very rigorous in enforcing that. I’ve got neighbours who say they have been challenged just for picking up road kill. Some gamekeepers can be quite difficult to deal with if you’re on the wrong side of them. You've been warned.

 

[TallMikeM]

Round here pheasants are reared for the guns. I’ve been told that during rearing there is a point where they are fed out of the back of a Land Rover. (Could explain their behaviour on the roads.) They will closely approach vehicles, but not a very sporting way to get hold of them. On another legal note all the birds are owned by someone even if they are not on their land, some owners are very rigorous in enforcing that. I’ve got neighbours who say they have been challenged just for picking up road kill. Some gamekeepers can be quite difficult to deal with if you’re on the wrong side of them. You've been warned.

how do they differentiate between a reared bird and a wild one? Round here we have certain amount of shooting (and the attendant rearing) but we have a lot of birds that clearly live on land where there is no formal shooting.

 

[leon-b]

yes my uncle rears pheasants and then when its time to shoot he lets them out, should be shooting beggining of november should be good fun
leon

 

[malcolmc]

how do they differentiate between a reared bird and a wild one? ...

I think they are all claimed to be reared - it would be interesting if it ever came to court. Its not unknown for some members of the bench to go shooting.