Driven Pheasant Shooting Weekends
English Driven Pheasant shooting is really a wondrous sport which is more sophisticated and entertaining compared to rough shooting or walk up shooting many hunters are used to. Rather than the quiet loneliness of roaming though a field with your dogs and possibly one friend or so, the camaraderie and friendship, even fellowship of other shooters really enhances the sport.
There’s nothing such as the feeling of 10 hunters (generally known as ‘Guns’) blasting down birds from the heavens in brief succession, hot barrels of the guns flaring and with a quick reload from your loader to make for near constant shooting.
English driven pheasant shooting has been around since the 18th century when cartridge and breach loading guns started to be available and it has grown because of its own quaintness of character with its own habits and customs ever since. The cartridges utilised are designated for high birds since the game might be nearly 60 ft in the air and they birds take some force in the shot to take them down cleanly, regular game loads tend only to prick high flying game.
There is little such as an early morning shot of sloe gin or glass of champagne to start the day before the days sport commences. You’ll choose your peg from random in most cases from a pack of cards however some shoots have their own customs for accomplishing this. You will then walk to your peg, stand waiting in anticipation for your action to happen. The game will come flying at great speed and typically at some altitude making for tough shots; not like the simple pop up birds in a flat corn field. The birds appear at random although the gamekeeper’s beaters will endeavour to make sure they don’t all arrive in one huge flock which would restrict the drive.
This is certainly real sport, taking birds directly head on rather than un-sportingly by shooting them in the Back!
Driven shooting possesses its own unwritten rules. It is generally determined that very high flying birds need to be left alone as they will only be injured yet still be able to stay airborne for long enough to escape, at some point flying off or crashing down and running away someplace well hidden in which the ‘pickers up’ as they are called will be unable to locate them. Additionally, it is considered that very low birds are left alone because as easier shots these are considered ‘un sporting’ or too easy.
In many cases, for the novice shooter the bird is often missed with the shot passing behind. This is because with so much height it is hard in the mind to think “do I really need so much forwards lead on this target?” The additional thing to consider for anyone enjoying driven shooting is that if the Gun has previously shot clay targets, which consistently slow from the clay trap. These types of targets have wings , and they are using them with all of their might to power away for speed and altitude. Their survival instincts are operating in overtime and so they aren’t slowing at all and could in reality be increasing in speed!
It is worth contemplating booking an hour of high clays, launched from a tower the day for the beginner driven shooter. This will put you into your right frame of mind to acquire your target. Instruction is also suggested, for those who have only taken part in rough shooting as you’ll find some strange techniques and fundamental rules to remember, like the large amount of sky which must be ‘behind’ a target just before shooting otherwise injuries may occur. Whether a beater who’s driving the bird towards you or a fellow Gun will suffer. It’s all too simple to carry on blasting away with the red mist of becoming caught up in the moment.
A good drive will last around 15 or 20 minutes, when it ends friends meet up to celebrate or commiserate with a warm drink or bull shot. This is something that you will not encounter in any other sport. The adrenalin was pumping in your veins and the ‘come down’ is very exhilarating.