Thread: Disrespecting the Pheasant

At some stage I believe your want or perceived need to kill game birds at all costs diminishes once you understand why you’re in the game at all .At some stage hopefully you come from blood lust to class lust .

For me a change of attitude and appreciation of why I shoot Pheasant came about through the love of working a pointing dogs.
For many years I shot 40 birds each season in cut over and was proud to compete against my peers who did much the same in less than easy shooting areas of cut over.
We appreciated dog work but hadn’t reached a place mentally where the dog work was everything and often shot what moved but still spoke about high quality work but let bumped birds go over the gun too having to up our numbers to feel competent.
Now, and for many years the kill has just been a reward for the dog rather than a numbers medal so I could say I had this or that quantity of birds.

I do not shoot birds at all now unless the dog work is of a very high quality, no accidentally flushed birds, birds on the side of the road or that get up wild, just birds the dog points well and works well.
It will be that until the day I put my Setter away for the last time.

Over the week I met a very nice chap who shoots a lot and I had the chance to see him shoot as he passed me with his dogs.
I watched his pointing dogs go forward to bump and flush 3 birds and he just let rip with his semi auto .Through the day I could just hear his gun blazing away as he hunted all the edges, hill sides and any other area he knew more pheasants hung out . We caught up a little later in the day and chatted and talked about dogs and hunting .As mentioned he is a very nice guy .Said person told me he shoots 300 plus birds a year –more than any other person I have ever heard of .Zipgavich in northland I have heard is a 200 a year man over his Setters and that once dropped my jaw .

Now in saying all this I have to ask is shooting this number of birds just treating the mighty pheasant as just a pest, a rodent with no worth? To have pointing dogs and to shoot a bird that is in front of you just because it presents itself just plain slaughter without a single drop of class being involved? I to could should a shit load of birds if I allowed my dog to run short and bump all in sundry.
One could argue what say if it was a lab or a spaniel, would you then shoot all that moved?
I think all types of dogs have their special abilities that a handler appreciates hopefully and would want the dog to achieve that before just letting rip .

If we don’t consider class and style when running a dog on birds are we not just treating the incredible Pheasant game bird just as a pest to fulfill some ego blood lust ?

Your opinion may be different to mine but lets hear them