Hunting on Game Farms

[waterfowler_gal]

Just out of curiousity has anyone hunted pheasant and had the game farm owners/workers shake the bird before they place it or throw it.... I was talking to this guy about hunting at school last night and he said that was the only time he went "hunting" in his life and it was the worse experience ever. The bird was so shaken up it was shaking and discombobulated... The pheasant refused to fly and just sat huddled down and their dog brought the pheasant back alive....

My cousin's own a game farm in Minnesota and they never do that! Just wondering if this is a common thing or not....

[too_pointer]

I hunted pheasants last fall, first time on a game farm.I was quite suprised on how wild they were. Most of them flushed out of range for us. I suppose that game farms differ quite abit. We had a hunter with us that said he had hunted them in South Dakota that was easier than this LOL.
too_pointer

[MUDRUNNER]

I've never really hunted on a game farm,but here in south central Illinois pheasants don't multiply,so we hunt pen raised birds on state preserves.The birds are so fat they can't hardly fly.These birds aren't placed or thrown,but they are released at each area at like 4 A.M. so you do have to search and hunt for them.I go to South Dakota every year so our state ground is not near the fun as it used to be.

[Squirrelhunter91]

On a Pheasant reserve my dad went to a while back, you could not shoot the birds on the ground. The dogs were killing the birds before someone could get a shot off. We have it all on video... The dogs almost got shot.

[kooter]

i have hunted quail on a game farm only once. we were training some pointers and this was a good chance for them to get into some birds, the birds however did not want to fly once they were flushed.

[Tominator]

Common around here on game farms to do that, except that they put them in a burlap bag and spin them a few times. The idea is to disorient them enough so that they won't run away, but not so much that they won't flush when pressured. If they don't disorient them a bit, they tend to run away, or run back to the holding pen--both cases don't make clients too happy.

[MadHuntinPastor]

I hunted in WV that did that and we still only got 4 of 8 pheasants. 1 of those four didn't flush real well and unfortunately one of the guys with us shot him a foot off the ground

[carbonhunter]

?n around here on game farms to do that, except that they put them in a burlap bag and spin them a few times. The idea is to disorient them enough so that they won't run away, but not so much that they won't flush when pressured. If they don't disorient them a bit, they tend to run away, or run back to the holding pen--both cases don't make clients too happy.

[/ QUOTE ]


This is more of a Dog training exercise at all the farms I've been too, you can tuck there heads under the wings and it will do the same thing. The key to pen raised birds is flight conditioning, good owners/operators will raise there birds in near black conditions so introduction to light stirs them up. I've done what you mentioned with every dog I've ever trained, only have five acres to train on so knowing where the bird is key.

[AJ]

I have done it every year for the past 4 years now. They do disorient the birds when they are put out for the hunters, but thats a 1/2 hour or so before we hunt them. How close they will hold depends on the cover, the wind, if its wet, etc. When the cover is sparse, they can get up when they sence danger. Other times they hunker down in thicker cover and use their natural camo to protect them.

What time of the year can also determine how they are going to react. Preserves in VA operate from September through end of April. This time of year they say the hens are heavy with eggs and do not like to fly.

If the dogs are bringing back the birds before they are flushed, its a dog handler/training problem.

[Mathews XT Man]

Never saw anyone shake the bird..unless it was in a seasoning bag..LOL most of the farms Ive hunted just tucked the head under the bird and left. I even helped drop birds on a farm with the gal who ran it...sometimes they stay put and others just run like a wild bird. Fun hunting those ditch chickens over a good dog!!

[WaCoyote]

Kind of a different situation but I took my daughter to a "first timers" shoot for youngsters a couple of years ago and they put pen raised birds in this "thing" that flings them into the air so the kids can shoot them. About half the birds never even tried to fly. It was funny but kind of pathetic really.

[too_pointer]

It sure sounds like they can all be different. I just read an article on them in one of my hunting magazines that sounded very much like the comments in here. Some were very challenging, and others were pitiful !! I know I plan on going back to the one I hunted last fall. This time I will take my lab pup, and a tighter choke for my 20 ga. LOL.
too_

[JimT]

All the birds here are stocked. Some fly and some run, but I have never seen one just hold up.

[longislandhunter]

I sometimes hunt a section of woods that borders a private pheasant hunting club. I hunt the birds that run off into the public land and they are as wild and cagey as wild ones I've shot.

[too_pointer]

I think the same thing, it would be great to border a game farm !! I know we left 8 birds in the fields last time we hunted one.
too_pointer