A New Year's revelation

To get an idea of how to tackle January pheasants you have to understand the science of death, says Simon Reinhold

- Simon Reinhold

Many of the best Shots whose opinions I most respect won’t shoot a pheasant in October. For the very lucky, August and September are for grouse, October is for partridges and only in November do they start thinking about pheasants. By the time January comes round, it is supposed that pheasants are at their best and, hopefully, after several outings we are likewise in peak form to meet the challenge. But is that merely received wisdom or do pheasants change later in the season?

In truth, it seems to be a bit of both. One of the most knowledgeable gamekeepers of my acquaintance cut his teeth on shoots in Ireland and the south of England before becoming head keeper on a predominantly wild bird shooting estate. He has seen both the natural drive to survive that wild birds possess and the well-nourished reared birds for whom food is always plentiful, so group-think is one reason they can flush out of a drive.

He suggests that the theory of fabled post-Christmas pheasants is, in some ways, a bit of a myth. He pointed out that in both wild and reared game the need to gain weight and increase fat stores begins as soon as the pen door is opened or the bird has fledged. Though we rarely have harsh winters as we once did, the birds still must have enough reserves on board before Christmas to survive weather events that can hit at any time from November through to February.

Condition

In hindsight, this seems obvious, but that is so often the way when received wisdom meets the practical knowledge of those in daily contact with birds. A pheasant’s physiology does not alter on 1 January. It has already changed by then.