How To Shoot Pheasants

We’re not talking Devonshire skyscrapers here, more your average 30-yard bird. But whatever its height – or your ability – follow Steve’s advice to ensure you kill it cleanly

- Steve Rawsthorne

I hear so many shooters these days demanding ultra-high pheasants and others saying: “I only shoot high birds”. Not surprisingly, there is now a plethora of shoots catering to this demand, at a premium price of course. Some produce startling results, others less so.

An average decent pheasant will be around 25 to 30 yards high and for the average shooter with a normal game load of 30 or 32g in a normal game gun, be it over-and-under or side-by-side, this is about right. If you think I am putting it too low, remember that an oak or beech tree will be around 60’ (or 20 yards) high and most Guns will happily shoot birds coming over them, or even look on them as ‘high birds’ and enjoy the sport.

Given the ability of the average shooter, this is about where they should be. It is not target practice – if we shoot at something live, we have a responsibility to kill it cleanly. Wounded or pricked birds do us no credit.

If you want to be good at something, practise. You do it for golf, tennis, darts, so why not shooting? Think how much a day in the field costs – whether you pay for it or someone else does, you need to make the best of it, so prepare properly with a lesson or two well before the season and check your gun, earmuff batteries etc.

Only last week I saw a chap open his gun case to find his beloved was covered in rust. It had been sitting in it since the last time he shot, months ago, when it had not been cleaned properly. Anyway, if your gun needs servicing, it’s probably too late now! At this time of year the gunsmiths are always incredibly busy with people who left it too late, so it could easily take three months to have it returned.

On the peg