The hunting of pheasants, these birds with colorful plumage and long tails, whose flesh is delicious, is practiced by certain groups of nemrods.
Europeans have hunted these native winged game for millennia. With us, we are not talking about a wild bird, but rather a farmed poultry intended for the collection activity and the table. However, there are some specimens that escape and become live game in the wild over time. We are interested in these gallinaceans native to Asia, bred in captivity, for a little over a century.
sudden questioning
Since The newspaper shed light on the hunting party of the Minister of the Economy Pierre Fitzgibbon,— in October, on the island of the Province, many readers wonder about this harvesting activity and several anti-hunting go as far as to talk about killing.
So I was asked to play devil’s advocate and explain how this type of hunt works.
Legislation
As Patrice Masse, lieutenant and head of the wildlife protection office in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, explains very well, the pheasant is a species considered to be small game.
To acquire a licence, the follower must first obtain a hunter’s certificate.
Then, he must comply at all times with all the regulations and these apply to both private and public land, with the exception of hunting in enclosures on certain game farms.
Apart from the pheasant, there are other species such as quail, bobwhite quail, francolin, rock partridge, chukar and red partridge, rock dove and guinea fowl which can be kept in captivity without a permit and released in nature for the purpose of practicing a hunting activity.
However, releasing a bird into the wild, such as the pheasant, means that it becomes an integral part of the natural environment, and therefore subject to regulations.
fine hunting
The organizer places a few pheasants near bushes or buttons where they can camouflage themselves. Several minutes later, on this delimited ground, the amateur advances alone or with other companions who will form a beat. We move slowly, then, when the bird is frightened, it flies away. When it takes off from a safe distance, the rifleman must be skilled and quick to intercept it.
On the other hand, when he spreads his wings a few meters from you or when you even have to scare him to make him leave, it’s, let’s face it, less sporty.
Moreover, we know that in 40,000 square feet, for example, there are 20 birds. The results are then easier to anticipate than in nature.
The same hunt on public land is different and more challenging with birds that have had to learn to go wild.
With a dog
Able to hide well, it happens on occasion that we literally pass next to a winged game without even having seen it. A habituated dog will tell you its position or force it to fly away.
The action sometimes unfolds very quickly and you have to be alert. Not all dogs are good for this job, as are shooters.
From the air
The wheel of the king, which some also call wheel of the King, is another way of harvesting pheasants.
On a vast field, there are 10 shooting stations on the outskirts of a central tower. Each of the caches faces the tower and two hunters take their places there. The structure of each station works to limit unwanted lateral movement with the guns and forces them to point forward.
It is normally very safe. A technician climbs the tower 10 to 15 meters high, or even more. When the hunt begins, he releases birds that fly to the four winds, in all directions. Shooters from one, two or even three stations can then have a shooting opportunity.
When the activity is well supervised and well organized, as is the case in many places, it is very pleasant. Then, given the distance of the shots, it’s a nice challenge.
On the other hand, I once participated in a totally disorganized hunting session at a so-called organizer of such events where everyone was shooting like mad. He had little control and did not give clear instructions.
To give you a better idea, the pheasant was flying away and after about fifteen meters, you could visually see that one of the nemrods had hit it and it was in free fall. Against all expectations and all logic, other participants continued to shoot him non-stop, until they emptied their magazine.
No less than forty pellets had certainly reached him, making the flesh ridiculously less attractive. It was thus throughout this painful adventure.