Where to hunt Pheasant
Pheasants have followed humans ever since we invented agriculture, and spread, or were introduced to, into all suitable habitat in the Northern Hemisphere, and even the islands of Mauritius and New Zealand. In America, top pheasant hunting destinations include the American Midwest (the Dakotas and Nebraska). Great Britain first comes to mind when one speaks about pheasant “shooting” in Europe, but you can get great pheasant hunting in countries like Romania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, and the Czech Republic, too.
Price distribution
Pheasant hunting opportunities range from a day of walking through the fields in hope of bagging a few birds, to traditional British “shoots”, with 200-bird days, aristocratic accommodation and even ammunition included. The prices range accordingly, from $200 to over $2,000 a hunter a day. Note that prices for driven hunts after hand-reared birds are usually quoted for a team of hunters or a number of days.
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Learn more from our blog story
Pheasant hunting, be it a classic driven “shoot” in the English style, or hunting over pointers and setters in the American West, is an irresistible lure for many outdoorspeople. It has to be somehow related to the fact that pheasants and people have shared the journey around the world for thousands of years. Read our blog post about pheasants and pheasant hunting.
21 Jun 2018 The Pheasant JourneyWhen to hunt Pheasant?
Between hand-reared birds, and exotic locations, pheasant hunting is possible all year round. But the classic time for pheasant hunting has traditionally been after the harvest is over. Be it the pursuit of free-ranging birds in the fields of the Midwest, or the classic European driven hunts, schedule your adventure for late fall or early winter.
Hunting methods All hunting methods (7)
Free-ranging pheasants are usually hunted on walk-up hunts with dogs, indispensable allies to humans no matter how you hunt. Americans prefer far-ranging pointers and setters, and Europeans rather like close-working flushers such as spaniel (and retrievers to help collect the harvested birds). Hand-reared pheasants are typically shot in the course of driven hunts. This is not a given, though. Many preserves offer some “rough shooting”, as the Brits call it, searching the hedges and edges for the birds. On the other hand, the pursuit of wild pheasants of the American Midwest with dogs may easily turn into a drive when the pheasants refuse to lie under the point, and some hunters will be sent to the other end of the field to intercept them. Pheasants prefer to run rather than fly, but when they flush, it’s dramatic! Wild pheasants can fly as fast as 60 miles per hour, making for challenging shooting.
Why hunt Pheasant?
Few hunting experiences in the world can compare to a colorful, cackling pheasant flushing from a field on a beautiful autumn day. No less thrilling is the classic, ritualized European pheasant drive. No matter how you hunt it, a pheasant offers some of the greatest challenges for a shotgunner - British gamekeepers estimate that only one-third of the pheasants they release end up getting hit. A male ring-necked pheasant boasts plumage in a combination of gold, brown, green, purple, and white, with a distinctive white ring around its neck and a red wattle. No wonder so many people pursue the pheasant as eagerly as the Argonauts pursued the Golden Fleece in the valley of the river Phasis, from which the pheasant got its name.
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