release site practices

[oldgutpile]

The circus continues!
Last weekend at a local pheasant release site, I had the pleasure to see the pheasant truck come in to kick out birds. I had been out there for over an hour with my two dogs and hadn't had a fresh scent. Nor did the other 3 groups of hunters out wandering the property, based on the overwhelming silence of shotguns. Then, the truck shows up!
The resulting circus I am referring to is not that severe compared to some reports of clowns trying to shoot them off the truck, but I thought to just hilight a little ettiquet (sp?).
On a positive note, nobody rushed onto the truck pad to wait while he was unloaded. Actually every party in the field pretty much just stopped where they were and patiently waited for the driver to finnish. And then, ..... the truck left.
I purposely give it a bit of time, and noted birds that flew towards the far side of the release area to chase after. I know my dogs. That much scent, and they are likely to have a field day chasing what they love. And that is exactly what happened with the next party.
Without hesitation, the party of three with their two dogs, marched into the middle of the release. Those two hounds really enjoyed themselves. I watched at least 30 of the 50 released birds flush up in to the wind. I didn't count the shots, but it was well into double digits, and saw at least one fall. Meanwhile, the remaining airborne birds sailed a quarter mile onto private land, off the property boundary.
I know there are no written rules about hunting these sites, but maybe just a heads-up or two. Most people only get out with their dogs a few times a year, and they are bound to get really excited. As are the owners as well!
it takes a few minutes for the birds to really disperse to make it a bit of a "hunt" verses just shooting. If you are that determined to have a feed of pheasant, all the power to you, but I just thought of all the lost opportunity to fellow hunters after that display.

[elkhunter11]

Like yourself, I head away from the release area if the truck appears, but there are always people that head straight for the release area. Luckily the local release site is six full quarters, and they release far from the boundaries, so it is very rare for the birds to leave the site during the initial flush. And it's actually not a bad thing if the birds get driven from the release area, it disperses birds over a larger area, which reduces the concentration of hunters.

[Dubious]

Not a fan of release sites try for wild birds.

[buckman]

Pathetic display of "Hunting" The birds should be released later in the afternoon and the area closed until the next day.

Plenty of wild birds about if you are prepared to do the scouting.

[Ursus]

I hunt the release sites because I can work my dog. If I just wanted meat, I'd be hunting moose or filling supplemental tags. I have zero interest in hunting recently released birds: a fish in a bucket sort of deal. I sense the best hunting is 1-3 days post-release when the birds are spread out and settled.

[kinwahkly]

If hunters would learn patience. Let the birds settle.

[Bushmaster]

I remember going to the first release in Camp Wainwright. We were the second truck on scene. When we got out of the truck the first guy on scene was so mad he could hardly talk! His dog had caught 3 pheasants before he could get his gun out of his vehicle! It was mayhem! Never went again...

[Battle Rat]

Originally Posted by buckman

Pathetic display of "Hunting" The birds should be released later in the afternoon and the area closed until the next day.

Plenty of wild birds about if you are prepared to do the scouting.

Didn't it used to be that way where you couldn't hunt after 2:00 or something like that?

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Battle Rat

Didn't it used to be that way where you couldn't hunt after 2:00 or something like that?

Only at the main provincial sites, and that was abandoned years ago, when the number of release sites grew to where they needed more time to get to them all.

[TrapperMike]

Used to do the release at Buffalo lake. Birds were delivered once a week to our holding pens in Alix. We would catch daily limit of birds and deliver them to release site after 2 pm. Hunting was closed after 2 pm. Birds were released at a number of spots throughout the site with lots of time to acclimatize to the area. By morning they were spread out and ready to fly. Had lots of complements from happy hunters.