Take Cover
How the Braithwell Shoot overcame the wettest Summer on record.
The terrible weather conditions in June this year, inflicted untold damage on crops throughout the country causing yields to be down by 25%. It is little wonder that game crops suffered a similar mortality rate with some shoots being hit worse than others.
My own shoot at Braithwell in South Yorkshire is certainly a point in case. After planting a crop of Kale in all three areas of game cover in early May, the summer’s torrential downpours turned the ground into a quagmire, leaving it waterlogged for nearly two months. This caused the newly planted seed to basically rot in the soil.
It was known from previous seasons that without game cover, the birds would just drift away onto neighbouring shoots, whose cover crops had faired better through the summer months. Woodland cover, pasture and arable land alone were not enough to hold the birds that were being introduced. The shoot depended on it’s game cover to produce a good head count. Last season had shown that the best drives that had produced the most sporting birds and the largest numbers, were the game cover drives, some eight acres in total.
The effect of this decimated crop was nothing short of disastrous to such a small shoot. After paying for the seed and the preparation of the land and seed drilling (notwithstanding all the other obvious outlays, like paying for birds, feed, etc.), this left a very little within the budget to play with. What was worse was the fact that by the time this came about, it was late July.
In order to rectify this problem, Gamekeeper Roy Harrison, after reading various articles on fast growing game cover crops, took decisive action by contacting David Bright Seed Merchants, Salisbury, whose advertisement he had seen in The Shooting Times.
David Bright Seed Merchants, advised two types of seed that would be most suitable, Utopia, a broad leaved green crop not dissimilar to kale in appearance, and Keepers Release. Both types would yield a full grown crop by early November if planted in mid August. With no other alternative than no cover at all by the start of the season, the go ahead was given to proceed by the shoot committee, despite the additional cost.
The first pheasant shoot of the season proved to be a marked success and the cover crops which two weeks ago did not inspire a great deal of confidence had put on an amazing growth spurt. The broad leaved plants clearly were doing their job and the judging by the numbers of birds seen on these drives, they were as at home here as in the kale which we had planted in previous years.
Shoot Captain Anthony Harrison remarked that he was astonished at the rate of growth of these crops and was delighted with the result. He also stated “Given the present unpredictable climatic conditions, this type of crop may be the safest option for future years, as it can be planted later and it grows so quickly, making it far less of a risk.” He also added, “The main thing is that the pheasants obviously can’t tell the difference.” And I would have to concur with him on this point. Birds obviously require shelter from the elements and predation and will stay where they feel safest.
Gamekeeper Chris Mace commented, that though the release pens on the shoot were situated in the wooded areas and birds were drawn away by mature birds and would tend to gravitate to other areas which were being fed, but would always remain near the safety of the game cover.
I am sure that no one could possibly predict what the weather conditions hold in store for us in the coming year. All we can do is make the best provision we can to guard against it.