PARTRIDGE SHOOTING

Partridges are hunted in open pasture land, where they thrive best. Partridges are monogamous. Unlike pheasant, the males have only one female. Partridges find mates in spring, but when we encounter them during hunting season they are sitting in fields or hedgerows in small flocks. You usually hunt partridges using a pointer. There are many dog breeds which can be used – setters and pointers, as well as the continental breeds such as the German wire-haired and short-haired pointers. The dog searches upwind and points to the birds until the hunter arrives. The hunter then instructs the dog to approach the birds so they take flight.

Deerhunter’s recommendations for grey partridge hunting

The first grey partridge

All children can be passionate about a particular interest. We know that we should have done our school homework, but the stream and fishing rod beckoned us – or perhaps it was the football, or the girls! That’s how he was, loving and handsome, but hunting mad, undisciplined and full of childish excuses. On his own initiative, he passed through the hedgerow to the next field, lifted his snout even higher, ran over to the opposite corner at the edge of the heath and pointed. I had never seen game here, and certainly not partridges. I therefore walked calmly up to him and said, “why are you standing here? what are you up to?” I put two cartridges in the gun as a precaution, and gave him the order to flush out the bird – if there was one! That was one of the only orders he actually obeyed – a ‘yes’ to flush out the bird. He was also good at retrieving, even in water, and very happy to do so on his own initiative. I got a minor shock when a large flock of over 20 partridges exploded out of the ground in front of the dog. That’s how I got my first partridge, in a place where there are otherwise no birds. A good dog is all that matters!

READ ABOUT OTHER TYPES OF HUNTING