I was thumbing through a book I’ve had for ages “Lord Homes Reflections on Field and Stream”.

In it he recounts bags of gamebirds that he made while hunting ancestral lands in the Scottish lowlands. The numbers are truly staggering for example:

“December 5th 1935
Grouse 96 Duck 10
Black game 22 Pigeon 1
Pheasant 26 Woodcock 1
Partridge 23 Snipe 1
Various 2”

He also mentions pigeon shoots where he and his guests shoot 1600 birds in 4 days.

However what was most interesting to me, is that for some species like blackcock (a large grouse-like ground dweller), he found that the numbers of birds on his properties actually increased when they started shooting the hens!

His theory was that the older hens kept the younger hens from breeding, and the older hens were less successful at reproduction.

Interesting theory.

BH63