Tips on "Catching" a Pheasant?

[scz4]

We have a rather annoying male pheasant in our garden\field. Whilst I'd normally encourage wildlife roaming around, this little bugger make a hell of a racket at 3:30am and now to make things worse, he's taken to eating all my grass seed, no wonder my grass isn't growing!

I'm aware it's illegal to shoot them at this time of year and whilst I could get really close to it last week, he's come wise to me and now runs a mile, so I don't think catching in a box is going to happen.

Heard stories of soaking raisins in alcohol or putting sleeping tablets in raisins, but a little concerned I could cause it distress which is not the aim, I just want to pick it up and drive it 10 miles away

Any suggestions?

[Don]

Just shoot it and quietly dispose of the body. Then never mention it again, or tell another soul, and certainly don't post about it on here.

Job done.

[vanordinaire]

Paper bag with food in the bottom and sticky stuff such as golden syrup round the inside edge. Once the 'hood' is on and he can't see, he'll just stand there till you pick him up.

PS. 1 pheasant is nothing, we've got 18000 in our 'garden' this year. Now that's noisy.

Edited by vanordinaire on Thursday 26th May 08:40

[thebraketester]

Dispose of it? You want to shoot it and eat the evidence. :-)

[Don]

thebraketester said:

Dispose of it? You want to shoot it and eat the evidence. :-)

Well indeed. Absolutely lovely done in the slow cooker and served with game chips...

[StoatInACoat]

vanordinaire said:

Paper bag with food in the bottom and sticky stuff such as golden syrup round the inside edge. Once the 'hood' is on and he can't see, he'll just stand there till you pick him up.

Is that really true?

If they're anything like the pheasants I encounter try driving a car at it with the headlights on. Seems to attract them.

[227bhp]

Shoot, eat.
The first thing I thought of was 'Danny the Champion of the World' too.

[vanordinaire]

StoatInACoat said:

vanordinaire said:

Paper bag with food in the bottom and sticky stuff such as golden syrup round the inside edge. Once the 'hood' is on and he can't see, he'll just stand there till you pick him up.

Is that really true?

If they're anything like the pheasants I encounter try driving a car at it with the headlights on. Seems to attract them.

Covering their heads certainly works, as soon as they cant see, they just stand still, trancelike. I've never actually tried the practicalities of getting the bag to stick, that's just something told to me by my Grandad who used to poach pheasants, rabbits etc to help feed his familly during WW2.

If you have a red car, you are more likely to hit them on the road, especially during breeding season, male pheasants will run towards any thing red, I presume they think it's the red breast of a rival male and they run in to chase it away.

[Vocal Minority]

227bhp said:

Shoot, eat.
The first thing I thought of was 'Danny the Champion of the World' too.

And me! Just finished reading it again (yes, yes I sometimes read children's books!)

[Squiggs]

Thread some raisins onto a length of string and peg it to the ground at one end.
Pheasant eats the raisins, ingests the string and finds itself tethered.

[anonymous-user]

I throw them bird seed and chicken feed so they leave the grass alone. Put it away from the house and you're probably sorted.... or not!

[scz4]

garyhun said:

I throw them bird seed and chicken feed so they leave the grass alone. Put it away from the house and you're probably sorted.... or not!

Could be a good shout! Maybe on the side of the road....

[MrBarry123]

Looking at your suggested methods, it seems you have already read and are familiar with the world's greatest pheasant catching/poaching manual; Danny, the Champion of the World.

[scz4]

Think I'll try one of these traps...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LARGE-CAGE-TRAP-HEAVY-DU...