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Most of us are old enough to have experienced wild birds in open expanses over tired legs and willing dogs. Most all else comes in a distant second.

*Last edited by tramroad28 on Fri Jan 27, 2017 6:33 pm; edited 2 times in total*

Preserves can serve a fine purpose, fn16ga.....they are not my cuppa these days but respect to the bird in elevating it beyond a mere target is most often present.
They can also provide an opportunity afield, usually in a controlled and safe fashion, for the very young, the very old, the busy, the dog trainer, the TV shows and the like.
Same for state-released birds, to an extent.
I am afraid that I do not see a Preserve equal to a tower shoot...I see a tower shoot as a sad option on a menu at a Preserve.
I am against neither Preserve birds nor state-released birds.....I do see both as waaay more than an option for giggles.

I suppose then that my main note re the American-type "tower shoots" would be the rather, by most measures, unnatural presentation offered by a bird leaving a tower and sailing down or being flung off a clift to a waiting wallet.
Call a pheasant a Target or a Bird....well, hmmm, I reckon that I prefer to see any live bird set above a mere target definition.
Clay targets themselves can be challenging and deliver that definition.... better....imho.

Shooting skill and shooting challenges....do not interest me overmuch these days and is best evaluated, again imho, at a clay venue.
Most of us understand that wild birds can be as often deucedly easy as damnably difficult....just depends and any shooting challenge is far less than simply and luckily ....being there, for me.
Wild does not a challenge guarantee....to be honest.
Preserves are also not all created equal and can be what we make of them....to be clear.
Tower shoots have inborn limits that come ready-made and seldom rise above that of, at times, difficult targets just heading to Elsewhereville down below.

Fun, to me...is not a driver, it is a passenger of a day well done, respectful to birds and all else set in a proper place...alone or with dem friends.
Fun...is a p-poor reason to...."get ready, here one comes again".
However, Legal influences most decisions today so regardless of one man's opinion honestly stated.....have at it.
Just don't expect tacit acceptance of legal simply because we both purchase a hunting license.

I've shot tower shoots and driven birds in the UK. There's no comparison between the two mainly because the UK birds while "pen raised" have been out since they were little and are comparatively wild. I can assure you that UK pheasants, mallards and partridge that I shot were not easy "targets" and were challenging for all the shooters.

Don't knock it until you've tried it.

And, yes, it ain't cheap but if you save your pennies you might be able to afford it.

Joined: 19 Apr 2014 Posts: 429 Location: Maine

OK opinions are all over the board on this subject so here is what I'm willing to do. I will put on a DownEast Driven Hunt.

Location: Johnson's Gravel pit, it has really steep walls with woods on top. I'll rename it something like the Yorkshire Pudding Estate. Got to have a cool name.

Species: I'll start perusing the animal section of our local swap/sell magazine. Peking Ducks, Chickens, Pigeons, Rhode Island Reds (nice big roosters), for Dale some white Turkeys, and a couple of Honey Badgers to liven things up.

Attire; Those big foamy blaze orange hats with your local hardware store name on it, wool jackets (no addidas windbreakers), muck boots. Wool knickers are ok but they tend to chaff. The hunt club will provide bag balm just in case.

Rules: This is a gentlemens shoot, ALL quarry must clear the edge of the pit. No gulching ground runners that are in front of the shooter next to you. No comments about the other shooters ability like "smell that stink, that's your shooting". No double tapping your buddies wounded Rhode Island Red, he may want to have it mounted. DO NOT shoot the Honey Badgers as they are the beaters that way WyoChukar gets to hunt. Pictures please. No face booking while the hunt is underway. Do not attempt a selfie with the Honey Badgers, it may not go well.

10am break for PBRs and Beef Jerky.

More shooting.. Driven Crow Shoot. No laying in the fields as they have just had fresh manure spread.

End of the hunt a Maine Lobster Bake complete with green jello, yes with grapes. This will a grand time of reflecting the days events. That bolt action 16ga with the polychoke that worked flawlessly. Just the right ammo utilizing that special triple spreader aerodynamic concoction of #7 3/4 shot that stopped that charging great white turkey. How nobody missed one bird, many were at 70 yards and higher, and flawless dog work from all the junkyard kerrs present.

Now please mail me a check for $5000.00 and we'll get this dog and pony show underway. Yes there will be pony rides!!!

Griffon, think I'll pass, hope you guys enjoy your "hunt".

Dale

Joined: 16 Jul 2015 Posts: 2125 Location: Hudson,Wy

Hunt?! I will be laughing so darn hard there won't be any chance of that. I will likely pee my pants from laughing so hard. However, the out takes video could turn viral and make you very rich at which point you may actually ponder all of the philosophy here more seriously after finding yourself in the unique financial situation to either try a UK shoot or say heck with and build your own clay target range. Complete with honey badgers and freshly spread manure...for ambience of course.

Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 603 Location: Victoria BC Canada

Just talked to "sun'n air". He shoots as an ocassional guest with a pheasant syndicate in South Wales, for about !00 pounds a day. Syndicate annual fee is about 1,000 UK, plus about 8 days of labour per annum for the syndicate. Shooting is on a "drive one, shoot one" basis, where the shooters themselves take turns driving. A good shooter can bag about 15 birds on a days shoot. All shooters get a chance to take birds home. Members include retired Generals and local squires, young professionals like my Son, Polish builders and some local ordinary folk who love shooting. Dress is all over the map, but drab colours and ties are expected.

At the other end, the shoot over the ground where my Son shoots deer, charges 15000 UK per day! There are professional gamekeepers, hired drivers and a 200 bird per day limit. Most clients don't bother to take the birds home, so they go to the market. BTW; look for the James Mason movie "The Shooting Party"

My Son's family and friends are up to their eyes in game on the table.

Joined: 19 Apr 2014 Posts: 429 Location: Maine

Found some guinea hens to add to the drive. Man this is going to be good.

Joined: 26 Apr 2016 Posts: 369 Location: Vermont

Did you say lobsters? I'm there eating is like another sport to me

Joined: 05 Nov 2016 Posts: 189 Location: Montana

Having never hunted anything but wild birds in/on vast chunks of mostly American Public Lands and large expanses of deeded ground - and reading this thread - I consider myself very fortunate.

Can't see a reason my Citori and/or my Bobwhite 16's and my four legged hunting girlfriends will ever have to experience anything else.

To each his own.

Joined: 01 Oct 2007 Posts: 962 Location: Minnesota

Joined: 16 Jul 2015 Posts: 2125 Location: Hudson,Wy

I had a great driven pigeon shoot on the North Dakota state line 2 yrs. ago. The devils were in a friend's granary and I bounced a rock off of the corrugated steel. Drove 'em right out. We fired 5 shots total. It may have also been the world's shortest "driven" hunt/shoot. Laughing

Joined: 19 Apr 2014 Posts: 429 Location: Maine

Let me pull out my wooden spoon and stir the pot a little. I appreciate everyones opinions on the various types of hunts. Some like me and you out west gents have been blessed with room to hunt and the wild birds to do so. Many due to their locations have to rely on the preserve type hunting to enjoy an outing with dogs and friends. Many of our various hunts are darn near driven events. Hunters pushing SD fields with flushing dogs ahead of them driving birds to flight. Standing in the snowy woods waiting for your Beagle to drive a bunny by your spot. Pass shooting doves in a field. Driving your canoe down a stream in hopes of pushing up a duck. All forms of a driven hunt. I appreciate the purists in the group but if someone gave me a free chance to experience a true European (not Down East) driven hunt with all the tradition and history behind it I'd all over it like a Lab rolling in a fresh cow flop.
Now please stop PM ing me. The 1st Annual Down East Driven Hunt is completely booked. Dale did you say you were bringing your Jack Russell?

PS to WyoChukar: Doesn't all heck break loose when that rock hits the metal roof, we call that a Down East Covey Rise.

Joined: 05 Nov 2016 Posts: 189 Location: Montana

Griffon's last post is a great illustration of the dichotomy between and betwixt you Easterners and us Westerners. I have no interest whatsoever in being invited to a "driven" hunt of any sort - tradition and good folks not withstanding. And I would no sooner want to invite a bunch of guys/gals on a big country all day ass whompin hike through coulees and prairie - my spots are to sacred to me.
If I had grown up Back East - or at least what I consider Back East, as I'm a Western transplant 31 years ago from the Lake Superior country - maybe driven hunts and tower shoots would be inviting. Hell, an old fashioned SoDak pheasant hunt holds no fascination for me.
Gimme my girls and a coulee studded creek bottom that takes us a whole day to dissect and I'm in heaven. Maybe one real close friend (or the wife:shock: ) with another good pointer would be tolerable.
Picked a good moniker ,though, Griffon Very Happy

. I believe Wet Acres Griffons is/was in Maine. My older girl carries their genes....
But hey, we're on here because we have an affinity for 16's, right?

Griffon, I am sure in your part of the world, you are quite amusing. I have no desire, to hunt driven birds in Maine, nor Great Britain.

Have fun with your fantasies though.

Dale