Fair Game?

Without getting into the rights and wrongs of Game Shooting I must confess to a feeling that the odds are stacked against our feathered friends.Whilst the tweeded sportsman may be impeded by the giddying effects of brandy, the typical pheasant seems to possess some kind of death wish. One would suspect that in the briefing rooms of Hereford, the battle-hardened SAS operative would not reccommend 'Squawk and flap about a lot on the approach of the enemy' as a valid means of remaining undetected. But that is what they do. Many times I have been startled in such a manner whilst walking in the woods. The pheasant is a poor flyer and a relatively large target for a wall of lead-shot to hit, so to trumpet the avian equivalent of 'Geronimo! when approached by a platoon of macho accountants seems less than prudent.