The Underkeeper

Another day of brilliant sunshine. I braved the Gamekeepers wrath and took along the camera. I took some pictures in the early frost and many others throughout the day but this one, taken just after the last drive struck me as the best. Simply a tired underkeeper, lugging the pheasant back with the aid of his dog.

Robbie is young. He is one of the new generation that will, in the future, become the guardians of our countryside. He is working towards becoming a gamekeeper. Whatever one may think of shooting as a pastime I can assure you that seen from the other side, the money and care that goes into maintaining the environment and habitat is not just for the rearing of game birds. Many creatures depend on the game covers for food and shelter. The land which is shot over is maintained to the highest quality, not only for the shoot but for the wildlife that lives on it. This is calculated into the cost of holding a gun on a shoot. Without the income from the guns the land would have to be put to much less wildlife friendly usage.

Each bird is painstakingly reared. The hens eggs collected, incubated and the chicks that are hatched are then housed until it they are strong enough to make it one their own. They are fed the best food available and medicated if there is any sickness amongst them. The medications, by the way, will be also taken by wild birds who will in in turn be protected. Once released into the countryside, they are continued to be fed every day. These birds are free to roam and to do what birds ought to do.

Some of these pheasant will wander, but most will stay on the land. They live very happy lives, foraging in the woods and the fields, and know there's a bonanza of food to top up on twice a day. The gamekeepers provide an enormous bird table that feeds anything which wants for food in the vicinity!

The brutality is the shoot. It is no more painless than the slaughter of a chicken. I weighed up the difference a long time ago. Most chickens didn't live such a happy life.