Wing shooting in Rhodes
Greywing Francolin
The North Eastern Cape is famous for its Wing shooting for Greywing francolin which can be compared with the American Chukka Partridge hunting. The beauty of the rugged mountain terrain, clean, crisp air together with experiencing well-bred English Pointers sniffing out cunning Greywing and adrenaline pumping, bombshell take-off’s of the covey makes this hunt extraordinary and highly sought-after.
Region
The Southern Drakensberg is a remote area; often for kilometers one cannot see signs of human habitation. The Greywing which live here are high altitude birds and are often hunted between 7000 ft. and 10 000 ft. above sea level. Greywing group into coveys of 6 to 30 birds. This is wing shooting at its best!
Season
The hunting season starts in May and finishes at the end of August. These cold winter months can be very uncomfortable if precautions are not taken. Balaclavas, gloves, warm jackets and even thermal underwear are often needed.
How we hunt
The hunting day (depending on the hunter) normally starts after breakfast, 7 – 9 o’clock. We drive to a specific farm and head for a specific location. Hunters and P.H. walk behind the dogs which range 20 – 100 m ahead of the party. A high standard of horseback hunting is also available.
Once the birds are pointed, hunters move (dismount) over the dogs and flush the birds in a straight-line formation. The birds are flushed by the hunters, not the dogs. The amount of shots fired, downed birds or wounded and the number of birds in the covey is calculated for later reference. Only 40% of a covey can be shot and hardly ever do we target a covey more that once a year. A gillie will accompany the party to seek and carry downed birds. The bag limit is 4 – 6 birds per hunter per day depending on the season, this quota is set by Nature Conservation. The gillie will clean the birds at the end of each hunt. Hunters should be fairly walking fit, if they do not choose to hunt on horseback, so as not to hold up the party and loose shooting opportunities. The hunting party has a field lunch at midday with tea, coffee and drinks.