The College Shoot

Hartpury College is developing towards one of the Country’s leading Colleges for game and fish management courses.  Expansion of the shoot for the 2009/2010 season includes the running of a second shoot located in the neighbouring village of Maisemore. The beats are split up between the students - teaching them to manage their own patch for vermin control and crop protection, under the supervision of the Game Lecturers.  The new Maisemore shoot location also offers up opportunities for duck shooting and the possibility of the development of a deer park.

New game bird release pens have been built, and new drives created to enable the students to gain first hand experience of running a shoot within the framework of a busy college farm/estate. Having to adapt to the needs of everyone who uses the land increases their understanding of how life in the countryside is changing and prepares them for a career with sound practical experience along with strong theoretical knowledge. 

Pheasants and both English and French partridge have been reared. The French partridges were bought as imported eggs. These were hatched and reared over the spring/summer months with the aim of diversification in rearing.

The Game department is attempting to re-introduce English Partridge at Buttersend Farm. Strips of maize have been left unharvested within two fields and some English Partridges have been released into these areas. Their behaviour will be monitored particularly their establishment of territories over the course of the winter and their breeding territories during the spring of 2009.  The long-term aim is to create a suitable environment for these birds to breed in along field margins.