We offer bird hunting, mainly in the Free State Province where the bird shooting is outstanding. It is also a malaria free area. In mid-winter the evenings and early mornings can be quite chilly – warm clothing is advised.

 

The following game bird species can be hunted there:

Guinea fowl, Orange River francolin, Swainsons francolin, Quail, Egyptian and Spurwing geese, Yellowbill duck, Red Billed teal, Shelduck, Rock Pigeon, Red Eyed dove, Cape Turtle dove and Laughing dove.

 

The bird hunting season starts in the beginning of May and ends middle September, except for the pigeons and doves, which is open all year, with no bag limit. The pigeon and dove shooting is high volume stuff. One could expect clients to shoot between 300 and 800 shots per day, with a kill rate of 20% to 60%, depending on the skill of the hunter. The best time of the year to shoot pigeons and doves is from the beginning of March to the middle of June over sunflower fields.

 

For the Egyptian and Spurwing geese one could expect a bag of between 5 and 10 birds per hunter per outing, with the official bag limit of 10 birds/gun/day. We shoot them from pit blinds and decoy them in to the guns. With ducks, once again, one could expect a bag of 5 to 10 birds/gun/day. Ducks are shot on and near smaller dams and pans, from hides, and sometimes decoyed. The best time of the year to hunt ducks and geese is from May to end of August.

 

The francolin and guinea fowl are either walked up over German shorthaired pointers or driven, especially towards the end of the season. Although the driven shooting can be very spectacular and successful, we prefer to walk them up over the dogs. One could expect a bag of 7 to 10 birds/gun/day. The best time for guinea fowl and francolin is from end of April to the end of July.
 

Please take note that we don’t shoot on Sundays.

 

Cost of shot shells:
From R50-00 (for light dove loads) to R70-00 (heavier loads) per box of 25,
From R70-00 (for 12 gauge) to R85-00 for 20 gauge per box of 25.

 

Comments from Clark & Dyxie Pauly who hunted with us in May:
Our trip was an incredible experience, truly the trip of a lifetime. The bird hunting was amazing; the South African Rock Pigeons must be the world’s most challenging target! They are much harder to connect with than the Mexican White winged doves. I fired a thousand rounds in one day, and we had to quit early as a dust storm blew in. Every time I got a chance to look Dyxie was knocking them down just as well as I. The Egyptian Geese were plentiful and decoyed well; in two days we gained a lifetime of hunting experience (i.e. lots of shooting). Again Dyxie did great, at this point she probably has more hunting experience than most men...