Okay. Time for someone who actually knows something about this form of hunting to chime in. I’ve participated in hunts at private clubs where pheasants are hatched and raised for just this purpose. It would seem that the format the Cheney party engaged might be a little bit different than my experience, but I think my observations are still valid.
When I did this kind of thing, and it’s been six or more years since I have, we’d tell the club manager how many birds we wanted released. They’d net the things (both cocks and hens - it is illegal to shoot hens in the wild) out of their pens and take them to a large field (12 to 25 acres) and release them at random points. After that was done, we’d head for the field with our guide and his dog(s). From that point, the hunt was little different than hunting in the wild. Except that we knew for sure that there were indeed pheasants in this particular field. That’s not always the case in a wild hunt. The birds released were in no physical way different from any that you’d encounter in the wild; they’re of the same size range and have the same flight, running and camoflauge abilities. They are not “overstuffed and barely able to fly.” They have pretty much the same chance that birds in the wild have. Except that most of those surviving the hunt will die anyway within a week. Cage raised pheasants don’t have the fear fo predators, or the feeding instincts, that wild birds have. The guides have always told me that they won’t last long on their own; they quickly become part of the food chain.
I’ll also note that hunting in this manner is ungodly expensive. The fees including the bird charge, the guide and dog fees, and the cleaning were generally in the $25 to $30 per bird range - plus tip for the guide; I expect it’s more than that now. When I did this we generally had only 4 birds per hunter released and they’d give us about 3 or 4 hours to hunt. If you didn’t bag your birds in that period, too bad; they’re gone but you paid for 'em anyway.
I dunno exactly what Cheney’s hunt was like, but I doubt it was too much different than my experiences - with the exception of quantity. I hunted this way at several different clubs and it’s always the same, except for insignificant details. That’s why I expect Cheney’s hunt was similar.
Now, granted, 500 birds is a huge number, but as noted in the linked articles, it’s all being used for food (well, the 80% of 'em that got shot; the others are gonna starve to death and become part of the food chain anyway), so I don’t see what the gripe is. I dunno what to make of the accusations of bloodlust. 500 birds seems excessive to me for a morning of sport, but what do I know? I’m not gonna make any value judgments over the man’s hobby. Anyway, you guys seem more upset about Cheney’s participation in this thing than any of the other nine guys, so I’m guessing it more partisan crap.
This quote is from the article linked by Homebrew:
This is not in any way descriptive of the hunts like this in which I have participated. I’m not sure what Mr. Pacelle knows about Cheney’s particular hunt that is different than my experience, but my bet is his remarks are made from ignorance and he has no idea what actually transpired at Rolling Rock.
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