Keep it Standing - Game Cover Foundations

Another season closes and, unless you are packing for late partridges abroad, the game book and a few photographs are doing most of the talking. Before those memories fade, February is the month to look after what’s left, walk the ground with clear eyes and set foundations for next season.

Keep feeding, keep cover

Natural food is at its thinnest in February and March, and winter cover is at a premium, especially in locations particularly badly affected by the 2025 drought and difficult establishment conditions. Carry on supplementary feeding your pheasants and redlegs through this period and ideally into April. You’ll minimise dispersal, keep birds in good order for nesting and give yourself a chance of some wild broods. You’ll also be doing your bit for resident and migrant songbirds at a hungry time of year. If you’re fortunate enough to have grey partridges, identify pairs and keep them fed in their territories - one hopper per pair is a sensible rule of thumb, with a few spares in case you’ve missed any.

If you still have game covers standing and offering shelter, resist the urge to flatten them in the first week of February. Those crops are doing a vital job for the birds that did you proud all season and even a narrow strip will provide some foraging area. Leaving them up a few weeks longer protects birds and farmland wildlife, avoids travelling on wet ground and allows seed and weed residues to be tidied up by weather and foragers.

Also remember to leave miscanthus ‘canes’ to completely senesce as the energy from the stems is transferred down to the rhizome. We suggest waiting until mid-March before flailing miscanthus and then spraying off any weeds at the beginning of April.

Natural food is at its thinnest in February and March… carry on feeding through April to keep birds in condition for nesting and benefit a wide range of species.

Walk the ground while it's fresh

Now is exactly the time to be honest about what worked. Which covers did their job? Which drives flew and which disappointed? Where did birds hold from release through to January, and where did they wander? Note it now, while the detail is still in your head.

Don’t be afraid to move or relinquish plots that are plainly unhelpful - hanging on to a problem area for the sake of it rarely improves the shooting or the ecology!

February is also a good window to speak with your farmers about spring cropping - a timely conversation may secure a strip for game cover or flag late‑sown autumn crops that could be replaced - all opportunities to tuck in something that helps your drives.

Root crops going in nearby will influence bird movement and should steer your cover choices alongside them.

Perennial backbone and annual finesse

A common February mistake is to flail everything and start from zero. Instead, ensure that your layout is resilient, with a backbone of biennial and perennial structure - kale, teasel, chicory, fennel, canary grass, miscanthus - interspersed with annual food. This gives you reliable late‑winter/early‑spring shelter, lets you concentrate feeding where it matters and keeps options open when weather or pests disrupt annual plans.

• Kale remains a stalwart: warm and dry in winter, insect‑rich in its second summer, and a strong seed‑bearer for songbirds. It asks for patience on seedbeds and vigilance through establishment, but it rarely lets you down once away

• Teasel, Fennel and Chicory have earned their place as tough, perennial components. Left to bolt and set seed, they become a strong, woody plant that deliver overhead protection in winter and useful brood‑rearing cover in summer

• Canary grass (reed canary preferred) can last for years if drilled in wide rows (60-75cm) to keep it penetrable and manageable. It provides warm, reliable flushing cover and potential nesting sites

• Miscanthus, though dearer to establish, has transformed exposed drives. Think in 6-15m strips alternating with winter bird food mixes to ensure that your day isn’t over in one flush when the weather turns

Soil and establishment: patience pays

Don’t be rushed into cultivating wet, heavy ground in February. Ploughing wet makes clods you’ll batter to death later, dries the profile, buries helpful biology and can induce pans. On lighter land, ploughing is more straightforward but often unnecessary and only plough if you have to. Roll or press as soon as it’s fit.

Woodland still matters

It’s tempting to lean on cover crops for quick results, but don’t neglect the long game in your woods. This is a good time for ride clearance, coppicing, thinning and replanting - work that brings in light, a layered structure and the ground flora that pheasants need for winter warmth, roosting and summer nesting. Pair that with sensible deer management and you improve everything from holding birds in February to nesting success in June.

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If you’re proud of how your shoot blends sport, biodiversity and community, no matter the scale, keep telling that story. But first, in these short-day weeks, look after what’s left, learn while the season is still in your mind’s eye and plant with purpose. Do those three things in February and next winter should more or less look after itself.