Driven Pheasants

Over the past two centuries English Estates have developed the concept and perfected the practice of driven shoots. The method provides the ultimate experience in wing shooting.

Titoki has taken the blueprint of the very best UK shoots with the aim of following their established good practices.

However, they have been careful in adapting this blueprint to suit local climate, the different cover, the natural year round wild feed, the steepness of the contour and above all the wildness of the birds.

This has placed the Titoki Shoot as a unique experience and up with the very best in the world.

The development of Titoki Estate

From a family background in one of New Zealand’s prominent and highly successful fishing and shooting equipment company’s, Kilwell Sports, it was not surprising that John Wells and his wife, Liz, recognised the need for driven pheasants in New Zealand and started the journey of developing the Titoki shoot some ten years ago.

What makes Titoki unique?

They have advantages over the UK. Their country is steep, the exotic forests and cover grow rapidly, they have extensive native and exotic forests, with margins of scrub and ferns providing a year round abundance of natural feed. Winter climates are not so severe and natural wild breeding occurs.

They are adamant that they will not put in crops to hold and drive birds from, believing that this method rather domesticates the birds. They want strong, wild flying challenging targets, not a soft low flying bird that is no challenge to the gun.

The Drives

Birds are driven out of the forests by beaters over guns, usually eight, who stand on predetermined pegs numbered 1—8.

On each successive drive the guns move by two pegs thus experiencing different positions on different drives throughout the day.

The Titoki Experience

To those who have regularly
experienced Titoki the famous drives
such as No Name, Heaven or Hell,
Mach One, Spyglass, and Khyber Pass
send blood running through their veins
and the excitement starts all over again.