Bird's dive stuns shooter

Up to 300 partridges can be bagged in a shoot

A man working as a beater for a Devon shooting party needed hospital treatment when he was knocked unconscious by one of the birds.

Ian White, 42, from Oakford, near Tiverton, was being driven in the back of a pick-up truck when the partridge flew into the side of his head and knocked him out cold.

He was taken by air ambulance to hospital in Exeter as he slipped in and out of consciousness.

The partridge was killed immediately on impact, but Mr White recovered consciousness after an hour.

There is talk of getting it stuffed but I don't want to see it again to be honest

Ian White

Mr White was beating for a group of eight shooters at a shoot arranged by gun manufacturers Holland and Holland on the Molland Estate in north Devon.

He was travelling in the pick-up truck in between shoots when he was struck by the bird.

He said: "I was travelling slowly at about 15mph on the pick-up when it happened.

"I do not remember getting hit at all. The next thing I knew I was waking up in hospital.

"Apparently the partridge came out of a hedge and thumped me on the side of the head and knocked me right out."

Getting stuffed

Mr White said he was lucky that it was only a small 1.5 lb partridge and not a pheasant, which can weigh up to 4lb.

He said: "If it had been a bigger bird, then I probably wouldn't be here today."

Mr White, who is also a keen shooter, said a friend now had the bird in his freezer.

"There is talk of getting it stuffed but I don't want to see it again to be honest," he said.

"It seems this one got its own back. I am a bad shot and people keep joking it's the only bird I have killed this year."

The partridge is a prized game bird. In the average shoot, up to 300 birds could be bagged in a day.