Wild Whole Pheasant for Roasting or Pot-Roasting
Dark-fleshed, lean and full of flavour — a true seasonal game bird.

Wild pheasant is available from 1 September to 1 February, sourced from smaller, well-managed shoots across the Yorkshire Dales. Introduced from Asia in the 18th century, pheasants are now a familiar part of the British countryside.

This is a dark-fleshed, bold-flavoured bird that rewards careful cooking. Because the meat is lean, we recommend roasting with fresh thyme and dry-cured smoked streaky bacon to add essential fat, or pot-roasting low and slow to preserve tenderness. When treated with care, pheasant is one of the most rewarding birds to cook and eat.

We work closely with shoots that manage their land with biodiversity in mind, maintaining healthy habitats and landscape balance, which we see as a priority.

Thoughts from Valentine Warner on Wild Pheasant
"Flicking through a country sports magazine the other day, I thought the issue daft. While I totally agreed that grey squirrels could be eaten and signal crayfish should be eaten, the overarching idea was that, as invasive species both (among others), they should be hunted down and gobbled up. The absurdity of the article, in the context of the whole magazine, was that the rest of its pages were dedicated to the purposeful rearing, releasing and shooting of pheasants, millions of them.

I don’t shoot driven game any longer, yet have plenty of opportunities to return home with a pheasant when out rough shooting. Countrywide, it's clear to see they are surely one of the most invasive species of all. What’s more, behind the pheasant soon arrived the frustratingly invasive and unstoppable advance of the rhododendron, a favoured exotic plant that offered good cover for large bags of birds and in turn satisfied the blood lusts of the Victorian sportsman.

I do not have it in for pheasants, far from it. I love watching them crash around in the holly come roosting time, or promenade like dandies across the low spring wheat. I love seeing the cocks fight in the dust, and if I find a hen on her nest, I’ll back away. The pheasant’s call fills the dusk, and I think of England in the short days. Yet with an ever-increasing list of game I will no longer shoot, the pheasant remains firmly on my list of good table fare.

Thing is, we are not very good in England at cooking them, or eating them, for that matter. Regularly referred to as ‘dry,’ I totally disagree. They are versatile, delicious and deeply flavoursome, while their rich yellow fat tastes wonderfully of walnuts.

It is imperative that the sinews in the legs are removed, so the drumstick can be enjoyed."