Historical help?

Question

In the once and future king (king arthur) it says "when you were shooting badly you got into a bad temper, just as the wealthy pheasent shooters do today." Are pheasent shooters something that were back in that time or is that an allusion to some more modern day?

Answer 1

I would suppose that the author was referring to a controlled hunt with the tools of the day, such as a bow and arrow, rather than the killing instruments of today.