Saturday 12 January 2013

First Time On A Shoot

A late night phone call on Thursday changed my weekend. A family friend, Tim, rang and invited me to attend one of their shoots, all my plans went out the window instantly!
Although I'm a keen hunter (that said it doesn't happen very often) I've never on an organised shoot before, or shot pheasants or ducks really, so I was keen to experience it. As well as this the farm isn't very far away so it's a great way for me to meet people in the area and get some much needed exercise!
A dog keen to do what it was bred for
I was however a little worried about the etiquette and what to wear. One of my friends at work had lent me some of his shooting gear so I had more chance of looking the part but I'm sure I broke the first rule by turning up in a white transit! Luckily it's a very informal syndicate shoot and everyone was really friendly and not stuck up at all. 
We did about 5 "drives" over the day (where the birds are driven towards the guns), but as it's only a small shoot we didn't see a very large number of birds. With 10 or so guns we only bagged 30 birds over the whole day (and a squirrel).
But it wouldn't have mattered if I hadn't taken a shot all day as it was nice to be outside with like minded people from all walks of life, and to watch the dogs work was a joy in itself. There was 8 or 9 Spaniels and about 3 Labradors all doing what they were bred for. The one lab fetched a bird from a fast flowing stream without skipping a beat, and most of the others worked hard to flush birds from the rough patches and pick up any we shot. Watching the dogs like this was probably the best bit of the day.
5 pheasants and a duck should provide tea for quite a few nights!
The sum total of what I shot was one duck. I seemed to have bad luck on where I was placed, I didn't fire my gun after the first drive as the birds were either too low or too far away. I'd rather not take the shot than take a chance on wounding the animal so my cautous aporach saved me from wasting too many cartridges but didn't make it any less fun.
As it's getting towards the end of the shooting season some of the regulars are getting a bit fed up with game, this worked in my favour as I managed to walk away with 3 brace of birds (much more than I shot), so that gives us a number of cheap and tasty teas to enjoy over the next week or so.
Today was a great experience and it felt like a true scene of the english countryside. Now I've just got to decide what to do with all these pheasants...

17 comments:

  1. I am sooo jealous! I haven't been rough shooting since I was a teenager with my Dad. It's something I think I'd like to get into - provided I can get a shot gun licence again. A friend of mine went out at the weekend and they ended up with 80 birds of various sorts. Good meat from animals that have been able to live a natural life - sounds good to me. Enjoy your birds (I'd check out Hugh Fearnley Eatsitall for recipes!)

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    1. It should be no trouble getting a licence again so long as you've got no criminal record, have a safe to keep the gun in and somewhere safe to shoot it. If it's been a while you could go on a days training to see if you still liked it and to brush up on gun safety. Thanks for your comment!

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    2. I've been a good girl, not got caught yet, so no record. I have a double reason for wanting a licence as I do Tudor/Stuart reenactment too and it would mean we could get ourselves a musket again. And fear not, I would go out with experienced people looooong before picking a gun up again.

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  2. I too envy you! I've never been on an organized shoot either. While I've shot literally thousands of time at clay pigeons, (and killed more than a few), I have yet to bring home a pheasant for dinner. On the other hand, there is a resident herd of elk here & I'll trade hunts with you any day. One never knows about the future & traveling you know.

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    1. Elk shooting sounds different, never really done rifle shooting (airgun doesn't count) so it would be really interesting to have a go and to go with the locals, it would be amazing. You'd have to let us know if your in the "shires" although pheasant shooting can be very expensive if you want large numbers of birds!

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  3. Twice lucky in a week... fist the ducks a d now a shoot..and some more game for the kitchen... good for you, sounds like fun....I wish we did those over here on this side of the pond.

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    1. Yeah I did strike lucky this week, I've also been told I can go on a vermin shoot after the season is over so that should be another interesting day/night! Where in America are you?

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  4. So, Big Don Alviti, I see you are getting your eye in for the forthcoming hit...

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    1. Well if you're a duck you're in trouble thats all I'm saying!

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  5. I do not shoot but as a Lab owner, I love to watch him "work"...looking for things I have thrown for him, etc, It is amazing what they know how to do instinctively and I love it when it is used!

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    1. Yeah it's bred into them, they know what to do. Watching these dogs crash through the bramble was amazing and all the time checking back with their owners to make sure they're not going to far off.

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  7. Our neighbor raises and trains Chocolate Labs. It is awesome to watch him work his dogs.

    Yes our dog is quite large and packs away the chow LOL. He should top out around 150 lbs the vet says.

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    1. Thats going to be a big dog - I hope you don't have to lift him over too many fences!
      two of the dogs on the shoot were chocolate labs, quite big dogs, but powerful with it.

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  8. A shoot is a pleasant day out isn't it. My uncle had them on his land quite often. My brother earned pocket money as a beater although I was terrified he was going to get shot. I love the taste of pheasant. Haven't had any since leaving England.

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