doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Bird shoots in Britain - a thing of the past?

It's definitely not an homage to a certain "sans dwelling" contrib[_]tor.

The dog hooked a toe [_]nder the [_] key on this laptop, and popped the [_] key off.

I'll have it fixed next week.

One thing which doesn't ring quite true is the emphasis the article places on inherited wealth as the primary means of access to game shooting.Whilst its no doubt true that titled folk may shoot regularly,and in some pretty spectacular places too,there are many of us "ordinary" chaps get out too. Paid days are available all over the country for driven pheasant together with a few for grouse. Providing you choose where, in accordance with your wallet, the shooting is there to be had. If you can shoot at short notice the invitations will come flooding in to make up the numbers .Personally I prefer pigeon shooting which is free and I think much more challenging. Flight line pigeons in a stiff breeze gives some of the finest shooting to be had in the UK and many who shoot pheasant and grouse will agree.

Probably not with YOUR dog if you're coming from outside the UK. There are very strict quarantine rules for bringing animals into the country. Can you do a walk-up hunt with a guide (beater) and his dog over there? Yes. You can even go on a walk-up shoot for the same red grouse discussed in the article. A "rough shooting" day over there--talking pheasants and partridge, not red grouse--is not really all that expensive. Compare it to a day at a fancy lodge in SD, where you can't kill any more than 5 pheasants. Other than the cost of getting there, the rough shooting day in the UK will almost certainly be less expensive. If you're over there already for other purposes--vacation or work--not hard to arrange something like that if it's shooting season.

It all reminds me of the movie "The Shooting Party" in which someone opposed to hunting confronts the owner of the shoot (James Mason, in his last film)--who points out that the birds likely wouldn't be there if it were not for the effort and expense to which he goes to have them there.

So basically you can go up to a farmer and ask if you can hunt his land.

Correct?

yes,,you can do that,though it may only be some rough shooting for rabbits etc. There may already be people shooting there,,a syndicate for example,, so you may just get permission for pigeons . Its all down to putting the hours in,touring the area and knocking on doors. Alternatively,if anyone is visiting the UK at the right time of year I would be more that willing to offer a few hours pigeon shooting as an introduction to what we have here.

Shouldn't let the dam dog use the computer....

I'll carry a few cases of Guinness Extra Stout around foe insurance purposes.

What you mean, his dog can type faster than he can.

To get back to original topic the situation with animal loving anti-hunting groups are on the rise in other parts of Europe. They do try to get in the way of organized hunts.

It will be really great for the guys who work at Cabela's and the other gun stores where you drool on the counter tops and display cases and put guns on Layaway that you never actually buy. But it will be a bad time for gun shops in the EU.