Driven Game Ethics

[Guest cookoff013]

I have done between 12 and 20 driven days a year for the last 40 odd years. Was out today, I have never come across anyone who buries birds, prices for shot birds are pretty poor, we are competing with table reared shot free birds from Europe so most are given away to locals. Big shoots tend to have deals with game dealers who collect big quantities.

 

Most big days are corporate let days, no real experience of that but if I was a gun in a drive that shot 300+ I would be bored to death after the first few minutes. You tend to get the birds taking the same 2 or 3 lines, so once you have found them on a given line its like production line. No skill in that just the ability to repeat an exercise. On a drive today I had shot 6 or 7 on the trot mainly on two lines, birds continued to come along the same lines so I let my next door guns shoot them, I knew I could if i wanted to but what was the point. They were all very good high fast birds that anyone would be proud to shoot, I knew I could have them if I wanted and that was enough for me. Maybe I am getting soft.

 

My issue with corporate days is safety and lack of respect for the quarry. People with no shooting experience at all are hele coptered in, a loader puts one of a pair of guns in their hands and the gun is expected to use the guns safely and skilfully. He is on a hiding to nothing. I heard of an American who a friend was loading for on a partridge day, they put one gun away and the loader stuffed the other one. After lunch the loader stuffed over 600 cartridges, to his knowledge his gun shot 4 birds, thats 150 to 1, undoubtedly the poorest shooting I have ever heard of.

 

A

 

thats funny !

[JustJon]

I have done between 12 and 20 driven days a year for the last 40 odd years. Was out today, I have never come across anyone who buries birds, prices for shot birds are pretty poor, we are competing with table reared shot free birds from Europe so most are given away to locals. Big shoots tend to have deals with game dealers who collect big quantities.

 

Most big days are corporate let days, no real experience of that but if I was a gun in a drive that shot 300+ I would be bored to death after the first few minutes. You tend to get the birds taking the same 2 or 3 lines, so once you have found them on a given line its like production line. No skill in that just the ability to repeat an exercise. On a drive today I had shot 6 or 7 on the trot mainly on two lines, birds continued to come along the same lines so I let my next door guns shoot them, I knew I could if i wanted to but what was the point. They were all very good high fast birds that anyone would be proud to shoot, I knew I could have them if I wanted and that was enough for me. Maybe I am getting soft.

 

My issue with corporate days is safety and lack of respect for the quarry. People with no shooting experience at all are hele coptered in, a loader puts one of a pair of guns in their hands and the gun is expected to use the guns safely and skilfully. He is on a hiding to nothing. I heard of an American who a friend was loading for on a partridge day, they put one gun away and the loader stuffed the other one. After lunch the loader stuffed over 600 cartridges, to his knowledge his gun shot 4 birds, thats 150 to 1, undoubtedly the poorest shooting I have ever heard of.

 

A

 

I've only ever shot 1 pheasant day which was a corporate. I know my customers, new they could handle the guns and trusted everyone around me. Also, no helicopters and one American who was very well briefed on UK etiquette.

 

Please don't tar us all with the same brush, some of u's do it right.

[Dunkield]

I think there was a short period in less austere times when shooting as corporate entertainment was in vogue, when large commercial shoots catering for merchant bankers (rhyming slang)

That still goes on, but it doesn't mean to say the birds go to waste, they are still get sold to game dealers.

[Dunkield]

After lunch the loader stuffed over 600 cartridges, to his knowledge his gun shot 4 birds, thats 150 to 1, undoubtedly the poorest shooting I have ever heard of.

As long as he enjoyed himself and wasn't danger to anyone I don't see why you would have a problem with that?

We had a back end team last season made up of clay shooters wanting to try 'the real thing' for the fist time.

I don't know the final tally but if they shot better than 15 to 1 I would be shocked.

They didn't shoot much, coughed up OK, had the time of their lives and have booked the same day this year, so everyone is happy.