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Cost of pigeon shooting - not happy


BRAD1927
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Hi I'm new on here I got a new permission this year farmer was glad to have the pigeons shot which hammer his crops. Now after doing a decent job I can take out some friends who I can trust, also been invited on pheasant shoot by farmer as thanks.

It's a false economy of landowners to take cash for pest control when the payers don't do the job as the damage done outweighs a few quid from some greedy g*t.

 

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here in Bedfordshire its pretty hard to get somewhere to shoot ,so i joined a pigeon and wildfowling club .The first year is £140 and £70 after that but that includes your BASC membership ,so that is just over a pound a week to do all the shooting you want .For the shooters who can`t get anywhere to go it maybe worthwhile looking to see if a club operates in their area, just a thought :hmm:

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So I decided to do some digging to find out who it was and what they charge well imagine my shock when I find out that the chap concerned has in excess of 35,000 acres and charges £2 a cartridge!

£2 a bang..... interesting pricing, he must make HMRC happy ........... :hmm:

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One of the farms in our area has a cracking bit of land for pigeons and geese so decided to go and speak to him, but before I went one of my mates said you have no chance with that farmer he won't let anyone on shooting, I just thought what harm can it do so I went up and he was working in one of the farm buildings I just introduced myself and we got chatting initially he said no but we carried on talking then for no reason he said well I suppose you could shoot a few pigeons well I was made up, after a few outings and shooting a few good bags he spoke to me one day and said I have been thinking and you can have all the shooting on the farm and for you only and an odd friend or two, now he even calls me to say the geese are on or the pigeons are hammering the barley, The moral of this is I think is its all about the introduction of yourself to the landowner.

I have also accquired another 12 farms for shooting geese when I was told you won't get any as its all taken its took quite a bit of work but I have managed it so don't give up keep trying and you will get permissions in the end if you approach them in the right way.

 

i agree iv aproached farms that i was told no chance of shooting on there, i went to ask permission and got it, its all about the first impression that first 30seconds is all it takes for them to see what kind of bloke you are! I now have 8 good permissions and have had them for the last 4years and longer!

 

it helps if you already shoot on a farm local to where your asking permission, make no mistake they will be ringing to get a better picture of you, its all about building trust and doing what they need! Iv never paid for my shooting and i can shoot when ever i like, but i do help out if needed for example last year when lambing i offered a hand which was appreciated and this year i helped out carting silage! And because i do this any one else who has asked is turned away, make yourself an asset to them and it goes a long way!

 

im very lucky to have the ground i have and because iv built up a good working relationship with them, it goes a long way when asking permission if you can come recomended!

 

 

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here in Bedfordshire its pretty hard to get somewhere to shoot ,so i joined a pigeon and wildfowling club .The first year is £140 and £70 after that but that includes your BASC membership ,so that is just over a pound a week to do all the shooting you want .For the shooters who can`t get anywhere to go it maybe worthwhile looking to see if a club operates in their area, just a thought :hmm:

 

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here in Bedfordshire its pretty hard to get somewhere to shoot ,so i joined a pigeon and wildfowling club .The first year is £140 and £70 after that but that includes your BASC membership ,so that is just over a pound a week to do all the shooting you want .For the shooters who can`t get anywhere to go it maybe worthwhile looking to see if a club operates in their area, just a thought :hmm:

 

How did you find that club? If I could find something similar in Essex / Hertfordshire, I'd be made up!

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this is the problem, people thinking like this, making what should be a free sport into a costly one instead!

 

At this point though, what are the choices? From what I can tell, I can

  • Keep spending a fortune in petrol and time knocking on doors with no success to date
  • Join an existing club who have ground - this is really appealing if I can find one because there will be people there to shoot with and learn from too
  • Do like Paxtond says and try and pay for rights over some ground
  • Not shoot anything other than clays and sell the air rifles

I'm pretty sure that at this point, joining a club would be a lot cheaper than driving around knocking on doors. From what I hear, once you have your first permission and people learn to trust you, getting others is easier (not easy, but at least you have references if you're doing it right). So forming a small club and renting land would give everyone in the group somewhere to start making a name for themselves.

 

Of course, there are downsides to starting a group that make joining an established club a better option... What if you don't get along? What if a few people take the ****? Who decides membership and what happens when there are fallings out ?

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At this point though, what are the choices? From what I can tell, I can

  • Keep spending a fortune in petrol and time knocking on doors with no success to date
  • Join an existing club who have ground - this is really appealing if I can find one because there will be people there to shoot with and learn from too
  • Do like Paxtond says and try and pay for rights over some ground
  • Not shoot anything other than clays and sell the air rifles

I'm pretty sure that at this point, joining a club would be a lot cheaper than driving around knocking on doors. From what I hear, once you have your first permission and people learn to trust you, getting others is easier (not easy, but at least you have references if you're doing it right). So forming a small club and renting land would give everyone in the group somewhere to start making a name for themselves.

 

Of course, there are downsides to starting a group that make joining an established club a better option... What if you don't get along? What if a few people take the ****? Who decides membership and what happens when there are fallings out ?

 

long barrelled pistols at dawn :D

 

reason i thought this was on a recent visit the land over said he would let me have run of 110acres for £1000 a year.

 

that is far to rich for me but if split between 10 its only cost £100 a year with aprox 11 acres each

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Try this approach. Farmers get dozens of requests for shooting and its easier to say no than for them to explain the situation in full. what generally happens is the Farmer allows a reliable Gun on his land and over time trusts him/her to keep on top of things, wot Im trying to say is that dont bother the farmer hes busy , instead find out who has got the permissions and approach them. Once You have this info ( local pub, or butchers etc..) approach the person and enquire about the possibilty of helping out( at this point its not unusual to be told to get stuffed) eventually a days shooting will come along ( it might cost a pint or two) you then either prove to be of use or not and over time your host will give the nod to the Farmer and away you go! Yes I know its not foolproof and you will get more no thankyous than yes pleases but it can work. It has for Me

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long barrelled pistols at dawn :D

 

reason i thought this was on a recent visit the land over said he would let me have run of 110acres for £1000 a year.

 

that is far to rich for me but if split between 10 its only cost £100 a year with aprox 11 acres each

 

That's far too much, you can rent farmland for £50 per acre and keep livestock on it. Also, 110 acres for 10 people is not enough, you'll be tripping over each other. 11 acres of woodland would just about work as an air rifle shoot, but one bang from a shotgun and everything will be gone for ages.

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Well what do you know had a drive about today sp9ke to 7 farmer's with no joy spoke to the last one on my list and got to go back in the morning with proof of insurance and show my sgc so all being well i will keep you informed

so you went asking for permission to go on the farmers land with guns , and you never had your insurance or sgc with you ? photocopy both when you go back to the farm give him the copys along with your details ,,address ,phone,job title ,ect
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i suppose i am one of the lucky ones then ,i have to much land to shoot ,i have taken people in the past who have intern gone behind my back and they now regard it as there land ! also had family go on my permissions ,ohhh it's all right our kid said i could xxxxxxs. never ever asked at any farm for pigeon shooting in my life ,never paid ,regularly have slabs of cart put in my truck with jam and other goodies,spend a few hundred quid a year on drinks and tins of sweets for farmers . i photocopy all my details and give each farm a copy every year,as well as showing them pictures of the results . oh nearly forgot fish,farmers love fish,never eat any of my own fish now give it all away .

Edited by corvid wings
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If everybody stuck together and no one paid to shoot vermin we wouldnt be reading this chat, the blame lies with the people that pay to shoot pigeons rather than the others that go door knocking to get permissions.

 

Come and live in the South East and see how much shooting you get!

 

The only way most of us here get ANY pigeon shooting is to pay for it!

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Come and live in the South East and see how much shooting you get!

 

The only way most of us here get ANY pigeon shooting is to pay for it!

 

Like i said earlier if we all stuck together and no one paid to shoot vermin, these "Guides" would soon go out of buisness and the farmers would need guys like you to control the pigeons.

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No they won't, because it's not just the 'guides' making money. The farmers have now cottoned on to the fact that they can earn a couple of bob and have some vermin control. Put the guides out of business and you think the farmers won't still charge?

 

With the pressure on land down here there will always be someone else willing to pay for a bit of shooting. it's unfortunate, but it's the way things are going.

 

Over the last coupl;e of years I have knocked on at least one farm door every week, sometimes more. That's over 100 farms and the answer has always been either that it's syndicated or already being shot. I do have a couple of rabbit permissions but cannot get on the pigeons for anything. As such I pay for a few days a year a much to keep my eye in as anything. Clays is all well and good, but you need to shoot at what you want to be shooting (I think that makes sense?).

Edited by -Mongrel-
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