Paid pigeon shooting

[Archie-fox]

Exactly... Supply and demand, and doing something different.

Being based in Essex, we can't price it too cheaply, else we'd have all sorts of folk turning up as there are plenty about without much else to do and their benefits burning a hole in their pocket!

If you can sell days at what ever price and you have people wanting to pay then fair enough mate...i pay a few quid each year for the 3 shoots I'm in, plus all my foxing and stalking...that probably works out at over £100 per day out so £80 for a good day out... Some people charge £30,£40,£50 that's up to them..don't want to pay £80 then don't pay it...can't see why people start topics on stuff...you can go walked up grouse shooting in Scotland at £160 per brace...or £2000 for a posh partridge shoot...it's all what the customer wants.. Edited August 5, 2014 by Archie-fox

[BRNDL]

If people didn't "start topics on stuff" there would be no need for a forum and I would still be thinking that £80.00 for pigeon shooting is a rip off.

 

Now that Wildfowler has explained his services in more detail I now think it is much better value for money.

 

So, for me at least and I reckon for a few others the topic has been a positive one. Its the members that dip in and out of topics with no real thought on what they post that does the damage.

 

ATB

BRNDL

[Mentalmac]

If people didn't "start topics on stuff" there would be no need for a forum and I would still be thinking that £80.00 for pigeon shooting is a rip off.

 

Now that Wildfowler has explained his services in more detail I now think it is much better value for money.

 

So, for me at least and I reckon for a few others the topic has been a positive one. Its the members that dip in and out of topics with no real thought on what they post that does the damage.

 

ATB

BRNDL

+1 on that.

However it's also worth noting as Archie-fox says that the price is down to what the customer wants.

I think that's the main crux of it really. You get some people who feel that for £80 you would want 100 birds at least and all the hob nobs you could eat, and others who would feel that £80 is a mere drop in the ocean and spend more on dinner after.

 

 

The way I see it:

I would say £80 to shoot pigeons seems expensive in MY opinion. (Unless that is like what Wildfowler is doing where all the reccy'ing and help and full support come in to it then £80 seems fair i.e even including helping them move positions if there isn't any birds there etc...).

 

This thread has cleared things up for me really, I assumed by paying for pigeon shooting someone just finger pointed at a field and said money please and help your self. Didn't realise there was so much work involved as well, therefore it's worth me knowing that there is different customer interaction levels, differing levels of support and differing amounts of background work involved.

[Dunkield]

It's simple really, if you want it pay for it, if you don't want it don't pay...

 

Boom.

I don't have access to pigeon shooting, so if wanted to do some and a guide could get us onto the birds I would pay.

 

In the same way stalkers from the continent would pay 4 figures to be able to shoot a medal muntjac whereas I have done that for nothing - it all comes down to what you have access to.

[Tim Kelly]

I've bought 3 different pigeon days over the years and each of them has been disappointing. If I go to a place where I can shoot pigeons any time then I can only shoot what's about, but if I'm paying for a day I want a much better chance at a decent bag than I would have on my free places. If I have a day booked with a guide and there aren't any birds about I'd expect a call saying there's not much about before I drive all the way there, but in my experience that's not what happens. I understand that you can't guarantee sport with pigeons, but if you are keeping an eye on your fields and have enough acreage to be able to offer payed pigeon shooting then taking money for birdless skies is not acceptable.

[BRNDL]

+1 on that.

However it's also worth noting as Archie-fox says that the price is down to what the customer wants.

I think that's the main crux of it really. You get some people who feel that for £80 you would want 100 birds at least and all the hob nobs you could eat, and others who would feel that £80 is a mere drop in the ocean and spend more on dinner after.

 

 

The way I see it:

I would say £80 to shoot pigeons seems expensive in MY opinion. (Unless that is like what Wildfowler is doing where all the reccy'ing and help and full support come in to it then £80 seems fair i.e even including helping them move positions if there isn't any birds there etc...).

 

This thread has cleared things up for me really, I assumed by paying for pigeon shooting someone just finger pointed at a field and said money please and help your self. Didn't realise there was so much work involved as well, therefore it's worth me knowing that there is different customer interaction levels, differing levels of support and differing amounts of background work involved.

 

I am of the same opinion and thoughts. I didn't realise there was pre shoot planning involved and the option to call the guide up and move places...which has cost issues and also time intensive.

[BRNDL]

 

Boom.

I don't have access to pigeon shooting so if wanted to do some and a guide could get us onto the birds I would pay.

 

In the same way stalkers from the continent would pay 4 figures to be able to shoot a medal muntjac whereas I have done that for nothing - it all comes down to what you have access to.

 

So how much would you be willing to pay? I am not knocking paid pigeon shooting, its a great positive for the industry.

 

£80.00 for a day out and 10 pigeons?

What would your expectations be for £80.00 and also if your expectations were not met then what?

[fenboy]

A day could not be measured in the amount of pigeons shot because a lot depends on the shooter .

 

I for instance would expect to shoot 100 birds for around 150 shots give or take a few , a friend of mine is not a regular shooter but enjoys the odd day with me , but he averages about 13 shots to each pigeon so 1300 shots for a ton bag , a guide can only put you on pigeons he cannot ensure you will shoot them.

[Wildfowler]

I've bought 3 different pigeon days over the years and each of them has been disappointing. If I go to a place where I can shoot pigeons any time then I can only shoot what's about, but if I'm paying for a day I want a much better chance at a decent bag than I would have on my free places. If I have a day booked with a guide and there aren't any birds about I'd expect a call saying there's not much about before I drive all the way there, but in my experience that's not what happens. I understand that you can't guarantee sport with pigeons, but if you are keeping an eye on your fields and have enough acreage to be able to offer payed pigeon shooting then taking money for birdless skies is not acceptable.

This is exactly what we try to avoid!

I'm sure many do just point to a field and say help yourself, but this is exactly what I was referring to in my earlier post regarding reduced costs giving reduced service.

If people are parting with their hard earned cash they expect a bit more.

Edited to say, we do only take guests when there are birds about, as any of the guns on here that have come along will vouch for, I've put them Off until I can pretty much guarantee a reasonable show...

Edited August 5, 2014 by Wildfowler

[Penelope]

That's a good attitude you have.

 

This is exactly what we try to avoid!
I'm sure many do just point to a field and say help yourself, but this is exactly what I was referring to in my earlier post regarding reduced costs giving reduced service.
If people are parting with their hard earned cash they expect a bit more.

[Old farrier]

Hi

Just my thoughts

Your paying for the opertunity the guide dosent know if you can hit anything

Your paying for the access and shooting rights for that day

Your paying to be guided to the area safe to shoot and do the best crop protection and possibly paying for use of hide/ decoy equipment and the guides wages

Seems good value now

All the best

Of

[Wildfowler]

A day could not be measured in the amount of pigeons shot because a lot depends on the shooter .

 

I for instance would expect to shoot 100 birds for around 150 shots give or take a few , a friend of mine is not a regular shooter but enjoys the odd day with me , but he averages about 13 shots to each pigeon so 1300 shots for a ton bag , a guide can only put you on pigeons he cannot ensure you will shoot them.

BINGO!

We have turned up to pack up some gun sand they have got buckets of empties and we have heard them shooting all day long, and left with average bags... All of them have said they have had a great day. If they turned around and said they had a rubbish day, I'd have to question them a little.

On the other hand, if they clearly were not getting the shooting (as we check on them periodically) and things didn't improve or if they'd only had a mediocre day, we would not charge them or we'd let them come along another day for free.

We can't be fairer than that! It doesn't take long to get a bad rep!!!

[chrisjh]

 

Join Lancashire Field Sports. The guys have been shooting in Irlam through a guide/3rd party.

 

Thanks

[Dunkield]

 

So how much would you be willing to pay? I am not knocking paid pigeon shooting, its a great positive for the industry.

 

£80.00 for a day out and 10 pigeons?

What would your expectations be for £80.00 and also if your expectations were not met then what?

 

I am not getting into specifics but people pay £1/bird round here, IF they can get on the land in the first place.

I would pay that. I wouldn't pay £30+ to shoot a partridge.

[silver pigeon 3]

BINGO!

We have turned up to pack up some gun sand they have got buckets of empties and we have heard them shooting all day long, and left with average bags... All of them have said they have had a great day. If they turned around and said they had a rubbish day, I'd have to question them a little.

On the other hand, if they clearly were not getting the shooting (as we check on them periodically) and things didn't improve or if they'd only had a mediocre day, we would not charge them or we'd let them come along another day for free.

We can't be fairer than that! It doesn't take long to get a bad rep!!!

 

You can only put them on the birds the rest is up to them. Going a little off subject but still applicable we sold a day on our pheasant/duck syndicate last season and advertised it as a 80 bird day. We had 2 groups of guns to make up the 8, 5 which were poor shots and 3 that could shoot a bit. At lunch we had a complaint from one of the group of 5 that the bag was only 20 odd - to this i replied yes but there has been over 150 shots. At the end of the day the final bag was just short of 60 birds and all lads from the group of 3 tipped well and had a really good day, where as the others did not tip as they still thought they had not had a good day. Final shot tally was 300+ so even at 4/1 no reason it should have not been an 80+ bird day.

Just proves the point that one persons good day is another's bad and however much work and effort you put in it still requires the person on the trigger to do there bit!

[Tim Kelly]

This is exactly what we try to avoid!

I'm sure many do just point to a field and say help yourself, but this is exactly what I was referring to in my earlier post regarding reduced costs giving reduced service.

If people are parting with their hard earned cash they expect a bit more.

Edited to say, we do only take guests when there are birds about, as any of the guns on here that have come along will vouch for, I've put them Off until I can pretty much guarantee a reasonable show...

 

 

If that's the case, then you're running your guiding service as it should be run and full credit to you. There's a guy down this way who charges I think £150 per day, for which you only get a brace of birds to take home and you can't take your dog. Guess it suits some people, but not what I want in a guide either. Which part of East Anglia do you guide in?

[kyska]

Although this topic is civilised (at the minute!) it annoys me when people question paid days, it's been said, you'll pay what it's worth.

 

It seems only the people who aren't willing to pay are the people who question it.

 

I wouldn't advertise paid shooting, purely because of the inconvenience, so those that do, fair play.

 

I've been on driven shoot for 100's of my sterling and had awful, dejected days, it's how it is, full stop.

 

Because it's 'pest' control, there seems to be a eponymous slant on the fee!

 

I tend to do pigeon 'drives' to thin the numbers, for free, buts that's only because I don't have the time, and quite honestly can't be ***** with the hassle of a paying customer getting a 'poor day'.

 

Those that do charge, who're we to be critics?

 

I'd never stop someone making a beer packet from anything unless it was illegal.

[flynny]

You can pa y anything from £100 up wards for a deer stalk, if you don't shoot owt , does that mean it wasn't worth it??? And u had a **** day? As Archie fox has said, if u want to pay, pay.

 

Not everyone is lucky enough to have perms to shoot for free. If the guide does his best to put you onto the birds( as wildfolwer obviously does) the rest is up to the nutt behind the butt,

 

If the guide just dumps you in a field, well that's a different matter!!!

 

But obviously (wildfowler) doesn't do that , as he said your reputation as a pigeon guide won't last long,

 

Atb

 

 

 

Flynny (edited as should have read posts properly, sorry guys and gals, brndle I love ya mate ha ha)

Edited August 5, 2014 by flynny

[J_Edwards]

There are those who don't have permission to shoot on any land, therefore paid days are the only option. I'm glad I read this thread, as I too was under the presumption that shooters were thrown into a field, and left to their own devices. It's good to know how much time and effort the organisers put into it, and we all know how much fuel prices can cripple the job, so if they are helping clients relocate etc, then it's down to the client to decide how much it's worth to them.

 

There's someone around us who is charging £40 per day for pigeon shooting, and £70 per night for foxing, but I have a feeling that the farmer doesn't know, and the organiser is just charging people to use his permission and pocketing the money, which to me is out of order.

[BRNDL]

This brings me back to my original point...

 

For £80.00 pigeon shooting for a day, what would you expect for this service? Whether it be a pheasant drive, a deer stalk and the like, you always have a pre-conception of what you expect.

 

Kyska - Don't get annoyed, its only a discussion. Its more about the education...

 

 

And as foot note to Flynny, this topic was not started to highlight Wildfowlers paid days. Wildfowler engaged with the topic and put some substance behind his fees.

Edited August 5, 2014 by BRNDL

[Konnie]

I would be worried if something was too cheap, have seen pigeon days for £120 and thought it reasonable, never paid myself but depends how much shooting you do,you can shoot a driven pheasant for £25-45 a bird so £120 seems ok. Once had a day invited free by a pigeon guide after a day pheasant shooting, I thought he had it sorted his price was £1 a shot up to £100 the rest was up to you and down to your ability

[Dunkield]

Actually £1/bang would be far better way of charging all round if you think about it.

[Wildfowler]

Just to clear things up, I'm not the OP, however the OPs original post was obviously directed at me and I felt it was a little unjustified...

Similarly, the figure of £80 is being used a lot... That is with all the gear provided, set up and a few hours of our time. 90%+ go for the £60 option, which still requires all of the recon, drop offs, checking and pick ups...

 

So whilst £80 is an option, £60 is the norm and what you should judge us against...

Edited August 5, 2014 by Wildfowler

[Wildfowler]

Actually £1/bang would be far better way of charging all round if you think about it.

I like this option!!!!

I'd be making SHED LOADS more money!

[BRNDL]

Wildfowler,

 

I didnt even know you offered paid days untill you posted up, so the OP was not directed at you. After your explanation of charges, (which is what I wanted in my first post) was published I felt the offer of £80.00 was reasonable, as do a few others that have posted up on the topic.

 

I think its great you do all the recon and put the effort in. You would be daft if you didnt!