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can someone please explain what a syndicate shoot is please


jamie101
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i know this may sound to some people like a stupid question to ask but all i have shot so far is clays and im really keen to either have a go at pigeon shooting or join a syndicate,

but having asked around where i live (rotherham, south yorkshire) no one has given me any permission to shoot yet as there are alot of syndicate shoots going off at the moment, everyone is telling me to come back in febuary and try,

could some one please exlain what a syndicate is please, (in dummy terms! lol) and also would it be a good idea for me to think about joining one or should i just stick to trying to get some permission for pigeons and try that first?

any advice will be greatly appriciated,

thank you

 

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i know this may sound to some people like a stupid question to ask but all i have shot so far is clays and im really keen to either have a go at pigeon shooting or join a syndicate,

but having asked around where i live (rotherham, south yorkshire) no one has given me any permission to shoot yet as there are alot of syndicate shoots going off at the moment, everyone is telling me to come back in febuary and try,

could some one please exlain what a syndicate is please, (in dummy terms! lol) and also would it be a good idea for me to think about joining one or should i just stick to trying to get some permission for pigeons and try that first?

any advice will be greatly appriciated,

thank you

 

In my experience a syndicate shoot is usually run as a kind of club where membership is limited to a stated number. In mine it was 18 guns. Each gun paid 1/18 of the cost of running the shoot (in theory) We each had our own beat to look after and each got involved with the running of the shoot. Building release pens, feeding, vermin control etc. it is a reasonably cheap way of doing driven shooting.

Hope that helps

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In theory, and in my experience, a syndicate is a group of about six or seven like minded people who club together to buy birds to put down in Summer in the hope of being able to shoot them later in the year. All are keen and undertake to do all that is necessary to create a good habitat which birds will find attractive.

In practise two or three get stuck with all the graft while the remainders either don't answer their phones, don't turn up when they say they will, or are too busy doing 'something' else, unless it's shoot day of course, when they seem to be able to turn up no problem. :whistling:

It all depends on what scale the syndicate operates really. There are small DIY syndicates where everyone chips in, through to large scale syndicates where the guns have no input other than to pay a set fee each season and turn up each shoot day

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There's many variations but a usual set up may be a syndicate of 8, 10 or 12 guns who will shoot 8 days during the season. If it's a DIY syndicate then the cost of running the shoot may be split among all of the guns with some 'working days' to do maintenance in the close season. The shoot days are often run on a 'walk one, stand one' basis. i.e, two teams of six guns. One team will stand on pegs while the other team drive birds towards them, then they will change round for the next drive. This saves money on beaters.

 

On a commercial shoot then you may get a place on a team where you stand on the pegs and paid beaters drive the birds towards you. You will pay a fixed amount for the day but may be expected to tip the keeper or shoot captain as well so you need to make sure exactly what you are expected to pay for and what you can expect on the day.

 

Our own shoot is run by the shoot owner and the guns pay per season plus a bit for the beaters on the day and I'm the part-time keeper.

 

The reason for looking for places during February is that a few guns drop out at the end so that's when places are most available. You will normally be eapected to pay upfront because the shoot will need to spend alot of money on rearing and feeding new birds for the next season.

 

There's usually spare places advertised through Guns on Pegs and some syndicates make clear that they're novice friendly. It can be a bit off-putting if you join a team of, shall we say, upper-crust types.

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I run a cost sharing syndicate. No profit is made by anyone. Eight people tell me what they want to do on the shoot and I work out the cost. This is then modified as required and we go ahead and do it. If we have cash left at the end of the season we roll it over. If we are short I go round with the hat. I get one gun for doing all the hard work.

Fabulous as far as I am concerned. Get 1000 acres of Suffolk to play with.

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I'm in a syndicate of 12 guns. We rent the sporting rights over 3 farms and run that as our own 'estate'.

Shoot captain takes an annual subscription from the guns and from that we pay the rent, pay for materials (trailers, posts, wire, feeders), birds, feed etc.

We have 6 woods dotted over the farms and have large pheasant pens in 4 of them, plus other partridge pens as and when we need them.

We shoot 12 days on average, standing 9 guns, 3 walking with pegs drawn on the day.

 

Ours is full for this year but we occasionally have vacancies.

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In my experience a syndicate shoot is usually run as a kind of club where membership is limited to a stated number. In mine it was 18 guns. Each gun paid 1/18 of the cost of running the shoot (in theory) We each had our own beat to look after and each got involved with the running of the shoot. Building release pens, feeding, vermin control etc. it is a reasonably cheap way of doing driven shooting.

Hope that helps

We very rarely had 18 guns turn up usually about 14 or so, one member an elderly vet I only remember him shooting about 2 or 3 times in the 10 years I was in it. We had about 4 to 6 regular beaters (unpaid), usually sons of guns. We split who ever turned up on the shoot day into two teams and carried out 6 or 8 drives, stand and walk alternative. We had 2000 acres. At the end, the shoot captain would split the bag into lots relating to the number of guns. We all put our pegs into a hat, he drew them out one by one and when your number was drawn you chose the lot from the bag you wanted. I always had Pheasant, Partridge and hare in my freezer. Each Christmas we would have a formal dinner and dance and invite all the farmers and their wife's. It was a great social time and I would be a member in it today if my work had not moved me to another part of the country. Highly recommended if you can get into the right one.

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thank you very much everyone, i now have a much better understanding of a syndicate shoot,

i wasnt too sure what was meant by stand and walk aswell but you guys have covered it all, thank you,

i used to go beating years ago when i was about 12 years old but all we did was beat no shooting only once - cocks day,

i realy enjoyed it and i loved to see the dogs working aswell, so years on now i have my own shotgun licence, my own gun, a 4x4 and a spaniel so im ready to go! lol

other than training my spaniel a bit anyway! thats why i wanted to try and get a bit of land to shoot some pigeon on aswell because i thaught i could use it to my advantage and train my dog a bit more,

thanks for all your help and time in replying to me lads its appriciated!

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If you dont ask you dont get.

 

Last year I asked in the `shooting wanted section` of PW if there was any syndicate game shooting to be had in the Inverness area. I was very pleased when I was contacted by a small DIY shoot on the Black Isle. I was invited along on a work party day to see the shoot and to I suppose be vetted of sorts. As I work offshore I joined as a 1/2 gun which gives me 8 shoot days, 4 walk 1 stand 1 and 4 outside walked up days. I had a great time last season and I cant wait for the end of the month for our season to start and the first outside day.

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A syndicate shoot is where a group of guns share the shooting but the work on the shoot is done by only two or three of them!

and the guns who haven't done any work because they were too busy or on holiday moan that they've only had a couple of shots :yes:

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