Opinions

[Davyo]

Got speaking with my physio this morning as having a bit of back trouble.Through genearl health chat he was asking if my back pain effected any activities. I told him that funny he should ask than question but I have just sold my rotary and battery to lighten the load.Whats a rotary?he said,so the conversation went into the basics of decoying ect and he genuinely seemed facinated.

Anyhow he said his father in law used to be in a syndicate and invited him along to do some beating.To cut a long story short he said he didnt find it appealing and in his words he didnt "find it sporting having purposley released birds driven over you".But pigeon decoying sounds a lot more involved and technical and he would like a trip out.Anyhow my physio course is for 6 weeks so before I left I told him to check his diary and we will have a day out.Thing is I was sort of in agreement with him regarding driven syndicates.I was a member of a local shoot for 3 yrs but didnt find it appealing,rough shooting and the ducks I enjoyed but the driven shoots I couldnt get on with.

So whats your preferences,do you like one better than the other or both equally?

Please dont get offensive with each other, just your own opinions, I thoughtbit might make a decent topic.

[belly47]

ive only been on a formal shoot as a beater a few times and enjoyed the experience and the sense that you are part of a special day and the traditions that go with it.

 

but having said that from the shooting point of view its not really something that I would want to do regularly,

 

like you I much prefer decoying or having a stroll and seeing whats about rather than standing waiting for them to be driven over me.

 

each to their own I guess, just my preference

[birdsallpl]

Davyo well done you have opened up a very good debate. From my personnel perspective I have a bit of negative thoughts regarding commercial driven shoots. I was in a small club / syndicate shoot for about 10 years and very much enjoyed it. We did put birds down and had a couple of pens. But the bag was never very large and once the birds were released, they never went back to the pens. We shared the work between us and it was great. I have been on a few other driven shoots and hated the way the birds were presented and slaughtered. (I know this is probably the minority of shoots) and decided I would not do it again. When I was working some suppliers when they knew I was in to shooting started to invite me to commercial driven days. I always decline because I didn't want to take the risk of embarrassing anyone if I found them unacceptable and walked away. Which I would have done.

[kent]

it depends which part of things appeal, I think of myself as a hunter naturalist so driven just don't appeal if a bird is dumb enough to fly over my head as I stand out in the open I don't see it as worthy no matter how fast or high it flies its still dim, (though I have always fancied a day on driven grouse). One hard won goose duck or deer beats twenty pheasants before lunch and frankly the whole lunch thing don't really appeal either. after saying that a big bag of pigeons might also loose its appeal after the first few boxes of shells and I am not one for counting the slain.

I don't think either big bags of pigeons or a day on driven pheasant is "wrong" it just holds little appeal for me, its like fishing I never have gone to catch large numbers one big or special fish has always been my thing over a bulging keep net or creel. I shall remember my first seatrout at night my first Salmon on the fly and my biggest bass, Pike etc. long after the large bags of bream, roach, grayling and the like I have already forgotten

[ditchman]

ive done the game shooting bit for 35 years.........some of the "last minit" days ive been on have been ...a-bloody-appalling...the birds were tame,,,,the drives contrived and the shots that were taken pathetic.....and those days have left a sour taste in my mouth

 

a good driven day is totally opposite...birds are fit well feathered...and fly like stink and come out in small groups from god knows where..........

 

if someone sees the first shoot, having never seen a shoot before, it would put them off for life.....

 

so i can understand what your phyiso is saying

[magman]

or you can look at it another way , if you have spent lots of time rearing birds up from eggs to poults to adult done your vermin control, got birds to fly strong over the team of guns as you wished , then seen the smiles on there faces does this make you a bad person ?

All it takes is one or two good birds on a drive to make you put your gun away for the day and let others enjoy there's equally

There's a lot of satisfaction you can get out of a driven shoot without pulling the trigger

Edited October 10, 2014 by magman

[Scully]

I think a lot depends on an individuals perception of what each regards as 'sporting'. It's a term I hate personally, as while I can understand what shooters mean by a 'sporting' shot I have simply never been able to get my head around the term which inherently involves firing god knows how many metal projectiles at phenomenal speeds towards a soft skinned creature from a tube designed to contain the spread of said metal projectiles to give the shooter every conceivable advantage over his quarry. If the shooter does his job there can only be one outcome. Shot was designed specifically for the purpose of bringing down birds on the wing; it's design had no other function in mind.

Because I don't consider it 'sporting' , and so long as the right tool is used for the job, I think is why I have much more tolerance for most other forms of shooting on a worldwide basis.

Driven shooting is by all intents and purposes 'canned' shooting, in the sense all birds are placed in an environment they may not necessarily naturally inhabit for the sole purpose of shooting for pleasure or profit, or both. I have no qualms with this and am a member of a very small friendly syndicate where although tradition plays its part to a point, it has been known for the odd auto to make an appearance and definitely not unknown for the racking of a pump to be heard on the next peg, regardless of the guest list having among its members the occasional Lord and assorted aristocracy. I love it.

I love our little rough shoot also, where a few of us put down a few ex-layers and then wander around generally taking the **** out of each other for one reason or another. One mate, who isn't really a shooter, but has his own gun and is a member, shot a full box of cartridges (25) for one bird on one occasion last season, but he still had the biggest smile on his face at the end of the day. This is what it's all about. A formal driven day with guns I don't know has no appeal for me, but if it's the only way some get access to shooting, then I'm all for it. A formal driven day with mates would be ideal.

We can knock driven shooting all we want, but if it weren't for driven shooting, then shooting in general in the UK would be in much more dire straits than it currently is. The money generated by UK driven shooting is not to be taken lightly. People travel from all over the world to shoot driven in the UK.

Saying all that, I am equally happy in a hide popping off those elusive seemingly motionless corvids and those jinking, diving, and curling pigeons, shooting the odd deer or two (shortly to become much more than the odd one or two), and bolting bunnies to guns is, as I've said before, the best fun you can have with your pants on. I am a gun nut and love shooting. I love it all.

[ant1]

my preference has to be rough shooting. I am lucky enough to be in a syndicate of three which we pay £100 each for good land that is great for walked up snipe and more that is next to a forest and estuary that gives us a good chance for some woodcock and wildfowling flights. but what I like best is a day with two mates my dogs and a hip flask with sloe gin, and it does not matter at the end of the day if there is no birds in hand or 20 I always enjoy my day

[drut]

Personally I have no interest in shooting anything "reared" ,I only rough shoot.However I am truly grateful for the positive impact/benefits of such shoots on the countryside.They have my 100% support.

[Albert 888]

I like it rough,and walk one stand one type shooting and with the dogs. Without them I wouldnt even entertain pheasant shooting. I have beat for some big shoots and watching all the A holes shooting at anything didn't entertain me.

[CharlieT]

At the end of the day, be it walked up "rough shooting" or formal driven, it all comes down to the gun themselves. It is up to the gun to decide which bird he shoots and to only address birds that test his own skill level. In that way every bird he shoots will be both memorable and sporting.

 

Because a small minority of guns are unable to show restraint does not mean that we should frown on all driven game shooting. I have seen many a walked up pheasant shot in the most unsporting of ways, but that does not mean that all walked up shooting should be tarred with the same brush.

[STOTTO]

I have not shot live quarry for nearly thirty years although it is how I started shooting as a young boy and young man, I later became more interested in target shooting and so have no qualms on the subject.

I believe that to my mind Scully has summed up the essence of it all. To me driven shooting is a commercial enterprise like any other and so the best will attract the wealthiest and the greatest and the rest will strive to emulate their success and the revenues generated will benefit both the local and national economies whether you approve of the business or not!

 

Found this online, http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/news/shoots-must-focus-make-profit-survey-says-40839

Edited October 11, 2014 by STOTTO

[KFC]

I'm a gamekeeper on a small syndicate. I normally run the team of beaters and I enjoy doing it. As well as rearing the birds there's quite a bit of conservation involved and I love that aspect too.

On our first shoot yesterday the shoot owner invited me to shoot instead. I shot two cocks and a hen, all of which I would consider 'sporting shots'. There was several shots which I left because they didn't seem 'right' to take. For example, I was a walking gun through an up-hill cover when a hen bird got up about twenty yards behind me and flew directly away from me back down the hill. Now, if I had been on my own and hunting for the pot then I would have taken it but, in the context of the day, I let it go.

 

I'm not too sure about the term 'sporting' shot and I often question my conscience about what I do. Especially since, at one point in my life, I turned away from all so-called blood sports, including fishing.

However, I'm a meat eater and hunter-gatherer. I look on the shoot days we have as simply harvesting my stock in the same way as a beef or chicken farmer. I just use a different method and I take responsibility for gathering my own food.

All our birds are eaten.

 

I love the vermin/pigeon control shooting that I do and I'm happy with the way our syndicate is run but given the choice between sorting myself out a good position for a days pigeon shooting and having a days driven Pheasant then I'd take the Pigeon day every time.

[Jay_Russell]

Im new to this sport, well apart from when i was a kid 25 years ago, so my oppinion prob doesnt mean much but...

 

At the end of the day a sporting shot is a personal choice. If in your heart and mind you made the right choice then it is! We all shoot for may different reasons and disciplyn's as long as your enjoying your self, its legal, not hurting others or the quarry unfairly crack on.

 

Ive witnessed carp fishing fall into a world of slagging, green eyed monsters, jealousy, right ones wronguns etc etc. A lot of anglers have forgotten the enjoyment part! Hence why i have moved over to shooting. everyone seams so much more happy to chat and help and much less bull****!