anser2 Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Not strickly game shooting , but once I shot a high overhead greylag goose with BB Hevi-shot and a few seconds receved a distinct thump on the shoulder as one of the shot came back to earth. A beater has little exposed skin, just face and hands the remainder of his body covered with heavy clothing , but its worth considering the dog. A friend was sitting watching a shoot 100 yards off when one of the guns took a low shot hitting him and his dog. His wax proof jacket saved him from any damage , but one pellet went right through his dogs ear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpowder Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Quote from an aged beater when asked if he had ever been shot. "No but always as soon as someone shouted WOODCOCK I dived to the ground. Blackpowder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Quote from an aged beater when asked if he had ever been shot. "No but always as soon as someone shouted WOODCOCK I dived to the ground. Blackpowder We used to have two driven Woodcock days back to back , the guns insist there is nobody behind them , not even the pickers up as they turn in an instant and pull the trigger when a bird at eye level zig zag through a wood , we also insist they only shoot above the trees in front and on the sides , and our beaters are not afraid to speak there minds if someone with a gun tend to poke it in there direction When we walked in line we had a gun , beater and picker up and so on throughout the line and when a bird is shot the whole line stop until it is retrieved before we carry on , up to now nobody has come to any harm , but every one must stick to the ground rules and be aware of going on around them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben0850 Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Get spent shot dropping on me fairly frequently when picking up, no real problems thankfully. The grouse moor is a different ball game, visiting gun teams from Europe don't seem to appreciate the horn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 This thread has diversified somewhat into two distinct matters. As ben0850 above says spent shot dropping onto beaters, pickers up or even guns is no real problem unless like King Harold you are looking upwards. Shooting low or at an acute angle is a different matter altogether and most regular game shooters will have seen examples or poor discipline at some time in their shooting lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 (edited) I beat a lot and have shot fall on me many times, only really remember it stinging a bit when a lump fell on my balding head normally I would have my cap on but I took it off as I was waiting at a flushing point to itch my head. Low shoot completely different, I love the comment about when Woodcock is shouted you hit the dirt. Edited March 8, 2016 by rimfire4969 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 I have had shot fired quite close to me beating, once a group who were literally formed in the pub the night before - most of whom had never shot anything before. One of them shot the top out of hedge. Once on high ground above the guns below, I thought I heard shot hit the tree between me and the next beater and he confirmed it was. In both cases the guns were spoken to immediately and having been warned went on to enjoy the rest of their days, as did we. Not the answer I know, but If someone is concerned about being a beater on a wing shooting day, they should try a day beating driven boar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie-fox Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Beating about 2 years ago, felt a sharp nip on the inside of my left leg above the knee, Soaking in the bath when I got home realised I'd been struck by a pellet The pellet was just under the skin, no idea how it happened but I'm thinking it was a ricochet maybe.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie&bezza Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Beating about 2 years ago, felt a sharp nip on the inside of my left leg above the knee, Soaking in the bath when I got home realised I'd been struck by a pellet The pellet was just under the skin, no idea how it happened but I'm thinking it was a ricochet maybe.. Or the gun just didn't like you ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie-fox Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Or the gun just didn't like you ;-) You could be rite.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandalf Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 I witnessed a beater/shooter incident very early on in my shooting career. Just after the war (39/45 not the first bit of nastiness). 1946 or 47. I was allowed to go along with one of my elder brothers to walk with the beaters at our local shoot. I was about 7. We lived in a small village in the Thames Valley. In those days the three people who ran the villages were the local squire, the vicar and the doctor. On the first drive after lunch the beaters emerged from a small wood. Brother and me were on the other side of the wood and didn't see the 'incident'. Whatever it was it caused one of the beaters, a large ex-soldier who lived in the village and worked on a local farm, to walk out of the line straight up to our diminutive little village doctor. Beater took gun from doctor, unloaded it and swung it by the barrels straight into the ground. The butt came right off. The beater just walked away without saying a word. (His actions had done all the talking I suppose). Anyway, the shoot was stopped. Arguments started off right left and centre. Nobody would talk to me because I was too young and didn't understand - That was a phrase I heard quite often in those day. The beaters didn't get paid. I didn't get the sixpence I had been promised by my brother either. Everyone shouted at everyone else. Then we all went home. I never did discover what had actually happened and all the participants are long dead and buried by now. Wonder where the beater went if he ever got ill in old life or had an accident. Funny days those days were. Didn't put me off shooting though. Thought it was quite exciting. Bit like the blitz... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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