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why shoot pigeons


kody
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Well, I can only speak for myself, but as a farmer, I shoot them for two reasons, one because I enjoy it and the other to stop the blessed things eating my income.

 

Do I eat them or sell them, no. They get treated the same as any other pest I shoot be that crow, fox or rabbit.

 

Having said that, we are not prime pigeon country and tend only to have numbers of pigeons when the kale is coming through or the little bit of corn grown gets laid.

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Because they need controlling. It's pest control not pigeon farming. When I shoot rabbits it's because the land owner wants them gone. Sometimes they are big enough to sell but sometimes they're too small or badly shot. Sometimes I don't have time to take them in so they go in the hedge

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Because it's not only pest control but great fun?

I breast what I can use, the remainder is discarded.

If I said to the landowner ' I'm not shooting them because I can't sell them/ use them', he would find someone else.

Each to their own.

Edited by Scully
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Could never see any point in shooting pigeons or any other game if you are not going to eat them or sell them into the food chain. Never yet ever been able to find a game dealer who would not take them indeed they always seem to be after more than the local shooters can supply. Even crows are passed on to someone who has ferrets so at least the are not wasted. I guess its all down on how you were taught the sport. I would quickly lose my shooting if I just dumped them as the landowner and tennant farmers would take a pretty dim view of that indeed I got the shooting on one farm because the previous shooter did dump dead birds and was kicked off.

Edited by anser2
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A near by butcher can't get enough pigeons but sadly doesn't want more than 10 bunnys at a time!

I struggle for pigeon shooting but do have some bunnys including one big job that will see me take 60 plus bunnys in one go but it's pest control although am trying to delay it currently as I don't have storage or an outlet for them !

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I'm with the opening poster, edible quarry should not be discarded no matter for what the reason it was first shot.

 

Dumping them is just abject laziness, there is always a game dealer who will take them.

And so it goes round again.

I came in for a lot of criticism in a previous thread for stating that I dumped pigeons and crows following decoying.

Our game dealer is a 104 mile round trip from us; he takes rabbits from us but won't collect numbers less than a 100. Out freezer is reserved for rabbits as that's what he likes.

If all you holier than thou shooters who want to criticise me for that would like to PM me their phone numbers, I'll let you know when next we shoot pigeons in numbers and you are welcome to call round and collect them, gratis.

Otherwise, I suggest you live and let live.

It has nothing to do with waste nor how we were taught, but if I'm frank probably more to do with the fact we don't really care. They're a pest species, and we leave all manner of pests in the hedgerows and gulleys, such as corvids, messed up rabbits and foxes, with the full consent and knowledge of our landowners.

If this causes sharp intakes of shocked breath or sleepless nights to some of you bleeding hearts, then that's your problem.

I don't shoot for the approval of others. Different people do things differently; learn to get over it.

Edited by Scully
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Each to their own. I`m lucky enough to have a game dealer just a couple of miles away from where I live so it`s very easy for me to sell them and see them passed into the foodchain. I prefer it that way as it's a shame to waste food.

 

However I'm not going to criticise those that don't sell them on. If my game dealer was a long way away I probably wouldn't be so keen on making the effort and spending money on fuel to sell them. But it wouldn't stop me shooting them either. Yes it's good that I'm helping out the farmer but mainly I do it because I enjoy the sport.

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Could never see any point in shooting pigeons or any other game if you are not going to eat them or sell them into the food chain. Never yet ever been able to find a game dealer who would not take them indeed they always seem to be after more than the local shooters can supply. Even crows are passed on to someone who has ferrets so at least the are not wasted. I guess its all down on how you were taught the sport. I would quickly lose my shooting if I just dumped them as the landowner and tennant farmers would take a pretty dim view of that indeed I got the shooting on one farm because the previous shooter did dump dead birds and was kicked off.

 

Agree and rightly so
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And so it goes round again.

I came in for a lot of criticism in a previous thread for stating that I dumped pigeons and crows following decoying.

Our game dealer is a 104 mile round trip from us; he takes rabbits from us but won't collect numbers less than a 100. Out freezer is reserved for rabbits as that's what he likes.

If all you holier than thou shooters who want to criticise me for that would like to PM me their phone numbers, I'll let you know when next we shoot pigeons in numbers and you are welcome to call round and collect them, gratis.

Otherwise, I suggest you live and let live.

It has nothing to do with waste nor how we were taught, but if I'm frank probably more to do with the fact we don't really care. They're a pest species, and we leave all manner of pests in the hedgerows and gulleys, such as corvids, messed up rabbits and foxes, with the full consent and knowledge of our landowners.

If this causes sharp intakes of shocked breath or sleepless nights to some of you bleeding hearts, then that's your problem.

I don't shoot for the approval of others. Different people do things differently; learn to get over it.

I quite agree
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Don't think everyone can agree somehow, but I wouldn't shoot something just for fun that can go back in the food chain for human consumption.....it's all opinion but doesn't show a great deal of respect for the quarry as far as I'm concerned. Even though pigeon shooting is vermin control I enjoy it of course, but don't think it's right to dump 100+ in a hedge because you're too lazy to find an outlet for them.

Crows/rooms/jackdaws are different as they're only any good for foxes etc.

We shoot more pigeons than we could possibly eat so they go in a large chest freezer till there's enough for a game dealer to pick up, it's not that difficult to do really but it's certainly not for financial gain!

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And so it goes round again.

I came in for a lot of criticism in a previous thread for stating that I dumped pigeons and crows following decoying.

Our game dealer is a 104 mile round trip from us; he takes rabbits from us but won't collect numbers less than a 100. Out freezer is reserved for rabbits as that's what he likes.

If all you holier than thou shooters who want to criticise me for that would like to PM me their phone numbers, I'll let you know when next we shoot pigeons in numbers and you are welcome to call round and collect them, gratis.

Otherwise, I suggest you live and let live.

It has nothing to do with waste nor how we were taught, but if I'm frank probably more to do with the fact we don't really care. They're a pest species, and we leave all manner of pests in the hedgerows and gulleys, such as corvids, messed up rabbits and foxes, with the full consent and knowledge of our landowners.

If this causes sharp intakes of shocked breath or sleepless nights to some of you bleeding hearts, then that's your problem.

I don't shoot for the approval of others. Different people do things differently; learn to get over it.

The above says it all for me.

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I don't really get threads like this. Not entirely sure of the purpose. Some people shoot for sport, some for vermin control, some for the table, some for all those reasons and others.

 

If there is a legal and legitimate reason for the dispatch of the animal then what does it matter what an individual does and how does it affect other people?

 

We are all different and fundamentally we may have a plethora of different views.

 

I'm sure if everybody could economically (through both time and expense) have everything they shot recycled in some manner, they would wish this.

 

Sometimes they can't.

Edited by Duckandswing
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