marsh man Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 Reading our local paper last week ( Eastern Daily Press ) there was a report on someone finding several Black bin bags full of dead Pheasants that had been dumped in the hedge . This is not the first time and I doubt it will be the last time I have read similar articles in the paper , normally I put it down as someone trying to stir up trouble or someone have dumped some bags of carcases after they had cut the breasts off and don't give it a second thought . Well yesterday we had a shoot and the dinnertime conversation got around to the same subject , the price of shot game being paid at the dealers , some were saying it is so low that it hardly cover the fuel and the time after you drop it off . Some were saying they are getting less than a £1 a brace and Pigeons are now making more than Partridges , this might well be regional and some places might be paying a bit more if demand is greater than supply . I know in Norfolk there must be 100s of shoots that are shooting 1000s of head of game each week now and the dealers can only take so much , we were shooting last Friday and yesterday with a combined bag of well over 200 , all our game is used on the estates hotel and the pub that both do meals using local produce so nothing get wasted , where the shoot I went on Saturday tell the guns , beaters and anyone else involved in the days shoot to help themselves to whatever game they want as they don't no longer bother taking it to the dealers as the price is so low. So have we got to the stage where we are now flooding the market with shoot game ? , or around your way is there a market for it and is it still worth selling ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjnolloth Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 A work colleague of mine who's dad is a game dealer says that he paid 60p a brace for pheasant last week, in Norfolk also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 I can take as many pheasants as I like where I beat. I think any shoot should find a home for the birds - wasting them is a disgrace, no matter what the dealers are paying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masmiffy Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 (edited) 50p and less a brace here! Personally I think the dealer is extracting the urine! Edited January 10, 2017 by masmiffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringDon Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 Gordon Bennett! I paid £7.00 for a brace at the butchers last Friday. (Oven ready) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wb123 Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 (edited) Here i was asked £7 for a single pheasant. At home £1.50 a brace to buy on the market. A shooting mate here gets paid £100 per 30 fresh shot wood pigeon, no wonder i cant afford to buy the stuff here. Edited January 10, 2017 by Wb123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 The cost of rearing pheasants to start if shooting season as most know runs easily in excess of £50 a bird and probably loads more if you count man hrs wages. "Pluka" plucking machines cost less than 1k, a few hours prepping and a little marketing would likely recoupe the cost. Surly trying to get the game into the food chain has to be better than shoving them in bin bags. Appalling action by the shout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisdom Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 If anyone on the fylde coast has a brace or two I would willingly buy them from the shoot.Since our syndicate disbanded I miss having them.No local butchers seem to have them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipdog Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 I heard rumours locally that game dealers aren’t even paying, just offering to collect the game for free. I have not confirm this though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodeer Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 Could have been cackers with airguns and dumped them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 Here i was asked £7 for a single pheasant. At home £1.50 a brace to buy on the market. A shooting mate here gets paid £100 per 30 fresh shot wood pigeon, no wonder i cant afford to buy the stuff here. I think your mate meant £30 for 100 fresh shot pigeons . If you are anywhere near me Wb123 get in touch and you can have a brace of Pheasants for free . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 Could have been cackers with airguns and dumped them? That's more likely, it's going on a lot with catapults round here. Often dumped near the keeper/ landowners house just to wind them up. Otherwise a couple of bin liners wouldn't point at a commercial shoot as there wouldn't be enough birds present for anything other than a tiny day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennett Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 A lot of dealers arent/weren't taking game before Christmas. Some were, but couldn't pay, I was getting 10p a cock and 5p a hen 3 weeks ago, not sure if it's got any better or worse since then. But I'd rather get £15 for a couple of hundred than Bury them or dump then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlistairB Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 Talking to my local game dealer last week, he'll pay a maximum of 20p a bird for pheasant and partridge as no-one is buying them. Even then, if they've got the slightest blemish on them once plucked, they're going straight in the bin. He's now refusing to take any venison for the same reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk dumpling Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 It's not just the game market that's the problem - I was on a small farm shoot where beaters can carry a gun and pay £15 and after a lovely day working my cocker (I shot 4 birds so a nice outing) the shoot manager told me to take as many as I liked as he struggles to get rid of the bag. This was only 65 head between 18 guns and a handful of non-shooting beaters! At this time of the season my freezer is filling up but I'm not going to turn down a good few meals. Why are we not eating more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 Looking at all the above posts , getting rid of the days bag is certainly a bigger problem than a lot of people let on and while the vast amount of game is being shot I can only see things getting worse before it get ant better . When I first helped out in the game larder in the 70s , we used to have Harveys Game Dealers from Norwich come and pick the game up on the same day of the shoot or at the latest on the next day , at the time we had a list of local residents who wanted a brace , these were taken off the hooks as they came so the dealer didn't end up with all the ones that had been looked over. the head keeper would charge £3 a brace and the old folk who came after them thought they were getting a good deal and when you consider £3 then was worth nearly three times in todays money . This went on year after year with the list getting smaller and smaller till finally we only sold the odd brace to one of the women who worked up the hall , also the bags from the shoots nearest to Christmas were kept as Xmas presents for all the ones who worked on the estate including the vicar , police and anyone else who helped out during the shooting season and throughout the year , and they were kindly accepted . Now this is no longer done and if anybody nowadays want a brace all they need to do is ask , as I said in a earlier post , we now keep all the game to use as meals in the hotel and the pub so none of ours is wasted , but I cant believe this is the case with every shoot owner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudpatten Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 It might be worth pausing for a moment before we whip ourselves into too much of a lather about this. Almost always the "source" of the story printed by the paper is an anti intent on generating hostility towards shooting. I don`t actually know of any shoot that dumps game. Do you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novice Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 Don't know of any dumping, but definitely know of a game dealer offering nothing for birds, which in itself is a grave concern in my eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 It might be worth pausing for a moment before we whip ourselves into too much of a lather about this. Almost always the "source" of the story printed by the paper is an anti intent on generating hostility towards shooting. I don`t actually know of any shoot that dumps game. Do you? I am sure you are right mudpatten concerning reports in the paper about wasted game as scaremongering and it certainly don't do the shooting image any good But as kennett was saying , he was offered 5p for a Hen and 10p for a Cock Pheasant three weeks ago , that was when the dealers used to pay a bit more for the demand for game at Christmas .. At that price you would get £1.50 for ten brace or £10.50 for a hundred brace if my sums are right , now can you honestly believe every shoot owner is going to take them any distance for that sort of money ? and if they don't , what do they do with them ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodeer Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 The big game dealers who collect game from all round the country will take anything. Prices are low but they take it. People who struggle getting rid of it need to think a bit more. Doesn't take long to breast them off or give away to elderly people or things like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 The main worrying pint to come out of this topic is that our major reason in the eyes of the public is that we eat or sell into the food chain what we shoot. Once that no longer happens what is a major reason for our sport ceases to exist. BASC is trying to promote the eating of game ( though with seemingly little success ) and we have to question what the role of big bags in game shooting will be in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRDS Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 Large Commercial shoots have always been a threat to small sporting syndicates in terms of the potential legislation they could bring and how the public view Game shooting. I would imagine a lot of members of small syndicates cringe when they see huge bags reported or advertised in the shooting press. I can't say I am a fan in any shape or form and the two are worlds apart, my syndicate has a maximum of 10 guns on any one day and 25 is a good bag and all are taken by guns / beaters or shared with local people. Commercial shooting is a totally separate issue to DIY shots who put far more back than they take out conservation wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeadWasp Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 (edited) I am always surprised by the number of guns who won't take a brace (or more) when offered. In my more charitable moments I wonder whether it is either that they 'don't have time' to deal with them or that they don't know (and a lot of people don't know and are therefore nervous of attempting) how to dress a bird. Edited January 11, 2017 by LeadWasp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royboy Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 I am always surprised by the number of guns who won't take a brace (or more) when offered. In my more charitable moments I wonder whether it is either that they 'don't have time' to deal with them or that they don't know (and a lot of people don't know and are therefore nervous of attempting) how to dress a bird.I don't think a lot of people know what to do and are not bothered about eating it, there's a lot of wealthy lads in my area that have decided to take up game shooting with out the foggiest clue of gun safety and respect that I was brought up to have with a shotgun,It's all most a fashion thing now going on a pheasant shoot and wearing all the gear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeadWasp Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 yes it's the new golf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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