Shooting costs

[spurs 14]

Hi , I know there’s no definite answer to this but if people can point me in the right direction I’d be thankful, never tried Wildfowling but may have a chance to join a small syndicate , shooting a large lake which is semi keepered and wild birds , duck , geese are fed , and a certain number released , shooting two or three times a month with the possibility of shooting geese on flight line on the fields ,what sort of money would you expect to pay for this ?

I know this isn’t true Wildfowling but couldn’t think what else it would be classed as ! 

[Walker570]

IF you are talking evening flighting and you are feeding  then I would expect to pay round £40 a flight. You don't explain how many guns in the syndiacte which will make a big difference to the overall total cost to be shared amongst the guns.  Is the part time keeper paid for his work?  Again this adds to the annual cost on top of buying in feed. Do the syndicate pay rent for the lease on the shooting? Without these details very difficult to give an exact figure.  Ducks and geese can eat a whole load of food in a season and prior too, so the syndicate is going to be looking at 4 to 5 tons of food to do the job properly and thats based on around just 1 cwt a day.  THEN we have to add the purchase of released ducks.  Five guns ...10 evenings at £40 a head per evening works out at £2000 which MIGHT just about cover it in my view.   SOoooooo  £400 to £500 per season minimum.  BUT without the complete and full details I am purely making a wild estimate.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Walker570

[spurs 14]

thanks for that not sure of all the details myself just wanted to gauge what it could cost me ,

[shakin stevens]

Ah call it inland duck and goose shooting ! That's a hard question to answer as well.

I was busy typing then I seen the above reply that covers the lot !

We paid a grand for a pond on lease around £450 on snap shot it 8 to 10 times a year with 5 guns , average bag around 20 duck  and geese if you wanted to take them home , I fed it every night and they still moaned if they wasnt in the shooting .

I shot the pond at the end of the season on my own just to take my time back for feeding it.

 

[motty]

On 06/02/2020 at 20:34, spurs 14 said:

Hi , I know there’s no definite answer to this but if people can point me in the right direction I’d be thankful, never tried Wildfowling but may have a chance to join a small syndicate , shooting a large lake which is semi keepered and wild birds , duck , geese are fed , and a certain number released , shooting two or three times a month with the possibility of shooting geese on flight line on the fields ,what sort of money would you expect to pay for this ?

I know this isn’t true Wildfowling but couldn’t think what else it would be classed as ! 

You have a pretty good answer above.

Have you ever thought about joining a proper wildfowling club? You can go every day during the season in many clubs, for under £200 a year.

[spurs 14]

Thanks , worth thinking about 

[nic]

On 06/02/2020 at 20:34, spurs 14 said:

Hi , I know there’s no definite answer to this but if people can point me in the right direction I’d be thankful, never tried Wildfowling but may have a chance to join a small syndicate , shooting a large lake which is semi keepered and wild birds , duck , geese are fed , and a certain number released , shooting two or three times a month with the possibility of shooting geese on flight line on the fields ,what sort of money would you expect to pay for this ?

I know this isn’t true Wildfowling but couldn’t think what else it would be classed as ! 

most defiantly not wildfowling... depends on location and business situation.  on a commercial shoot i beat on, the duck flighting is about 1/2 the cost of pheasants

[Old Boggy]

Whatever your true shooting costs are, they are invariably considerably more than you tell your wife. or am I the only devious one one this forum ? I somehow don't think so.

OB

 

 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

2 minutes ago, Old Boggy said:

Whatever your true shooting costs are, they are invariably considerably more than you tell your wife. or am I the only devious one one this forum ? I somehow don't think so.

OB

No you are not the only one, worst case I can remeber was chap who shot a lot of good driven days and told her he was shooting clays!

[Old farrier]

9 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

No you are not the only one, worst case I can remeber was chap who shot a lot of good driven days and told her he was shooting clays!

Pheasant shooting is cheaper than clays as you get a few dinners from the pheasants 

I thought everyone knew that 🤭🙄😂😂

[TIGHTCHOKE]

If you or your decieved loved one believe that then you will get caught out one day!

[lancer425]

If you decide to Start wildfowling properly on the foreshores and tidal rivers and estuaries. Typical anual club fees in the 5 clubs i am in on the east coast  west coast and the highlands. Subs  are around the £200 mark some less some  more .  Being BASC affiliated you get your club level BASC back. reduces the overall cost of subs  somewhat.

 Club subs are the least of my worries financially, by far my biggest expenditure in wildfowling is Diesel.  Once you get the bit between your teeth get to know your way around, 1200 mile trips into the highlands become routine and i am no stranger to ups and backs to the solway just for a morning flight around 400 mile round trip . its nothing for me to do two or  three flights a week in east anglia 100 to 200 round trip.  Club subs toungsten shot all pale into insignificance compared to diesel.

[marsh man]

7 hours ago, lancer425 said:

If you decide to Start wildfowling properly on the foreshores and tidal rivers and estuaries. Typical anual club fees in the 5 clubs i am in on the east coast  west coast and the highlands. Subs  are around the £200 mark some less some  more .  Being BASC affiliated you get your club level BASC back. reduces the overall cost of subs  somewhat.

 Club subs are the least of my worries financially, by far my biggest expenditure in wildfowling is Diesel.  Once you get the bit between your teeth get to know your way around, 1200 mile trips into the highlands become routine and i am no stranger to ups and backs to the solway just for a morning flight around 400 mile round trip . its nothing for me to do two or  three flights a week in east anglia 100 to 200 round trip.  Club subs toungsten shot all pale into insignificance compared to diesel.

That is sheer dedication at the highest level , being in five different clubs and 1200 mile trips would be way out of my league as I have never been out of my county to shoot wild fowl .

On the other end of the scale , the two local clubs nearest to me have got several thousand acres of marshland , river frontage and access to a tidal estuary , plus vermin and pigeon shooting throughout the year , on top of that , the club I am in now have got a rule where if you have been in the club for five years or more and reach I believe 65 or it might be pensionable age , then your yearly sub is cut by half , so for what is on offer , ours and virtually all other wildfowling clubs is very good value for your money.

[islandgun]

7 minutes ago, marsh man said:

That is sheer dedication at the highest level , being in five different clubs and 1200 mile trips would be way out of my league as I have never been out of my county to shoot wild fowl .

On the other end of the scale , the two local clubs nearest to me have got several thousand acres of marshland , river frontage and access to a tidal estuary , plus vermin and pigeon shooting throughout the year , on top of that , the club I am in now have got a rule where if you have been in the club for five years or more and reach I believe 65 or it might be pensionable age , then your yearly sub is cut by half , so for what is on offer , ours and virtually all other wildfowling clubs is very good value for your money.

Thats fantastic MM,  how does it work, can you go where and when you choose. i assume you get allocated pigeon shooting

[marsh man]

3 minutes ago, islandgun said:

Thats fantastic MM,  how does it work, can you go where and when you choose. i assume you get allocated pigeon shooting

Some other clubs might work slightly different rules , but I have been in one or the other of our two local clubs since 1964 and they both work more or less the same , once you become a full member you can shoot alone on all your clubs land , some marshes have a restricted amount of guns shooting at any one time , but very , very rarely do you get the allocated amount shooting on the same day .

We don't shoot on a Sunday in Norfolk but there would be nothing to stop you going on the other six days , and for the amount of land to go on , you could easily go on a different block , twice a day , every day of the week .

As for the pigeon shooting ...... you get maps where all the rape and peas are grown and there are no restrictions on how many times you want to go , now the season is over you can go on large area of different rape fields every day of the week and the same when the Peas go in , and very rarely will you bump into anyone else when you are after Pigeons.

If you need any more information then let me know and will send you a P M.

Cheers  MM

[lancer425]

15 minutes ago, marsh man said:

That is sheer dedication at the highest level , being in five different clubs and 1200 mile trips would be way out of my league as I have never been out of my county to shoot wild fowl .

On the other end of the scale , the two local clubs nearest to me have got several thousand acres of marshland , river frontage and access to a tidal estuary , plus vermin and pigeon shooting throughout the year , on top of that , the club I am in now have got a rule where if you have been in the club for five years or more and reach I believe 65 or it might be pensionable age , then your yearly sub is cut by half , so for what is on offer , ours and virtually all other wildfowling clubs is very good value for your money.

The 1200 milers are effectively round trips up back and a bit of running about on a few flight over a few days. accrual distance from home is 400/450 or there abouts and around £130/£150 in diesel . The solway runs are the hardest, early doors  or late night and doss in car, its hard work and the run back down its a lot of driving often for little reward cost about £50 . But if they are there and you are at home you can not get them its that simple. Runs to the west coast are 300 miles and about £30/£35 Heading east lots of locations there up to 100mile or so and £10 to£25 depending where i go . Can burn £70 a week eassy just what i class as local f i do a few mornings and evenings. I tell you if your active diesel is the killer, i have tried just staying local, but it only saved money results were no better and its not just about results  i love the areas i go to. Its worth it every last penny .

 

[islandgun]

27 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Some other clubs might work slightly different rules , but I have been in one or the other of our two local clubs since 1964 and they both work more or less the same , once you become a full member you can shoot alone on all your clubs land , some marshes have a restricted amount of guns shooting at any one time , but very , very rarely do you get the allocated amount shooting on the same day .

We don't shoot on a Sunday in Norfolk but there would be nothing to stop you going on the other six days , and for the amount of land to go on , you could easily go on a different block , twice a day , every day of the week .

As for the pigeon shooting ...... you get maps where all the rape and peas are grown and there are no restrictions on how many times you want to go , now the season is over you can go on large area of different rape fields every day of the week and the same when the Peas go in , and very rarely will you bump into anyone else when you are after Pigeons.

If you need any more information then let me know and will send you a P M.

Cheers  MM

I will PM

[marsh man]

34 minutes ago, lancer425 said:

The 1200 milers are effectively round trips up back and a bit of running about on a few flight over a few days. accrual distance from home is 400/450 or there abouts and around £130/£150 in diesel . The solway runs are the hardest, early doors  or late night and doss in car, its hard work and the run back down its a lot of driving often for little reward cost about £50 . But if they are there and you are at home you can not get them its that simple. Runs to the west coast are 300 miles and about £30/£35 Heading east lots of locations there up to 100mile or so and £10 to£25 depending where i go . Can burn £70 a week eassy just what i class as local f i do a few mornings and evenings. I tell you if your active diesel is the killer, i have tried just staying local, but it only saved money results were no better and its not just about results  i love the areas i go to. Its worth it every last penny .

 

I used to meet two blokes a few years back who were outside the area members , one was from the Humber area , he used to save his holidays up and pack up work at Christmas until the end of the season , most of that time he would spend around our way after the geese , the bag limits were slightly different then and I recon he got his limit most of the time he was down this way as he was a very good wild fowler .

The other bloke came from up near Boston in Links , he worked four days on and four days off , he had a White transit van that was all decked out for eating and sleeping and he would live in it while down here .

On one of our blocks it is a three mile walk one way and then nearly the same distance to come back a different way , on this particular day I parked beside his motor and didn't know if it was a bird watcher or a fowlers car as there wasn't anyone in it , I went on my way around the left hand side to walk the dykes up , after walking around all the marshes I came to the last marsh on that block and then you cross the gate and come back a different way , while walking back I came across this bloke sitting down the side of the fleet dyke , I could do with a rest myself as I had covered a good 3 miles walking around the dykes so I sat with him to have a yarn , he was saying he got two Pinks in the morning and he saw a nice lot of geese , while we were talking a little party of Pinks were crossing the fleet dyke about 50 / 60 yards away , I thought they were a bit on the long side but he gave them one shot and took one out as clean as a whistle , a quarter of an hour or so later another lot came more or less the same way and about the same distance , he said, go on give em one in his drawn out Lincolnshire accent , I thought they were just about on the limit, so I did give em one and luckily enough I did get one , after I fired he gave the back one a shot and dropped that one stone dead , in the half an hour we were yarning we had shot three Pinks and all picked , as time was getting on and I still had a long walk back I said my good byes and left him to it , another first class fowler and a very good shot .

[lancer425]

Never shot down that far was coming up Aicle new road early this season saw the pinks over there it looked good to me.  I Used to work with a An old Lad from Borough Castle Sufolk, He was born in the 20s the stories he used to come out with were fantastic.  He spoke of breydon galston. He loved his duck shooting. had a Osborne in 3 inch magnum, was tidy condition, he was given it by his cousin when he went to war, he said he would never need it again when he gave him it he died at Dunkirk. My old mate swore that lad knew he was not coming back.

[marsh man]

16 hours ago, lancer425 said:

Never shot down that far was coming up Aicle new road early this season saw the pinks over there it looked good to me.  I Used to work with a An old Lad from Borough Castle Sufolk, He was born in the 20s the stories he used to come out with were fantastic.  He spoke of breydon galston. He loved his duck shooting. had a Osborne in 3 inch magnum, was tidy condition, he was given it by his cousin when he went to war, he said he would never need it again when he gave him it he died at Dunkirk. My old mate swore that lad knew he was not coming back.

I now live about two miles from Burgh Castle and at one time it was in Suffolk , but since they moved the boundaries it is now in Norfolk , when it was in Suffolk we used to walk along the marsh on a Sunday to the pumping station that was the dividing line between the two counties , once you crossed the track you were legal to shoot wildfowl although all the years we went up there on a Sunday we never saw a soul and in those days it wouldn't had made a lot of difference if we had a done 

Many years ago the club I am in now put down some Greylag goslings around the Burgh Castle area , over the years these started to breed and now there are possibly 3 to 4 hundred that sit around the river walls and you can see them every day of the week , one old boy I knew who lived at Burgh Castle would get you one during the season whenever you wanted one , his method was dead easy , as I said the geese would sit along the river wall on the other side of the river , he would walk along his side and send his big ole dark Yellow Lab in for a swim , for some reason the geese were attracted to his dog swimming about in the middle of the river , they would have no more to do than waddle down the bank and start swimming towards his dog , once they were in the middle of the river they were well in range as the river is not wide , once in range he would put a shot six inches above it's head and kill it outright , the dog would turn around and go out and retrieve it , not sure if what he done was 100% legal but rules were far and few in between then and where he is now in the grave yard he wouldn't had been at all bothered if there were 

[lancer425]

20 hours ago, marsh man said:

I now live about two miles from Burgh Castle and at one time it was in Suffolk , but since they moved the boundaries it is now in Norfolk , when it was in Suffolk we used to walk along the marsh on a Sunday to the pumping station that was the dividing line between the two counties , once you crossed the track you were legal to shoot wildfowl although all the years we went up there on a Sunday we never saw a soul and in those days it wouldn't had made a lot of difference if we had a done 

Many years ago the club I am in now put down some Greylag goslings around the Burgh Castle area , over the years these started to breed and now there are possibly 3 to 4 hundred that sit around the river walls and you can see them every day of the week , one old boy I knew who lived at Burgh Castle would get you one during the season whenever you wanted one , his method was dead easy , as I said the geese would sit along the river wall on the other side of the river , he would walk along his side and send his big ole dark Yellow Lab in for a swim , for some reason the geese were attracted to his dog swimming about in the middle of the river , they would have no more to do than waddle down the bank and start swimming towards his dog , once they were in the middle of the river they were well in range as the river is not wide , once in range he would put a shot six inches above it's head and kill it outright , the dog would turn around and go out and retrieve it , not sure if what he done was 100% legal but rules were far and few in between then and where he is now in the grave yard he wouldn't had been at all bothered if there were 

Good input there MM , my old mate could spin a yarn of his times down there, he liked his boats raced Brown boats , he called them norfolk ones i think, no idea what they were like but remember he talked of the FROSTBITES they raced out of lowestoft i think he said. Great old lad,  i miss him still he died over 15 years ago now.

[Walker570]

On 16/02/2020 at 09:19, Old Boggy said:

Whatever your true shooting costs are, they are invariably considerably more than you tell your wife. or am I the only devious one one this forum ? I somehow don't think so.

OB

 

 

As I've said before get 'em trained from word go. My wife has just offered to cover a much bigger days partridge shooting than I would normally go for. there again she enjoys the days as much as I do, even though she doesn't shoot.