I STARTED MY shooting career as a rough-shooting pot hunter, an apprenticeship that affected my attitude to game for the rest of my life. Woodpigeons were my staple quarry. None were wasted: I used to pluck and dress surplus birds to sell to friends, the revenue raised paying for more cartridges. Pheasants and woodcock rarely featured in the bag; if they did they were never sold but were always cooked with some ceremony.
In later years I became involved with working and training my spaniels, but using dead game as training dummies never felt right. There was something intrinsically wrong with using a pheasant, partridge or duck that I had shot for retrieving practice. Game was something to be both respected and valued, so chucking it about like a canvas dummy didn’t fit well with this ethos. I did use the occasional dead bird for a training retrieve, but I was always careful to avoid damaging it, and it would still end up being plucked and eaten.
I was less than impressed when I came across serious gundog trainers who had dedicated freezers full of feathered or furred game to be used for out-of-season training sessions. I was equally appalled at finding people who would shoot woodcock for no other reason than to use the birds for gundog training. It was, and most certainly still is, common practice, but it still seems to me an insult to a beautiful bird. Woodcock fly 1,000 or more miles to winter here. To shoot them for use as a training aid, and one that will eventually be thrown away, I find impossible to justify.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 31, 2023 من Shooting Times & Country.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 31, 2023 من Shooting Times & Country.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
United we stand
Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors
Serious matters
An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning
They're not always as easy as they seem
While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort
Debutant gundogs
There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting
When the going gets rough
Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make
A step too far?
Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work
Two bucks before breakfast
A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem
Stalking Diary
Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill
Gamekeeper
Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside