Fairness, first and foremost
Shooting Times & Country|January 20, 2021
We may look down on ‘unsophisticated’ American hunters, but they embraced respect for the quarry before we did, argues Sam Carlisle
Sam Carlisle
Fairness, first and foremost

Tom was showing a video to the group of people huddled around his phone screen. Someone in Texas, wearing a camouflage-print shirt and red bandana, was talking with an incomprehensible Southern twang about ‘huntin’ hogs’ and holding a military-looking rifle. The group laughed, either at the Texan’s unsophisticated zeal or his accent.

Whatever it was, it was a far cry from the scene around us: elevenses on a driven pheasant shoot, the crowd bedecked in tweed breeches and Schöffel coats, and all clutching a silver beaker of sloe gin. There can be a sense of superiority on the shooting fields of Britain; a sense that we shoot in the most sophisticated way, that ‘hunting’ really involves hounds and horses, and, particularly, that those Stateside are uncouth butchers who delight in killing.

From my forays into hunting in America, I can say that this is a baffling misconception. If anything, the notions of sportsmanship, fieldcraft and respect are taken more seriously by our friends across the Atlantic.

The key evolutions of shooting culture happened largely within the same decades of the late 19th century in both Britain and the US. As Walsingham, Ripon and PayneGallwey, helped by Edward VII, were refining the art of game shooting and shaping its culture here, Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt was creating the American hunting myth over there. Roosevelt was a great outdoorsman, fashioning a cultural ideal that revered and sought to conserve wilderness. He helped to found the national park system, which was embraced across the planet, and, crucially for America, enshrined easy access and public ownership of great tracts of land.

Esta historia es de la edición January 20, 2021 de Shooting Times & Country.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición January 20, 2021 de Shooting Times & Country.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRYVer todo
United we stand
Shooting Times & Country

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

time-read
5 minutos  |
August 02, 2023
Serious matters
Shooting Times & Country

Serious matters

An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning

time-read
3 minutos  |
August 02, 2023
They're not always as easy as they seem
Shooting Times & Country

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

time-read
5 minutos  |
August 02, 2023
Debutant gundogs
Shooting Times & Country

Debutant gundogs

There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting

time-read
4 minutos  |
August 02, 2023
When the going gets rough
Shooting Times & Country

When the going gets rough

Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique

time-read
5 minutos  |
August 02, 2023
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
Shooting Times & Country

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

time-read
4 minutos  |
August 02, 2023
A step too far?
Shooting Times & Country

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

time-read
6 minutos  |
August 02, 2023
Two bucks before breakfast
Shooting Times & Country

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

time-read
6 minutos  |
August 02, 2023
Stalking Diary
Shooting Times & Country

Stalking Diary

Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill

time-read
2 minutos  |
August 02, 2023
Gamekeeper
Shooting Times & Country

Gamekeeper

Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside

time-read
3 minutos  |
August 02, 2023