If you are fed up with Saturday football, sitting watching TV, why not take up a sport that will get you out into the fresh air, give you more than enough exercise and will also put food on your table.  What is it – it’s shooting.  I am going to explain just a few of the different kinds of shooting that even a novice can do and then you progress as you become more experienced.

Rough Shooting.  This is the most common method of shooting. Shooters use their trained dogs, I have my trusty Labrador to flush game out of the hedgerows, woods or other cover as they walk along. These dogs also retrieve the shot game. My Lab has jumped into many a frozen lake to retrieve my game, with her long coat she loves the water and doesn’t feel the cold. Should the quarry be wounded, the sportsman will retrieve and despatch it quickly and humanely. The countryside knowledge and hunting skills required plus the fresh air, exercise and the training and working of specially bred dogs makes rough shooting one of the most popular, rewarding and cheapest forms of shooting. I am also very fond of Wood Pigeon and Rabbit pie.

Driven Game Shooting. This form of shooting is much more formal than simply walking with your dog alongside the hedgerows, and is usually confined to pheasant, partridge and grouse shooting. On the shoot day, a team of Guns, line out at numbered pegs, under the gamekeeper’s instructions, a group of beaters and their dogs move through areas of woodland  flushing the game out by shouting and making as much noise as possible. The aim is to get the birds to break cover and fly high over the line of guns.  Shot game is retrieved quickly by trained gundog to where the shot game falls. Because of the organisation and number of people involved in a shoot of this sort, the cost of joining  is considerably higher than in the other types of shooting.  It can cost a couple to thousand pounds for ten days shooting.

Clay Pigeon Shooting Today clay pigeon shooting is a popular sport that covers all social classes, many women enjoy this sport  and because it doesn’t entail long walks etc. it is one of the few sports in which the disabled can compete on level terms with able-bodied people. Most shooting is done through clubs with their own shooting grounds where there will be a series of traps which catapult the clays into the air to simulate a variety of wild birds. Many people begin their shotgun shooting by learning on clay pigeons and it is the ideal way to gain experience without committing yourself to a large outlay.  I also know of quite a few “anti” and vegetarians who enjoy this sport.  Clay pigeon shooting can be particularly attractive for those who live in towns or are limited in the amount of time that they can give to their sport. It can also be relatively inexpensive, compared with paying for a day’s live shooting.

If after all this you are still against country sports, well so be it, at least you have tried it.  But please, please, leave the rest of us alone!

First and most importantly you need a current shotgun certificate which if you already hunt/shoot you will have one.  You should then ask yourself this question “Do I really want to be out on a bleak foreshore or estuary in the coldest months of the year, in all weathers trying to shoot ducks and geese?” If the answer is yes you’re already halfway there. Wildfowlers come from all walks of life but be warned it’s not a branch of shooting suited to those who like the comfort of a nice warm, dry, clean place. The sport of wildfowling is carried out mostly in the winter months and so often in bad weather when you will experience  some of the filthiest conditions you can imagine. You’ll often get cold, wet, muddy and sometimes even be in danger of injuring yourself or worse, especially if you fail to take the necessary safety precautions. Having said all that it’s not all bad, the rewards at the end of a successful outing make up for all the discomfort you may suffer. Nothing compares in the opinion of wildfowlers to the feeling of being part of nature and an added bonus is a nice tasty meal for your efforts. There is no substitute for experience so if at all possible get to know an experienced wildfowler and go out on the foreshore with him or her, yes some of the fairer sex do wildfowl, you will benefit a lot from their experience.  If possible join a club where you will usually get some insurance cover as well.  Once you have your shotgun and cartridges you will need a hide, some decoys, waders, warm waterproof clothing and then the most important item any wildfowler needs……his trusty gundog, which is essential for retrieving the quarry from water.  I have always like Labrador/Retriever bitches for their obedience and temperament.   Although not a legal requirement for wildfowling, a well trained retriever can add immensely to your sport. Having a dog allows you the opportunity to take shots that any self and quarry respecting wildfowler would not take if they were dogless. Providing however that you can pick your shots and take only those which you know you can retrieve without a dog, a dog is not essential. Personally I would recommend, that if at all possible, you should try to get a dog or failing that accompany someone who has a trained dog. Wildfowlers are fully aware that not everyone lives under circumstances that allows the ownership of a dog and as such will be only too willing to help out when they can. Do not however expect a fellow wildfowler to spend their time chasing around for your benefit. Use your discretion when taking your shots unless you own a dog. Remember an untaken shot is better than an injured or dead bird which you cannot possibly retrieve.  In conclusion, if you feel that wildfowling is the sport for you then I’d like to be the first to wish you good luck in finding some wildfowling and welcome you to our branch of shooting. Who knows perhaps one day we may meet out on the riverside or foreshore. If not then I wish you good luck with whatever branch of shooting you follow but please try wildfowling, it’s not to everyone’s liking but you’ll never know unless you try it.

Shooting, whether it be for game to eat or  just for sport and pleasure, is getting a very unfair press in my opinion.  Shooting is enjoyed by a huge number of people around the world, but now unfortunately it is becoming increasingly under threat from social and political do-gooders.  Here in the UK a person can not have a hand gun unless it is kept in a gun club i.e. you are not allowed to have it in the safety of your own secure gun cupboard.  When are people going to realise that it is not the gun that is dangerous but the person or should I say idiot using the gun.  No matter what legislation the government brings in  these strict gun laws will not stop the use of illegal guns.  Street crime will not drop.  We are holding the 2012 Olympics and yet we may not be able to have a shooting team, how ridiculous is that?  I don’t have a hand gun and to be honest I don’t want one, but I do feel very strongly that it is my right to have one if I want to.  When are we going to stop this ridiculous nanny state.  When will the idiots of this country realise that man has been hunting his dinner since time began and I for one can tell you it tastes a lot better than anything you will ever get in the supermarket.    

I was brought up in the country just after the second world war with my three brothers.  My Father was a farm labourer and didn’t earn must money but my Mother always had a lovely meal for us on the table as soon as Dad came into the house.  The meal would usually contain meat.  As we were quite poor Mum very rarely went to the butchers for the meat, so where did she get it from?

Well Dad was what is sometimes known as a “hunter and gatherer”.  We would have Duck, Water Hen, Pigeon, Rabbit, Hare and any other kind of fowl that Dad could shoot.  At week-ends myself and my brothers would go with Dad and we were taught the need to respect the countryside and all the animals that live in it, including people. 

I am now a grown man and times have changed as have attitudes, especially towards hunting.  I still go shooting and take my two sons with me.  They have been brought up to respect and care for animals but also to keep things in there right perspective.  Animal were put on this earth for man to enjoy, that also means to eat.  I know that anything I kill has had a good free life, much better than any animal kept on most farms or battery chickens.  Anyone who eats meat should be prepared to go out on a fine Winters morning and bring home his own supper.  I can assure you that it will taste so much better than any farm reared leg of Pork that you get from your local butchers.

One of the most pleasurable experiences I have ever had was the time I went Deer stalking in Scotland.  We were up early in the morning when the mist was still hanging heavily around the trees.  We had a tracker with us to help, not surprisingly it is a very skilled job tracking the deer and getting up-wind from them.  We tracked the deer for 3 hours and in the end it still got away, but that didn’t matter we still had a brilliant time.  On average I would say that 80% of the prey escapes, or maybe it’s just that I am getting older and am no longer a very good shot. 

I am a country person born and bred and I don’t understand why everyone is now so much against blood sports, especially if they eat meat.  As for the veggies of this world they are just plain nuts.  Who knows, one day they will say that lettuces have feeling too.  All I say is get out there and try it.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!