Pheasant shooting

[Katzenjammer]

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It's not just the shooting though, the whole etiquette thing is so bloody false, some guns are frowned upon, clothing has to be right, beaters have to be subservient, keepers tugging forelocks or doffing caps to some old duffer who wounds a bird with a lucky shot and then relies on a dog to get it back when it struggles into the undergrowth to die. I've had 2 opportunities to give it a go and turned them down, I can get more birds, humanely and quietly by being in the right place on shoot days and there's bugger all they can do about it!

Well a lot of this etiquette thing grew up in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods tt. A very false period of morals and values. It's carried on through of course to the present day and old habits die hard in some, both in the upper and the lower classes.

[GrandadG]

There's a shoot every other Sunday, just 1/2 mile from my house, as the Crow flies. They are a good bunch of lads, and will stop and chat to any locals who are about when crossing the bridleways to get around the fields and woods.
The poor sods must be knackered when they've finished for the day, after trudging over cold boggy fields all morning.
I don't know how much they pay for this privilege, but good luck to them!

[Raj]

Sorry guys ..... I dont see it as fair game.

[Katzenjammer]

Sorry guys ..... I dont see it as fair game.

What about those birds with lighter plumage?

[Raj]

All birds taste the same in the dark ... Wait !!!! I didnt mean for it to be rude, sexist or racist

[Geordie]

If they want to rear birds and go chase said birds I don't really care. I wouldn't say it's particularly sporting in the truer sense of the word, but neither is fox hunting with hounds in my eyes. I don't feel the urge to become a hunt saboteur though.

Live and let live I say. I think hunting game or pests with an airgun as the epitome of shooting sports, but I know a guy with a shotty who'd disagree

[Katzenjammer]

All birds taste the same in the dark ... Wait !!!! I didnt mean for it to be rude, sexist or racist

I'm spitting feathers now!

[Katzenjammer]

If they want to rear birds and go chase said birds I don't really care. I wouldn't say it's particularly sporting in the truer sense of the word, but neither is fox hunting with hounds in my eyes. I don't feel the urge to become a hunt saboteur though.

Live and let live I say. I think hunting game or pests with an airgun as the epitome of shooting sports, but I know a guy with a shotty who'd disagree

Totally agree with you there Gordon. Far more humane to despatch them with a firearm and most good keepers and farmers know where they are. It's a question of patience. I'm not a traditionalist - traditions are made to be broken and some have held this country back but then that's what some want

I seem to recall a short story or a film about chasing a pink coated huntsman in the same way as he chased foxes. He didn't last long and it didn't end well!

[Raj]

If they want to rear birds and go chase said birds I don't really care. I wouldn't say it's particularly sporting in the truer sense of the word, but neither is fox hunting with hounds in my eyes. I don't feel the urge to become a hunt saboteur though.
Live and let live I say. I think hunting game or pests with an airgun as the epitome of shooting sports, but I know a guy with a shotty who'd disagree

Chasing birds actually sounds remotely sporting, Geordie ... It is the beating of the hapless birds, (species that only take to the air as a last resort and even then arent such good flyers) towards the rich guns that I find a bit unfair . However, I do recognize that this represents a lot of fun, employment and income for some so I will not judge them.

[FPoole]

Look at it this way. Those birds would have never had the chance to live at all if it weren't for this. Same with cattle used for beef. The greenies over here think cattle would just roam free if we didn't eat them. If we didn't eat them or use the milk and leather, I think cows would only be seen in a zoo. If you really want to kill something useless, go blast a bunch of monkeys or elephants . I'd not give a thought to all monkeys and apes going extinct overnight. I was attacked by a small monkey when I was a child, so please cut me a little slack. I seem to have wander far from the point of this topic. I like pheasants, but wouldn't shoot one.