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In this Discussion
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Clay / Game Shooters
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Comments
Manchester based original indie band Random White:
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I suppose the 'disposable plaything' bit is part of my view. It's less what the animal thinks about it (I assume if it had an opinion it would prefer not to), more that people should have some degree of respect for living creatures. Don't have a problem with hunting in general, my uncle was a game keeper and my sister in law's family are quite keen hunters. I used to do coarse fishing, can't remember why I stopped (something to do with it being a rather cold and wet pass-time involving keeping maggots in your fridge and not catching fish possibly).
There's also the fact the kind of numbers I mentioned approach environmental impact, the passenger pigeon was wiped out in the 20th century (more by trapping than shooting it seems).
And to answer the original question, personally have only done clay shooting, quite good fun.
I'd be a complete beginner but fancy having a go at something new next year and think I'd enjoy shooting. But no idea how it works and my questions are below. For the record, I'm not interested in killing any animals
1. What's the best starting point? Is it best to by an air rifle or air pistol? If so what should I buy?
2. Is it an automatic progression that I soon as I get an air gun in my hand I would want to have a go at the real thing and may as well have bought a shotgun/rifle/ray gun?
3. Do I need to buy a gun at all, or is it better just to go to a shooting club and use theirs?
4. And what about firearms certificates, do I need one for an air pistol?
5. I quite fancy this being a sport thing i.e laying down shooting at a target, but clay pigeon shooting also appeals too. What's the reality here, what am I likely to find?
And of course...cost! What's an average afternoon clay pigeon shooting likely to cost, or is that all just a rich mans game and I'd be better off shooting at targets in the back garden?
I'd hate to think that I'd buy an air gun and then wish I'd have gone straight for a shotgun.
Or not at all! But I'm up for trying anything once!
I used to shoot a lot and I'm fairly decent at it.......the most enjoyable is to take yourself for an hours instruction at a good Clay School .They will provide the gun and the cartridges and show you how to shoot a shotgun and handle gun safety etc.
Do not go to a 3rd rate Clay pigeon shoot .......it's worth going to a really proper clay school like Holland and Holland and learn properly for the first 5 or 6 sessions .
I’ve hunted a lot with air rifles and still have a rather expensive selection of rifles. Always shot for the pot or vermin control on farms (rats).
My feedback thread is here.
Killing to eat - if done humanely is a different thing though. Going out into an animal's natural environment, not damaging the environment, and making a swift clean kill, then eating the thing is probably as natural as you can get. Certainly far better than, say, buying cheap battery farmed force grown chicken that's been reared in a totally unnatural situation, pumped full of hormones and water, with the animal treated like shite.
However, these wankers who ponce round the countryside, hunting with hounds or shooting game for the "sport", need tarring and feathering IMO.
Similarly the wankers who shoot and maim animals need the same treatment. We get the most magnificent stags around here - quite why someone thinks it's acceptable to kill one of these majestic animals is beyond me, whether you eat it or not. Leave it alone ffs.
It's not much different to the scum that go and shoot big game.
I do like the idea of taking some 'proper' lessons, I think that could be fun and if I'm no good at it (likely) buy a cheap air pistol and shoot cans and targets in the back garden.
Either option sounds like a pretty good stress buster.
U.
Game shooting is another fringe activity. Most farms are not large enough to cater for the needs of a game shoot, so a number of adjoining farms get together and, usually, lease the shooting rights of those lands to a Game shooting syndicate. This comes at a price to the farmer as no shooting syndicate would be interested in leasing vast open areas of land. The syndicate want hedges, copses, small (around an acre or so) areas of root or game crops to hold the birds and an area for pens for the rearing and releasing of the game birds. The syndicate members pay an annual (usually fairly substantial) fee to join the syndicate and often a number of days are sold to help finance the running of the syndicate.
The syndicate hires a gamekeeper to rear the chicks to releasing age and to feed the birds every day. Also to control vermin who try to avail of the handy pickings in the pens. Casual labour is employed for drives and pickup after shoots, an unused barn can be availed of to be used as a meeting place for the shooters and somewhere to partake of lunch (which is often served by the farmers family). So a lot of people are involved in the shoot in one capacity or another. This brings in cash to the farmers, always in the depths of Winter when cashflow is a serious problem. The casual labour (beaters etc) benefit likewise. As do gunsmiths and clothing suppliers to a lesser degree.
The shoots are extremely well organised, not from the viewpoint of maximum kill but safety and sporting shots. A lot more birds are missed than shot at shoots. The shooters themselves are not blood thirsty demons who run across the country shooting everything that moves. Far from it, all are extremely concerned at the welfare of the birds and the devastation of the countryside caused by endless motorways and airports and the ever increasing number of factory farms. Farms where hedgerows and woods are removed to make ever larger fields at the expense of the local wildlife. Farms where results mean everything and to hell with the consequences.
What would happen if shooting game is abolished tomorrow? In the short term almost nothing. But in the longer term, our countryside will become less interesting due to the increase in factory farms. Farmers, who lease their lands to shoots at the present time, will have to find an alternative source of additional income, the casual labour will have to manage without the small cash boost got from shoots, the gun trade will diminish even further. Ultimately we all will lose out.
Our countryside, including hedgerows, bird life and wild animals, is not ours to do with it as we please. We hold it in trust for future generations. We have an obligation to pass as much of it as possible on to our children and their children.
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I could've gone extra but felt the cash was better suited to some shooting lessons with a real gun in the new year. After all, I'm not sure if I'll even like it, but always great to try new things.
I'm looking forward to see how accurate I can get with my dodgy eyesight and shaky hands. I have warned the neighbour about his greenhouse and cat.
I'm not sure how much of a serious target shooting pistol that is .........most basic ones, even ,are quite scientific looking things with orthopaedic overmounted grips and all kinds of counterweights etc .
I'm sure you'll still have a lot of fun with it anyway.
"Peatlands burn as gamekeepers create landscape fit for grouse-shooting | Conservation | The Guardian" https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/05/peat-bogs-burning-grouse-shooting
Grouse shooting is an important element in the lives of people who live on or close to the moors. For some, it is the only income source they have. It is also an easy and cheap shot (pardon the pun) by tabloid newspapers headline writers, writers who have no idea what they are writing about, and writers afraid that what they might find out by visiting a moor and talking to the local people might mean their headline ends up in the bin. It is very populist to write about rich people going shooting on the moors, especially to readers who have never seen a moor in their lives. Let alone walked across one.
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Congratulations on your purchase and lots of good shooting with it. I read once that the technique is to bring the gun up to the target (starting aiming well below the target) and to fire when the aim is on the spot. Attempting to hold the gun steady does not work. As I understand it.
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