Do you, or anyone you know, shoot living things for sport?

epsilondraconis

OP, have you considered moving?

Edit: Just noticed that you're Aliasojo - perhaps I shouldn't ask.

aliasojo

Peater & Seanymph, thank you for your informative posts.

On a very basic level, it still doesn't sit well with me but I can understand the points you made and can also see the logic of them.

aliasojo

epsilondraconis wrote: »

OP, have you considered moving?

Edit: Just noticed that you're Aliasojo - perhaps I shouldn't ask.

That comes across as a dig to me, was that your intention? Have I offended you in some way?

As you are obviously aware of me as a poster, then you will also be aware this move was forced upon us at short notice due to work issues therefore our knowledge of the local areas was scant and it was not a choice we made happily.

threemuttleys

Peater wrote: »

I grew up in the countryside so i know a fair few people who shoot and i have even shot in the past. So i think i can offer an insight into 'the other side'.

First of all, don't forget that all these birds you see are born and reared to be shot. If it wasn't for the shooting, you would very rarely see them as they are not a particually successful species left to thier own devices. They are attracted to gardens etc for easy food (crumbs from bird feeders etc) and are not particually bother by humans as they were hand-reared.

99% of the birds that are shot will be eaten (some don't get found by the gundogs). The 'guns' will take some, some will be given to the landowners of the shoot and the rest are sold to local butchers. They are shot as 'sport' as a live target is much more of a challenge to hit than a clay as they are unpredictable. Many, if not all 'guns' will also shoot clays for recreation.

Sadly for you and your daughter, game shooting has been around longer than you have and will be around long after you aswell. It's an incredibly popular rural activity, not to mention a huge industry. (People will pay up to £3000 a day for the priveledge)

While i don't do it myself, i will defend thier right to do it. If you move to an area, you have to be able to be tolerant of the culture.

Seanymph wrote: »

Pheasant shooting is a rural industry. For many large estates it's the means to keep intact. A good shoot, well run, will bring people country, indeed from other countries, and provide much needed revenue.

These birds are bought in, incubated, reared, protected, fed, encouraged to remain on the estate that has paid for them - and then ultimately shot (some of them).

In the wild they are tremendously unsuccessful.

However, they represent a deal of investment, provide employment for many in their upbringing, provide more employment for people who service the shoot (from local catering to beaters from the nearby villages) - bring revenue into the estate - and provide a jolly good day out for many many people.

They are invariably eaten. The shooter will take some of the bag, the beaters will be given a brace or two, the rest will be handed out on the estate or sold to a local game retailer and the money returned to support the trade.

It's rearing of meat - the only difference is in the culling.

Anyone who eats meat eats meat that is not reared with anywhere near the care, rarely free range in the same way, and ALWAYS transported for death in a central location often in inhumane and protracted processes.

These birds live a free and wild life, death is instantaneous and takes place without transportation and unexpectedly.

They provide income for hundreds, support estates as part of the income, provide food and sustain an entire way of life and rural existence.

I would defend anybodies right to shoot - and be any part of the process.

I would also commend that you admit your ignorance as to the bigger picture, and that you asked. So many 'bleeding hearts' wring their hands and know nothing of the enormity of the reliance of a local community on such events, and refuse to listen to the arguments that actually it's much MORE humane than other ways of providing meat for the table.

Top posts, and I quite agree.

I am currently searching for somewhere to go beating!

Seanymph

It's not 'fun' - it's an 'industry'. It's part of 'husbanding' some land, an additional way of farming. It's also very expensive to run, and brings in really good money.

I've sat thinking about it since I posted - everything from gun dogs, breeders, training, through rifles, country shops, country wear......... the amount of people's livelihoods relying on this industry is phenomenal when you think about it.

balletshoes

Mandles wrote: »

Yeah, if it is going to be eaten then ok , but again , is there a more humane way to kill an animal as it could lay dying for hours, even days.

Cant abide people killing for "sport". I would like to see how fast they could run if i had a gun, that would be fun!

I grew up on a farm where several times a year they had pheasant shoots. From a young age we used to see, at the end of the day's shoot, lines of dead birds being counted then bagged up. While I would far rather see the birds alive and well and darting about, I can't say it ever upset me. The birds were sold by the farmer to local butchers.

In my experience, the beaters and their dogs were responsible for finding the birds as they were shot, dead or wounded. If they were wounded, they would be shot to ensure they were dead and not suffering anymore.

But then again, I think that, growing up on a farm, I distinguish between pets and other animals etc, and don't form attachments to non-pets. We had chickens growing up too, they weren't pets, they were to provide eggs and then they were food. Didn't like the way they were killed either (the old wringing of the neck job). My grandad, when I was little, used to raise a pig or 2 for the same purpose, to be killed for meat.

I don't agree at all with fox-hunting though - don't see the point of loads of folk on horses chasing across the countryside all day in pursuit of one animal they're not going to eat or sell for meat. If the foxes are a nuisance, there must be other ways of dealing with them.

Savvy_Sue

Peater wrote: »

If you move to an area, you have to be able to be tolerant of the culture.

To be fair, I don't think aj realised this would be happening right behind her garden, and since I assume neither she nor her DD are out there obstructing the guns they are being tolerant, and trying to understand at the same time.

DS2 does AirSoft, which seems to necessitate running round shooting other people with air rifles. I hate it. I hate going into his room and seeing guns on his bed. I hate finding bits of guns on the dining table when he's cleaning / repairing them. I hate thinking he might be cycling round the countryside with guns in his bike trailer.

and no, I don't understand it either. But then I've never understood the attraction of football or rugby.

Seanymph

It's yet another economy though isn't it - decent horses change hands for astronomical sums, the are liveried, transported, local hostelries are usually supported by hunt members (many meets are at pubs!). There are annual balls, any number of non field events, dogs kennelled, kennel maids employed...

It's yet another thing that makes the money go around in a rural location.

And there are other ways - foxes aren't bred to hunt, or looked after. The ones hunted with dogs are just the ones who have avoided the gamekeepers guns.

SailorSam

There are times i'd like to shoot next doors cat when it comes into my garden to have a pooh.

epsilondraconis

aliasojo wrote: »

That comes across as a dig to me, was that your intention? Have I offended you in some way?

As you are obviously aware of me as a poster, then you will also be aware this move was forced upon us at short notice due to work issues therefore our knowledge of the local areas was scant and it was not a choice we made happily.

Wow - sorry I didn't mean to offend.

I was going to go on in my post to make the point that sometime townies and country-folk just never see eye-to-eye. It's just one of those things.

It was only then that I realised who had posted it originally and so didn't bother to finish the post.

I can see that things aren't good for you today and so will apologise once again and remove myself from this thread with my tail between my legs.