How to encourage others to take birds?

[ChrisPackham]

I shot as a guest on Friday with a number of others that I also know and after a fantastic day I was surprised to see less than half of the guns taking birds and using various excuses such as ‘I’m shooting tomorrow too’ (as was I but I have a portable chiller in the car). Although this was a sensible 120 bird day, it’s well known problem with oversupply and so everyone should be taking birds, how do gently impress this upon others?

i took three brace on both days as I always have a home for shot game in my village, I don’t see how this ‘shooting tomorrow’ or ‘full freezer’ argument stacks up.

Any ideas?

 

[paul b]

Ill bet if they were dressed more would be tacken,its a sign of the times im afraid people want to get food out of the fridge and stick in the oven without any messing about.

 

[squimp]

I went to a well known Devon shoot last week and at the end of the day we were offered small bags of pre-prepared and marinated pheasant breasts. I was the only gun to take up the offer -  so now I have a freezer full. Lovely !

On a shoot in Wales before Xmas I ended up taking home 10 brace of shot birds. The keeper was very glad to shift them.

However the wider issue of the disposal of shot birds is a very serious worry for the sport.

 

[b725black]

lots of shoots now supply the option of oven ready for the guns to encourage them to take game, my friend does a lot of picking up, always comes home with plenty when they're available, feeds them to the dogs  

 

[Jonny English]

There's a lot of stigma around game meat and miss information, my wife won't eat it because she thinks it smells bad when cooking, never smelt any in her life, but also not prepared to give it a go.  There needs to be a top level chief get hold of this and cook with it and make it sound attractive.  The disappointing thing is that a team of the country's top chiefs come to Rothwell in Lincolnshire every year for a day, they need to pick up the batten and push it where they can, and make game meat mire attractive and tasty.

We were chatting at a shoot the other day, apparently Panorama have done or are doing a documentary on Warter Priory, with a focus on the volume of game shot and the particular method they use to dispose of the game to be exposed.  Seeing the hatred there is on Facebook about fox hunting, if this does goes to press we're all doomed!

 

[paul b]

We have top chiefs shooting and most of the big food processors shoot,and a lot off very big name business men.Surley between them a add campaign along with a ready meal type presentation would be a huge money maker given the meat is so cheap.

 

[MJJ]

There just lazy sods who only want to shoot birds and go home. They couldn't give a stuff what happens to them. Sign of the times eh! They would if they were bloody hungry!!!!!!

 

[Sian]

It actually annoys me the notion of just wanting to shoot them and not take any.    

 

[ChrisPackham]

It actually annoys me the notion of just wanting to shoot them and not take any.    

Me too! With my usual team we normally take everything after giving beaters and pickers up first choice as they work damn hard!

I shot at Warter Priory in 2016, I won’t ever go back..

 

[Sian]

Me too! With my usual team we normally take everything after giving beaters and pickers up first choice as they work damn hard!

I shot at Warter Priory in 2016, I won’t ever go back..

It’s not as if they have to dress the bird themselves you can ask your butcher to do it if necessary or give them to friends.

 

[ChrisPackham]

It’s not as if they have to dress the bird themselves you can ask your butcher to do it if necessary or give them to friends.

Indeed, I think that some people don’t actually eat which to me doesn’t feel flight, but then to make no effort to get it into the food chain at all is dreadful really.

We shoot a couple of dozen days a season in various guises and always do our best to get as much of the food into the sUpply as possible,  luckily the family love game and I have quite a few friends locally who are always delighted with a couple of brace.

 

[westley]

This is a subject that seems to crop up towards the end of every game season, and has done ever since the more stringent rules regarding the handling of anything entering the 'food chain were introduced'. I can remember going to the game room at the farm, where the syndicate of which I was a member met. It was my job to clean up the gun room and then take the remaining game to a butcher in the nearby town. He employed a guy, who was situated at the rear of the shop, to take the birds and then pluck them and pack onto trays to be sold in the shop. This was a long standing syndicate and this arrangement had carried on for at least the previous 20 years or so. Once all of the new regulations were introduced, the 'Pheasant Plucker'  (turned the predictive text OFF there !) took early retirement, the Butcher bought in 'oven readies' and passed on the cost to the customer, the shoot just gave the surplus game to the beaters/pickers up and it is like that to this day.  I saw an advert on a sign board outside the shop just before Christmas,   "Pheasant Breast, 2 for £4.99".  I was in the shop last week and asked how the pheasant breasts had sold, "Not very well really, don't think we will bother any more" was the reply.   Quote  " You do the Maths "    Unquote    !  

 

[Jonny English]

A local syndicate to us run an 80 to 100 bird day 6-7 days a year. At the end of the day the guns take as much as they wish, the picker uppers and beaters then take the rest and pass them on to friends and family, none goes to a game dealer and none go to waste. Very nice friendly day and very ethical. It is quite possible that this sort of shoot is the only one with any form of a long term future.

 

[Garwood]

A local syndicate to us run an 80 to 100 bird day 6-7 days a year. At the end of the day the guns take as much as they wish, the picker uppers and beaters then take the rest and pass them on to friends and family, none goes to a game dealer and none go to waste. Very nice friendly day and very ethical. It is quite possible that this sort of shoot is the only one with any form of a long term future.

I wouldn`t like to rely on any legislative `fix` being too discriminatory unfortunately......