Shoots, beating, picking up, money!?

[Judy]

Might as well beat then, far less work.

[Naj]

Cass, if you currently enjoy hunting & shooting over your own dogs then you aren't missing anything.

Naj

[Cass]

Sounds like you guys just have more game farms over there than we have here. Very cool. I just wondered because from what I was reading I thought maybe you didn't have regular hunting seasons and could only shoot at these game farms.

[Rookie]

There are a couple of professionally made videos on here of one of the Scottish Estates that I go to. Gives a bit of an insight.

http://www.dorback.com/Anglais/Activities.html

[Cass]

Looks like hunting is much more of a group sport over across the pond than it is here.

[Judy]

Not necessarily, probably more people go pigeon shooting, rabbiting, and wildfowling than driven game shooting in company. There are also lone rough shooters hunting the hedgerows with a spaniel or two.

Game Farms are places where birds are hatched and reared in quantity for selling to Shoots. Shoots are mostly held on farms apart from Grouse shooting which is held on moorland / hills. Just to confuse you further.

[PERCE]

Grouse shooting which is held on moorland / hills. Just to confuse you further.

You can't farm or breed these either, totally wild, only manage their environment.

[billatwoodside]

same here - no distinction!! Not many beaters without dogs though!

[James]

just watched the small game video, they dont look very sporting those birds I must say.

[Rookie]

just watched the small game video, they dont look very sporting those birds I must say.

I'm guessing that it's the one I posted a link to that you're referring to? If so, I suspect that the editing and camerawork has a lot to do with that. You should have seen the size of their lenses! For the most part on that shoot the birds are sporting and some are very testing indeed. I've just watched it again and on most of the drives that are shown the birds are coming off some quite high banks and the guns are down in a gully. This is fairly typical of that shoot. It has been edited in order to make it look as glamerous and exciting as possible. Knowing the ground makes all the difference when it comes to interpreting that film.

That shoot has evolved a fair bit since that was filmed when the shoot was only a few years old. Like any good shoot, they are continually altering things and testing out new plans in order to improve it and make the best use of the ever changing ground. At that time they had ground that was being developed and it has now become usable.

I'm shooting there next week. I've got a feeling I'll struggle to make much of it, much like I've struggled in previous years.