Shoot it.........eat it

[rhinochopig]

dcw@pr said:

Emsman said:

I got an invite from a friend to go shooting last night.

Jumped at the chance. Arrived, got in the landy, shot a few rabbits, then he took a deer.

I think you meant "yesterday afternoon" didn't you - seeing as how it is illegal to shoot deer at night

I also though that the closed season was between beginning of April to end of October and that you needed a Stalking license? I could of course be wrong as I don't shoot.

[Emsman]

Invite for shooting early morning- hence the delay in posting.

You do need a stalking ticket, and you can't take a doe until 1st October.

All legal and above board!!

Where I shoot on the welland valley, there is a huge problem with poachers- many use a crossbow.

The number of injured animals is terrible.

[escargot]

Rabbits & Pigeons on a mates farm. We just use air rifles. Good fun and an excellent way of gaining access to a 'free' resource. It helps that rabbit is one of my favourite meats too.

[dcw@pr]

Close seasons vary for species and sex.

http://www.bds.org.uk/close_seasons_for_deer.html

You do not need a license to shoot a deer, game licenses went out many years ago, however you do need to have it specified on your firearms certificate that you are allowed to shoot them with a specific calibre gun.

[rhinochopig]

So what are the rules re: shooting. A rifle round will travel for a LONG way if you miss, which is why I assumed you needed a special license. Around us there are towers so that the trajectory is downward.

So can anyone just go out with landowners permission and shoot deer as long as their FA licence includes deer and said deer is in season?

[Don]

oddman said:

Would do if I were lucky enough to have your permissions/contacts. Rabbits, squirrels pigeons and deer are a natural resource to be harvested and the healthiest of meats.

I'd go further than you. I'd say if you're not prepared to kill and butcher your own meat then you have no right to eat it.

My sporting life is limited to scaring clays and drowning maggots.

I'm in the same boat. Used to shoot and eat as I was growing up in rural North Wales. Now I'm a southern townie I don't - but would if I could!

[dcw@pr]

It depends on the conditions which are on your firearms certificate. Mine states I can shoot anywhere with the land owners permission, so what you say is correct. Others may state that they can only shoot on a certain bit of land - it really depends on your local policeman and your level of experience.

Re safety - they will only give people a rifle license when they are satisfied that you have the required knowledge to handle it safely - this can be prior experience, completion of various course, or whatever the police feel is appropriate.

[anonymous-user]

I bagged a Teal and a Coot on saturday! not the biggest beasts in the world but both very tasty!

[whitechief]

I have access to several hundred acres of farmland just down the road from me, which is great. I often pop down if I have a spare couple of hours. Even if I don't get much it's worth it because the views of the Colne valley are spectacular.

I shoot wood pigeon and rabbit with my 12 bore and enjoy eating them both too.

I have an excellent rabbit stew recipe if anyone wants it.

I'm off now for a couple of hours because the fields have just been tilled and the pigeons are in apparently (bds will have probably gone now).

[dcw@pr]

MonkeyMatt said:

I bagged a Teal and a Coot on saturday! not the biggest beasts in the world but both very tasty!

Teal is often said to be the tastiest duck - I had two last year but I cooked them for about 90 seconds too long, which is quite a lot for birds that small! Still nice though.

[zakelwe]

I'm not prepared to grow a field of wheat, does that stop me being able to enjoy a slice of bread? If you are not prepared to have your own banana plantation in Leeds then etc etc etc ...

Silly.

I once caught a woodpigeon that got caught in my squirrel trap but I didn't eat it, let it go. We also had a pheasant that used to visit also, I didn't eat that either. Why eat wild life when you can get a kebab?

Regards
Andy

[Don]

zakelwe said:

I once caught a woodpigeon that got caught in my squirrel trap but I didn't eat it, let it go. We also had a pheasant that used to visit also, I didn't eat that either. Why eat wild life when you can get a kebab?

Because it tastes phenomenally better than kebab, is low in fat and far, far more healthy to eat.

Besides, remember how drunk you have to be before you can stomach a Doner? I don't need to get pissed prior to tucking into a nice game casserole.

[zakelwe]

Don said:

zakelwe said:

I once caught a woodpigeon that got caught in my squirrel trap but I didn't eat it, let it go. We also had a pheasant that used to visit also, I didn't eat that either. Why eat wild life when you can get a kebab?

Because it tastes phenomenally better than kebab, is low in fat and far, far more healthy to eat.

Besides, remember how drunk you have to be before you can stomach a Doner? I don't need to get pissed prior to tucking into a nice game casserole.

A kebab tastes far better than game, it must be true, look how many more kebab shops there are than butchers selling pigeons

Other advantages of the humble kebab are that you won't choke on lead shot, nor have to gut and skin it (unless you live in the West Midlands). A kebab smothered in chili sauce or a rabbit smothered in myxomatosis? You'll never catch foot and mouth off a Donner. Except in the West Midlands of course.

I'm more than happy going kebab hunting though, as long as it didn't suffer after being spiked with the metal pole.

Regards
Andy

Edited by zakelwe on Thursday 8th October 14:28

[mxrossi]

Emsman said:

Invite for shooting early morning- hence the delay in posting.

You do need a stalking ticket, and you can't take a doe until 1st October.

All legal and above board!!

Where I shoot on the welland valley, there is a huge problem with poachers- many use a crossbow.

The number of injured animals is terrible.

Welland Valley as in near Corby?


I go beating on a local shoot and will be getting a brace or 2 later on in the season

[oddman]

Clarification

I didn't mean if you haven't got access to hunting you should be veggie.

Only that to delegate the task of slaughter and butchering which you wouldn't be prepared to do yourself is hypocritical.

Edited by oddman on Thursday 8th October 22:39

[otolith]

Depends on your reasoning. If moral, then there is hypocrisy. If just squeamish or prefer not to think about it, then not really hypocrisy but not really indicative of wanting to face the reality of eating meat.

[Nobby Diesel]

Only ever shot "properly" once.
After 20 years (on and off) of clays, I was invited to my brother in laws farm in Bedfordshire to shoot.
9 pheasant later (2 eaten and 7 given away), I am now a total convert.
Next shoot, Dec 14th!

[Bill]

otolith said:

Depends on your reasoning. If moral, then there is hypocrisy. If just squeamish or prefer not to think about it, then not really hypocrisy but not really indicative of wanting to face the reality of eating meat.

It depends IMO on the level of thought involved. There are too many people who view meat (and driving) as a right and give it no more thought than that, which is why there are intensive farming practises and "accidents".

[otolith]

Bill said:

otolith said:

Depends on your reasoning. If moral, then there is hypocrisy. If just squeamish or prefer not to think about it, then not really hypocrisy but not really indicative of wanting to face the reality of eating meat.

It depends IMO on the level of thought involved. There are too many people who view meat (and driving) as a right and give it no more thought than that, which is why there are intensive farming practises and "accidents".

Yes, I agree - that's what I was getting at about not wanting to face the reality; the idea that meat comes from polystyrene trays in the supermarket, not from killing and dismembering a living creature. And it does lead to a lack of care for how the meat is produced, and the expectation that a chicken should cost £2.50.

I'm not sure that being too squeamish to work in an abattoir makes it wrong to eat bacon, though, any more than being too squeamish to work in a sewer makes it wrong to use the toilet

[nick_j007]

toxgobbler said:

My father does Peasants/Ducks and the occasional pigeon, my aim is rubbish enough at clays which don't zigzag so I don't do the live shooting, but I get a brace or two every time he does, it is as free range as it gets and very tasty once you remove the lead the only (small) downside is that it's not cellophane wrapped and takes a bit of prep, find rabbits a bit of a faff though, more meat on a pigeon.

Pigeon...how do you prep and cook that?
Maybe just take the breast, or roast the whole bird?

Ta.