Organising a driven shoot (and other tales)

[shooter]

I dedicate this to prashantsingh and Safarigent who have finally cornered and goaded me into writing this "report" for IFG.

This report is about covering Safarigent's UK shooting trip. For those who have read my blog know my writing style is usually frame story first person account.

However this shoot was also the first shikar camp I held where I was the organiser and the shoot captain for the entire event. I usually arrange guests to shoot at a pre-existing day/shoot but this shoot was my child as i was involved in being responsible for choosing and planning the day, the drives, the beaters, loaders, drink menu, food menu, pest control, recon, inspections etc. I had also invited my father for this shoot. (and mundaire too but he politely declined) Hence this remains special for me.

Also from my experience on IFG I know that people usually like loads of pics with a bit of description. For me the final shoot was a culmination of a lot of work going on for months. Hence i can be detailed to the point of being boring.

So, I'd rather give the IFGians a chance of choosing what they want to read.
Would you rather I write it as an autobiography or a biography of Safarigent's adventures or mix?
Should i write more text and small details that go into the organising of an english shoot or just upload pics with captions or a bit of both.

Your responses will make all of us save a lot of time and effort.

[Vikram]

Shooter,

Thank you for bringing this up at last!

The romance of a driven shoot does take a lot of labour to accomplish and we would love to learn all the aspects that go into it. It is not just the shooting, but the logistics, management of game etc. And the people involved. If it is not too much to ask, please do provide all the details you can about it. Not just who shot what. I really feel sorry that I could not make it.

Thanks again.

Best-
Vikram

[prashantsingh]

I have been waiting for this for months now.

The romance of a driven shoot does take a lot of labour to accomplish and we would love to learn all the aspects that go into it.

You better give us a minute by minute account of the hunt.

and
Safarigent ,
You must add to whatever Shooter misses out , along with those lovely snaps of the English countryside.

[xl_target]

[shooter]

People involved in shooting know that most shoot owners do it for the love of the sport. Though shooting in the uk is expensive, it is not a money making venture. The clients may be rich but the shoot owners dont earn much from it. (hint: when did you see any industrialist/investor/entrepreneur invest money in a shoot?)

More than the meager returns, whats important for the shoot is its reputation.
What factors comprise the reputation are as follows: (in approx. order of importance)

SAFETY. No im not shouting but stressing about its importance.

Quality of the birds (higher, faster, difficult to hit are better)

Scenery (hilly/woded better than flat plain grass)

History of the estate. (if ever visited by the royalty, nobility, how old etc, any famous shots) Also the history of the team (team of gamekeeper/pickers up/dogs etc)

Company of other shooters (unsafe shooters bring a bad name to the shoot).

Hospitality

Ease of travel etc etc other less important things.

Now if one has money, one may buy a "peg" (place in the line). but if ure unsafe/unfriendly/both, they might not want you there again. Being a decent shot also helps.

When i first came to the UK there were less invitations for shoots; with time these increased. Then i had my own syndicate where we did our own gamekeeping, putting the grain out, dogging in etc. However i also went out to shoot at the other local shoots. I always wanted to host my own day but it wasnt really worth the effort. Plus none of the big shoots give out a full day to just "anybody".

There was this one shoot which i really liked . It was a decent sized estate about 2200-2500 acres, had a history, a manor house, good birds, close to home, good team etc. When i asked the owner to sell me the ful day he chuckled and said "We'll see". That was three years ago.

So i forgot about it and kept going there as an individual gun and sometimes took guests there.

Last year I got a call from the Gamekeeper Tony, asking if I was still interested in leasing the whole day. He said his boss had told him that the doctor fellow was "all right" and could have my own day!!

One good thing they offered me which very few shoots do is that we could shoot unlimited birds without paying extra. The usual practice is that there is price perbird and anything more than 10% bag has to be paid for. Similarly anything under 10% of the expected bag limit gets a refund. but we werent going to get it since there was no bag limit

Of course I would. They told me I could have 7-8 guests (so total 8-9 guns).

[Safarigent]

Lets do this!

[xl_target]

WooHoo, another inspiring Shooter adventure.
Waiting for more.

[shooter]

So I called up my friends and sent invitations. Quite a few IFgians were invited but they politely declined due to commitments.

The invitations (along with the shoot rules was as follows:

Gentlemen,

I invite you all to the first Annual xxxxxxx shoot at xxxxxxx on the 17 november 2012.
May I please request those of you who are half guns to please share this information with your fellow half guns.

The Team is as follows:



Owner: xxxxxxx
Head Gamekeeper: xxxxxx

Shoot Captain: shooter

Location: xxxxxxxxxx


I am listing the code of the shooting here. Please read these thoroughly. I hope to make this an annual event and will stick to a safe and gentlemanly code.

B E F O R E

1) A double barrelled gun, either a sxs or an o/u. No pumps/semis.

2) It is courteous to your fellow guns to dress in an acceptable and reasonable way but there is no need to over dress. NO CAMO. Jacket and Tie. Please respect the dress code.

3) YOUR GUN SHOULD REMAIN IN ITS SLEEVE AT ALL TIMES EXCEPT WHEN IT IS NEEDED FOR USE.

4)We Meet at 0845 for a brief introduction, safety briefing and tea and coffee.

5) This will be followed by settling the payment with Tony.(Before the shoot).

5) This is followed by drawing for pegs.


D U R I N G

1) There will be 6 Drives in total. We have increased the number from 5.

2) Once you are at your peg, remove your gun from its sleeve and break it. DO NOT LOAD UNTIL THE DRIVE HAS STARTED. You will have been told what the signal will be to announce that the drive has started and that shooting may commence. This may take the form of a blast on a horn, or a whistle. THERE MUST BE NO SHOOTING BEFORE THIS SIGNAL. Likewise, the end of the drive will be announced by a signal. THERE MUST BE NO SHOOTING AFTER THIS SIGNAL . If you are uncertain as to whether or not the drive has ended then ask a neighbour. If still in doubt, do not shoot. Whether a signal has been given or not and whether birds are flying or not, if there are beaters in front and in range, DO NOT SHOOT.

3) Only legal game to be shot.

4) If a bird is too close or too low, don't shoot. If you intend to shoot at a bird which is flying behind you, swing the gun high over the line of other guns, NEVER THROUGH THE LINE which would mean that at some juncture it may point at a neighbour. If you feel a bird is more in the range of a neighbour than your own, then leave the bird for the neighbour. If there is a bird in range of your neighbour and you feel he may not have seen it, it is acceptable to call a warning such as "forward".

5) Line discipline to be maintained at all times. The guns shall not leave the line till the horn has sounded. We have the pickers up to do the picking.

6) The Lunch arrangements in the Manor are for 13 shooting guns only. Guests and observers cant be accomodated In the manor. The gamekeeper has kindly allowed the Guests use his house for the same. The menu is chicken casserole and it is “Halal” ordered from the local Asian shop.



A F T E R W A R D S

1) When each drive ends pick up all your spent cartridge cases. Take them with you to where the guns will assemble to move off for the next drive and ask where they should be dumped . At the end of each drive and at the end of the day, ensure your gun is unloaded and RETURN IT TO ITS SLEEVE.

It is a common courtesy and it will be expected of you to thank both the game keeper for his hard work. There are several different ways to decide how much to tip but I believe the best policy is to tip £10 per 50 birds. I am looking towards a £40 tip.

I really look forward to shooting with you all. In the previous weeks 9 gun teams have crossed the 300 bird mark. So lets hope for the best and hope you all have a good time.

Regards

shooter


p.s. Some guns insisted thy would not eat non halal meat. Now this is not a restaurant service and food and alcohol is included in the price. If one doesnt want to eat or drink, it does not mean they get a discount. But since i was inviting frnds, i wanted them to eat together. But finding halal in the middle of the countrysde. So we arranged with a local restaurant to supply the meat. Later we came to know that his delivery got delayed so we switched to Lamb.

I was given a choice of dates and had to choose the best one for shooting. Too early and we only have partridge, too late and the number of birds go down. So we settled for nov. but Diwali was on the 13th so 10 nov was out of question; hence 17 nov.

[shooter]

The pheasants lay eggs in beginning april. The next 10 weeks are very crucial as various gamekkeping work depending if he shoot does incubating or rearing etc.

Once released, the vermin control starts. Foxes will go through pheasants like big B goes through baddies or Draram paaji goes through the blood of the dogs.

Endless nights of foxing. In addition the farmer needs to be involved to plan planting of cover crops. Feeders need to be mended. then filled regularly. Empty feeders mean birds leaving the land. Fresh water is also needed. Partridges need longer looking after than pheasants.

Even ratting is required as rats eat the wheat meant for the birds. To have the farmers full co-operation one needs to provide pest control for the farmer. This means pigeon shooting. Sounds like fun only if you want to do it when it suits you. But to actually perform a duty, one needs to go at it all year. I love this part as it is extremely good practice for game shooting. Though i suck at pigeon shooting, i still enjoy it.

In addition one also needs to pray that no natural disaster befall the birds. Some years are just bad for biirds; be it due to floods or frost or some disease.

Luckily this year the game birds didnt suffer much despite this year being the wettest in decades.
During this time, i had to answer one million questions shooters had in mind: What happens if it rains that day or if it snows?
What if we dont shoot enough birds
How much can we drink?
Do we really have to tip?
How much can we eat?
Can we bring a guest as an observer?
What are the rules of 'halaal'? Our muslim shooters wanted to know if they could perform halal ceremony while shooting.
How many birds do we get?
Why do we have to dress well if shooter is the organiser? (seriously this question was asked).
What if i cant afford it but still want to shoot?

I tried to address these queries to the best of my abilities.

To do recon mission, i missed several days on my (prepaid) syndicate to book shoot days here to have an idea of how many birds the other teams were getting. Due to my frequent visits, I became with many locals and was later asked to be a gun and a judge on the county level field dog trials of the norfolk kennel club.

It was a great experience to see the best dogs in the county work with hunters. I wanted to write a report on it but that day it was raining as if Noah was making his Arc so couldnt take any pics.

[Vikram]

Shooter,

Thanks for the education.Keep them coming.Enjoying reading them all.Thank you for sharing.

Best-
Vikram

[prashantsingh]

Nice write up shooter.
This post should help me prepare for my hunting trip to England later this year.

[airgun_novice]

Ah ! I can only wish... but y'all have a ball, err, a bag of birds.

[prashantsingh]

Are janaab aage bhi to badho.

I hate you and Safarigent for starting a thread and leaving it mid way.

AB I am still waiting for you to complete your thread on the hunting trip to Hungary.

[Safarigent]

Its been very cold in England this past fortnight.
Shooter suffered an accident when his fingers froze together at the second joint.
Till such time as he heals completely this read shall remain frozen.
Out of respect to him, i shall not start writing till such time he does.
Please give your best wishes to him.









Gotcha!
Shooter, start shooting those words out!

[shooter]

lol Safarigent.
Didnt read your post till certain ifg member started asking after my health and wellbeing.