This topic has been touched on but I dont think fully explored.
When we talk about deer stalking, an awful lot of time is spent discussing 'best practice' and 'ethics'. We spend hours talking about what is and what is not a fair target, if, when and how a shot should be taken.
I find it rather odd that if I went on a days rough shooting and shot a duck sitting on a pond or a pheasant on foot crossing in front of me at 40 yards, that I would be flung off the shoot with instructions never to return. On the other hand if I shoot a high bird screaming accross me with the wind behind it and at 40 to 50 yards out, there might be some sounds of appreciation from those who saw it.
So with game shooting, the tougher and less certain the shot is, the more 'sporting' it is. With stalking the opposite is true. Why is this. Are they not both living animals, that deserve the same considerations
Mr Howa !,
You do have a point mate, to a point !!! One of the main differences between driven shotgunning and stalking as I see it, is this : A reared (and then driven)pheasant is essentially in a contrived situation, there are variables. It would not be there in it's idyllic bio-diverse semi-haven if it were not for the forethought and hard work of the humans who put it there in those artificially favourable surroundings. They have been reared to provide sport and not food specifically, even though they are brought into the human food chain... and are tasty too . Let's face it if they weren't shot for sport they'd all be in dark amonia stenched sheds . True so far ? Like you, I shoot for the pot. As well as the love for the outdoors, guided by the primeaval instinct to 'hunt' that we share. Personally, I started mainly to provide food for the family while my Dad was on strike as a miner in the eighties. I would go out before school (and then later work) to bag whatever was edible, from duck to squirrel. If truth be told we ate like kings (no, swan was not on the menu before you ask !!!!), better then than when Dad eventually went back down't pit ! If it was legal and sat, shat or flapped it was bagged, regardless. A pheasant is regarded differently to say, a red grouse for instance, when you think about it ! Because grouse have never been successfully reared artificially they are regarded as a highly prized commodity, and so are given more consideration to realistic execution of 'efficient shooting methods' than a lowly pheasant !!!$!!! To produce a brace of them takes a lot of very hard work and considerable financial commitment. Still true ? Human nature being what it is there will always be competition between shots, and shoots though. Would you Stalk if it were easy, personally I doubt it. That goes for driven pheasant shots too, the difference here is that there is always a team of man and dog specifically tasked with collecting any bird which appears wounded in any way. They too have codes of practice and standards. No shot (in either field) is ever taken with the intent to wound the creature concerned, a safe and efficient demise is always commonly our first concern. Lately there is a greater trend towards showing 'higher' birds, there is also a a trend with manufacturers to provide the tools to carry this off efficiently...longer barrels,tighter chokes and cartridges that maintain pattern density and energy to deal with these sky rockets. There was a trip I went on to the Solway years ago after Pinkfeet, part of the deal was to have a morning at driven pheasant. Being a pot hunter I ended up only shooting 3 brace (which I took home), turning down the other thirty or so birds that went over me because they were 'too close'. I would have smashed them with the 32g 6's I was using. Why don't we go back to a longbow made from yew ? We use a high powered weapon and the latest optics, with ammunition designed to kill in the most efficient way, as do driven shots ! The skill is two fold in stalking, one aspect as Groachy said, is getting within range of the beast to execute a clean kill. The other is putting the shot in the most appropriate place with the right tools, with the skill and the knowledge to do this efficiently to achieve and gain the desired end result because you might not get another chance (we've all been there goddammit). There are similarities, would you agree ??? The difference as I see it between the two - one is (essentially, not always) reared for a purpose and PROVIDED "artificially" for sport in natural surroundings. The other is (mostly, not always) wild, SOUGHT and "harvested" in natural surroundings. There is common ground between both. The differences are that, before this happens "Get orff moi Larnd, don't shoot it on the deck cos oi've gone to a lot of trouble frr that buugggrrr" - the pheasant shot provides the opportunity for the bird to fly another day by not executing it in a Blackadder stylee ReadyAimFire rant, because it was put there for the purpose testing skill and not pot hunting. It is though frowned upon to take a shot that is clearly out of range. The birds are presented on drives that have been carefully selected and conceived to provide shots a 'set' difficulty level within the restrictions of normal humane shotgun ranges. The stalker on the other hand is often guided by natural variances and fluctuations in population, weather conditions, and more often than (in other words almost NEVER) not, cannot rely on a beast presenting itself exactly at the required 'set zero' distance for his rifle. So we use our own judgement with each individual shot taken (or not) and then talk endlessly about it afterwards to anybody who will listen. And rightly so, two or more heads are better than one, experience shared is knowledge gained ! If you were to talk to a head keeper and ask him why he/she presented a drive in a particular way, he/she would no doubt tell you his considerations. But because he does not broadcast it on a forum does not mean they dont exist. IT IS STILL DOWN TO EACH INDIVIDUAL TO JUDGE WHETHER THEY DO HAVE A SHOT WITHIN THE CAPABILITY OF THEIR KIT, AND THEIR ABILITY !
Batten Down The Hatches Lads...Incoming !!!
food for thought though, good question Howa
cheers
Ade
P.s. What about driven boar ! Would you, or wouldn't you ???????