City Rich Boy Syndicates

poddle

Well-Known Member
Has anyone noticed how syndicates have moved in and taken all the shooting.
Certainly in my area they have. it's all game kept, and these shoots take thousands of acres of land and many farms. Many of my friends have lost their shooting due to city millionaires that shoot 9 days a year, and expect you to keep off the land the rest of the year.

It is certainly causing a lot of ill feeling in my area. Guys that used to shoot the farms some years ago now have to oppurtunity to become a £20 a day beater to the guy that got him kicked off his shoot.

It's got so bad in my area that the shoots are getting into nasty arguements over beaters as there are not enough to go around. The shoots days are clashing, and there are no beaters.
It's all big business and the likes of the poor guy can get ready to kiss goodbye to the shooting sports.

I find it very obscene, I am lucky however that it does not affect me, but I feel very sorry for the guys that have lost their sport to rich kids that can't shoot. One shoot last week reproted that 365 shots were taken for 12 birds. I rest my case
 
Whats obscene about it? We've all heard the stories of let days comprising mostly novices and large numbers of shot fired for low returns. Thats just one of the realities of commercial game shooting, that needs to recognised and accepted for what it is.

Most of the rich city boys that I know shoot exceptional well, but then they do get a lot of practice during the season.

If you had paid top dollar for your sporting rights you too would expect those rights and privileges to be respected. Now days farming and landownership is about business and maximising profitability, not running charities for shooters looking for low cost-free shooting opportunities.

Mid week shoots have always competed for beaters and pickers up, and will continue to do so as supply is always less than demand. Also its not the displaced locals shoot. Its the sporting rights owners shoot and always will be.


Becoming a rich city boy is not a exclusive and closed shop you know. Its open to all who have the gumption to make it. There is no need for jealousy, the rich city boys have always had the opportunity to acquire the faster car, bigger house, better looking girlfriend, more shooting rights. What was once the standard situation in the south is now fast becoming the standard situation through out the country. Get use to it. The days of free, no cost, low cost, budget priced shooting are fast disappearing, and will become ever rarer as the numbers chasing the rights become more numerous.
 
Trouble is these people are not country people, never have been never will be ;)

Put them in a wood and ask them to name the trees, flowers or birds they wouldnt have a clue or care, and a days shooting is something one does at the weekend :rolleyes: Now I am not saying they are all like that, but it appears to be very much on the increase. I know a few like it, but I wouldnt shoot with them, not really my type.

Poddle, looks like you will have to get a city job mate, a Chelsea taxi, an account at Coutes Bank and a Purdey :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Like I said Sika, it does not affect me, but it's sad to see the very wealthy kick the local folk off the land.
One shoot near me is paying over £60 per bird. Now thats rich, for a pheasant anyway :lol:

Incidently the other farmers then have a problem with thousands of wood pigeon taking young crops, as the rich kids have long since gone home and left the situation behind.
These pigeon would have been kept under control before, by locals having a pop on a weekend , but the game keepers won't shoot them, as he does not want to disturb the pheasants.

There are a 500 to 1000 pigeon in a huge flock currently doing that in my area. All very mobile and now almost impossible to control or keep up with
Problem I think
It has not been like this in previous years. The situation has slowly escalated
Please remember GaveG that not all farmers own the land, some or most in my area are tenants. The Sporting rights are let by the landowner, and the tenant has no say or benefit from the sums paid by the shoot.
The tenant then has to sit back and watch his crops decimated by pest.

Clearly you are on the side of the rich kids, for whatever reason.
 
poddle said:
Like I said Sika, it does not affect me, but it's sad to see the very wealthy kick the local folk off the land.
One shoot near me is paying over £60 per bird. Now thats rich, for a pheasant anyway :lol:

Incidently the other farmers then have a problem with thousands of wood pigeon taking young crops, as the rich kids have long since gone home and left the situation behind.
These pigeon would have been kept under control before, by locals having a pop on a weekend , but the game keepers won't shoot them, as he does not want to disturb the pheasants.

There are a 500 to 1000 pigeon in a huge flock currently doing that in my area. All very mobile and now almost impossible to control or keep up with
Problem I think
It has not been like this in previous years. The situation has slowly escalated
Please remember GaveG that not all farmers own the land, some or most in my area are tenants. The Sporting rights are let by the landowner, and the tenant has no say or benefit from the sums paid by the shoot.
The tenant then has to sit back and watch his crops decimated by pest.

Clearly you are on the side of the rich kids, for whatever reason.

Poodle

Tenant farmers do have pest control rights, it's part of the standard agricultural tenancy agreement. So your decimating 1000 pigeon flock, could be dealt with if they so choose also a few locals banging away on the weekend is not going to resolve the problem either. Thats why the majority of farmers tend to use gas bangers and all the other bird scaring devises.

You couldn't give me the name of this £60 a pheasant shoot could you as I'd like to talk with the head keeper and find out how they manage to get away with charging that amount. I wish I could, it would certainly sort out the shoot budget for next year. I might even get a new truck and quad out of it :D

I'm not on anybodies side. I just get fed up with the repeated moaning from blokes who think that free- cheap shooting is theirs by right. Be it stalking, pigeon shooting or bunny popping.
 
Your a shoot manager then DaveG why did you not say that in the first place.
The shoot in question has it's own syndicate of rich guys from the city. They chuck cheques at the shoot like no tomorrow and money is of no issue.
Everyone else can go and jump, and the head keeper is the most arrogant TW*T i have ever met.
He claims all the shooting rights including the pest control are his.The tenant who is a friend of mine says they belong to him, so there is a disagreement. Even so, the shoot still wants everyone off.
I will be shooting there as of next week, I stay offf when the pheasant season is around, and I have thousands of acres to shoot on so it does not affect me

The shooters are all driven to their pegs by tracked vehicles, and superstar models and Tv presenters are common around here.

They all have joined the syndicate and the shoot works out at £60 per bird, the underkeeper is a mate and has told me so.
Money no object, GET OF OUR LAND :lol:
 
Stop Whinging

Poddle

I dont to start an argument but...........

up north we have had to put up with southerners paying over the odds for shooting and stalking rights and coming up twice a year for decades. Locals never get a look in.

Same story with holday houses that lie empty 50 weeks a year and tear the heart out of all our rural communities.

all i can say is what goes around comes around.

308
 
Tough one to call, this one. If I'm the guy at the grass roots, sure I'd like to have my sport for next to nothing.

If I own the land and need to make ends meet, can I afford to let the local guys have it for next to nothing?

If I work very long hours in the city, under imense stress, then spend some of my hard earned on shooting. Do I want some guy to claim I'm taking something that he is used to getting for next to nothing?

As it is I don't feel I fit any of these stereotypes. I pay for my syndicate place, but frequently give it to a friend who isn't in a position to pay, or a newby who wants to experience game shooting for the first time. As time passes I get more joy from this than pulling the trigger, so it's no loss to me, just a selfish pleasure. I love to work my dog and I can shoot if the mood takes me.
My stalking is free, but I don't see this as a right, just good luck.

My business makes money because I don't give my product away for next to nothing. Why should anyone else?

Your opinion on this one will I think depend upon where you stand on the ladder of life.

Regards to all from the top to the bottom.
Mark.
 
My point exactly 308,
but when you say what goes around comes around,what do you mean, Where do you see it ever evening itself out, which is what your phrase implies.
I really don't think that things will ever change, as a matter of fact it will get worse.
Its here to stay mate. My community too has been affected with locals being driven out of their villages by high house prices, and yuppies that move into a village with a working farm in the middle and then complain like Feck that the farm stinks and has flies.

Years ago villages were for the farm workers , whilst the mews and the town houses were the reserve of the rich.
Now the rich want the villages as well, so where do the locals fit in?

Simple... Ya Don't
They end up in the crappy council houses, on the edge of the town, where nobody else wants to live. It happens here all the time.
 
Yokels

Poddle

Start climbing mate. The greasy pole of life is a bugger but we all need the means to fulfill our daily lives.

I am no socialist and i work in a city, i get to ride like sheep every day at 7:15 and return same story 6:00 every day. When it comes to my lesiure time I can throw money at it but it was not always the case.

i found that if you cannot beat them join them. next time you wake up and wander onto the hill think of me standing in the January rain on a railway station wishing i was with you.

Chin up, it was never any different, money talks and always has. nostalgia is over rated.

308
 
I suggest we keep our comments to a more gentlemanly order. You are both right with many of the issues raised, but I fail to see why you need to start a slanging match :evil: after all we are all on the same side :rolleyes:
 
Hi poddle. I think I know what your getting at mate. My experiences lead me to the conclusion that neither money or origin or breeding makes much difference to the quality of the shooters. The important thing to me is gun safety and I have found that farmers can be the worst in this area. I would like to say that I do not consider all farmers to be poor at gun handling by any means. Its amazing isnt it how easily you can be mis-understood on a site like this.


pivvy
 
Evening

A few of the most recent posts have been removed, for obvious reasons. Let's not all slip into the abyss........

Cheers,

Rob
 
Dave said:
You couldn't give me the name of this £60 a pheasant shoot could you as I'd like to talk with the head keeper and find out how they manage to get away with charging that amount. I wish I could, it would certainly sort out the shoot budget for next year. I might even get a new truck and quad out of it :D
yes greed is always a serious consideration in the budget for next year :evil: :lol:
 
stone said:
Dave said:
You couldn't give me the name of this £60 a pheasant shoot could you as I'd like to talk with the head keeper and find out how they manage to get away with charging that amount. I wish I could, it would certainly sort out the shoot budget for next year. I might even get a new truck and quad out of it :D
yes greed is always a serious consideration in the budget for next year :evil: :lol:

Its got naff all to do with greed stone. It has everything to do with solving the constant necessity to make do and mend, and would allow for some additional habitat conservation work to be carried out without having to try and find the cash from any revenue source no matter how small. :p


So its a win -win solution if only it was a reality.




Plus my 6 year old truck and 5 year old quad would get replaced :lol: :lol:


Ah, if only!!!!!!!
 
DaveG said:
stone said:
Dave said:
You couldn't give me the name of this £60 a pheasant shoot could you as I'd like to talk with the head keeper and find out how they manage to get away with charging that amount. I wish I could, it would certainly sort out the shoot budget for next year. I might even get a new truck and quad out of it :D
yes greed is always a serious consideration in the budget for next year :evil: :lol:

Its got naff all to do with greed stone. It has everything to do with solving the constant necessity to make do and mend, and would allow for some additional habitat conservation work to be carried out without having to try and find the cash from any revenue source no matter how small. :p


So its a win -win solution if only it was a reality.




Plus my 6 year old truck and 5 year old quad would get replaced :lol: :lol:


Ah, if only!!!!!!!
i am still confused here as why would you want to speak to the head keeper selling pheasant shooting for £60 so you can see how you could manage to get away with charging that amount as you hav already given me part of the answer along with the ever rising prices of poults, feed, drugs,fuel, leases, keepers wage etc etc
all you hav to do is charge more as it looks like you run it as a buisiness , from what i understand this is how buisinesses work pass the rising cost to their buyers
job done
 
if people are soft enough to pay £60 a bird let them carry on.i have just had 2 days walked up shooting for nothing,my legs were dropping off but i can remember every thing i shot more than these spending thousands on a day can say.lets just hope that some of this easy cash does go back into the countryside and conservation.they are raking it in charging that amount unless they are paying way over the top for the rent of the land in the first place.which i know happens .if they are paying that i might set a shoot up.
 
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