Am I just being a tight git ?

[Cyres]

In the 80s I made a profit shooting pigeons. Cartridges were 10p each and if I breasted out the pigeon each one was worth 50p. I averaged about 1.8:1 so cost me sub 20p each.
Pellets were £2 tin at most.
Air rifle pellets are now criminaly expensive if you follow the fads.
Secret santa got me 12 tins of Crossman premiers .177 for £100.
Not too bad should keep me going for a few years.
D

 

[Bo Diddley]

This was me, as well. I was a weekly clay shooter - 100 sporting with two good friends. It feels like a lifetime ago when that was just about affordable. The only cheap(er) shooting sport I can think of is Air rifle. It’s not about cheap it’s about value, for me. So I still shoot clays perhaps every 6-8 weeks or so but my shotguns will be down to just one or two that can double duty for pest control, soon. I’m happy to blow £40 in ammo at the range and quite a bit more for a stalk with meat at the end of it, but I won’t regularly spend big money any more on shooting, in my retirement and I’ll end my days still angling, long after my guns are gone.

I'll be the same. Hopefully St Peter will let me through the Pearly Gates, clutching a flyrod.
I lost my head with shooting when I was in my early twenties, clay shooting twice a week, and joined two small game syndicates. I spent as much as I was earning, almost. Happy times though.
I've well and truly tamed my shooting, I hardly spend anything on it, foxing, ratting, and knocking over some small deer, all of which cost me nothing apart from ammo and fuel.
I'm not interested in shotgun shooting anymore, I just take my twenty with me when I get roped into feeding the pheasants in the mornings during the early days of the poults arriving.
I was asked last night at the village quiz if I would show someone the basics of flyfishing, so I'll probably loan them a rod so they can practise on their lawn, then maybe have an evening with them somewhere quiet.

 

[Deerhunter22]

Welcome to 2026 have shotgun cartridges always been this price no, they were once considerably cheaper many years back but then so was everything else and pay was much less also then today.

You would need to do the inflation adjusted calculations to know if they really are more expensive today.

Just wait and see what you will be paying for cartridges come April 2029, for non-toxic shot and biodegradable wads.

I’m keen to see what it will be like, though I read apparently the lead rules only apply to professional deer stalkers etc and to activities like Wildfowling or am I wrong and it’s a blanket ban to everyone

Either way Steel is far more in abundance and less weight too so I hope it’s actually going to be less to make and er go less to buy
Hopefully

 

[Deerhunter22]

Il probably spend somewhere between £500 & £1000 on shells just to shoot crows and pigeons on someone else's crops, its extremely enjoyable so I dont mind the costs.
Just started fishing again after a 10+ year break couldn't believe the price of some gear, nowts cheap theses days but you cant put a price on happiness.

I do a lot of Salmon fishing and let me say this DONT the cost of salmon fishing is absurd these days
Really makes me envious of Canada particularly BC where I have friends who pay for a $150 odds permit and fish anywhere and anytime they want and it’s publicly owned rivers
But Ghillie prices for guiding can be through the roof I’m told

 

[WW.]

I do a lot of Salmon fishing and let me say this DONT the cost of salmon fishing is absurd these days
Really makes me envious of Canada particularly BC where I have friends who pay for a $150 odds permit and fish anywhere and anytime they want and it’s publicly owned rivers
But Ghillie prices for guiding can be through the roof I’m told

I'm still galled at myself. As a student in about 2013/2014 I saw an auction online which included two lots, each being rights, in perpetuity, for a week of fishing on Scottish rivers. One was a certain beat on the Dee. The other one I don't recall. Hadn't got much money then so didn't go for them but was kicking myself then and since when they went for under 1k each. I wish I'd bid.

 

[Smellydog]

Of course the real way to shoot cheap is to use something that one can reuse the missiles.

 

[Flash G 74]

Hello, TT 1 x £277 per 1000 in Just Carts, Why are 20b more expensive

 

[Smellydog]

Hello, TT 1 x £277 per 1000 in Just Carts, Why are 20b more expensive

Lower demand

 

[tarponhead]

Lower demand

Try 28b or .410!

 

[CookM]

Baikal Record,
£79.99 a thousand,long gone

And my hearing!

 

[Bo Diddley]

Baikal Record,
£79.99 a thousand,long gone

And my hearing!

Ah! The flames out of the muzzle when you shot ducks over the flight pond at last knockings was something else to see, like the Space Shuttle being launched

 

[Smellydog]

Ah! The flames out of the muzzle when you shot ducks over the flight pond at last knockings was something else to see, like the Space Shuttle being launched

I loved them but yes in low light they did cause temporary blindness.

 

[Drew 3]

Used to use RC1 6’s for everything back in the day. £60/1000. Now your looking at £300 plus for a decent shell, CRAZY

 

[jim37]

I’ve noticed a massive difference in clay shooting there is hardly anyone at clay grounds near me anymore! Personally I’ve been priced out of clay shooting will only be going a hand full of times this year if im lucky although I am lucky as my permission runs along side a river so I get the chance to walk along and shoot at a few ducks along with the a few sessions in the hide after some pigeons and crows .if it wasn’t for my permission i wouldn’t be shooting. Even paid days stalking got expensive although I will be treating myself to a stalk on the hill after a stag this year but that’s a one off for me. And as for fly fishing I fish for brown trout in local rivers day permits are only a few quid I got a fright when I went to a fishery and paid a day rate but people need to make money and I totally understand that

 

[Automan]

Our small syndicate meets once a month it's £12.50 for 50 clays a bacon and egg bap and unlimited tea or coffee bring your own cartridges.

 

[Deerhunter22]

I’ve noticed a massive difference in clay shooting there is hardly anyone at clay grounds near me anymore! Personally I’ve been priced out of clay shooting will only be going a hand full of times this year if im lucky although I am lucky as my permission runs along side a river so I get the chance to walk along and shoot at a few ducks along with the a few sessions in the hide after some pigeons and crows .if it wasn’t for my permission i wouldn’t be shooting. Even paid days stalking got expensive although I will be treating myself to a stalk on the hill after a stag this year but that’s a one off for me. And as for fly fishing I fish for brown trout in local rivers day permits are only a few quid I got a fright when I went to a fishery and paid a day rate but people need to make money and I totally understand tha

I’ve had to reign right in my Salmon fishing, had a syndicate rod for a good price and the beat got sold. So now permanently stuck to buying day rods and I love my salmon fishing buts bloody expensive.
I just feel like the whole UK outdoor world is all just money making these days in a sense. I’ve a friend in Canada who hunts public land, owns many rifles and shotguns and ammo as they want. Fishes prime salmon rivers which are not short on salmon for $160 odd CAD a year.

Always wanted to live in Canada and with the lifestyle I lead I think it’s the place for me like
Really considering it

 

[Bo Diddley]

I’ve noticed a massive difference in clay shooting there is hardly anyone at clay grounds near me anymore! Personally I’ve been priced out of clay shooting will only be going a hand full of times this year if im lucky although I am lucky as my permission runs along side a river so I get the chance to walk along and shoot at a few ducks along with the a few sessions in the hide after some pigeons and crows .if it wasn’t for my permission i wouldn’t be shooting. Even paid days stalking got expensive although I will be treating myself to a stalk on the hill after a stag this year but that’s a one off for me. And as for fly fishing I fish for brown trout in local rivers day permits are only a few quid I got a fright when I went to a fishery and paid a day rate but people need to make money and I totally understand that

And as for fly fishing I fish for brown trout in local rivers day permits are only a few quid I got a fright when I went to a fishery and paid a day rate but people need to make money and I totally understand that

You are quite lucky living in the northern half of the country. I couldn't believe how cheap some of the clubs can be, with miles of fishing and very few people to suffer.
Fishing moving water for Brownies in Norfolk requires a remortgage of the house , shame as it's a lovely way to spend time.

 

[Smellydog]

Glad I've got my muzzleloaders, I can shove anything down them! Even if I have to make it first.