Birds vs deer vs fish

[sh1kar]

Another reflective day on the river today. Itchen. King Fisher Lodge. Can’t recall the new Chinese name. Couple of long time hunting mates with me. Indeed we 3 and another off to Niassa in October so a fair bit of chat ranging from our open sights on the doubles and where the bead sits for a close buffalo to a longer range impala to the long lunch in London post the shambles of getting our visas at the embassy

Anyway. As I was casting to fish I reflected on my hunting in general

Like many I started as a youngster with birds. Air rifle on starlings etc then shotgun rough shooting. Partridge rabbits pigeon etc

Flowing through to small self keepered game days to much bigger driven days as I was able to afford

Stalking started c 25 years ago and Africa about 20 years ago. Moz this year I think is trip no 23 or 24

The fly fishing I only took up around 8-10 years ago. Initially still waters and nymph. Very boring

I then discovered hunting Chalkstream. I live in Hampshire

Driven game I could easily give up stalking so far not

But does fly Fishing surpass it. I am
Beginning to think it might

Watching the river and insect life. Spotting the fish and behaviour - stalking in. Casting the fly (aiming and pulling the trigger). BUT BUT BUT

it doesn’t drop dead like a deer, you are trying to incite a behaviour such that the reaction of the fish enables you to then strike play and land. Read it’s mind

I am
Beginning to think it is more pure and way more tricky then just stalking in!!!

It does take you to some lovely spots. But just not as spectacular as hunting

I think another few years of both and I might make my mind up

Thoughts from those that do both

S

 

[Kjf]

Fantastic,


I truly believe, its because we like to be in.....

our beautiful surroundings,

Where ever it may be ,

I'm with you , my Friend,

Wether it's Rod or rifle

It's about freedom to roam , over OUR lovely country

 

[sh1kar]

Finally On a Klinkhammer. About the fifth fly I presented

 

[TomT3]

I Love my fishing of all disciplines , specimen and fly. Not got round to chalk stream yet but do love a day on the reservoir or indeed stalking on still waters. I get as much pleasure catching a pristine golden 8oz Rudd as I do a 40lb carp! A days fishing is never wasted. There is nothing more exciting than spotting a decent sized fish then casting to it anticipating the bite.

 

[Dunwaters]

The advantage of fishing is that you can generally pop it back to fight again another day.
I love both, but find I’m walking away from more deer as the years go by, once you’ve made the approach the shot should be pretty much a foregone conclusion.
Its the same with bird shooting, I shoot over pointers and once the dog has pointed and flushed the shot should be handy enough. Lots of times I let the bird away, no need to shoot it and I can hunt it again next week if I want, it keeps the dogs guessing.
So catch and release fishing and bird shooting, and moving that way with the rifle.

 

[Bowland blades]

Another reflective day on the river today. Itchen. King Fisher Lodge. Can’t recall the new Chinese name. Couple of long time hunting mates with me. Indeed we 3 and another off to Niassa in October so a fair bit of chat ranging from our open sights on the doubles and where the bead sits for a close buffalo to a longer range impala to the long lunch in London post the shambles of getting our visas at the embassy

Anyway. As I was casting to fish I reflected on my hunting in general

Like many I started as a youngster with birds. Air rifle on starlings etc then shotgun rough shooting. Partridge rabbits pigeon etc

Flowing through to small self keepered game days to much bigger driven days as I was able to afford

Stalking started c 25 years ago and Africa about 20 years ago. Moz this year I think is trip no 23 or 24

The fly fishing I only took up around 8-10 years ago. Initially still waters and nymph. Very boring

I then discovered hunting Chalkstream. I live in Hampshire

Driven game I could easily give up stalking so far not

But does fly Fishing surpass it. I am
Beginning to think it might

Watching the river and insect life. Spotting the fish and behaviour - stalking in. Casting the fly (aiming and pulling the trigger). BUT BUT BUT

it doesn’t drop dead like a deer, you are trying to incite a behaviour such that the reaction of the fish enables you to then strike play and land. Read it’s mind

I am
Beginning to think it is more pure and way more tricky then just stalking in!!!

It does take you to some lovely spots. But just not as spectacular as hunting

I think another few years of both and I might make my mind up

Thoughts from those that do both

S

I fished before i did my first day at infant school , Perch on the canal. went through many decades mad on Pike Fishing, Then Bass from the UK shore with lure and fly . Published a fair bit in the Magazines and books . Moved more into Seatrout and salmon and was bailiff for a Big club and Assistant Keeper for a private stretch. Today i like Night fishing from the shore in winter around the more local area, with occasional trips away .
Shot from about 11 year old air power , Rabbits etc then early days FT , did some more some twenty odd years on and did ok but seriously tricked up Airguns are not for me though i keep a couple for pests and teaching the next generation
Started deerstalking about twenty years back , at times work and money has got in the way but i think that's here to stay as it feed family and friends and the only sport i really can say i still have a good day on even if i dont get or want to take a shot ( the latter is occurring more frequently) . Of course its become a big part of my business as a knifemaker specialising in deer knives and i dont plan on retiring until unable physically in either.
Never really understood how a person can just be interested in one small facet of field sport and do that Birth to death exclusively.

 

[VSS]

Like many, I started out with air rifles as a nipper. Strong instinct to kill, regardless of quarry! Had second thoughts about that whilst still a child, after skinning a rabbit and finding several airgun pellets under its skin - a sobering record of all my "clean misses". Ferreting, too, is something I enjoyed as a child, and I could get back into it if rabbit populations ever build up to reasonable numbers.
I've been shooting shotguns since early teens, but it never really ticked all the boxes for me. A bit too random. My experience of driven game shooting sickened me, mostly because of the people involved. Nowadays I hardly ever pick up a shotgun, except for pest control (pigeons on crops) or HD.
Hunting foxes with hounds I've always found deplorable, but seeing a well-trained lurcher at work on rabbits or hares is amazing. I might give it a go sometime.
Sea fishing I enjoyed, but having also spent a few years fishing commercially (lobster potting) I had my fill of that. I'll still go out in the kayak after mackerel, but that's about it.
Fly fishing I tried for the first time about a year ago. Enjoyable, and I'll go again, but I wouldn't say I'm hooked.
I came late in life to rifle shooting, and so far it ticks all boxes for me. As well as being enjoyable and productive, sustainable deer management sits very comfortably with my general ethos on life. I can't see me giving that up anytime soon.

If the only shooting I could do henceforth were with the 22lr for rabbits and pheasants, and the 270 for deer, I'd remain a very happy hunter.

 

[bogtrotter]

Started fishing around 7 years of age only in hill burns with small trout six to nine inches in size.
Hill burns because they were the only places I was allowed to go on my own , Mother was frightened I would fallin and
drown.
Avid fisher throughout my childhood a little course fishing Pike and Perch but mainly trout.
Airguns from around 10, a friend a farmers son had been given one for Christmas and we spent many happy hours plinking with it.
I begged my parents for one but my pleas fell on deaf ears, my father who was a gamekeeper said he would teach me to
Shoot when I was mature enough and that time was not now.
Dad's intoduction was when I was about twelve and that was to a 12 bore no puny wee gun for me
" if you are going to shoot lad you may as well start as you will go on" loved it I had a permanent bruise on my
shoulder wore it like a badge of honour.
By age thirteen I had free access to shotgun and could come and go with it as I wished, though that came to an end
with a ban for a month or to for shooting a Red Stag, those who have read Changing Times will have seen that tale.
Introduced tp both rimfire and centre fire by age fourteen.
Had decided that when I left school I wanted to follow Dad into keepering no opportunity when I first left so gota job on a small estate handyman some garden work and small wild bird shoot consisted of keeping a few hoppers filled in return
I was allowed to shoot rabbits ,pigeons ,and all legal vermin as and when I felt like ,outside my work hours I should add
all was allowed to carry a gun when the owner and son went for a mooch round for a pheasant.
The estate had a mile stretch of Salmon river on whjch they're employed a full time Ghillie on the river but he was close to retiring and I was to learn the ropes while I was keen on fishig I soon realised I was not so keen on watcing someone else fish especially when stood for hours on a sleety February day hoping they wold hook something so that you would get
some activity and knowing there was little chance of it happening.
Left ths job after a year and went home to help my father again those who have read Changing Times will know all about
this, after a short time at home I landed the keepering job that I had wanted over the years gaining experience in Grouse,
Peasants and Partridge the more I worked with them the less interest I had in actually shooting them didn't have a problem presenting them for others to shoot though.
I still enjoy a day at bolting rabbits be that from ferrets or a couple of hard woring dogs, a Duck flight, or z couple of woodcock over pointers but driven shooting does not appeal that much these days.
In my thirties I got a job as a deerstalker Red Deer on the open hill that is ,I had found my niche! Loved every minute of it
Now in my seventies have had to slown down a bit was still stalking Roe up until Covid but the complications that
brough it has come to an end at least for the moment.
Oh and a year a go I was invited to join a syndicate of young stalkers ( well young compared to me) the majority of whom started stalking with me, I no longer need to shoot deer but will if the need arises but I'm happy to tag along
enjoying the company of like minded people in an environment I love.
Have started sea fishing in the last couple of years nothing exotic just Mackerel ,Pollock, Cod etc. but I enjoy it
Started fishing hill burns again just a light rod and some worms still after all this time my favourite type of fishing.
So with my fishing , stalking, loading ,beatng and picking up I think I will be involved in Field Sports until I fall of my
Perch..

 

[Ratel]

Started wiring rabbits at 8 years old and had fascination with fishing from before that. Catching Minnows and small brownies on our little River together with hunting water voles with terriers and catty. Got a small airgun at 10 and nothing was safe if it was killable. Shot my first Fallow at 14 and killed a left and right at woodcock the same year. Fly fished for river trout all my life and Salmon in later years.
I have shot driven Pheasant, Partridge and Grouse, shot wildfowl on the shore. For a period I was involved with bigger game but thank goodness not for too long.
I still stalk and cast a fly for trout on a river when the chance arises, but rarely now shoot game myself. In the course of what I do I control rabbits and predators.of ground nesting birds and control a transient herd of Fallow together with Muntjac. Nowadays I prefer to watch others stalk or take keen novices out to sit in high seats and it won't be too long before my young chap takes over the job, although I shall always go and sit by our little River on summer evenings, or sit on the higher ground listening to skylarks and watching the "Mad" Hares in the Spring.

 

[big ears]

Driven shooting I can give a miss too. For me it was the friends I shot with not the actual shooting.
Stalking is a solitary pursuit and to be honest whilst I love it if I were told I couldn’t do it again I wouldn’t miss it. What I would miss is guiding others (my children) onto deer.
Fishing is however a different story, initially on the canals and rivers of the midlands, then over 30 years ago I started fly fishing and never looked back. Now I enjoy a day by the river more than anything else. Next week I’m up fishing the mayfly with my brother in Derbyshire. We take it in turns walking up spotting and casting in turn or take a pool each and debrief over a glass later.
For me fishing is the purest form of hunting and I always come away from the river refreshed and with many memories.

 

[Acm]

For me the biggest problem with fly fishing vs stalking is the in my opinion, inferior meat for the table you are left with. For that reason I’d take a roebuck on a summers evening, a red stag on a steep hill or a fast moving drey poked squirrel with my side by side over a fish. That being said, I count myself lucky to be able bodied and have opportunity to do all of them.

 

[Pine Marten]

In my case it's driven quite a lot by the opportunities that different stages of life bring. Fishing was my gateway drug, mostly during summer holidays: it was always easy to access and a thing I could do often by my own near wherever we were. When you're a child, you have plenty of time to kill on holiday and your parents are mostly delighted you've found a way of keeping yourself busy, and I did love it. I can't find a space for fishing in my life nowadays: those vast tracts of time are no longer available, and fishing in a hurry ruins the point. Fish aren't in a hurry. You have to wait them out. Anyway, nowhere round here will let you eat a perch or pike, and to me the end product of food is important. But that's OK, because I've managed to fit in some stalking and shooting around family life now. For about a decade I went on one "proper" driven shoot a year, courtesy of generous friends. I enjoyed it very much and was very grateful (the host remarked that it was a pleasure to invite someone who seemed to enjoy it so much), but even then I always thought there was no way I'd pay for it. It just wasn't quite real. The duck drive was frankly unpleasant. I stopped shooting at the ducks once, it was enough. But I've been on a couple of highly-stocked commercial shoots that were far worse and that I'd rather forget. Still, beggars can't be choosers.

One day, I'm sure there will be space for fishing again, and I look forward to it. Whether anyone comes with me, I don't know. YPM shows little inclination but then he hasn't really had the opportunities either. So for me, fishing was always solitary: no-one else around me was very interested. Stalking isn't solitary in the sense that I'm almost always with someone, but they're specific stalking friends, there's little crossover with the rest of my life, so in that sense it's very much just my thing.

I'm just rambling now. I love them all. They drift in and out of their places according to the vagaries of life. If one vanishes for a bit, I'll be glad that I did it when I could, and look forward to the next thing. If ALL of them vanished, that would be a disaster. They're an integral part of who I am, it would be something akin to grief or heartbreak.

 

[User00035]

I'm going to learn fly fishing. There's so many trout reservoirs and salmon rivers. You can fish all day for wild brown trout for under a tenner. I was up at Cow Green reservoir yesterday. It's two miles long and nearly three quarters of a mile wide and I was the only person visible anywhere on the shoreline. Would have loved to have had a rod with me, even if I didn't catch anything.

And fishing is freedom. You don't need to lock your rods up in a security cabinet, you can by as many as you like and take them anywhere you like without asking permission or notifying the police.

 

[sh1kar]

For me the biggest problem with fly fishing vs stalking is the in my opinion, inferior meat for the table you are left with. For that reason I’d take a roebuck on a summers evening, a red stag on a steep hill or a fast moving drey poked squirrel with my side by side over a fish. That being said, I count myself lucky to be able bodied and have opportunity to do all of them.

Hmm I have not had a bad tasting trout yet. All from chalk stream. I would agree a still water stocky is not the greatest culinary treat. The larger ones go in the Bradley smoker or going forward will make Gravadlax

S

 

[Acm]

Hmm I have not had a bad tasting trout yet. All from chalk stream. I would agree a still water stocky is not the greatest culinary treat. The larger ones go in the Bradley smoker or going forward will make Gravadlax

S

Agreed, they are a delicious treat. However we eat venison 2 or 3 times a week, generally pheasant or partridge once too. Even my six month old eats venison cottage pie!

 

[big ears]

Catching truly wild fish (even the rainbows) like this from places like that. No more needs to be said

 

[kripton]

I will be 82 this year and fishing (particularly fly fishing). is beginning to take precedence over stalking and sailing. My greatest enjoyment is fly fishing for sea-trout, salmon and Arctic char in the clear rivers in Iceland where (if you are stealthy) the individual fish can be seen and stalked particularly with small flies and a 4 weight rod..
Having said this I recollect wonderful early mornings 60 plus years ago sitting on the banks of the Kennet and Avon Canal (before the boats were allowed) when the water was clear and you could see the "avenues" in the weed used by the tench - sometimes a kingfisher would perch nearby (more than once on my rodtip) and if you left a slice of bread beside you it would suddenly slide silently away with a pair of water voles (on reflection more likely rats) dragging it by its corners.
I have always shot, mostly with rifles, first rabbits and ground sitting pigeons with a Walther .22 long rifle then moving up to fox and deer rifles once my eldest son became interested. Now I have added the amateur habit of restocking my own rifles (I do like figured walnut)
As for sailing, I have sailed all my life and built/designed/refurbished various dinghies before building an Elizabethan 30 from hull and deck moulds between 1975-1978. I sold her to the then technical editor of Yachting Monthly in 2000 and he used her for demonstration articles in that magazine. I am now in the process of building an Evolution 25 the moulds for which had been stored in a barn since 1990 - expected (hoped for) launch date approx 2024 all things permitting!!
I have also recently taken up rod building again with my grandson - I used to make a few "bespoke" rods many years ago from blanks but over the years quite good rods have become now relatively cheap and I would rather be fishing.
When asked in the past which hobby was my favourite I would say whichever one I was doing at that particular time.
Now however age is beginning to have an effect and fishing i.e. the more sedate (okay the quietest/slowest hobby,usually on flat ground or in a river) is beginning to take precedence

 

[devon deer stalker]

I'm in a fortunate position, I stalk, I fly fish, both professionally and as my pastime.
Fished all my life, fly fished for 40+ years, stalked for 30 years.
It works well for me, fishing winds down as stalking starts to wind up, and vice-versa.
This time of year I just enjoy the fly fishing, especially for sea trout, my passion.

If I had to chose which one to give up, (age related reason's will make the decision for me) it would be deer stalking, but as I don't, I enjoy both.

Walked up rough shooting, I can take it leave it, but enjoy the friends I go with, driven, nope not for me.

Cheers

Richard

 

[Bo Diddley]

I started out with the air rifle, shooting things like starlings and sparrows in the chicken run . Moved forward to a shotgun, pigeon shooting, then a small game syndicate, then a bigger game syndicate, I don't enjoy that at all anymore. Rifle shooting as a part-time keeper, vermin, and a few Roe back in the day, they were scarce then in Norfolk. Fishing has been with me for as long as I can remember, it's something that takes me to a different place, a calm place usually, fly fishing for wild brownies is my favorite at the minute, but it can also be large pike or carp, but the fly fishing takes you to some lovely places. It's all hunting though and fills a need in folks like us, I couldn't imagine a life without any of it!

 

[Foxyboy43]

Fly fished since I was eight, tied my first fly (cochybondhu) at 10 and still remember the first trout I caught on it! Sequel was as a 13 year old shooting rats with a (totally unlicensed) Webley Junior(?) .177 - no sights fore or aft and working up through 12 bore single then double then rimfire through to centrefire. Not easy pursuing a shooting past time as a young man through 30 odd years of “the Troubles” but Pop (wise beyond words) maintained that my passion/obsession saved me from paramilitaries and the hatred they engendered.
I would put catching a trout on my first fly on a par with shooting my first deer with a homeload. Wonderful memories.
Many deer and a few trout have filled the intervening 60-odd years but my life has certainly been the better for it! I was and still am blessed.