Shooting
(or Hunting as our American friends term it) in Great Britain falls
into four main categories:
Driven
Game Shooting
Roughshooting
Wildfowling
Deer
Stalking
Driven Game Shooting is normally undertaken
by teams of between 8 and 10 Guns who stand at numbered pegs
or in numbered butts. The game - usually pheasant, partridge
or grouse - is driven towards the Guns by a squad of beaters
who, under the direction of a gamekeeper, have the task of
ensuring that the birds fly as high and as fast as possible.
Many driven shoots take place on estates that have, for many
generations, been laid out so that the game birds can be
presented in the most sporting fashion to really test the
shooting skills of the Guns.
Roughshooting is
often practised by a single Gun or a small group of friends
"walking-up" game birds and mammals in fields, small woods and
hedgerows. They will normally shoot over trained dogs and the
"bag" although modest in overall size, may contain a large
variety of species such as pheasant, partridge, woodcock,
snipe, ducks, woodpigeon, rabbits and hares.
Wildfowling is the
sport of shooting wild ducks and geese on the foreshores,
marshes and estuaries below high tide mark. The term is
sometimes erroneously used to include decoying ducks and geese
inland or flighting them from inland waters. For more
information, visit the
Wildfowling Page.
Deer Stalking is
practised with a rifle and may take place on mountains, where
the principal quarry will be red deer, or in woodland, where
the most common species is roe deer. Other species that may be
hunted include sika and fallow deer.
Visitors,
whether from within the UK or from overseas, will find the best sport
by contracting with a reputable sporting agent or guide. Here are some
of the best:
Hendry
Ramsay & Wilcox are long-established experts at catering
for all tastes and requirements. They specialise in pheasant, grouse
and partridge shooting and deer stalking in Scotland and also offer
packages in Europe, Iceland, Africa and South America. The website
contains information about UK shooting seasons and one of the best online
country stores on the Internet.
If you have any questions
about game shooting or wildfowling in Britain the best place to have
them answered online is the
discussion
forum,
And
do remember that the best selection of books about shooting in the
United Kingdom and worldwide is available at great discount prices
from the
Country
Sports Bookshop.
