UK Game Season

[TFoley]

I for one totally enjoyed this thread. It is great to learn real information about the UK and not what we hear over here. But here is a question, I know ML shotguns are still used in the UK but do you have to use steel shot for ducks and geese?

Can we just get something straight here? Those of us who shoot game with muzzleloading shotguns do it because we WANT to - same as I enjoy shooting muzzleloading clays - because I WANT to.

It's not because we have to, like its all we have and we are not allowed modern c*******e-shooting shotguns. We enjoy the real challenge of shooting a clay or a live game bird [or even a pest] with a gun that goes klick-whoosh-boom.

 

[11Bravo]

TFoley, please don't take what I said the wrong way. I was only thinking about if I had to put steel through my original 14 bore Westley-Richards caplock. At our clubs skeet range we shoot steel at clays as we are shooting over the Long Island Sound. The club figured to get ahead of the curve and go steel in the 80s. I have been against it from the beginning as fisherman probably lose many tons of lead sinkers each year in the water. I always thought it better to use BP and lead shot and not put those modern plastic wads into the water. We shoot in the winter only when the boats are few, and shooting at 25*F with a 30 MPH wind can be a hoot. I break the rules and I was skeet chairman for 14 years, when I'm making smoke no one asks if it's lead or steel. They like the smoke show.

 

[appalichian hunter]

TFoley, if your going --CLICK-WHOOSE-BOOM seems too me your lock might need some attention, just saying.

 

[TFoley]

TFoley, if your going --CLICK-WHOOSE-BOOM seems too me your lock might need some attention, just saying.

Understooded, Sir. I was merely using verbal licence to indicate a firearm that does, after all, follow that sequence, as opposed to one that simply goes 'bang'.

 

[appalichian hunter]

CHA BOOM

 

[Rudall]

Every mouthful of venison they stick down their necks has been legally shot by a shooter. There are no 'venison farms' here in UK.

Wherever did you get that idea?

 

[Britsmoothy]

Wherever did you get that idea?

There are deer farms in the UK.
There are also deer parks. Enclosed areas, usually private parks with deer. Usually fallow deer.
Some venison is farmed.

 

[TFoley]

There are deer farms in the UK. There are also deer parks. Enclosed areas, usually private parks with deer. Usually fallow deer. Some venison is farmed.

I never knew that. Imagine, just turning up with a gun and running around killing deer. All I know is that if you tried that on my shooting pal Christian's deer park, you'd likely get a load of sixes in the seat of your pants.

 

[GREENSWLDE]

Hi Tom, There is a Deer Farm about 400Yds from my house. Red Deer Farmed for Venison. They also farm European Bison for meat which the farm shop retails as both Vennie-burgers and Bison-burgers together with meat cuts. I'm also about 15 miles from Donnington Park (Red & Fallow deer) and there is Packington Park, Meridon which has both Red & Fallow .. ALSO pleased to say Both my Flint Shot Guns GO BANG, not click- woosh -- bang.. No offence intended.. OLD DOG..

 

[Britsmoothy]

I never knew that. Imagine, just turning up with a gun and running around killing deer. All I know is that if you tried that on my shooting pal Christian's deer park, you'd likely get a load of sixes in the seat of your pants.

I use to help thin the fallow deer at Newport Park, Shropshire.
Near by was a red deer farm also.

To be fair, most are shot just the same as the wild deer.

 

[Robby]

Of all the exotic imported here, intentionally and not, causing so much destruction, to our waters, trees and even wild life, I wish some one had imported fallow deer, fully quarantined before export. To me they are one of the most interesting of the deer species. How do they taste?
Robby

 

[TFoley]

Hi Tom, There is a Deer Farm about 400Yds from my house. Red Deer Farmed for Venison. They also farm European Bison for meat which the farm shop retails as both Vennie-burgers and Bison-burgers together with meat cuts. I'm also about 15 miles from Donnington Park (Red & Fallow deer) and there is Packington Park, Meridon which has both Red & Fallow .. ALSO pleased to say Both my Flint Shot Guns GO BANG, not click- woosh -- bang.. No offence intended.. OLD DOG..

Well, I know about the bison reserve just outside Corwen, and the odd ostrich farm...here and there. Over here in the East we also have large parks filled with tasty animals of various models. However, they are invariably also filled with animals that think that WE are equally tasty. Woburn Safari Park is our nearest.

As for my comment about muzzleloaders and the click-whoosh-bang, that was meant to be vaguely amusing, and, indeed, it was, to some. I'll put up a smiley face emoji to give fair warning that the post might well contain an attempt at humour - that way nobody can take my comment seriously.

Here's a sample, so that you'll know what to look for -

 

[oldwood]

Feltwad............What is your population of predator birds like that feed on the game species where you hunt???? Here in the north central woods of Pa. , or Penn's Colony if you like , we are over run with hawks and owls. Our game comm. stopped legal shooting and trapping of predatory birds over 60+ yrs. ago and that along w/ West Nile virus , I think , has destroyed the natural small game here in the big woods, Also , the state has stocked Fishers (pine martin's) , a type of giant weasel here that lives on small game. It's all a loosing proposition. ..............oldwood

 

[Britsmoothy]

Of all the exotic imported here, intentionally and not, causing so much destruction, to our waters, trees and even wild life, I wish some one had imported fallow deer, fully quarantined before export. To me they are one of the most interesting of the deer species. How do they taste?
Robby

Not bad, one buck I had the meat was tenders and the juices made a wonderful gravy.
An old doe I should of soled boots with!!
They like eating wheat and barley. Acorns too. They can get quite fat.

 

[GREENSWLDE]

Well, I know about the bison reserve just outside Corwen, and the odd ostrich farm...here and there. Over here in the East we also have large parks filled with tasty animals of various models. However, they are invariably also filled with animals that think that WE are equally tasty. Woburn Safari Park is our nearest.

As for my comment about muzzleloaders and the click-whoosh-bang, that was meant to be vaguely amusing, and, indeed, it was, to some. I'll put up a smiley face emoji to give fair warning that the post might well contain an attempt at humour - that way nobody can take my comment seriously.

Here's a sample, so that you'll know what to look for -

here used to be an Ostrich farm down by Rissigton in the Cotswolds.I realised the Click Fizz baaang was a wine-d up. Was just making a comment..

 

[Feltwad]

Feltwad............What is your population of predator birds like that feed on the game species where you hunt???? Here in the north central woods of Pa. , or Penn's Colony if you like , we are over run with hawks and owls. Our game comm. stopped legal shooting and trapping of predatory birds over 60+ yrs. ago and that along w/ West Nile virus , I think , has destroyed the natural small game here in the big woods, Also , the state has stocked Fishers (pine martin's) , a type of giant weasel here that lives on small game. It's all a loosing proposition. ..............oldwood

Yes hawks take a fair share of game birds and chicks here also but they are protector ,Crows ,magpie and jackdaws are the main culprits these are all pest and can be shot all the year.
Feltwad

 

[TFoley]

Traditionally, hunting in Europe was the sole domain of the aristocracy and nobility. Hunting (and especially salmon fishing) remains somewhat expensive compared to other hobbies or lifestyles in The Isles, and it can be very expensive if you want that kind of high end experience there. It is still different from how we hunt here, almost the opposite, except that in the end it’s a projectile that terminates the critter and brings it to hand. Fortunate are those in Scotland and Britain who can easily go hunt without the fuss and expense.

It's true, mostly. You really need a certain level of lifestyle to go shooting deer in UK. Scotland, of course, IS part of the island of great Britain, and has far more deer-hunting- stalking it's called here - than the rest of UK combined. Remember that it is also by far the least-populated part of the UK - by a factor of around at least ten to one.

Let's say that the US shooter is after a decent-sized whitetail.

In the USA, most everybody has legal access to a suitable rifle of one kind of another to go shoot a deer. Even a hand-gun, TBH, if they REALLY felt their wood- craft skills were up to it.

And let's assume for the moment that we are talking about BP muzzleloading-type shooting.

They walk into a store in any of the states where a BP rifle is not a even classed as a firearm, buy it along with the necessary supplies, draw a tag for the ML deer season, and go shoot it. Paperwork? A state tag, and maybe a hunting license, just maybe.

How would they do it it UK?

Simple.

They wouldn't.

A number of us here who live in UK have explained, quite often, it seems, that in UK you can't go shooting live game bigger than a rabbit with a black-powder shotgun, but no black-powder m/l rifle is deemed suitable to take anything bigger. And since you can only have a rifled firearm for 'good reason' and deer-stalking is not an acceptable 'good reason' because of the perceived lack of oomph inherent in ANY muzzleloading rifle, you are, not to put to fine a point on it, stuck.

As for unmentionable rifles being used, sure. Youtube is loaded with articles on deer-shooting/stalking here in UK.

 

[pamtnman]

 

[GREENSWLDE]

It's true, mostly. You really need a certain level of lifestyle to go shooting deer in UK. Scotland, of course, IS part of the island of great Britain, and has far more deer-hunting- stalking it's called here - than the rest of UK combined. Remember that it is also by far the least-populated part of the UK - by a factor of around at least ten to one.

Let's say that the US shooter is after a decent-sized whitetail.

In the USA, most everybody has legal access to a suitable rifle of one kind of another to go shoot a deer. Even a hand-gun, TBH, if they REALLY felt their wood- craft skills were up to it.

And let's assume for the moment that we are talking about BP muzzleloading-type shooting.

They walk into a store in any of the states where a BP rifle is not a even classed as a firearm, buy it along with the necessary supplies, draw a tag for the ML deer season, and go shoot it. Paperwork? A state tag, and maybe a hunting license, just maybe.

How would they do it it UK?

Simple.

They wouldn't.

A number of us here who live in UK have explained, quite often, it seems, that in UK you can't go shooting live game bigger than a rabbit with a black-powder shotgun, but no black-powder m/l rifle is deemed suitable to take anything bigger. And since you can only have a rifled firearm for 'good reason' and deer-stalking is not an acceptable 'good reason' because of the perceived lack of oomph inherent in ANY muzzleloading rifle, you are, not to put to fine a point on it, stuck.

As for unmentionable rifles being used, sure. Youtube is loaded with articles on deer-shooting/stalking here in UK.

Hey Tom, I have regularly shot Peasants with My flint guns and a W.Powell Pin fire lift lever & Adams C/F under lever unmentionable for over 1/2 a century using Black powder as have others you and I know from the MLAGB.. As far as I know there is NO restriction on the use of Smooth bore B/P Guns to shoot Game other than B/P Rifles for DEER or any thing else apart from Targets in U.K which is another of Our Rediculous Game restrictions. Thousands of Deer were shot and killed with .45" M/L and early B/P rifles before Nitro ever existed. OLD DOG

 

[pamtnman]

Here we go, the Brits shooting peasants again