THE BIG BAG ISSUE

Clearly the major issue facing shooting at the moment is an over supply of game to the market. I hugely commend the actions of a number of parties, including the British Game Alliance, the Country Food Trust and Wild And Game.

I do, however, believe that the creation of an increased market, whilst laudable, will not solve the ultimate problem, which is too large bags being shot both commercially and privately.

As I understand it, the cost of processing a pheasant is circa £1.75 to £2.50 a bird once damaged birds are taken into account. In my view, there should be a charge payable on a sliding scale to increase the costs of larger days. This cost should

be enforceable under the code of good shooting practice and can be split however shoots like between paying guns and hosts. Say…

0-200 birds: £0 per bird 201-300: £2 per bird

301-400: £3 per bird

401-500: £4 per bird

501-600: £5 per bird

601-700: £6 per bird

701-800: £7 per bird

801-900: £8 per bird 901-1,000: £10 per bird

1,000 plus: £12 per bird

Those shooting more than 300 birds will be most able to afford the added cost but the effect on shoot profitability and guns’ wallets should act as a disincentive to shoot high numbers. The money would be paid to an organisation such as the British Game Alliance, to ensure all birds are processed, and any excess used to increase the market for game in this country and educate school children about the conservation and health benefits of shooting, cooking and eating game.

Harry Wills Battle, East Sussex

With reference to the letter from Giles Catchpole [June issue] regarding quantities of birds shot, with the greatest respect to Mr Catchpole it is not down to how many are shot in a day, it is what happens to them afterwards.

The excellent articles in the Field talk of the thousands of grouse and pheasants killed in a day by the top shots of the late Victorian/ early Edwardian era, as illustrated in Jonathan Ruffer’s The Big Shots, and it may be that some shoot owners are trying to emulate those events by enticing clients with the promise of “Big bird days” to keep their order books full. My point is this, in the days of the “Big Shots” it was deemed acceptable to shoot such large bags and life being what it was in those days few dared challenge it. But just as big-game hunting has become unacceptable should we consider whether huge bags now come under the same banner?

Today, we are surrounded by vociferous and increasingly militant people, some of whom see this as “rich guys slaughtering innocent birds” and shout about “unwanted pheasants being buried in a field”. One would hope this is rubbish dreamt up by the far left and great unwashed, but recent articles in The Field and other publications have stated that some shoots are having difficulty getting game dealers to accept large quantities of pheasants. If so, where are they going?

The estates that specialise in “large volume commercial shoots” and the game-shooting world in general must start to look at the situation and ask themselves if

huge bags of 600 to 700 plus a day are acceptable in today’s climate. If the answer is yes, then they must be prepared to prove to any accusers that they are disposing of the birds by sale or in a lawful manner. We may dislike having to justify our sport to these people but if we do not it will only give the “antis” more fuel to use against shooters and shooting.

Paul Mercer, Tavistock, Devon