Have a look at this machine that lobs clays towards grouse butts in ways that somewhat match the flight of Red Grouse packs over the shooters. I’d be interested to hear how similar the shooting experience is from those who blast grouse out of the air.
Could this replace ‘real’ grouse shooting? I somehow doubt it although the losses of clays to Red Foxes and Hen Harriers would be very low.
What is touched upon in the video is the possibility that this could extend the season. The use of a machine like this on an SPA or SSSI in the breeding season would be an interesting development which the law may not so far have imagined.
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Its hard enough now Mark to get out into the countryside and not hear the incessant bang of the shotgun in the shooting season for grouse, pheasant and partridge without encouraging an even longer period of this sound and lead pollution.
Surely anything that allows estates to have a longer season and therefore make more money is not going to help lead to the demise of driven grouse shooting.
I’ve never been clay pigeon shooting, so can’t claim any great knowledge, but I’ve ended up picking up the pieces while involved in beach cleans. The “clays” in that instance were actually plastic. If this is now the norm having thousands of bits of plastic left on the moors can’t be a good idea, and I doubt the anyone is going to pick them all up.
Nor the lead shot.
The chap in the video refers to the ‘dream of grouse shooting’. Grouse shooting is aspirational. This contraption removes the exclusivity (ensured through it’s cost) of the real thing and will never replace it on the moors. As Matthew say’s it will more likely be an additional revenue stream – why not plonk them somewhere easier to access to give a ‘cheap seat’ option?
If this is to be the future of Shooting they will want to do.it all year round. He was talking of Shooting in April. What then, for any chance for Wildlife to thrive.
Correction to my earlier comment.
Most manufacturers and retailers don’t say what “clays” are made of, however after a bit of research it seems as if the majority are made from a mixture of limestone and petroleum pitch. Pretty sure they don’t biodegrade as some manufacturers off biodegradeable “clays” in addition to standard ones. Even if they aren’t plastic they probably aren’t good for the environment if left lying around in small pieces.
Paul Irving is absolutely ‘bang on’ with his comments! My wife and I rent a cottage in the middle of a private country estate which is the home of a pheasant shoot. We hear guns throughout the year- during the pheasant season, at the end of the season (pigeons), during the evenings(keeper shooting foxes) and every other Saturday morning (local clay pigeon club). The annual weight of lead flying into the air must be very substantial. Complain about noise or the hundreds of pheasants pecking holes through my shed roof felt of scratching up my vegetable plot and being labelled “a towny” who doesn’t understand ‘country ways’ ensues!
Bill there is only one way to solve the problem of the pheasant destroying your shed roof or garden and it has an added bonus you can eat them! We trap them in the chicken run or I head shoot them with the air rifle. They are an absolute menace in the garden eating everything they are trash birds!
Is this serious?
Sounds like a very bad idea. One can imagine the continual noise of shooting while Hen Harriers are trying to nest or look for food. This scare them off well and truly.