I'm a Gamekeeper based in the UK, AMA!

Do you think the type of person who shoots has changed over the last 15 years I shot pigeions and went wild fouling occasionally shot pheasants with my dad when I was a kid and most people seemed quite normal country types but was talking to a mate who said these days it's a lot more London banker types also what do you think of the guns on your shoot

>>20041
Most certainly.

Nowadays I'd say at least 80% of our clients are more often than not city folk and mostly work in some sort of financial background.

It's a shame but I feel that especially on our Pheasant, Duck and Partridge shoot you'll rarely see farmer Brown from down the lane. I've heard this from many other keepers throughout the UK and it's general consensus that due in part to how much some of us charge per bird (£30-£50) it seems out of reach for the ordinary person. Although our shoot holds 'invite days' where keepers invite friends and family to shoot, most people don't really get the exposure to game shooting the same way I did when I was much younger (3-4ish, im 20 now)

Pigeons and wildfowling still remain some of the best sport, pigeons especially. They're such an unpredictable quarry that although you know when and where they're going to come in from, you have no clue how they'll do it.

Most keepers, excluding most I know but perhaps that's our mentality, treat the father and son shooting pheasants for fun as poaching, which it's certainly not. But as long as you shoot them after the season ends, you'll be doing us keepers minimal harm as long as you stick to shooting cocks. (we need those precious hens for laying)

Thanks for the question!

Fellow UK fag, own 100 acres in Scotland. Surrounded by lots of forests.

I mostly shoot deer and fox, shot a few ducks + pigeons. I like the idea of going on a shoot but it seems awfully expensive.

What do you shoot with? How far are you comfortable with taking down a deer? I personally wouldnt go beyond about 250yds

>ama
What is a gamekeeper?

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>>20043
Fuck you cunts when I 3D print my assault rifle I'm taking out all of you theiving bastards in the highlands.

>>20044
It's like the TV licience police only they charge you money for killing an animal

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>>20040
Do you have a land roverer and a big pack of dogs that follows around the land rover as you drive it?

>>20043

Of course it depends on what I'm shooting and the situation.

When I'm in the blind shooting carrions, pigeons etc I normally use my 12 bore Benelli M12, or a 20 bore lincoln premier gold if I'm feeling lazy.

For game/ corporate shoots I'll use a Browning Heritage again in 12 bore and load 32g 6's for partridge and pheasant and 3-4's for duck.

With deer I normally stick to a .243 in the form of the trusty Remington 700, but I've used a .308 when I was on work experience in the south, when I shot my first deer which was a pretty pathetic Roe buck. I brained it at no more than 150 yards with a .308 and the poor little bastard was long gone.

I'd not bother attempting a shot any further than about 200 yards, any further and you risk missing or maiming the animal and that's far too much hassle if a pedestrian finds it in a hedge and calls BASC or the NGO...

Thanks for the question!

>>20047
I wrote off my series 3 landrover that my head keeper in gave me in 2015 when I started, I fucking jack-knifed a trailer of wheat and went down a steep bank. Alas the car was fucked and I busted my right leg.

Now I drive a Ford Ranger, it's beat to all hell and runs like shit but more fool me for crashing a beautiful car.

Nah I own 3 dogs, 2 labs and a springer. The lazy bastards would rather just jump of my fucking lap when I get in. I have often thought of just leaving them out after a shoot to see if they come back, but drakeshead labs are far too much of an investment to just lose. As for the springer, she's a little cunt so whatever.

thanks for the question

>>20044
As a gamekeeper you're normally under the employ of the owner of a large expanse of land otherwise known as an estate. You spend up to 18 hours a day raising fucking birds from eggs, and then when September (Partridge season) and October (Pheasant season) rolls around, you take great delight in charging rich cunts with nothing better to spend their money on up to £70 a bird to shoot.

The average day on our shoot consists of 1,000 bird bags, a bag is the amount shot, we charge around £40 a bird per person so yeah the owner makes a ton. As for the keeper we sit on decent enough wages but nothing extraordinary and rely on tips to buy new guns and cars.

TL;DR: We raise birds to be shot for sport.

>>20040
wage? i'm UK and have thought about gamekeeping before but was told it's not enough £££

>>20051
It is true, the wages are anywhere between 14-20k keepering isn't something you do for the money though, it's done through passion. You'll make an additional 2-3k on tips per season and you normally get a cottage & 4x4 for 'free' you just have to pay utilities on the house and fuel/service/ other car shit for the car.

Here's the deal, you could always go to a college just like I did and study it for a year. I believe it's still done under BTEC, I took mine at level 3 extended diploma and passed with merits (not difficult at all btw) by all means give it a shot if it's something you want to do. Even if you don't go into keeping afterwards you'll take away a huge set of skills both physical and social and a newfound respect for the countryside.

If you're 19+ and don't want to pay for college, go to https://www.gunsonpegs.com/ and see if anybody is looking for a work experience chap or lass and take them up. Most head keepers will be hard on you at first, mine made me cry like a bitch a few times but it's all 'character building' and you'll form bonds with those people that last your entire lives.

Do it.

>>20052
by go to https://www.gunsonpegs.com/ I mean contact the shoots and ask if they're able to take on a work experience, that website is primarily for clients to find shoots.

>>20052
I'm a self employed PT & also help manage a fitness center so i'm currently on £35k+ a year.

the wage cut is alot for me, i've recently got a mortgage so that sucks massively.
i'll keep it in mind though, thanks buddy

>>20054
One last thing on the money, it varies pretty heavily depending on the wealth of the estate.

I'm on an estate of ~3000 acres, and earn ~30k and then whatever tips. I'm not here to convince you but keepers wages are on a case by case basis because of course some more wealthy estate owners can afford to pay their keepers better.

No problem, have fun paying off that mortgage v_v

>>20040
How often are you peppered? I used to throw pheasant and got peppered all the tine

>>20050
You raise them too? Lol here in the US we let the Amish do all the raising, and buy the birds from them

My law firm sends me to york next week. Where's the best place for a hike?

>>20052
20 year old here looking for work over the summer. What kind of person would they be looking for?

>>20058
>
Around the castle walls, then into one of the may boozers

>>20055
>£30k == $37.6k USD.

Eh.

>>20050
£40 == $100/bird

Fuck that!

>>20056
Day 2 of AMA I guess.

I'd say it depends where in the beating line you are for a start. As an underkeeper I tend to bring up the sides which means that until the last 5 minutes of a drive I'm not strictly ahead of the guns so I don't get peppered as much as I used to when I was being taught on that estate as a work experience kid by the headkeeper. Back then I got shot in the hand bringing up the middle of one of our largest drives, the pellet got lodged between my index finger and by god it hurt like hell.

But, sparing the details, probably 3 times a day.

>>20059
First off, if you're working over the summer only you'll be doing some of the hardest labor of your life. Summer is when we clean out the rearing sheds, get rid of shell waste, clean anything that comes into contact with the birds basically. You'll be feeding almost all day so a quad license or a driving license is a necessity because I cant express how painful it is carrying 25kg of wheat on each shoulder for miles at a time to fill 1 feeder.

You have to be physically fit, and able to work long hours with short breaks. When I was 17 working experience there I was about average weight for my age, fuck knows what that was but I was pretty skinny but not bones not sure how to describe it, during the season you'll put on about 10-15lbs of pure muscle just working.

You also need a keen interest in keepering, most headkeepers will expect you to at least know a thing or two about land management, the animals you're working with, pest, predator and game species primarily. You'll need to know how to use/ own a shotgun as a bonus otherwise you're going to have long days of waiting for the keepers to get back if they dont have a spare gun (we've done that to our last 2 WE kids who didn't own guns) and also you'll need to understand that it's a manly world there is no can't about it you'll work until you break and then be ready to do it every single day.

TL;DR someone who is outgoing, with a knowledge of the countryside and most native species. Shotgun license/ safety required you must be physically and mentally fit and a drivers license/ quad bike license helps. Also, get your chainsaw ticket so you can slack off and cut down trees.

>>20040
does it make you sad at how artificial it all is?

>>20062
Wut? Much closer to $50

Do you fuck the lady of the manor?

>>20065
Seeing as we're rearing the birds in the first place, and not buying them in coupled with the fact that we rarely shoot our own birds until the last 2 days of the seasons I don't feel like it's artificial at all.

Artificial would be putting no effort into any of it and buying in your birds to have them shot anyway like if you take out the hardest part of the job, and the majority of the work are you even a gamekeeper? Or just somebody who watches people shoot birds while occasionally feeding them (the birds)

Thanks for the question anyway

>>20067
Given the fact that she's in her late 80's that would be a no. In fact, I've not seen her since before christmas so to my knowledge she's probably kicked it.

>>20064
Thanks for the information. The things I don't have are a driving license (which I expect to have this year) and experience using a shotgun.

>>20061
Used to be == $60k. Fucking Tories.

Is gameshooting a dying sport?

I regularly dine on pheasant because it's fucking delicious, but the only person I know who regularly gameshoots works as a judge in London, he has lots of money, lots of spare time and no kids.

Why is it considered such a sport, anyway?

If I see a pheasant or deer here, it gets splattered on virtue on not belonging here, deliciousness is an added bonus.
>Ausfag

>>20041
Ever heard of a full stop?

>>20074
No what is that something used in Asian countries?

>>20072
I don't think it's a dying sport so much as it is an underexposed one. Unless you grow up in a country background, or care enough about where your food comes from enough to look into it, most people don't even know that game shooting exists.

It's also coupled with the fact that lots of people find it distasteful and so don't wish to take part in it. All in all I'd say it's declining but very slowly and with the rise of a more conservative country (UK) I think that more people will consider it as a valid past time.

>>20073
It's a sport in the same way that skeet shooting is a sport, but the birds are live and unlike clays you can eat them afterwards. Game shooting isn't just about the shooting though, it's mostly about the experience in which the shooting is included.

I'd call it more of a hobby than a sport and that's coming from a keeper, but it pays the bills and keeps the missus happy so hey if they want to call it sport then so be it!

Howdy Ausfag, confused as to whether you're an Australian or Austrian. But seeing as Aussies are still discovering fire, I'll assume you're Austrian ;)