Opinions requested re:Pheasant Shoot

[Sparky]

I was supposed to participate in a pheasant shoot back in March,
It was to be a tower shoot with the birds hand thrown from a 15 ft. tower. The shooters were placed about 35yds. from the tower in a circle,
After thinking it over a good bit I opted out. My reasoning was it was NOT a hunt. It was sort of skeet with live targets I suppose. I'm not a great moralist or anything close, but something bothered me about the set up. There were no dogs involved. No "chase" if you will, Just birds being flung into flight and shot at.
I was also a bit concerned, shall we say, when the host explained that the bird launcher(?) had often to duck on the tower due to a trigger happy guest shooting just as the bird cleared the tower. Sounded like a scenario i didn't need.
I figured what the hell! If the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise i'll have a chance to HUNT the regal ringneck next year.
I'm just sort of wondering about your thoughts on the matter.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Hmmph. (looking down my nose)

Sounds both unsafe (for the launcher person) and unethical to me. Good on you for opting out.

"Hunting" involves "seeking" not just killing.

 

[dave3006]

It is the equivalent of paying for sex. Not my thing.

 

[birddog]

By way of disclosure, I occasionally hunt preserve birds to give my dogs some off-season work. Some people consider that unethical, too. I consider it fun. We all have to draw our own lines.

That said, I've witnessed one of these tower shoots and heard about others. IMO, they're unethical. You might as well be shooting clays if you know where the birds are coming from. The element of "hunting" has been completely removed from this...activity. And, knowing one of the guys who was tossing the birds, safety considerations were at or near ZERO and he was peppered several times. NOT good for the sport of hunting.

 

[Sparky]

I hunted quail on this preserve and had a great time. The birds were hard flyers by and large and the dog work was excellent. The quail hunt is how i found out about the tower shoot. I have to own up to the fact that i was pretty curious about it first and planned to take part. In the end though, the more i thought about it, the less i liked the whole concept.

I have no regrets about cancelling.

 

[ID_shooting]

Doesn't sound like my ball of wax either. I think "fair chase" is the key element missing. I mean, if it were that easy, it wold be called killing instead of hunting.

 

[client32]

"Hunting" involves "seeking" not just killing.

Well stated.

I wouldn't ever take part in this because it is past my comfort level. I don't know that I will call this type of thing un-ethical. As stated, everyone has their own line. But I definatly wouldn't consider it "hunting". I think your term "Pheasant Shoot" is the correct way to describe this.

I also agree that it seems to be a dangerous situation. If you are in a full circle around the tower, I would worry about my own saftey.

 

[12-34hom]

Sparky, ya done good!

12-34hom.

 

[Art Eatman]

This particular deal doesn't sound all that good, from either ethics or safety.

John Ross gives a good description of a pigeon shoot in his "Unintended Consequences".

Dunno about nowadays, but having guys throw pigeons by hand for the shotgunners was once a great game in Mexico.

All in all, though, since I don't have to depend on wild game for my basic food supply, I'm into "fair chase or forget it" in my hunting or shooting of critters...

Art

 

[TrapperReady]

There's a nearby place I sometimes use to put my dog over some preserve birds. A couple times a year it has a "European-style Tower Shoot". They've got one field set up with a central tower and 10 (I think) stations around it. From a safety standpoint, the folks have to shoot at the birds as they fly away, so there isn't an issue with peppering the guy in the tower.

However...

It just seems wrong to me. Preserve birds are one thing, although I almost always make a point of calling that "shooting" instead of "hunting". However, someone taking pen-raised birds and hurling them off a tower like some sort of feathered clay target definitely crosses the line for me.

FWIW, the first time I heard about one of these "shoots", I commented rather loudly that I thought it was a load of [stuff]. There were a few guys hanging around the clubhouse who "corrected" me and explained what great fun it was. I later overheard the same guys talking about shooting pheasants on the ground "'Cause they sure didn't want to fly."

Didn't surprise me much.

 

[Smokey Joe]

"sportsmen"

Unfortunately, most human activities are infested with a few induhviduals (intentional misspelling) who just don't get it, and who make the rest of us look bad. I hope and pray that there are fewer of those in the shooting sports than in some others.

BTW, re. having pen-raised birds released for dog training is a whole nother consideration. The main emphasis is to train the dog, but besides that, there IS a whole lot of "seeking" going on in this instance, not just "shooting." Everybody has to draw their own line in the sand; to me, dog training is a good thing. It's not quite hunting, but then when you do go hunting, you have a dog who knows its business that much better. Having a well-trained dog along makes any hunt that much more enjoyable, as well as more humane. I've known guys to happily take their dog out so others could do the gunning, just for the fun of handling the dog. And of course the dog loves any outing, especially one that involves sniffing out feathery creatures, and being able to fetch them.

And incidentally, have you ever seen a more sincere look of contempt than the one you get from a German Shorthair Pointer when you miss the bird he has so diligently found and pointed for you? The dog will forgive you right away, and go sniff up another bird, but for that one moment, "Human, you are lower than a snake's belly! You'd have to look up to find worms!"
There are so many people to whom I'd love to give a look like that!

 

[Art Eatman]

Thinking about this some more, I guess it falls into the category of one of those things I don't care to do, but I'm not gonna yawp against those who do it. It does sorta tie into the dividing line of those I'll invite home for dinner, vs. those I won't.

I'm not talking about the dog-training stuff, here, not at all.

Anyhow, my attitude about shooting pen-raised birds is sorta like watching cockfights. I don't bet on them, and I wouldn't make a regular thing of going, although they're sorta interesting. But, I'm not gonna get all riled up against it. "It's just a (bleeping) chicken!" People do stuff. I don't have to do what other folks do...

But I'm strongly against dog-fighting; that seems really low-rent, to me. I want no part of the deal or the people.

Art

 

[sm]

I turned down an invite some years ago for this type of Pheasant shoot.
I turned down the invite moreso because of the quality [ lack of] the folks inviting me. I do not forget loaded guns pointed at me while the guy is drinking in a duck blind, or these folks trying to shoot running deer on the way out from the blinds...I had hiked out BTW and left...only to see this site...

Now training dogs, I have observed this, just something about a dog doing what bred to do gives me a grin. I've assisted with the pups, using primer only shotshells, even a pup with them big Soulful eyes " listen I pointed, I heard a shot, but nothing fell...what is your problem? " Then back to work they go...them paws too big for their small size...

Live Bird Shooting, i.e. Columbaire,Live Pigeons and such. *ahem* Word is north of Mexico and such this occurs *ahem* . If you ever get to see how this is done, the thrower "throw"...well you owe it to yourself to actually see how this is done. It is an artform in itself. Tradition, respect and Talent. That 25 yd circle is *not* that far .

I learned thru some UC and such more than I wanted about Dog fights, them folks are flat dangerous. Now the cock- fights , yes interesting. There again there are some folks just having some fun. You have a "bad element" that does this too. Organized bad element and can be more dangerous than the dog fights...

Put it this way I started a fight with a UC [on purpose and planned] to get him out of a bar where these folks hung out. We both "went to jail" [ not really] beats the bayou, these guys don't break legs, they feed gators.

One of education dealies you don't get from a textbook in a bldg with "Education" on the namelate.

Some folks I stay away from, Pheasant shoots like this one sounds like a accident waiting to happen.