Why Kill Pheasants?

Unknown said:

I am going to get a reputation for have views slightly different to the rest of RSPB members on these forums but nothing could be further from the truth.

I tend to agree with Sooty.   I do not shoot, hunt or fish and have no wish to but you have to take this in context. Shooting pheasants is not something that is done in isolation.  Lots of things are shot as vermin (rats, foxes) or for control (deer).   So is shooting wrong in its own right.   Pheasants, grouse and partridge are all shot as wild birds, some released and some shot for sport and some for food.

Fishing consists of taking fish out of its natural environment on a hook yet a lot of people do it and enjoy it.

Pheasants are sold in the same shop as beef, veal, lamb, chicken and rabbit.  Not many of those are wild and some of those don't necessarily have a good life in our terms.   If you watch 'Lambing Live' don't forget those farmers aren't doing it for the aaah factor, the end result for that tame animal is your Sunday dinner.

If you are a vegan or vegetarian I can totally understand.    All I am saying is don't take this subject in isolation.  The critics of organisations such as the RSPB, RSPCA say 'They got rid if hunting they will be after shooting next and then what'.

I had now better sit back and wait for the reaction.

 

I'm sort of with you and Sooty on this one (oh no Sooty, we're agreeing!).

I personally do not agree with shooting for sport, but those pheasents that are shot end up on someones plate, either directly from the shoot or at a butchers, and pheasent around here doesn't tend to sit around in the butchers long!  When I worked in the pub we had birds from the shoot brought straight in for other pub-goers who had them on order, so they aren't wasted.  So does it really matter if the person is doing it for fun as long as the bird is put to good use afterwards?  I don't see pheasent shoots any differently to the way any other meat ends up on the butchers counter - it was all once a living, breathing animal they just get there in different ways.  Pheasent shoots do provide a big boost to the economy and what do you think would happen to the land these shoots occur on if there weren't used for the shoots? They'd be turned over to farmland, pasture or even worse, developed in the blink of an eye.  Let's face it, no land that isn't making money will be left for long and developers are always hungry for more territory.  Not to mention, it is a back-up for many farmers should they have a bad crop season (like this winter that damaged a lot of brassicas) they can still make something from the shoots.  Without these shoots many more farmers would be going out of business due to poor seasons because they have no back-up to get money in.  Sure, there are big posh estates that have the shoots, but a lot more than them benefit from the shoots.  Let's face it, the people going to the shoots have to stay somewhere, eat somewhere, shop somewhere and while it may sound unpleasent to some, it is a lot about the economy and the economy benefits from the shoots.

While I personally disagree with shooting for sport, I can accept that it does have wider benefits providing a habitat that might not be there otherwise and a major boost to the economy and therefore I'm not directly against these shoots.  I don't know how many here are vegetarian/vegan - but for those of us that do eat meat, it all comes from somewhere and the pheasent shoots are not really that different to the abbatoir, except the pheasents get to live a bit of a life first.

Darcy N said:

Killing creatures for fun is wrong, WRONG.

Well - I'll go one step further and say that killing ANY creature for ANY reason at all is totally wrong. They have as much right to life as us.

CJ

Killing humanely for food is mmmmmmm, acceptable.

killing, eventually, for fun and food. No!!!!! 

I never go shooting so would not like to give the appearance of supporting it but it is a definite fact beyond question that songbirds etc do so much better on managed pheasant shoots than anywhere else that in a way gives them a chance for a good defence.

Really like it Kat when we agree but we can disagree quite often without falling out and like that bit as well. 

michael s said:

I never go shooting so would not like to give the appearance of supporting it but it is a definite fact beyond question that songbirds etc do so much better on managed pheasant shoots than anywhere else that in a way gives them a chance for a good defence.

Really like it Kat when we agree but we can disagree quite often without falling out and like that bit as well. 

Could be a side effect of them benefiting from the food that is put out for the pheasents though.  Let's face it, they put out a lot of food for those pheasents.  There are the pens not far from here where they have the little houses for the pheasents and when there is fod out there are always loads of birds down - pretty impressive for a conifer forest as there isn't really much there away from those areas where the pheasents are fed.  Sometimes the odd red squirrel.

michael s said:

"it is a definite fact beyond question that songbirds etc do so much better on managed pheasant shoots than anywhere else that in a way gives them a chance for a good defence.

That may be true Sooty but it is still interfering with nature, don't you think?

Songbirds have survived for many years before shoots were invented.

I admit that we interfere with nature in many ways including feeding birds in our garden. But helping them out through harsh winters is, in my eyes, a lot less culpable than creating environments where it is a sport to kill birds for the table or otherwise.

I'm also very happy to disagree amicably xx

Pipit