Not the usual finding a shoot question

[partyboy]

I live in Northampton and have been looking for a shoot for a while now, ive visited about 20 odd farms so far but no joy, most already have people shooting on them or are owned by the two main estates in the area and as such are a no go.

I fully intend to carry on looking and knocking on doors, my question is this, Where else can people recommend i go looking apart from farms, i thought about maybe riding schools. Can anyone think of other places i could try to find a shoot?

Also my time is very limited and finding the time to visit places is quite hard at the moment, has anyone had any luck over the phone or in writing or is the face to face option better where possible?

Thanks

Graham

[Gary C]

Hi mate.

Personally..and it is purely personal..

I'm ugly with a rough Northern accent. I don't scrub up well. Mailshots have proven a reasonable way for me (1 in 50 success rate). This means producing a reasonably professional kit and sending it out. I'm happy to mail you samples of mine.

Visiting personally if you're a charmer is great. Sammie got us 3 shoots in a day. But as you said it's time consuming and soul destroying. Personally I'd drive round and look for vermin activity. If there is none - the farmer isn't going to want you shooting and you don't want a dead piece of land to tie you down anyway. If you see some it's a good in "sorry to bother you but while having sex with your sheep / cow / daughter (delete as appropriate) I saw xxxxxxx munching your crops. I do vermin control...blah blah blah..
Have your insurance and look smart.


Good luck, it's a ****ty job

[Baldie]

This may come down to how large your circle of friends and aquaintences might be.......

Someone is going to be shooting the land. It would be unusual for it not to be. Have you walked around the land looking for rabbit problems? Have you seen, or talked to anyone else out shooting?

Are you a member of a club, and have met someone who shoots on the local land? If you know people who ride (horses), this can lead to opportunities. [Rats like stables, so my riding sister-in-law tells me].

Getting land can be a bit like getting a job, in that you may need to get a bit networked. There must be people on here who shoot in your area. Most BBS'ers will help those interested in the sport, perhaps a gentle approach to them may lead to something?

Good luck with your search. Seems like you're putting the effort in.

[Scarecrow]

Other people on here shoot on golf courses, so that might be another avenue to explore.

[Bomag]

Try and find the local Gamekeepers (your local gunshop may be able to help out here) and speak to them.
You'll proably need to do a seasons beating before they let you shoot over the land though. Use this time beating to get to know the land, and where the rabbit problems are

[benjrichardson]

I am having the same sort of problems, stopped shooting for a while due to other commitments and now I am having a nightmare trying to find somewhere to shoot, tried writing nice letters e.t.c but didn't get any replies.
Is there a way to find out who owns/ farms what land available? as there is a lotofland around here that I don't know who owns it

[chefdave]

Go to www.yell.com and type in farmers and your county and it will give you a list of farms and the names of who owns them.As for what land is theirs i did find a site which had aerial photos and had different colours for each farm but for the life of me i cant find it again

hopefully this is some help?

dave

[partyboy]

Cheers for the replies lads,

Ive been using yell.com and if i do decide to send out letters that'll come in very useful.

Ive spoken to a couple of people who have suggested people i could try but have had no joy, think i should maybe venture further out into the sticks all the farms local to me seem to have people falling over each other to shoot the land. Problem is the two estates (Herrod-Wake and Hesketh) seem to own almost all the land local to me. I did ask a farmer who works on one of the estates if it would be worth trying to get in touch with the gamekeeper and he told me id be pissing into the wind because he doesnt even get an invite to shoot other than on his own farm

Didnt think about golf courses, i'll look into that one

Cheers again

Graham

[Geordie]

The trick for you mate, would be to get in on one of the estates.

Find the keeper, introduce yourself, and explain that you'd like to do some pest control for him if he needs it.

Chances are he'll either tell you to come back in xx weeks to see if you're keen, or *maybe* give you a chance with a small job.

If you can find a friend of a friend that knows him, so much the better - a personal recommendation beats letters etc hands down

Good luck though mate - it took me 6 months to get my shoot, but it was worth it!

ATB,

Dan

[welsh shooter]

also try the local fisheries

[avion]

Have you ever thought about factories?

I got two companies that I clear out for. One is a metalwork fabrication setup, and the other a machining shop. They actually approached me, I often setup my scope zero in my own workshop, and asked me to take care of all the pigeons that were messing over everything.

Every couple of weeks I make a turn and clear them out.

Just a thought.

[partyboy]

Cheers all,

Some good suggestions, guess i have a lot of work to do

Ta,
Graham