Not quite big Game but a very thought provoking article, the principles of which apply to any form of sustainable use hunting. Wing Shooting in South Africa is at a cross roads. But thankfully this new organisation has stepped in appears to have emailed this to a large database, many shooters and hunters that I know have received it and I thought it worth sharing. Who knows what may become from small beginnings.....I am not the author



I have been wing shooting for the past 31 years and am passionate about our sport and our game birds. I am also a firm advocate of hunting placing a value on birds and encouraging conservation. It is of great concern over the past few years that I have seen alarming new numbers of people starting wing shooting. Whilst this should bode well for the future of the sport and conservation it seems as if it is having the opposite effect.
It is important that any newcomer to the sport be informed of the correct etiquette and whilst the idea of shooting ‘etiquette’ may seem somewhat daunting, really there is no need for it to be. The essence of field etiquette is really quite simple. Be safe, and be sporting. In fact, far from being a pastime heavy in hidden codes and arcane ritual, you will find that most of the unwritten rules are merely a logical means of shooting safely and with pleasure for all.
Not all those new people starting the sport are the problem of not adhering to bag limits and etiquette. I have shot with people who are in their 60’s and 70’s and have been shooting all their lives who pay lip service to bag limits as if they do not apply to them.

There have been reports of bird numbers dropping tremendously in the past years and people hunting on farms and not adhering to the bag limits, particularly all the Francolin species which are very susceptible to over shooting. Other groups have not been able to hunt at all on some of these farms as the coveys are completely wiped out. This is obviously not sustainable.

The bag limits vary from province to province it is up to the wing shooter to find out the bag limits and know them and then adhere to them before they head off shooting. There are in essence three custodians to look after and preserve our game birds:

1. The Landowner
2. The Outfitter
3. The Wing shooter

1. Often the landowner does not have a passion for game birds and no affiliation to wing shooting, he may in some cases see them as a menace or at best a source of additional income (this is where the argument of placing a value on our game birds should help convince him to look after them).

2. The outfitter usually has a passion for the protection of our game birds and it is obviously his source of income. The difficulty for an outfitter is often to tell his clients to stop shooting when the shooting is good and secondly to reduce bag limits or not to shoot at all if the season is bad, often difficult when your livelihood depends on it. But the simple fact is that if an outfitter is firm and honest with his clients he will not kill the goose that lays the golden egg and clients will appreciate his honesty if he drops the bag limits.

3. The buck stops with the wing shooter – they are the ultimate custodian and should have a passion and knowledge of their quarry. It is often up to them to educate both the landowner and unfortunately often the outfitter. The wing shooter is responsible for their bag limit and those that they shoot with. It is unethical and should be frowned upon if one or more members of the group do not adhere to the specified bag limits. This is where a shoot captain should be firm and lay down the rules and requirements of the shoot.

The SA Wingshooters rule is a very good one and simply states:

'IN PROVINCES WHERE NO BAG LIMITS ARE SET, MEMBERS MUST FOLLOW THE SA WINGSHOOTERS¹ SUGGESTED LIMITS OF A MAXIMUM OF 10 LAND BIRDS & A MAXIMUM OF 10 WATERFOWL PER DAY PER HUNTER'.

This is a lot of birds and it is difficult to see why someone would want to shoot more than this in a single day. If someone is interested in high volume shooting Rock pigeons and Doves are the correct quarry. Furthermore I have heard people say that over two days they have shot their bag, this is incorrect – the rule is very simple it is per day and per hunter and the fact that yesterday was not a good day does not mean that you can double up today. Or another way around the rule is that with the amount of guns shooting ‘we got our bag’ (i.e 10 guns means you can shoot 100 birds), this would be correct if everybody shot their full bag – however it does not mean because a team mate shot 5 birds you can shoot 15. The rule is very clear 10 birds per day – there is no room for confusion. Strictly speaking all pricked or wounded birds should be counted as a part of the individual hunter’s bag as they will in most cases die, as obviously should birds not picked up.

The bag limit rule does fall short on bigger shoots where there may be perhaps be 30 guns, in this case it would be advisable to place a limit on the number of birds shot as they do in the UK – i.e. have a 150 bird shoot – effectively halving the individual bag limit. This again depends upon flock or covey size. This would then take care of the difference in individuals’ shooting skills and leave it to the group to decide how the bag is split.

It must be remembered that the days of huge bags of Guinea fowl being shot is not at all fashionable. If one is honest they are also easier game birds to shoot and not as challenging for a good shot. It should also make any wing shooter with any form of ethics not want to be party to such a massacre. Perhaps the day of the ‘Natal Surround’ is over and the Guinea fowl need to be given sporting chance.

The bag limit rules would also fall short with some species – take for instance Greywing. Eight guns shooting 4 birds each in a day is 32 birds – not at all sustainable unless the correct percentage is shot out of each covey and the covey is only shot once in a season. The rule of thumb is to never shoot more than 25% of a Francolin covey and not to shoot birds out of a covey of less than 6 birds. 30% of a flock of Guinea fowl is also the rule of thumb. Sustainability is the key word for ours and future generations if 2 birds is the limit – then 2 birds it must be.

Whilst perhaps my arguments may fall short on scientific data there is no doubt an ethical and moral argument for bag limits and the strict adherence thereof. It is also very easy to over shoot birds by sticking to the bag limits – breeding seasons, species and flock and covey size all play a role. This was never intended to be a scientific paper and more can be read about that in other publications where much research has been done, but our various species of waterfowl, francolin and guinea fowl all have various thresholds.

You have good days in the field and you have bad days in the field all should bring the wing shooter an equal amount of joy – otherwise it may be better to rather shoot chickens. Is the pleasure derived from the killing or all the other wonderful things that go with spending a day in the veld – (camaraderie, the great outdoors, seeing unusual parts of our magnificent country, hot tea after an early morning goose shoot, lunch with a sleep under a tree, a post shoot single malt, etc. the list is endless).

When I was young I used a term “grumpy old wing shooters”, men fussy about the company they keep on a shoot and the manner in which shooting is conducted. In hindsight I don’t think those men were actually grumpy, rather they were passionate, informed men with a great love for a fine sport and a great understanding of what made it fine and sustainable. My son is six years old now with a keen interest in shooting and typically at that age wants to shoot everything that moves. It is difficult to keep the enthusiasm and temper the blood lust – but this may just be what ETHICS are. I hope that in future years he will be able to shoot our wonderful game birds and not look at me and say “Dad I can’t believe your generation shot them out” – that may prove a difficult thing to live with – knowing I was a party to the wanton slaughter.

Perhaps James Purdey and Son sum it up best with a part of their code of ethics:

‘Respect for the quarry is everything. We are not simply shooting targets – pheasants and partridges are real. Knowing something of their ways and wiles is fundamental. It also adds so much to the enjoyment of time spent in the field.’

Be safe and be sporting.

Here in the West, we have problem with predators who take quite the liberal dose of game birds ( feral cats, coon, magpies, crows, Ravens ), which nobody shoots anymore. I plugged few magpies and neighbors got mad at me