I will post some more photos once i have time.
Photos scanned from the book "The Big Shots"

By Jonathan Ruffer.
Wildfowling at Cowbit Wash Spalding 1907

Norwich shoot 1910

West Dean park November 1911

Trirkleby gun room.

Shooting card

King Edward VII counts the lunchtime bag at Sandringham.


Game cart Studley Royal,Yorkshire

Some nice totals.


Head keeper at Warter Priory,with the fruits of victory.

Blenheim Palace.

Cool pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Looks like an average season in Louisiana....

I was looking at Lord Ripon's card. What is "Black Game"?

quote:

Originally posted by loud-n-boomer:
I was looking at Lord Ripon's card. What is "Black Game"?

Natives?? Black Buck i think.

Hi Guys

Black game = Black Grouse/Black Cock

I wont even start on trying to explain any more without offending someone

Don't forget the Grey Hen with that Black Cock!

I always look at these old pictures - from 1910 - and have an ironic smile. We know what came next. One can only speculate as to how many alive then survived the Great War intact.

Top-Predator,

Those pictures are fantastic.Thanks very much for sharing.Look forward to the rest of them.

Best-
Locksley,R

TP,
Thanks for the pics! I always knew i was born about 100 years to late!

RobinOLocksley,

quote:

I always look at these old pictures - from 1910 - and have an ironic smile. We know what came next. One can only speculate as to how many alive then survived the Great War intact.

Thats a very poignant thought. Not just the people either, but in wonder how many of the big Estates got broken up in WW1 or the Depression that followed it?

Regards,

Pete

I will add some more photos at the weekend.

Yes Pete,how much fun it would have been to live back then hunting the empire

This is great quote from the book.

"I have carried out my official duties as long and faithfully as i can,and for the rest I have lived in such a fashion as seemed most agreeable to me...convinced that a good day's shooting is second in point of pleasure to nothing else on earth."

Lord Warwick

They are some great photo's there, thanks for posting. In fact I think I'm gonna have a look on Amazon and get a copy of the book.

Some things that sprung to mind though looking at that game book. I was saying yesterday that at this time of year I start to feel a little satiated. Especially after a couple of decent january driven days, the desire to shoot starts waning and I look forward to the day and the company even more than I usually do. I was out on Wednesday and found myself letting most of the respectable birds that came my way go through unshot in preference to a few really good birds. That wouldn't happen in October/November!!

I don't shoot anywhere near as much as some and I think I probably shoot in the region of 500 head of game/Rabbits etc, (not pigeon) etc annualy and I am now happy for the end of the season to come. To think that there were years when over 10,000 head of game were shot by an individual needs some serious effort to achieve and a focus on the job in hand so intense it must be all consuming.

I think more game is shot here overall in the UK now than was shot then, and I have no doubt that some people shoot as muuch game to their own gun as some of the greats, especially with some of the volume shooting abroad, it's just it isn't spoken about (or boasted of) like it used to be.

Either way, it is tought to look at photo's like that and not feel some kind of nostalgia for something other than the bag sizes.

BTW Pete,

Even if you were born a 100 years ago you still wouldn't have been king!!!

RGds,
FB

Many Thanks for shareing this very Interesting Photos.

Seloushunter

A friend of mine,Eug, who saw these pics,wrote:

"The fourth pic is of the great Irish sportsman and eccentric Sir Ralph Payne Gallwey in his gun room at Thirkleby Hall in Leicestershire. His writings on punt gunning are still available in reprint...a wonderful read, and still relevant to modern punting.

For the main part he used guns of around an inch and a bit; however the one in the middle is I think "Irish Tom" a real monster of 2". It's now unlawful (1 1/2" is the max.)

Sir Ralph also had double punt guns made by H&H. "

A double punt gun?Hmmm...

More on " Irish Tom" here. http://www.basc.org.uk/content/34irishtom34

Best-
Locksley,R

Cover of the book.

I have scaned some of the text too,as there are very funny stories.




I think these are the Humming-birds Lord Walsingham shot for Natural History Museum in London,here is a photo myself at the Museum in 1987

Top Predator, Thanks once again for posting those lovely pictures.

Sir Ralph,I learnt, is the first president of BASC.I got my copy of "Shooting & Conservation"just yesterday.They have a small,but informative, write up and pics of "Irish Tom". Seems a DB puntgun built by H&H for Sir Ralph cost him a phenomenal sum of £250 in those days!

Best-
Locksley,R

I like the old punt guns, looks-wise not in principal. Here in the States they were used by market hunters all the time until they were outlawed.