Walked-up and talked down

I have been enjoying my walked-up shooting for longer than I care to remember. It ticks all my fieldsports boxes. However, one man’s game meat is another man’s poison. Let me explain.

As if to underline my enthusiasm for the walked-up days I share with my friends and companions, I invariably upload a film to YouTube showing the highlights of our day. When I do, I will inevitably get a message from a ‘concerned’ viewer that the shooting is ‘unsportsmanlike’, which also mentions that the birds will be inedible because they have been shot too close and that we have no respect for our quarry. I always take the time to reply and to try to educate anyone who misunderstands or has never had the opportunity to experience the challenges of a day’s walked-up shooting. Surprisingly, the complaints rarely come from the anti-shooting lobby; most are people who shoot