steve white
AH legend
In the book, "Robert Churchill's Game Shooting" Mr. Churchill belabors not only safety concerns, but how those concerns interface with shooting etiquette as well. He for example mentions that a shotgun should not be carried either port arms across the body, nor cradled in one's elbow as every forward step points the muzzle down the line of advancing shooters in a drive. Point is well taken, and could be possibly be applied to the "African Carry" wherein the muzzle is pointed at the backside of the next in line!
Churchill also enumerates the rules of etiquette governing driven pheasants, etc. as they are experienced in England. On the continent, rules of etiquette are often very formalized, so that one knows how to dress, how to greet one another, how to set up to shoot driven boar, even which hand to drink from in celebration of the hunt. Every country has spoken or unspoken rules governing acceptable hunting practices. Some of them are clearly enumerated, many just are assumed. But no one has the right to operate on their assumptions when invited to shoot on another's property or estate. There, Churchill is dead on in stating that all hunters should behave AS THE LANDOWNER would have them behave. They should shoot what he says to shoot and abstain from shooting anything he wants left alone. This even includes non game species which may otherwise be universally considered vermin, or that are unprotected by the law. If he wants foxes left alone, do it. (on the other hand, if it is Europe and they want all foxes shot on sight, do that, even if you have no interest personally in hunting a fox) Particularly, do not shoot vermin or such if it spooks off the main quarry. If the landowner wants gates to be closed 100% of the time behind you or any member of your party, you should comply, and that goes double if a friend has secured a temporary invitation for you. The last thing you want to do is lose hunting privileges for the generous friend who worked you in, by violating landowner rules, thereby banishing both of you! The only rules you may change are to pick up trash that is not even your own, or shotgun hulls if the landowner wishes to keep things that clean. I have seen piles of hulls left unattended all over the place. Shame. But these are the easy rules to keep and to help enforce, and I sincerely hope everyone will cheerfully and gratefully comply with them.
The harder rules are personal in nature. They govern practices between people while all are sharing the same field. Sure, they might entail safety, but more often they ensure goodwill between hunters. I am talking about curbing the boorish behavior of people who are too competitive, too insensitive to the rights of others, and just plain selfish in demeanor. Rule #1 in my book--don't poach another man's birds! I attended a Dallas Safari Club dove shoot near Abilene. One gentleman, and I use that term in regard to him very loosely, had hunted there before and knew where the birds were apt to fly. In fairness to all, the personnel running the hunt allotted numbers to hunters and those dictated the order in which they would be placed in the field. Shooters were to be spaced not less than 50 yards down the line from each other, and indeed the hunters HAD already been placed, when Mr. Gamehog decided he could insert himself between two hunters, placing himself a mere 25 yards from each. He also began to shoot any birds flying straight in toward shooters to either side, in effect hogging all the shooting. And forget about letting them come in to a certain range--he shot them more than 40 yards out. When he went out to retrieve them, he shot any birds flying in any direction even further out. There were not as many birds that year, which made things even more difficult to brook. If I never see that blasted game hog again as long as I live, it will be too soon. The rules were set up to avoid such incidents. Unfortunately, he was close friends with the promoter. Disgraceful. So I hope I have given the reader some heads up as to how to ensure that all shooters have equal opportunity. Rules should be spelled out, and they were. They must also be adhered to if injured feeling are to be avoided. Churcill's book has a section on which birds are "your birds." In a word, don't shoot your neighbor's birds!
Don't "help someone" finish off a bird or a buck, nor any African game animal unless you are given permission in advance. This is particularly applicable when the arrangement is two hunters to one PH, a less advantageous arrangement than 1X1. If it is you turn it is your turn then only. It is not your turn if you see game first, or if the other person has shot the game but not finished it. No you don't get to chime in on a charge unless asked--the job of backing is the PH's--not yours. Stay out of it, even if you are willing to pay for the shot. Do not place a finisher on a downed elephant or any other game except your own, and only at the time of your turn. The PH may not even be given permission to back the other hunter, much less you. (though the PH has a legal prerogative to step in to protect life and limb at his discretion.) Also, do not presume to finish out another man's limit on birds, fish, or any game at all. And no, it does not count if you offer him possession of a bird you poached in the first place. He wanted to shoot it--not accept it as a gift in all likelihood. Whatever else you do, do not exceed limits and get others in trouble along with you. No one wants to be "accessory to your crime."
The reader can quickly discern that many of these rules are to prevent arguments and hard feelings, which are even more likely to surface when the quarry has an expensive trophy fee, or an object or gun has greater value. There are some things which are simply not done in polite company. Beyond game, things just not done include, correcting another man's child (though one might be excused for saying to the parent, in earshot of the child that something should be specifically corrected), correcting another man's hunting dog, and borrowing or abusing someone else's hunting equipment. I don't even like for anyone to touch my guns without asking. I hope I don't have to say that no one has any right to "break in" my new gun by putting a scratch on it so I don't afterward need to baby it. I hope I am never forced to ask for my bird which another man's dog retrieved and took to his master. And heaven help the one who would break the wrist of a shotgun by hitting a wounded rabbit over the head to save a shell. I expect any equipment I loan to be returned to me in good clean working order, and I believe that is reasonable. Honestly, I would try to do the same in turn.
I took two nephews on their first deer hunt. Their father was along. The fourteen year old used a nice Sako rifle which had been loaned to his father by a friend. The field leading to hunting grounds looked like a sea of mud, slowly flowing toward the border fence. A horrid mess to slog through. On the way back from killing his first doe, the boy lost his footing, no fault no foul, and as he tried to keep from falling slammed the Sako lengthwise into the mud. Still, a salvageable situation, though a daunting cleaning project. The only problem was, neither he nor his dad ever cleaned it. They returned it in that condition. That will have to change if they are to hunt where I hunt. To add insult to injury, I discovered--long after it was too late, that the father had probably fatally wounded a tremendous buck. It ran, and afterward they heard a strange, perhaps dying sound a good way off, but not in a straight line with the bucks' departure, so they thought it couldn't be his deer and they didn't go investigate. (nor did they enlist my help in recovery of what he described as "the biggest buck in the world") This happened on a property that had not been hunted in 30 years and probably did have a monster or two or three on it! The other lad, who shot his first buck which I had successfully rattled up, was carrying the Mannlicher Schoenauer I had loaned him. I casually said I would carry it for him a while, and I carried it for the duration of the trip, so it would not be slammed in the mud.
The last category of etiquette I will mention has to do with promoting "smooth sailing" in a hunting camp. This I learned from the late Don Henry of the Mannlicher Collector's Assoc. In Henry's camps, if anyone beat the newcomer to the dishwater to clean up after a shared meal, that person would never be invited to attend in the future. The rule was 100% cheerful cooperation, whether gathering wood, setting up tents, retrieving game, whatever came up. Fast forward 30 years--the last camp I shared, I literally caught every last fish eaten that night, I cleaned them all, cooked them, served them up and washed the dishes. I was complimented for it, but little did they realize that they would have been disqualified from "Henry's camp." It is good to have rules governing a clean, well run camp. Everything just goes so much smoother. Cuts down on complaining, too.
What kind of camp/hunt do you run?....Do you have rules?
Churchill also enumerates the rules of etiquette governing driven pheasants, etc. as they are experienced in England. On the continent, rules of etiquette are often very formalized, so that one knows how to dress, how to greet one another, how to set up to shoot driven boar, even which hand to drink from in celebration of the hunt. Every country has spoken or unspoken rules governing acceptable hunting practices. Some of them are clearly enumerated, many just are assumed. But no one has the right to operate on their assumptions when invited to shoot on another's property or estate. There, Churchill is dead on in stating that all hunters should behave AS THE LANDOWNER would have them behave. They should shoot what he says to shoot and abstain from shooting anything he wants left alone. This even includes non game species which may otherwise be universally considered vermin, or that are unprotected by the law. If he wants foxes left alone, do it. (on the other hand, if it is Europe and they want all foxes shot on sight, do that, even if you have no interest personally in hunting a fox) Particularly, do not shoot vermin or such if it spooks off the main quarry. If the landowner wants gates to be closed 100% of the time behind you or any member of your party, you should comply, and that goes double if a friend has secured a temporary invitation for you. The last thing you want to do is lose hunting privileges for the generous friend who worked you in, by violating landowner rules, thereby banishing both of you! The only rules you may change are to pick up trash that is not even your own, or shotgun hulls if the landowner wishes to keep things that clean. I have seen piles of hulls left unattended all over the place. Shame. But these are the easy rules to keep and to help enforce, and I sincerely hope everyone will cheerfully and gratefully comply with them.
The harder rules are personal in nature. They govern practices between people while all are sharing the same field. Sure, they might entail safety, but more often they ensure goodwill between hunters. I am talking about curbing the boorish behavior of people who are too competitive, too insensitive to the rights of others, and just plain selfish in demeanor. Rule #1 in my book--don't poach another man's birds! I attended a Dallas Safari Club dove shoot near Abilene. One gentleman, and I use that term in regard to him very loosely, had hunted there before and knew where the birds were apt to fly. In fairness to all, the personnel running the hunt allotted numbers to hunters and those dictated the order in which they would be placed in the field. Shooters were to be spaced not less than 50 yards down the line from each other, and indeed the hunters HAD already been placed, when Mr. Gamehog decided he could insert himself between two hunters, placing himself a mere 25 yards from each. He also began to shoot any birds flying straight in toward shooters to either side, in effect hogging all the shooting. And forget about letting them come in to a certain range--he shot them more than 40 yards out. When he went out to retrieve them, he shot any birds flying in any direction even further out. There were not as many birds that year, which made things even more difficult to brook. If I never see that blasted game hog again as long as I live, it will be too soon. The rules were set up to avoid such incidents. Unfortunately, he was close friends with the promoter. Disgraceful. So I hope I have given the reader some heads up as to how to ensure that all shooters have equal opportunity. Rules should be spelled out, and they were. They must also be adhered to if injured feeling are to be avoided. Churcill's book has a section on which birds are "your birds." In a word, don't shoot your neighbor's birds!
Don't "help someone" finish off a bird or a buck, nor any African game animal unless you are given permission in advance. This is particularly applicable when the arrangement is two hunters to one PH, a less advantageous arrangement than 1X1. If it is you turn it is your turn then only. It is not your turn if you see game first, or if the other person has shot the game but not finished it. No you don't get to chime in on a charge unless asked--the job of backing is the PH's--not yours. Stay out of it, even if you are willing to pay for the shot. Do not place a finisher on a downed elephant or any other game except your own, and only at the time of your turn. The PH may not even be given permission to back the other hunter, much less you. (though the PH has a legal prerogative to step in to protect life and limb at his discretion.) Also, do not presume to finish out another man's limit on birds, fish, or any game at all. And no, it does not count if you offer him possession of a bird you poached in the first place. He wanted to shoot it--not accept it as a gift in all likelihood. Whatever else you do, do not exceed limits and get others in trouble along with you. No one wants to be "accessory to your crime."
The reader can quickly discern that many of these rules are to prevent arguments and hard feelings, which are even more likely to surface when the quarry has an expensive trophy fee, or an object or gun has greater value. There are some things which are simply not done in polite company. Beyond game, things just not done include, correcting another man's child (though one might be excused for saying to the parent, in earshot of the child that something should be specifically corrected), correcting another man's hunting dog, and borrowing or abusing someone else's hunting equipment. I don't even like for anyone to touch my guns without asking. I hope I don't have to say that no one has any right to "break in" my new gun by putting a scratch on it so I don't afterward need to baby it. I hope I am never forced to ask for my bird which another man's dog retrieved and took to his master. And heaven help the one who would break the wrist of a shotgun by hitting a wounded rabbit over the head to save a shell. I expect any equipment I loan to be returned to me in good clean working order, and I believe that is reasonable. Honestly, I would try to do the same in turn.
I took two nephews on their first deer hunt. Their father was along. The fourteen year old used a nice Sako rifle which had been loaned to his father by a friend. The field leading to hunting grounds looked like a sea of mud, slowly flowing toward the border fence. A horrid mess to slog through. On the way back from killing his first doe, the boy lost his footing, no fault no foul, and as he tried to keep from falling slammed the Sako lengthwise into the mud. Still, a salvageable situation, though a daunting cleaning project. The only problem was, neither he nor his dad ever cleaned it. They returned it in that condition. That will have to change if they are to hunt where I hunt. To add insult to injury, I discovered--long after it was too late, that the father had probably fatally wounded a tremendous buck. It ran, and afterward they heard a strange, perhaps dying sound a good way off, but not in a straight line with the bucks' departure, so they thought it couldn't be his deer and they didn't go investigate. (nor did they enlist my help in recovery of what he described as "the biggest buck in the world") This happened on a property that had not been hunted in 30 years and probably did have a monster or two or three on it! The other lad, who shot his first buck which I had successfully rattled up, was carrying the Mannlicher Schoenauer I had loaned him. I casually said I would carry it for him a while, and I carried it for the duration of the trip, so it would not be slammed in the mud.
The last category of etiquette I will mention has to do with promoting "smooth sailing" in a hunting camp. This I learned from the late Don Henry of the Mannlicher Collector's Assoc. In Henry's camps, if anyone beat the newcomer to the dishwater to clean up after a shared meal, that person would never be invited to attend in the future. The rule was 100% cheerful cooperation, whether gathering wood, setting up tents, retrieving game, whatever came up. Fast forward 30 years--the last camp I shared, I literally caught every last fish eaten that night, I cleaned them all, cooked them, served them up and washed the dishes. I was complimented for it, but little did they realize that they would have been disqualified from "Henry's camp." It is good to have rules governing a clean, well run camp. Everything just goes so much smoother. Cuts down on complaining, too.
What kind of camp/hunt do you run?....Do you have rules?
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Anyway, I can shoot all I want on his dad's next door public hunting property.
