I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love beating. For me, being out in countryside, with good company is the perfect way to spend a Saturday. Of course, I would much rather be on a peg, but that‘s a story for another day!
One thing I particularly enjoy about beating is getting to meet like minded people. In my experience, most beaters do dabble in shooting and often the beaters day is the only chance to get on a peg!
Through beating I’ve been offered various days out from ferreting to pigeon shooting. It’s also a great place for picking up dog training tips.
People often ask me how to pick up permission to control Pigeon, crows, rabbits etc. Truth be told, beating is about one of the best ways!
The shooting community is a small world in the grand scheme of things, and getting to know members of this community is a great way to get yourself some shooting opportunities.
A prime example of this is the Shoot I beat on at the moment. One of the regular beaters has offered me a few days Fereting, something I don’t often get a chance to do!
I’m fortunate enough to have permission to shoot over a farm locally, and I often take people along with me to give them the opportunity to shoot pigeon when they may not normally be so lucky.
What I’m getting at, I guess, is that the shooting community is quite small in the grand scheme of things, but is tightly knit. We need to stick together. If you are struggling to get permission to shoot, go beating, there’s no guarantee of course, but you’ll be surprised what you may get out of it. It’s not all about what you can get, but it can certainly have it perks, elevensies, a good lunch, a few quid and a brace of birds normall. What’s not to like?
And if you do get out on the beating line and have some permissions, why not invite someone out?
