I don't normally release posts on a Saturday but today is significant as it't the beginning of Partridge and Duck season, Red Grouse season started back on the 12th of August but as I live in a lowland area at the moment I have very little to do with that. Pheasant season will start at the beginning of next month.
This marks the time of year where the amount of wild meat that gets put on my table increases quite significantly. Most of the game birds shot around the world are shot with shotguns for the simple reason that shotguns are a weapon which makes it possible to shoot moving targets far more simply than rifles as they fire a cloud of 'shot; or small pellets.
Waiting for the birds on a driven day with a 20 bore side by side shotgun. |
A headshot on a rabbit with a 55 grain hollow point .223 bullet. No meat damage there. For more about the effects of bullets on targets check out our terminal ballistics article in the BushScience series. |
Carefully aimed head shots with air rifles are also very effective and leave absolutely no damage to the meat;
Pristine breast meat with no damage at all on a delicious woodpigeon. |
Unfortionately shotguns can sometimes cause a lot of meat damage, it's true that rifles can as well if the shot is poorly placed particularly through the guts or through a large muscle mass such as a haunch. Shotguns through by design kill through shock and the potential to do damage to a vital organ, to achieve that a lot of pellets often strike non vital places and damage the meat;
This pheasant breast is a prime example of the undesirable meat damage that can be caused by shotguns. |
Think about it!
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