Fair Game

Regina Sexton joins the Longueville Shoot to experience a day’s hunting

SINCE the beginning of September and, running until the end of January, it has been open season for game shooting and wildfowling in Ireland. The beginning of November opened the season for woodcock, partridge (red-legged) and pheasant. Birds with odd names and strikingly beautiful plumage are now fair game for the gunman’s shot.

Pheasant we know — but what about woodcock, wigeon snipe, Jacksnipe, teal, goldeneye? What do they look like, where would we find them and are we open and conditioned to eating them or even familiar with how they taste? These birds speak of many things and many habitats — some are native, some are migratory and some, like the pheasant, have been deliberate introductions.