Originally Posted By: Run With The Fox
Originally Posted By: Humpty Dumpty
Originally Posted By: lagopus
It was something of a spectator sport in those days


Reminds me of an anecdote from the book I already quoted from - on one occasion about 4000 factory workers who had a holiday turned up to see the King shoot. Some of them climbed trees to get a better view and Edward unknowingly sent his load too close to where one spectator was holding on a branch.

Something that sure couldn't have happened now...
"You may kill, or you may miss- but at all times, think of this- all the pheasants ever bred, won't repay for one man dead"-- "Stops and beaters oft unseen, lurk behind some leafy screen- calm and steady always be, and never shoot where you can't see" Apparently the royals had never read those timeless words of wisdom--


Actually, Edward VII personally had this poem engraved in big letters on a plate and had it mounted in Sandringham's gun room. Some even believe that it was he who wrote it.

Russian Hunting Shotguns