A desire to hunt down your dinner is perhaps unusual in a world of Costa takeout coffees and Marks & Spencer ready meals, but for some people it is still a driving urge. For them there are few greater pleasures than tucking into a Christmas dinner whose centrepiece they caught in the wild through stealth, patience and precision.
Rudi Rabasse, a French restaurant owner who has lived in Galway for 13 years, is a regular hunter of fish, pheasant, duck and woodcock who will have a number of wild animals on his table at Christmas. “I have been doing it all my life. It is in my blood. I learned from my father. It was something we did together. I love going out, immersing myself in nature with my two dogs and catching a bird that I can eat and enjoy.
“I love animals; I have great respect for them. People find it difficult to understand, but I would never support keeping animals in cages. With a good shot, the bird will be killed instantly. It does not suffer.”
Rabasse says hunting is about the whole package. “You could spend nine hours in the mud before you get a kill. It takes time. It is a challenge: you have to work hard for your dinner, and that is the reward.”
Preparing the meat for the meal is key for Rabasse. “With a bird you must pluck it, take the guts out, skin it and cook it. It can take a whole evening, but it is enjoyable.”
David Scallan, who lectures in geography at NUI Galway, also learned to hunt from his father. “I have a great interest in the outdoors and in animals. Game is the best food you can eat. It is beyond organic: it has survived the rule of the wild; it is the best and the fittest.”
Training his gun dog has been central for Scallan. “He helps me hunt, flushing out animals from the bush and retrieving the game after a kill. It takes a lot of work to discipline them, and there is great pride in working together.”
To see how a novice might feel about it I join Rabasse and Scallan on a hunt. Strolling through countryside with a dog on a crisp morning is a grand way to pass time, but we’re not here for a walk.
I take one of the guns and am surprised by its weight. I am also struck by its power to kill and, uncomfortable with the vicious reality of it, hand the gun back. I don’t want to kill anything. The idea of hunting discomfits me.
Others find the practice highly objectionable, no matter who does it. John Carmody of Animal Rights Activist Network says it is a cruel pastime with no place in modern society.
“It was an acceptable thing to do 100 years ago, because we all lived off the land, but there is no need for it any more. It is a thing of the past. One of our main problems with it is that when a pheasant is shot it might not die instantly but chokes on its own blood. It is a slow and painful death.
“Hunting is a big industry. In the UK people could pay up to €1,000 to go game shooting. Hunters are taking advantage of the wild.”
Carmody, who led the campaign against the TV programme Love/Hate when a cat appeared to have been shot on screen, says his organisation works hard to promote kindness to animals. "It is a very basic notion to be kind and respectful, and I think it would do a lot to reduce the cruelty on the streets if people had a greater conscience about how they treat animals."
John Herbert, a Limerick solicitor who hunts, disagrees. He puts a lot of time into perfecting his pastime, which he sees as connecting him to the wild and engaging with the circle of life.
“There is a lot more to hunting than shooting to kill. You see some people who get their first gun, and, full of enthusiasm, they go around senselessly killing things and throwing them out. They might not even eat it. They have no appreciation of wildlife.
“But there is a certain cohort of people who enjoy hunting as a part of nature. It is hard to describe. These animals are wild creatures we share the earth with, and they are truly splendid . . . There is a paradox that comes with a kill. A remorse of murdering something.”
For Herbert, conscience and maturity both have parts to play. "It is a huge power to have, to end a life, but nature is not a spectator sport. I think that is a big societal problem: most people do not realise they are part of the natural world."
Anyone for pigeon? It's in season
On Wednesday a 'New York Times' article about Ireland's financial difficulties reported on a man from south Co Dublin who needed to hunt pigeons for food. Is this a widespread activity?
Kevin McKenna, a tour guide and historian and member of Castletown and Nobber gun club, says that shooting pigeon isn’t unusual. Pigeons, he says, are shot alongside game birds fairly often – the season is from November 1st to January 31st – “but pigeon hunting would be a sideline for most hunters. They’re not accorded the same respect as a game bird . . . although you’d pay top dollar for it in some restaurants.”
He suggests that people who hunt purely for food probably aren’t doing so through gun clubs. “Paying €180 to a gun club to hunt game birds, you’d get better value at the butcher’s. I’ve a buddy who’s as good a shot as you get, and even he wouldn’t be guaranteed something for the pot at the end of the day.”
How would you prepare pigeon? "You'd roast it or use the breasts and fry them." You can get good recipes, he says, "but I wouldn't cook it that often. When you're hunting you'd be hoping to shoot a pheasant or duck – something worth the effort. With pigeon you'd only get a few bites out of it."
Patrick Freyne
