Cook it! with Andrew Kay. Shoots, eats

As autumn approaches Andrew Kay takes a look at game and the whole issue of hunting

When I was asked if I would like to attend a day dedicated to game and to hunting I was a little apprehensive. The idea of holding a gun of any kind fills me with a kind of dread. That said I am not squeamish about the process of rearing and killing animals for food. Growing up with a grandfather who was a butcher put paid to that. From an early age I would go with him to the abattoir and meat was ever present in our lives. Not that it was taken lightly, my grandfather instilled in us his own holistic philosophy that if a beast was to die to feed us then we should respectfully eat everything that we could and use what was left over to some good purpose. I grew up on a diet of offal and have never worried about buying leather shoes. Holism, that’s what it is.

As a consequence I have an inbuilt sense that, should I ever need to, I should be prepared to kill to feed myself. Faced with a day with guns the reality was not that appealing, but fortunately I was not required to kill. Far from it, the first part of the day was an incredibly insightful introduction to guns, and the need to control their use alongside serious information about game and in particular the control of wild deer in the UK.

We were all surprised by the number of wild deer that populate rural Britain, but even more surprised by the number of serious road traffic accidents that they are involved in. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see how much damage a fully grown deer can cause to a vehicle and its passengers. We were all shocked.

The control of wild deer is a growing issue and a certain amount of management is essential if the problems are to be surmounted. By management, of course, we mean culling and by culling we mean hunting. It’s a fact that our excellent instructors from the British Association of Shooting and Conservation were keen to stress and over the two hours that we were with them we learnt just how passionate they were about the welfare of the animals. At no point did any of us get the impression that these guys had even the faintest element of blood lust.

Then we got to fire the rifles. I was scared about even holding one and relieved also that I would not be asked to fire on anything living, but simply at targets. I was a pretty good shot, a discovery that made me feel easier about the slim chance that I might have to do this to survive as I would at least stand a chance of making a clean kill. Clean and kill do not sit comfortably together but let me assure you that this is the clear intention of those involved in game.

After our gun training we went on to Knepp Castle just south of Horsham. This is a game park, where deer are reared, in the most wonderful wild surroundings, for meat. One has to face the reality that this is meat production even if it is set in what appears to be a rural idyll.

Knepp offer game safaris where you are driven, in a military carrier, around the estate.

No guns are involved, that would go against their entire ethic. What you see are their beautiful herds of deer, roaming free in the most stunning Sussex landscape. Their young gamekeeper Dan told us all about the process, his passion for the welfare of the beasts in his care and the passion of the owners of the park for maintaining a herd of the very highest quality.

Game is not about bloodlust, far from it, and the people involved are extraordinarily passionate about animal welfare whilst at the same time believing that game is a valuable part of our food chain.

This year the Brighton and Hove Food & Drink Festival is focusing on game with many related events and masterclasses. To find out more go to www.brightonfoodfestival.com. To find out more about the British Association of Shooting and Conservation go to www.basc.org.uk and Knepp Castle. www.knepp.co.uk

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