First hanting in Cornwall 初めての狩猟

Game is often featured in the menu at the restaurant during the months between Autumn and Winter, the ingredient I adore and caught using Western tradition. Most come from huntsmen in Cornwall, however depending on the type of game, come occasionally from Northern Britain or European countries nearby.

Grasping the last chance before British’s bird hunting season closes at the end of January, Geoff, one of the supervising personnel over fishermen and huntsmen of Cornwall, generously took me along to hunting. Between his busy days as a president of family-owned company mainly dealing fish and game, also a reliable supplier of Umu, Geoff travels, sometimes miles and miles, to enjoy hunting every Monday.

Left his St. Ives home in the morning and headed to hunting spot nearby Dartmoor National Park, where we were joined by his hunting crew.  I, being totally unaware of manner or method of hunting, was surprised by the size of the pack and number of hunting dogs that they brought along.

After a short briefing, we split into groups of beaters and shooters, and beaters would hustle game out of woods located between meadows, moving into the woods from each boarder. Shooters would wait patiently for an alarmed bird to fly out with a shotgun in their hands, and at a moment of opportunity, aim and shoot.

It was after we had passed through several woods, Geoff offered me to join the shooters. In spite of my love for fishing and number of experience catching various fish, I had never killed game with my own hands before and I, quite naturally, felt uneasy stepping into new field. Nonetheless, new experience is always a blessing and I decided to take up the challenge.

I fired a shot into the air, my very first shot, to try and learn the correct posture as well as how to handle a gun. A female pheasant flew up towards my direction being chased by the hunting dog, instantly I aimed (at least I tried) then I fired my second shot.  Without a hassle, the pheasant continued to fly away, with the dog also still running after the bird. Geoff said the shot I fired had grazed its back, to which I laughed assuming he joked out of kindness not to disappoint me, but next moment the hunting dog came back with a pheasant in its mouth. As I had never imagined I could make a hit on my first trial, I was both shocked and overwhelmed.

Along the while, Geoff educated me on the method of traditional British hunting, the state of Royal family-owned forests, and a system that can preserve the nature and the hunting culture to coexist with it. He, by including humors here and there, simplified his words for me to understand better.

In the end, we caught several pheasants, pigeons, woodcocks/beccases and snipes. The catch was unexpected success despite our assumption based on the closing of season and the unpleasant weather.

After returning to St. Ives, I was invited to join a birthday party hosted by Naomi, Geoff’s daughter who also sends us fish on daily basis to Umu, for her husband at her home. Geoff looked blessed surrounded by members of heartwarming family and relatives enjoying Naomi’s delicious homemade food, and I had such blessed experience. 

秋から冬にかけて、欧州の伝統でもあり、私自身も大好きな食材として狩猟による鳥獣をUMUではよく料理します。多くはCornwallの猟師から届きますが、その種類によっては英国北部、或いは他のヨーロッパ諸国から入手します。  

英国の鳥類の狩猟シーズンが今月一杯で終わるため、最後のチャンスでCornwallの漁業、狩猟のリーダーの一人であるGeoffに狩猟に連れて行ってもらいました。彼は現在は主に魚と狩猟肉を扱う家族経営の会社の社長として、UMUにも素晴らしい食材を提供してくれている傍ら、毎週月曜日、時には遠方まで足を伸ばして狩猟を楽しんでいます。

朝、St.Ives の彼の自宅から出発Dartmoor National parkのそばの狩猟場所に到着し、彼の狩猟仲間と合流しました。猟の仕方など何も聞いていなかったので人数の多さと連れてきている猟犬の数に驚きました。

簡単な打ち合わせの後、追い立て方(beater)と撃ち方(shooter)に別れ、牧草地の中になる小さな林を端から順に人と犬とが追い立てます。驚いた鳥が林から飛び出すのを待ち構えた撃ち方が散弾銃で撃つという方法でした。

幾つかの林を廻るうちに、Geoffから撃ち方をやらないかと誘われました。釣り好きで多くの魚をとってきた私ですが、鳥獣を自ら殺したことは経験がなく、ちょっぴり気が引けましたが、経験も必要かとチャレンジしました。一発目、試しに空に向かって撃ち、姿勢と銃の扱い方を教わりました。そして二発目、犬が追い立てたメスのキジが私のほうに飛んできたとき、狙いを定めて（定めたつもりで）撃ちました。キジはそのまま飛び去ってゆきましたが、Geoffの犬がその後を追ってゆきました。Geoffは“お前の撃った弾がキジの背中をかすめた。”と言います。私を喜ばせるためになんてすてきなジョークだろうと笑っていると、犬がキジを咥えて帰ってきました。初めての経験でまさか当たるとは思っていなかったので本当に驚くと共に感激しました。

Geoffからは英国の伝統的な狩猟のやり方、王室の所有する森のありかた、狩猟を続けながら同時に自然を守り続けるシステムなどの話を聞きました。彼はユーモアを混ぜながら私の英語力でも理解できるようにとても分かりやすく説明してくれました。

最終的には多くのキジ(pheasant)、山鳩(pigeon)、ヤマシギ(Woodcock, Beccase)、シギ(Snipe)が獲れました。シーズン最後で天気も非常に悪かったので皆あまり期待していなかった割には大収穫でした。

St.Ivesに帰ってから、Geoffの娘さんであり、いつもUMUに魚を送ってくれるNaomiの家で、彼女の旦那さんのバースデーパーティーに呼ばれました。彼女の手料理と、多くのやさしくてあったかい家族に囲まれたGeoffはとても幸せそうでしたし、私自身もとても楽しい思い出になりました。