Hunting: From the hunters view

[kielder]

Found this, thought I would share it on here with you!

Most folk have a false impression of us shooters,

They think that we are cruel,

and only kill for bloodlust,

this isn't the case at-all.



We aren't inhuman murderers,

who kill for pleasure and fun,

our sport is like any other,

your cricket bat is our gun.

We appreciate our sport so much,

like most good sportsmen do,

believe me when I say,

us shooters are no different to you.



A keeper conceals himself down in a wood,

to search for a shot or two,

gazing out onto the fields,

seeing grass covered in dew.

To venture out in our camo clothes,

to fields and gully's where no-body goes,

can excite the heart of the shooting man,

a shooting opportunity will be taken when it can.



We respect our quarry and what we shoot,

whether it be a duck, Rabbit, pheasant or coot,

we look after the country side as best we can,

that is the duty of every shooting man.



And the government thinks it'll ban shooting one day,

well it's got another thing coming cos we'll have our say,

we won't go down without a fight,

we'll protect our sport come day or night!

Author unknown

[Oy]

Nice poem - but utter tosh

Replace the gun with a camera and all the pluses are still there apart from having to murder things.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Im afriad I have to agree With OY on this one

[kielder]

I haven't ever hunted , but I have never seen it from a hunters view, and thought I would let others see this, in case they hadn't either.

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by kielder

And the government thinks it'll ban shooting one day,

well it's got another thing coming cos we'll have our say,

Author unknown

I remember going to a meeting of farmers in the dairy industry when milk quotas were being imposed, to discuss strategies for dealing with the situation. The meeting agreed that they would not let quotas be imposed. That sorted that problem out.

[Gaina]

Kielder, have you ever read 'O, for a Falconers Voice'? It's a really interesting book.

[kielder]

I haven't, what is it about Gaina?

[Gaina]

Originally Posted by kielder

I haven't, what is it about Gaina?

It's by Roger Upton and it's full of accounts from the 'Old Hawking Club'. I've read it twice and you can't help but get engrossed in the way the chase is described in the diary entries. Definitely worth a browse if you can find it

[salukiwhippet]

Originally Posted by Oy

Nice poem - but utter tosh

Replace the gun with a camera and all the pluses are still there apart from having to murder things.

Can't eat photographs

James

[RobinP]

They don't just get chucked in a hedge to rot though, do they?

I'm not against hunting per se, but some justification of it is very dubious, particularly wildfowling where not a lot of what is shot is eaten (so I am led to believe).

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by RobinP

They don't just get chucked in a hedge to rot though, do they?

I'm not against hunting per se, but some justification of it is very dubious, particularly wildfowling where not a lot of what is shot is eaten (so I am led to believe).

I agree I think shooting has the potential to provide the best kind of free range meat there is and for that reason amongst others such as the habiatats retained on farmland to support game birds that support so many other species - I'd hate to see it banned. BUt yes if the bodies are wasted then that is just such a criminal waste of little lives and an aspect I'd happily see outlawed such people should shoot clay pigeons instead or as Oy suggets take up photography.

[coasty]

Whenever this line of topic comes up it usually ends up as a very polarised discussion.
Its like one of those pub arguement subjects.. politics or religion usually it doesnt seem to matter how well reasoned or however articulate the opposite views are expressed it always ends up as a slanging match.
As most of you know from my postings I consider myself a countryman. In my 50yrs Ive fished a great deal , Nature watched a great deal even been a volunteer RSPB warden many many years ago. Oh yes and shot a little to.
In that time I have met people who purport to be nature lovers , bird watchers ,anglers and huntsmen who have all shown a singular disregard for the welfare of those creatures who they claim to respect.
I believe the truth of it is that there are those in all of the groups that represent both the worst and the best of their type.
Shooting can be both very damaging and enormousley beneficial. Take the North York Moors.. Most of it is only still in its present state because of the income from grouse shooting. Many of the small copses and areas of cover on farmland are only there to provide cover for game.
I would suggest that the vast majority of britains rivers are only in their current reasonable state due to the anglers that use them.
With regards to game been wasted I know many people who shoot and apart from vermin. They would all find the idea of just dumping the carcassing most abhorrent.
I would add that the existence of this section of WAB. ie fieldsports has always seemed to me to be incredibly refreshing. It shows a rare existence of tolerence. Not a quality in over abundance on many internet forums...

[kielder]

I definitely agree with you on when you say that hunting can be a controversial topic and end up with lots of heated arguments. I don't want this to turn into one at all, I am not saying I agree or disagree with it, and the same with the poem. I thought I would put it up simply because there is usually a lot of opposition against it, and that is fare enough in some respects, but there is always another side, and this is the hunters.

[snowdrop]

I think the hunters answer the question when they speak not of ''the hunt for food'' but of ''sport''.

[Pat]

Originally Posted by Oy

Nice poem - but utter tosh

Replace the gun with a camera and all the pluses are still there apart from having to murder things.

Quite aggree Oy, it is murder.

[salukiwhippet]

Does photography contribute millions of pounds to the rural economy, directly funding habitat creation, management and improvement on a massive percentage of the UK?
Does photography prevent endangered species from being predated by foxes and carrion crows?
Does it protect woodland from being cleared for agriculture or housing?
Does it prevent deer from suffering a long drawn out death over a period of weeks because they're old and have no teeth, so can't feed, but have no predators to hasten their departure? I think not.

As for saying that wildfowlers dump a lot of what they shoot, I would like to see some evidence, as 'fowlers are the least likely of all shooters to do so (it is certainly not common practice in other fields of shooting either but I concede that there are some bad apples, as in all aspects of life).

People should research the facts of subjects they're planning to comment on before posting based on hearsay and prejudice.

James

[Pat]

Originally Posted by salukiwhippet

Does photography contribute millions of pounds to the rural economy, directly funding habitat creation, management and improvement on a massive percentage of the UK?
Does photography prevent endangered species from being predated by foxes and carrion crows?
Does it protect woodland from being cleared for agriculture or housing?
Does it prevent deer from suffering a long drawn out death over a period of weeks because they're old and have no teeth, so can't feed, but have no predators to hasten their departure? I think not.

As for saying that wildfowlers dump a lot of what they shoot, I would like to see some evidence, as 'fowlers are the least likely of all shooters to do so (it is certainly not common practice in other fields of shooting either but I concede that there are some bad apples, as in all aspects of life).

People should research the facts of subjects they're planning to comment on before posting based on hearsay and prejudice.

James

But do the majority of hunters do it for that reason, I think probably not, it's the chase and kill they enjoy.

[salukiwhippet]

How many 'hunters' (which in hunting and shooting circles, is a type of horse rather than a person, incidentally) do you know? Not very many I'd bet. And no matter the motivation, the hard fact is that shooting and fieldsports have massive benefits to wildlife and biodiversity which photography will not match, until photographers start contributing thousands of pounds a day to take pictures. Unlikely I think you'll agree.

James

[Pat]

Take a look at the Crawley and horsham hunt on youtube ( sorry I don't know how to post a link ! )

[salukiwhippet]

Regrettable, but don't you think people have a right to be upset when their livelehoods are threatened by prejudice? Are there no nasty animal rights activists? What about the lot who stole the remains of an elderly lady from her grave because her family were involved in vivisection? I don't happen to believe that they are representative, but using your logic, they're all the same, just like 'hunters'.
What exactly is your complaint against 'hunters'? and who is it against? Driven gameshooters, rough shooters, hare coursers, Fox hunters? People who clean the toilet (how many millions of little lives are extinguished with every flush? what gives foxes more right to life than bacteria? Because they're cuddly? Have you every tried cuddling one? I don't recommend it!!)

James

[Richtea]

wow cracking poem.

i will have to come back to this as nasty work is about to get in the way. but i'm pro hunting i shoot clays myself as i'm not convinced i'm a good enough shot not to just wing something. my husband shoots and we eat everything Rabbits, pheasents and pigeons. we don't throw anything into a hedge to rot. whoever says that has not really reaserched what does happen. and the photo in the papers were not to be buried but sold as pet food. - its not just the leftovers from the main animals used you know.
also a lot of shoot produce enters the local community as food in resteraunts pubs and local butchers. conservation comes mainly from shooting community imput as much of the habbitat would have been lost to the housing growth.

gotta go but i will expand on this if anyone wants later on.

[outdoors]

u cannie beat shooting a nice plump Rabbit for ur tea... or pheasant...

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by outdoors

u cannie beat shooting a nice plump Rabbit for ur tea... or pheasant...

Snared many a Rabbit, put out the snares at a remote farm we had to feed up and count the cattle, feed up and count, go and take up snares, sometimes 3 to 5 Rabbits in 45 min.

You didn't do it every day, who can eat that many Rabbits, but a few down the pub to your mates, the odd few mushrooms or giant puffballs, that was very pleasant.

25-30 years ago. I would feel less happy about Brown Hares now (though very numerous in some places), liked trout caught with a quick tickle, an eel or two. It was part of the way we lived. The local let game shoot was different, as one beater said "when the Americans come I beat on my hands and knees"

We planted thousands of native trees, we managed our woods, we watched the roads for lampers with long dogs.

The boss told anyone shooting that if the Long-eared owls were disturbed there would be savage trouble.

Bit o' this, bit o' that is fine but there are more folks about. I don't like the poem as it seems to me to say, we will confront, we will win through.

You'll never stop the Badger, you'll always miss the Fox in the end.

[malantone]

Originally Posted by Oy

Nice poem - but utter tosh

Replace the gun with a camera and all the pluses are still there apart from having to murder things.

The shoot I go beating on put down several thousand birds and shoot 200 or so each shoot day, they are hung on the game cart to avoid overheating, and the Game Dealer calls every time to pick them up, the only birds discarded are badly damaged.
On my own shoot, (we only put down 500 pheasant) we distribute shot birds among ourselves and to farmers, damaged ones go to feed the ferrets.
I have heard of large bags being buried in the past, but last year with the change in the law Game Dealers can now sell game out of season and therefore are willing to buy and freeze all they can get.
Game is a very healthy meat to eat, and whilst some may disagree with the method of their death, their rearing and life is one of freedom and Pampering, where food is easily available and their enemies are kept to a reasonable level.
In our small three hundred acre wood song birds thrive, this has to be a combination of food provided and predator control, Before we took over the wood three years ago it was a very quite place, now all you hear is bird life, including Buzzards keening overhead, it makes all the work we`ve put in worth it.
To you people who criticise shooting, you may well pay your subs to whoever, but the work and hours that Keepers both professional and amateur spend looking after nature makes your efforts pale into insignificance.
If it wasn`t for the shooting comunity you would have very little to photograph
Tony A.