Gamekeeping

[little-lloyd]

Ok before i get a thread full of abuse, im a gamekeeper i run my own little shoot!

Wildlife conservation is what i spend alot of my time doing. The anti hunting people have no idea that odd people who participate in countryside activitys care pastiontlty about the countryside and its wildlife. In my wood i have seen a rise in wildbird numbers such as Blue tits/Blackbirds etc Its people like us who are the people who make and manage the countryside.

Did you know?...
Nine times as much of the British countryside is looked after by gamekeepers as is in nature reserves and National Parks.

And before we start i do not and nver will accept the killing of buzzards and birds of prey acceptable


I would like to here what your views are?

[demicav]

I don't agree to any animal being bred and raised for the sole purpose of it being killed in the end for fun. I know this may well be an emotive subject and nor do I want any abuse. That's my opinion. I know people kill for food but killing for fun I can never understand.

[Tursiops2]

Originally Posted by little-lloyd

Its people like us who are the people who make and manage the countryside.

I totally agree. While I personally find field sports distasteful, even morally suspect, and I could be provoked into a rant about privileged minorities sequestering the British countryside solely for the gratification of their personal bloodlust, I freely acknowledge that such practices, by conferring an economic value on "wild" landscapes, have been instrumental in creating and preserving those landscapes.

Although I have some sympathy for the anti-hunting lobby, my question to them is always: "if you get rid of field sports altogether, what do you propose to put in their place that will be as effective in preserving the countryside?"

It's not a black-and-white world.
T2

[demicav]

As I've said in another thread, my family is country born way back. It's a myth that all country people agree with hunting, they don't. Everyone has their own opinions no matter where they come from.

[wildone]

And before we start i do not and nver will accept the killing of buzzards and birds of prey acceptable

Fine, but what about Stoat, Weasel, members of the Crow family? They are all known to predate game birds.

[little-lloyd]

Yep stoats and Corvids are on the top of my and most gamekeepers list. Pus members of the crow family do not predatate on pheasants themselves but the eggs...along with eggs belonging to songbirds so both pheasants and songbirds will benefit


demicav

I see shooting for fun acceptable as it helps conserve widlife and puts fresh game on our table. I came on this forum beacuse of my love of wildlife just like everybody else. People have rights to there opinion its just when people take it into there own hands by smashing up traps or pens etc. Then they wonder why all the violence starts!

[ChrisJB]

This is a tricky one for me. Where I live, the best local moor for obvious biodiversity is one managed by a keeper for a grouse shoot. However, I don't like to see traps and some of the halfwits who work for him are hard work. I once had my tires slashed by one of his cronies, I think because I have an R.S.P.B sticker in it (saying that, I can't prove this, but it's a remote area and they have got to be the number one suspects). I also have my suspicions that he targets raptors, but again this is also difficult to prove.

Whilst the sight of traps trouble me, Lapwings on adjacent farmland have a torrid time due to predation of eggs and chicks by Magpies and Carrion Crows.

I also eat game, because I like the taste!

I'm afraid I'm a classic fence sitter on this one.

Regards, Chris

[little-lloyd]

I support the RSPB

Im affraid if the traps where not there then nor would the Grouse nor a healthy population of songbirds etc.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by little-lloyd

I support the RSPB

Im affraid if the traps where not there then nor would the Grouse nor a healthy population of songbirds etc.

you can still have a healthy population of song birds and corvids there's no correlation between the numbers or crows / magpies and declines in songbirds on a national or even regional scale, its a debate we've had many times on WAB though and I'd hate to get into it again! I also suspect that most sepcies of game birds would survive as a population alongside corvids - though clearly not at the levels you require to support a shoot. So I do appreciate the need for control.

[little-lloyd]

First of i would say My shoot is just for a few friends doing nothing on a large scale. Every pheasant/duck can not afford to be lost.

In my garden Songbird numbers have risen since i started controlling magpies. Im proud to say my garden is 100% Grey Squirrel free But a few magpies still fly around which is fine with me as im there to controll them not wipe them out. Before i had my Larson running and the Squiirels where at large you didnt see half as many Robins nor Blue tits nor not much songbirds at all really.