hoggysreels Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 Out today, had a few hours shooting ... whilst walking back the car, tucked myself in to the hedge, and thought ld spend 10 minutes to see what came over. To my right l thought l seen a fox. Seeing as l was on my way back, l fired into the sky to spook it. It was! It ran following the crop right up to me. It couldnt have been more than 5 metres away when it stopped, and look at me. I thought for a second and fired another into the air, and it darted into the rape. Not a sporting shot, so off it went for another day ... lve no probs leaving it. The farmer lets me have free range. He never puts any pressure on me and frequently tells me to go and enjoy yourself .. lm very lucky having such a fine "gentleman landowner" .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evo Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 (edited) sorry but for me the fox would of had both barrels at it if it was 5mts away, but that's just me and the way my farmers want it,,but fair cop for letting it go for another day even though he might of lost 30 chickens 16 ducks and god knows how many lambs by the time you next catch up with it ,, :lol: atb Evo Edited March 26, 2014 by evo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 eh so why didn,t you shoot it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kippylawkid Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 I would have shot it. Sporting or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted March 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 I like a sporting shot ... but l understand others opinion. lm fortunate that my permissions on the farms are granted to me as a pleasure pastime, lm under no obligations. I have a very good relationship with the farmers, but yep, l understand why some would have wanted to take the shot ... it might not be so lucky next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evo Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 I,ve got to ask,,but does your farmer not keep any livestock on his land ? because if I let a fox go on any of my perms then I think the farmer would be looking for someone else to shoot the land,, last year in total he lost 7 lambs to foxes and was not a happy chappy, he has not lost any this year so far but did lose one but he said it was to corvids so its total all out war against them now, your a very lucky man atb Evo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 I like a sporting shot ... but l understand others opinion. lm fortunate that my permissions on the farms are granted to me as a pleasure pastime, lm under no obligations. I have a very good relationship with the farmers, but yep, l understand why some would have wanted to take the shot ... it might not be so lucky next time! I don't think the term 'sporting' should come into the equation with foxes. Most foxes are shot with a rifle and standing/sitting still. Hardly sporting. I wouldn't call many of the pigeons I shoot 'sporting'. I still don't spare them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepasty Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 I,ve got to ask,,but does your farmer not keep any livestock on his land ? because if I let a fox go on any of my perms then I think the farmer would be looking for someone else to shoot the land,, Two dairy farmers I shoot for dont want me to shoot the foxes unless they're mangey ones relocated by the do gooders. The reason being "they like to see them"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 eh so why didn,t you shoot it ? +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted March 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) I,ve got to ask,,but does your farmer not keep any livestock on his land ? because if I let a fox go on any of my perms then I think the farmer would be looking for someone else to shoot the land. Im fortunate ... thats not the agreement that binds me regards shooting the farms l have permission to shoot. They are mainly mixed farms, leaning more to arable. l have free range, its all down to me, what l shoot. I personally dont shoot Hares. I dont shoot bullet guns, no interest in them .. l have owned air rifles in the past, had one about 18 months past, agaon they dont hold my interest. Each to their own. l prefer aerial shots, hence the referrence to sporting shots. Do, or have l shot a roosting Rook, yes .. its down to the individual. I shoot for my own.pastime, for my own pleasure. I decide when the trigger is squeezed and at what and when, whilst keeping strictly within legal boundaries... just yesterday Mr Fox was lucky. Though freqently quarry is left by me cause the shot isnt sporting, lm content having ethos at times ... cheers Edited March 27, 2014 by hoggysreels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepasty Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 Two dairy farmers I shoot for dont want me to shoot the foxes unless they're mangey ones relocated by the do gooders. The reason being "they like to see them"... I should add that thats fine by me, I dont like shooting them. Not everyone needs or wants them dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 Good on you, I think too many are too keen to shoot a fox at times. If they are doing no harm (in deed on arable they might be doing more good by removing a few rabbits and rodents ) I think it best to leave them be. Out on the moorland were we have ground nesting birds and sheep that Lamb out of doors its a different matter. I have never looked at the actual act of shooting a fox as "sporting" although the coming to terms with them to get a chance of that shot can be. "Vermin is not Vermin by what it is but where it is" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 Each to their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 I like a sporting shot ... but l understand others opinion. lm fortunate that my permissions on the farms are granted to me as a pleasure pastime, lm under no obligations. I have a very good relationship with the farmers, but yep, l understand why some would have wanted to take the shot ... it might not be so lucky next time! Shooting a fox on some of my perms is better PR than shooting 200 pigeons. It may not have been sporting but at least humane at that range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted March 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 Shooting a fox on some of my perms is better PR than shooting 200 pigeons. It may not have been sporting but at least humane at that range. l understand ... each to their own ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 These days a lot of farms do not keep any livestock that is at risk from foxes and unless there is any game shooting some are quite happy to see a few foxes about. On one farm where I used to shoot in Suffolk the farmer asked me not to shoot the foxes as his wife liked to watch them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratter 1 Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 That's the prob these days to many trigger happy people shooting foxes for the sake of it going out with there night vision .if they are being a nuisance then control them .but they don't need to be whiped out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 You won't wipe them out, I'm intrigued though what the op shoots as it certainly can't be anything on the general license with it being for fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted March 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 You won't wipe them out, I'm intrigued though what the op shoots as it certainly can't be anything on the general license with it being for fun "Your intrigued" .... "As it certainly can't be anything on the general license with it being for fun" Can you explain your post? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted March 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 (edited) That's the prob these days to many trigger happy people shooting foxes for the sake of it going out with there night vision .if they are being a nuisance then control them .but they don't need to be whiped out.I think there is an element of reality in your posting ... there is pest/vermin control, and thars justifiable. Though lm of the opinion, because lve seen it happen, shooting species on the general list, that in no way falls into the boundaries of pertaining to the species being admitted onto the licens, "the reason!. l had a long break from shooting and on return l had then, no land to shoot on my return to the sport. I was quite desperate to gain land for shooting. A farmer offered me some land on a farm if l would visit another of his farms and shoot some Canada geese. I have to be honest and considered it. Though it didnt really appeal to me in truth at the time, it was a way into gaining land. Finding land to shoot on the Wirral isnt easy. Anyhow one way or another, it never transpired. Though by a twist of fate, within a short time l had three farms on the Wirral to shoot, though getting them was via an unorthodox route. Ive since got more. With a possibilty of another one in the near future. So lm glad l didn't "for the sake of gaining farm land to shoot" end up blasting away at a flock of Canada geese in a non sporting way .... would l shoot a Canada Goose .. in certain circumstance, yes ... adhering strictly to the word of the law, and within the ethos of the beast having been place on the license. I understand its a subjective subject and many of us might?, border on hypocrisy ... we shoot nuisance Wood Pigeon/Crow .. a lot us prior to shooting the said nuisance species spend time setting up prior to shooting to decoy, the nuisance birds onto the land firstly. "Well if they're not there in the first instance, then it could be suggested we are helping induce a nuisance pest onto farm land that might not have had a problem that moment we were there with a shotgun ... lm playing devil's advocate here ... as l aforementioned l decoys Pigeon/Crow etc "badly" ... and will continue to. Its a very difficult subject. Edited March 28, 2014 by hoggysreels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Its really not that difficult and comes down to a word you used previously "reason". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted March 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Its really not that difficult and comes down to a word you used previously "reason". That sums it up, plus a sense of decency/law abidding and overhaul conservency of the sports future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 I understand its a subjective subject and many of us might?, border on hypocrisy ... we shoot nuisance Wood Pigeon/Crow .. a lot us prior to shooting the said nuisance species spend time setting up prior to shooting to decoy, the nuisance birds onto the land firstly. "Well if they're not there in the first instance, then it could be suggested we are helping induce a nuisance pest onto farm land that might not have had a problem that moment we were there with a shotgun ... lm playing devil's advocate here ... as l aforementioned l decoys Pigeon/Crow etc "badly" ... and will continue to. Its a very difficult subject. If they're not already on the land they're not a 'nuisance'. Birds are only successfully decoyed if they have already become a 'nuisance' on a certain patch of land; if it was simply a matter of setting up decoys wherever we fancied some shooting it would be easy. The birds need to be there first generally, and then we try to capitalise on our chances of success by attracting as many as possible and thereby keep the numbers down. Regards the spared Fox, whilst understanding your reason for doing so, being able to do so is not something most can afford if they want to keep the land they shoot on. If I told some of the landowners around here I spared a Fox I'd find someone elses Landrover parked in my space next time I called round. I quite like Foxes, and it is with a heavy heart I kill them, but they are never spared I'm afraid. I love my shooting; it is my way of life, but unfortunately I sometimes have to do something I don't enjoy so much to keep the land I shoot on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted March 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 I understand Scully ... lm sure you understand mine ... good shooting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepasty Posted March 29, 2014 Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 so, the moral of this story is everyone's different, some kill some dont, for whatever reason, neither is right or wrong, just different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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