Jump to content

HARD WEATHER BAN ?


marsh man
 Share

Recommended Posts

cartridgebag010_zpsc88699c1.jpg With the forecast talking about cold weather on the way it is something we all look forward to , trouble is after around a week or so of frost you can expect to be told a hard weather ban is going to be imposed , so shooting fowl in prolonged snow and ice is now a thing of the past.

 

Looking at some old photos of the 1962 / 63 winter it was the first time we had ever heard about a ban and time they did put a stop to shooting wildfowl and waders most of the waders were dead or very close to starving to death as the mudflats were like concrete and no way could they probe there beaks in the mud to look for worms and small shells.

 

I don't know if any of the older members know of any earlier bans than the 62/63 one but I never did hear any of the old boys talk about one. This is how our river looked in January 63 .......Sorry about the quality of the photo but the cameras were a bit ancient then .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4-5 years ago we were lucky to get away with not getting a ban in England but Scotland had one. Lots of snow in Norfolk and for a few days the lower Wavenly froze over with pack ice lifted off Breydon on a rising tide and fusing togeather at high tide when the water movement was still and then crashing apart as the tide started to ebb as the tide fell. I stopped shooting on the N Norfolk Coast as the pinks became quite tame and wigeon started to get into poor condition and yet only 40 miles away in the Broads they were still in good condition. The main difference was the saltings were frozen over and covered in snow while in the Broads the snow was patchy and about 1\3 of the dykes were open with the exception of a couple of days around christmas. Why the all the wigeon did not move there I will never know.

 

A year later again we had a very cold spell but the ducks and geese kept condition. A mate and I had a good flight at pinks the day before the snow came in the Broads. We only shot a few left early to let the late flighting birds in , intending to have another go a few days later when a friend could join us. Amazing the snow fell deeply on our shoot and yet a mile away the marshes remained clear and our geese promptly moved to the snow free areas.

 

Back in the late 70s and 80 we had a run of three or four bans , we were not very happy about them at the time but looking back they were probably for the best , conserving good numbers of wildfowl to breed for the next season.

Edited by anser2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If any of this country's enemy's could make it snow we would be screwed, it's pathetic half a centimetre and the country gringos to a halt, everyone goes to the supermarket and strips the shelves! Cold weather bans are a good thing I suppose if the weather is very harsh and wildfowl cannot get food, the less movement they do the more energy they save.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we have the balance right with 2 weeks of severe weather before a ban comes in. For my university thesis I did reseach on the effect of cold weather on tufted ducks in 1995 which was a very cold winter. I kept 2 flocks of them in pens in the middle of a gravel pit that also held wild tufted duck. I weighed the captive birds every week through the winter and also caught wild tufted duck in traps alongside the pens. Despite having plenty of food the female captive tufted duck started to lose weight by the end of the second week becoming quite thin by the third. In contrast the males kept condition for a further week before loseing condition. I found wind chill was the main factor causing the loss of weight rather than just the cold. The ducks were burning up energy just to keep warm as they always had plenty of food. The wild tufted I caught in a trap along side the pen mirrored the results of the captive birds.

 

After the end on the December - January cold spell the males regained body condition before the females mainly because they are larger than the females and do not lose heat so quickly. Illistrating a well known theory called " Bergmans law" where the larger surface area to mass the quicker a body loses heat , ie heat a tennis ball and a football to the same temperature the smaller tennis ball with a larger surface area to mass ratio loses heat faster. Which is probably why with ducks the females winter further south than the drakes

Edited by anser2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very good reply " Anser2 " ......You can always be relied on to come up with some interesting facts and to show wildfowlers are not only interested in shooting wildfowl they also take a interest in there welfare.

 

 

One of the lasting memories of 62 / 63 was the vast amount of Coots on Breydon and the different sort of ducks that came off the broads . You name it and it would have been on the open water plus the Mergansers and some sea ducks as a mate of mine did get a Eider Duck and up until now its the only one I have seen up there.

 

The Coypu Rat was nigh on out of control until that winter but with the rivers and dykes freezing over solid it was either frozen below water or if it was frozen above and then it had no where to go so by the end of the winter a high proportion of Coypus were dead , and after that winter they became controllable .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rich I now live in Fakenham and do most of my wildfowling is on the North coast , but grew up in the Broads and still shoot there frequently. I do not know about my specialist subject , but I have always had a very keen interest in wildlife and wildfowling. I worked at Pensthorpe as warden for 30 years breeding all sorts of rare wildfowl and doing a lot of research into wild ducks. Later i studied ecology at university and now work for a govenment conservation agency for part of the year leaving the winter free for my shooting..

Edited by anser2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, not too far from my shoot as the pheasant wonders! You a member of any wild fowling clubs? I should add I originate from fakenham and I done my game keeping apprentiship on the land that boundrys pensthorpe, savoys farm part of sennowe park.

Edited by rich1985
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes a member of Rockland and Wells clubs.

Funny enough Robert I have just been reading the Wells book that I bought at the wildfowling exhibition at the Granary last year , and I must say one of the best I have been to , good people to have a yarn with and some excellent guns and items on display .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a bit of a tradition of putting on wildfowling displays. Some years ago when I was club sectary we held a very successful wildfowlers evening sponsored by the Shooting Times inviting every Norfolk club for an evening of shooting displays , talks and wildfowling films plus more importantly free beer for the evening. We were packed out and had hoped other local clubs would host further evenings, but unfortunately none ever did . Anyone who has some old back numbers of the Shooting Times in the mid 1970s will find there was a 2 page article on the event

Edited by anser2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cold weather bans, if we all used common sense and restricted bags to a minimum during cold weather the powers at be would not implement a ban, unfortunately it seams some cannot do this so we have to be restricted. Voluntary restraint is far better than an imposed ban but thats gone for good now

Some of the best fowling can be had in cold weather but its up to the individual to stop shooting when the birds are suffering from hunger and obviously easier to shoot.

Eddie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most clubs have a bag limit of 10 ducks now days on the wash ..

 

I Never have seen the point of shooting wildfowl that's in poor condition due to the weather . theres many a time I've been down in cold weather snow, ice if I've had a chance to shoot any fowl . I always check the condition of the birds .if they in poor condition I will not carry on shooting .if there in a good condition I will carry on shooting .. I know of a few other fowlers in our club who will do the same as myself ..

 

WW

Edited by washwildfowler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most clubs have a bag limit of 10 ducks now days on the wash ..

 

I Never have seen the point of shooting wildfowl that's in poor condition due to the weather . theres many a time I've been down in cold weather snow, ice if I've had a chance to shoot any fowl . I always check the condition of the birds .if they in poor condition I will not carry on shooting .if there in a good condition I will carry on shooting .. I know of a few other fowlers in our club who will do the same as myself ..

 

WW

Both Yarmouth W A and Norwich W A normally impose a ban on the club marshes before B A S C will in prolong cold weather, and once they put a ban on it is for seven days unless there is a rapid thaw.

 

Anything up to a week to 10 days with cold weather is fine as the duck are in good condition , after that it down to common sense , but if there is still cold weather forecasted you would only have a few days left to carry on wildfowling before a national ban is put on .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...