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NatureBoy

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Posts posted by NatureBoy

  1. 6 minutes ago, motty said:

    Baiting would probably still be outlawed. The shooters of the biggest bags, as far as I am aware, are completely independent of guides.

    I hope it would Motty! Been some huge bags shot my way in last few years! I would just like to carry on how we were! Using common sense and field craft to shoot pigeons and crows as and when  they need to be and opportunity presented.  Over crops, pasture, stubble, drilling's, flight lining and roost shooting. Carry on trapping crows/magpies and destroy there  nests when it easiest!  It worked! Farmers were happy song birds thrived and it keeps populations in check! There are Farms/shoots near me and elsewhere that have won conservation awards  that prove it works with data and ringing to back it up!. Conservation orgs know of them but seem-reluctant to listen, work with or publicise them because they are commercial shoots. Been bringing on a growing number of english partridges over the last few years. We have a very significant number of the UK turtle dove population  breed locally to. Because of corvid /vermin control, poviding feeding and habitat. They will be turning up soon. It's a shame these folk don't listen to or want to help others that are doing pest control and the real conservation work! 

    Rant over! NB

     

     

  2. 10 minutes ago, motty said:

    No, I don't think that would be the case at all. Guides and the like would carry on covering the ground they always have done.

    The only restrictions on woodpigeon shooting should be lamping at night.

    Very true! But do you think if pigeons were allowed to be baited/feed in it would change the way and how many pigeons  are shot?  Guilds selling more days and shooting huge bags? NB

  3. 4 hours ago, JDog said:

    My view is that pigeons and corvids should be removed from the General Licence and that they should simply be treated as pest species like rats and rabbits. The general Licence was only brought in as a counter balance to the European Birds Directive which can be amended or ignored. The Wildlife and Countryside Act can be amended too.

    I agree they should be classed as a pest and shot whenever problems occur and opportunity presents to control them.! But do you think they should be able to be shot without any restrictions how it's done??  If so i could see the commercial boys that sell big days  having and doing most of the shooting.  NB

  4. 3 hours ago, marsh man said:

    The Late Mc Kenzie Thorpe used to blow / suck on the back of his hand when after Hares and had them run up to him before he gave em a shot , the sound he made didn't sound anything like the sound the Hare made and yet they were drawn to the noise he made like a magnet .

    I was once told by an old countryman that you can get close to a squatting Hare by walking round it in a wide circle and slowly reducing the distance from the Hare  each time you walk the full circle , I did try it once and easily got within shooting distance , although I only had my stick and not my gun , so maybe they knew the difference 

     

    My father reckoned my granddad would hand  squeak hares in and catch them  by hand or with a sack by walking round them in decreasing circles. They squatted and froze and some screamed. Bit like a stoat working  round a rabbit in a hypnotic way.  NB

  5. Thanks for all ya help and advice chaps! Going for bfg's at's  31x10.5x15  Bit bigger and not cheap but need to get it proper sorted for off road  after getting my ol Chevy i bin using stuck in the fields again at weekend.  Was like 4 seasons in 1 day shooting yesterday with thunder and rainbows thrown in. NB

  6. Just got a older 2005 ranger for shooting truck after  bad smash in my ol disco. Any recommendations of what  A/T tyres  to put on it?  Was thinking bfg's but they an odd size (265/70/15 ) and they don't seem to do them?  Any other problems with them i should look out for? Pleased with it so far. Very tidy. bit noisy but pulls like a train. Don't think it ever been off road seen a builders bucket or farmyard. NB

  7. Recon blue etc in the pics has been retouched? Looks all planted up around and in it. Done by well known wild swimming pond company tho. Another big one they done  locally a while back  looks great now its established and matured. Loads of wildlife around and in it. Could be best of both worlds. All the other trees and shrubs he's had planted up round it will look good and benefit wildlife to. Tho he's had run ins with planners over a chapel and cart lodge etc in past to. Used to fish some lovely old secluded  ponds near there that had  2lb plus pure crusian carp  big rudd and huge eels in them. good times!  Most cleared out by mink and otters now. NB

  8. Could be moorhens?  They very active at night opposite mine and some of there calls sound very strange in the still of night. coots the same. Both will be pairing up and getting very territorial about now. Very noisy when disturbed. Do you see either about during the day?  NB

  9. Very interesting thread! I had started to think the same MM. Numbers here in mid Suffolk well down for the third winter running now. Very few flocks about and very few flighting or in the woods. Hardly any gas guns or scarers out this year either. I shoot over 9 farms approx 4000 acres and think i will need to be looking for more?. Hard to find birds to set up for anywhere at the moment. 4 plus years ago and with a bit of fieldcraft  i could shoot 20 plus most outings anywhere and 1200 a year. Been less than half that the last 2 years. Half the perms are shared and 2 recent retired fellas shoot a couple during the week. Over the last 2/3  years i have heard of a few huge Autumn/spring bags of between 500 and 1100 birds taken locally. Some of the shooters recon it doesn't make any difference to local population as birds move around? I am not so sure unless hard weather push them about? I have noticed particularly the last 2 winters on game shoots with maze covers that birds have been going in them to feed and not moving unless disturbed. There are about 25 to 70 birds in most drives. With so many shoots now relying on maze covers in the area it's easier for the lower numbers to hide a feed all day without disturbance. When they are they just lift circle round and drop back in or to another cover because they know they are safe. i don't think they had a very good breeding season this way last year. With a lot of the early nests failing or predatored. . .It's not all bad! just have to adapt and work harder for less. Walking more fields hedges farm yards and roost shooting. Less pigeons, but lot more squirrels crows  couple of foxes plenty of rats a mink and the odd rabbit. Nice to see so many woodcock about few more snipe to. Lot  more english partridge about and doing so well.  Just my rambling thoughts on it.   Atb. NB

  10. Same in Mid Suffolk Jdog! Small coveys still holding there own on several farms around there. See them most outings. Think fewer buzzards about helping to. Plus we were able to hit the crow population hard during the hot dry spell. Several woodcock about to. Seeing more lapwing and golden plover about on the fields than i have for many years. Most hedges nearly stripped if berries now. Pigeons starting to get on the rape now it's getting knocked back. But not many around this way and most finding there way in to game covers. Local ringers were still catching and ringing chiffchaff and blackcap last month.    NB

  11. 10 hours ago, sportsbob said:

    They are not bikers they are violent criminals that choose to either use a scooter as a vehicle to enact there violence or they have stolen the scooter or motorcycle they are riding as a result of violence.

    So in my opinion as a life long biker knocking them off should be just the start of their punishment.

    Have you asked your mate if he feels the same as you about this? . 

    Cant ask him Bob! He was killed out right!     All still a bit raw! I prob wouldn't of been bothered, asked or cared any other time! just bit if that footage touched a nerve! I hope these tactics and stingers work and send the message  they are saying it is and they punish them hard ! NB

  12. 1 hour ago, Fuddster said:

    'Many are non nationals with very different values'.

    remember that when your mrs gets robbed-i believe theft and robbery are illegal in most countries across the globe.

    personally,  i cheered and gave a 'get some' to the guys and gals taking the fight to these scrote bags.

    Corporal Jones encompasses the sentiment with 'They don't like it up them'.

    f. 

    Thanks for that cheery comment Fuddster! But i aint got a Mrs no more ta! I agree they are low life that need sorting! What i meant by them been non nationals was they don't care and have little to loose, and because they are it maybe why they haven't been targeted and tackled harder by the law before now!  First viewing of that footage made me personally feel surprisingly uneasy and that's why i asked other bikers oppion! But that could because a mate got taken out and killed by reckless car driver last week. Laws and sentencing need to be enforced to deal with them and others!    NB

  13. I am not saying it's wright or wrong! Just i really didn't find scoots getting wacked and bodies tossed about like rag dolls  criminals or not funny or laughable! They do need sorting out tho! Many are non nationals with very different values. Maybe that is partly why it's  became such a big problem! There is so much wrong with our system and society at the mo!     NB

  14. I am far from a snowflake or a 'hand wringer'!! But out of interest, how many other bikers on here viewed that footage and laughed and think such action is ok?

    Walker, back in the day under what circs and for what  reasons would you use ram to stop tactics on motorcycles?  NB

  15. Lot more lapwings in mid Suffolk at the mo to! More golden plover with them as well. Great to see hear and watch. Seem to turn up in the same fields/areas about this time every year in various numbers. As they have done for many years. Not so many pigeons about or on the rape. They starting to build up in the cover crops tho. More English partridge about than have been for many years. So hopefully hitting the crows harder is paying off. Seems to be fewer little egrets about.  NB

  16. I think a lot of the first nests failed my way this year. The high number of crows taking a lot of then out as leaf cover was later on the hedges etc. A lot i have shot in the past few weeks i think are not fit enough to breed at mo  because of the weather and conditions. Nothing on them empty crops and no sign many are nesting or feeding young when i prep them. Even taste different to me. Seeing less stock doves about to.  NB

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