Fellside

How does that contribute? To recognising someone’s good work in the sport is hardly patronising. Neither is holding up a mirror to repetition. I understand and share many of your frustrations - and I’m sure others do. We really have got your point thanks, i.e. those you have addressed here on PW. I feel your frustration, honestly, but I don’t think you can achieve any more now. I certainly don’t think I can add anything further - so I will leave our discussion and wish you well.

Well done - great work re shooting support, genuinely impressive! My point was, that you could have done something better with your time - rather than reiterate the same old….. all over again, and again, and again…….! We all got the point many posts ago. What is the weather like where you are?

Eloquently put sir.

Yes that was a great shame. Well done for trying though. I wish a lot more people were as proactive.

Whats the weather like where you are? Just my silly attempt to change the subject…….😁 Works sometimes…..?!

Well…..you can actually, but there’s very little point. I think some people have an extreme opinion and when they’ve invested many hours expressing it, they refuse to acknowledge any other narrative.

Of course you have a right to question. You will find equally however others have a right to question your repetitive attacks. We get it! We know why you hate BASC. We got the gist a couple of days ago actually. Just a thought: in the time you’ve spent on this BASC hating thread you could have taken a newbie shooting and written to 10 MPs.

Hi Rewulf, Sorry I was in a dash earlier. I was out looking at pigeons on OSR for tomorrow. Pigeon watch in the real sense! I must confess, I don’t know the full detail of their business model. My observations earlier were more about contrasting commercial web streaming companies with those like BASC - who generate revenue for their campaigns. Re the shooting days for kids, I do know from first hand experience that this is done at cost. I am involved with a local programme funded by BASC and the youngsters are getting a professionally coached lesson, 25 cartridges and 25 clays for £10 per child. This is on a shooting ground, in a sheltered stand, so not a muddy field. Pretty exceptional value. The coaches are giving their time for very little return also.

Krikey - I can only spend so much time on this stuff…..?! 1st question. No I meant people getting out there and making a difference. Also to a certain extent taking an interest in the issues their org’ is involved with. 2nd question. It generates money for the causes it campaigns for. It’s a simple model really. I believe it’s a limited company for tax purposes. As to what BASC spend their revenue on, I’ve seen a lot of evidence that it is spent wisely - especially re dining out with politicians. BASC bashers will of course have other ideas and that’s fine. They’re entitled to their opinion, as long as they get off their backsides and help shooting in some way. I have more respect for their views if they do. Hope that answers your questions. Have a pleasant evening.

Yes that was disappointing. I think it was 1.6%, but still….?! Apparently this was above the normal response rate….! I have always urged people to write directly to their MP. It only takes a few minutes to send a quick email. Imagine the chatter in the Commons bar if MPs received hundreds of thousands of emails in support of shooting.

I have no idea how many Scully. I suppose at the end of the day they are cash donators who support ‘active’ efforts by BASC. My guess (and it’s only a guess) is that people who support any of the shooting org’s are likely to be more actively engaged than those who consume vast hours of streamed content. We live in interesting times do we not…? No not a commercial platform - definitely not.

Good point. Your BASC figures may be off kilter though - they have 150,000 members (last count). All the other org’s I don’t know…. ? Accumulatively: a hell of a lot. The key difference however, as Gengis alluded to, is that the channels and youtubers are commercial platforms. BASC and others are social cooperatives and actively protect/promote field sports. I think we’re comparing apples and oranges.

Only when you make a fool of yourself.

Hi Genghis, This Johny person has done nothing whatsoever to annoy me. However a TGS worshiper stating for the record that TGS do more “than any other organisation in the UK” is obviously absurd - and deserves some stick I’m afraid. As an aside, I find the TGS presenter to be very likeable enthusiastic chap. However…… his presentations are a little chaotic and often contradictory at times, sometimes lacking in key facts also - hence my observation. No axe to grind though. I wish him the best of luck with his endeavours.

Shocking behaviour! I trust the TGS equivalent course used lead….?!

Yes the world is going to end. Perhaps your hero at TGS will save it….😆

Oh I hadn’t realised TGS coach thousands of children in shooting every year, and run shoot conservation programmes…..and brief MPs on shooting matters…. etc. etc. There I was thinking TGS was just a badly presented commercial platform. Silly me.

Thank you. Unfortunately it has been left to a bunch of people who wouldn’t recognise a woodcock if it landed on their head.

Dave, I think you would have to be a very committed DIYer to take this on - or just a lot more brave than me perhaps 🙂

I would take it to a stocker - someone with a good reputation. To such a person this would be a quick routine job and not costly. It will be easy enough to find out re Yildiz finish to make it consistent if you ring the importer. I think they are called Raytrade.

It’s not so straight forward. If you follow the science, it’s easy to see that breeding woodcock declines are a mainly a southern UK phenomena. Here in the north breeding numbers are stable. Also, this species is a Eurasian bird, and we are on the edge of its range, we are therefore more susceptible to minor population contractions / expansions over longer time frames. The official global conservation status of the Eurasian woodcock is “Stable and not under threat”. The latest commons debate generated by Wild Injustice - is just another attack on shooting based on spurious figures of 160,000 birds shot per year. This is quite obviously nonsense, given that most guns voluntarily don’t shoot them anyway. They have also taken advantage of a dreadful ignorance amongst politicians and members of the public who are very distant from the science. Even the UK ‘red listing’ is inappropriate - for a bird who’s population is extremely dynamic and difficult to call British. Some would call this ‘ring fence conservationism’ which lacks any wider perspective. Apologies for the lecture - I didn’t mean for it to come across in that way - but there are many aspects to this, making a straight forward UK perspective very tricky indeed. As for the season, it’s virtually pointless looking for woodcock in feasible numbers until the late November full moon, when the migrants arrive. Even then they need to be rested to feed for a couple of weeks afterwards. This normally takes us in to late November / early December, which is a form of self regulation. This makes Kwiss’s attack futile in the first place. I have no doubt Wild Injustice will claim a great victory over shooting however, if the official opening changes to 1st December…..!

I can appreciate the points you and others make, but really, Conor and current (I say CURRENT!) BASC employees are humans not machines. They have a lot of tough commitments, and will undoubtedly become distracted by raging irrational attacks via PW and other media. Some of the behaviour of PW members towards BASC has been akin to the token drunken looney on a train carriage who you avoid sitting beside. That’s not directed at any single individual - but a general observation of a few. I’ve no doubt there have been past BASC mistakes. Hell, I’ve made a few of those I’m my career too, who hasn’t? However, the past is just that, passed, gone, over, a dead parrot! I too wouldn’t have supported the life membership of Swift, but it’s happened. It’s not major news - let’s move on! While helpful constructive suggestions may be useful, I’m not sure the sustained level of hateful attacks contribute to our future in any way. May I respectfully suggest that we avoid any kind of shooting community implosion - which our detractors would delight in. For the record I too would definitely prefer to use lead ammunition, and have requested special ‘derogations’ in this respect. However it is completely understandable that BASC and other shooting org’s have seen the writing on the wall, and are trying to ‘ride the green wave’ so to speak, rather than allowing us all to become drowned by it…! Stretching the maritime analogy yet further, does the name King Canute mean anything to you?

The more money and time these three stooges waste without result - all the better.

If you have to ask the question - I doubt you would appreciate the answer.

Strange ..?!