arjimlad Posted June 9, 2011 Report Share Posted June 9, 2011 I like seeing them about, but I do think that the numbers need keeping in check. I shoot rabbits on a dairy farm and pigeons on an arable farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 I shoot them to protect livestock and poultry. Can't deny that I enjoy it, but at the same time when I'm on land that they're not in silly numbers I will sit and watch them hunt. Most of the farmers I shoot for will accept pests at a reasonable level as long as they're under control. It's a sad day when a hunter shoots every lawful target he sees just for the fun of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good shot? Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 thats the point though Charlie is right we all enjoy doing it very few have to do it to protect their livelihood. its pitting your wits against them and the thrill when the shot strikes home. The poll is really the way people justify doing it Bang on target IMO. I don,t get any enjoyment from the killing of anything,fish,fowl,fox or vermin etc but I do enjoy the thrill of the chase and pitting my skills against theirs. Most times (hopefully) this results in their quick demise and AS A CONSEQUENCE IS beneficial to landowners etc AND SECURES "PERMISSIONS". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catweazle Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 Because I'm hoping that the wild pheasants will breed. It's not going well though, I keep finding piles of feathers with a fox **** next to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 we used to run a small shoot between 4 of us putting parts, pheasants, ducks, on the farm, so used to bait the foxes for a week with dead pigeon about 30 yards from the base of a tree that we had nailed a couple of planks of wood in the fork of it then sit out one night and lamp the bait with shotgun and BB,S waiting for them... voted for help all wildlife,just because they will nail anything that they happen to come across Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deputy dog Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 (edited) Well i shoot because i enjoy hunting plain an simple. Iv been out many many a time an walked my permissions with out letting a single shot off and still gone home happy with the day. But that doesn't mean by a long way that if some thing had presented itself i wouldn't have shot it. The moment i make the decision to take the gun out of the cabinet and go for a walk. Its for the soul purpose of trying to shoot some thing. Whether its be a fox crossing my path or a squirrel running up a tree. Otherwise why take the gun out at all, may has well been left in the cabinet if i was just going for a walk for liesure. Edited June 10, 2011 by deputy dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dekers Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 This is the right answer. Don't need to justify it. It's funny how many people shoot to protect the crops/livestock to justify their actions. Truth is you all do it because you enjoy it. I get the idea of where you are coming from but you are very wrong! To some of us it's a job! And like any job I can assure you there are plenty of times I think, Oh **** I really don't want to go to work today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieT Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 I get the idea of where you are coming from but you are very wrong! To some of us it's a job! And like any job I can assure you there are plenty of times I think, Oh **** I really don't want to go to work today! I would suggest that it is you Dekers who are very wrong. As I said in a very early post I shoot foxes because I enjoy it, pure and simple. The fact that I get paid for it and also gain some economic benefit, as far as my sheep are concerned, is an added bonus. Like any job if I did not enjoy it I would not do it. I enjoy farming and gamekeeping so have spent my life doing that to pay the bills. If I did not enjoy it I would have found another occupation. Yes it may be job but surely we all chose the job we enjoy, you included. I know that if I did not enjoy shooting foxes I would get someone who did to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redgum Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 The majority of us shoot for pleasure, some of us shoot as a job. I don't shoot fox's unless I'm ask to and I did thin some out in a wood where I have a highseat as I believe they will take muntie fawn ( though the landowner would have em left if he knew that ). Right I've put me toe in the water to test the temperature before I dive in but here goes. Most of us shoot for pleasure, just can't get my head round shooting cubs' for pleasure' though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deputy dog Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 (edited) The majority of us shoot for pleasure, some of us shoot as a job. I don't shoot fox's unless I'm ask to and I did thin some out in a wood where I have a highseat as I believe they will take muntie fawn ( though the landowner would have em left if he knew that ). Right I've put me toe in the water to test the temperature before I dive in but here goes. Most of us shoot for pleasure, just can't get my head round shooting cubs' for pleasure' though. Cubs are just a smaller versions of their parents. Once the vixen has done her bit training them up. They go off to do what ever foxes do best. Raid hen houses an kill scores of lambs an other animals, some time for food, mostly because they cant leave nothing alive when they get the taste of blood in their mouths. I got no problem at all seeing off a cub if it crosses my path. If you have an healthy population of foxes, you will almost never have an healthy populations of an other ground breeding spieces. They will take almost any thing they can get their teeth into, very opitunistic hunters. So in a way if you control the population an kill a few cubs along the way then so be it. That way every other spieces gets a decent chance of survival instead of just the fox. They don't take long to educated in how to avoid man as much as possible and they grow up very quickly, so they don't stay cubs long and the cute little balls of fluff soon turn into full blown indiscrimenant killers they really are. DD Edited June 11, 2011 by deputy dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redgum Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 Cubs are just a smaller versions of their parents. Once the vixen has done her bit training them up. They go off to do what ever foxes do best. Raid hen houses an kill scores of lambs an other animals, some time for food, mostly because they cant leave nothing alive when they get the taste of blood in their mouths. I got no problem at all seeing off a cub if it crosses my path. If you have an healthy population of foxes, you will almost never have an healthy populations of an other ground breeding spieces. They will take almost any thing they can get their teeth into, very opitunistic hunters. So in a way if you control the population an kill a few cubs along the way then so be it. That way every other spieces gets a decent chance of survival instead of just the fox. They don't take long to educated in how to avoid man as much as possible and they grow up very quickly, so they don't stay cubs long and the cute little balls of fluff soon turn into full blown indiscrimenant killers they really are. DD So shooting the cubs is just a not so nice part of pest control but has to be done alongside the pleasure of fox shooting. Personally, unless my children were starving and my chickens were getting eaten or my lively hood was pheasant breeding I would rather let the cubs grow a bit and get the pleasure of hunting em down. Part of the pleasure I get from shooting is eatin the rewards, suppose thats why fox shooting holds little pleasure for me. My apologies for getting off the main subjet DD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazooka Joe Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 Cubs are just a smaller versions of their parents. Once the vixen has done her bit training themup. They go off to do what ever foxes do best. Raid hen houses an kill scores of lambs an other animals, some time for food, mostly because they cant leave nothing alive when they get the taste of blood in their mouths. They will take almost any thing they can get their teeth into, very opitunistic hunters. That way every other spieces gets a decent chance of survival instead of just the fox. They don't take long to educated in how to avoid man as much as possible and they grow up very quickly, so they don't stay cubs long and the cute little balls of fluff soon turn into full blown indiscrimenant killers they really are. Not all Foxes are indiscriminate killers as you put it....some will take lambs, some will take pheasants, a lot of them feed only on small birds, mice, snails, slugs etc....to tar them all with the same brush is wrong IMO. That said...if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time they get the lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootingman Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 You have not put a "For Enjoyment" option, because that's why I shoot them. My sport of shooting foxes may indirectly benefit others, such as the local shoots, sheep farmers and wildlife in general but the sole reason I shoot them is because I enjoy it. Same reason I shoot pheasants, deer or any other quarry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieT Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 Leaving pure pest control (done to protect ones income) out of the equation, I am with you Redgum. As much as I enjoy shooting I think every animal has a place and I enjoy seeing them all about. Personally I like to see cubs reach maturity. Much better sport for the foxhounds !! but as far as testing ones hunting/stalking abilities are concerned they can present just as much of a chalange to the rifle as an adult. However, whilst were talking of vermin and ecconomic loss and damage to native fauna I would put the badger at the top of the list. It's cost in this area far exceeds that of the humble fox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-G Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 (edited) "Because I can and want to" wasn't in the poll options so I have not ticked any, nor was several reasons. I like to be roam in countryside on my nights off (city taxi driving work). I can justify the actions of shooting by carrying out pest control for farmers and other land owners. I also shoot some inanimate objects and targets - under the banner of zeroing. I also think every man should know how to use a rifle and own and use it. I sell my rabbits to a butcher for the human food chain to fund the passtime - even if I'm not specifically doing the land owner a favour by shooting brer fox I'm preserving a few rabbits for when I want to shoot them. So how do we see what other members voted as per the warning in the OP? Edited June 11, 2011 by Dave-G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz2202 Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 Protecting farm stock is the reason i do it, However why i choose to do it is because i enjoy the hunt. If i didnt enjoy it then i would not go out in the cold wet conditions just to protect a farmers stock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dekers Posted June 12, 2011 Report Share Posted June 12, 2011 I would suggest that it is you Dekers who are very wrong. As I said in a very early post I shoot foxes because I enjoy it, pure and simple. The fact that I get paid for it and also gain some economic benefit, as far as my sheep are concerned, is an added bonus. Like any job if I did not enjoy it I would not do it. I enjoy farming and gamekeeping so have spent my life doing that to pay the bills. If I did not enjoy it I would have found another occupation. Yes it may be job but surely we all chose the job we enjoy, you included. I know that if I did not enjoy shooting foxes I would get someone who did to do so. Ha Ha... off you go again.... try to explain to someone going out in Mid January, standing in mud up to your ankles, leaning on a dew/mist soaked metal farm gate in the freezing cold at 02.00 in the morning, fingers numb from the cold and wind, legs about to give up after hauling mud for miles, after hours in the field looking for your quarry is enjoyable....there are plenty of times I don't want to go to work! Wouldn't the world be a wonderful place IF everyone could choose a job they enjoyed, trust me there are plenty of things I would chose above this! Now then, how about male lead in adult movies...shall we have a poll to see which would win? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieT Posted June 12, 2011 Report Share Posted June 12, 2011 Now then, how about male lead in adult movies...shall we have a poll to see which would win? Now I know why I keep seeing you driving up and down the road to Pinewood Studios Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harveykeitel22 Posted June 17, 2011 Report Share Posted June 17, 2011 i voted to protect poultry, cos where i work, which is a free range egg farm, we have major problems with fox's taking chickens, and you can imagine how much money you can lose and the damage they cause, very crafty creatures indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Mongrel- Posted June 17, 2011 Report Share Posted June 17, 2011 I don't get any enjoyment from the killing of anything, fish, fowl, fox or vermin, but I do enjoy the thrill of the chase and pitting my skills against theirs. Most times (hopefully) this results in their quick demise and AS A CONSEQUENCE IS beneficial to landowners etc AND SECURES "PERMISSIONS". That's the badger! For me, it's not the dead animal that I hunt for. It's the 'chase'. To identify a target, spend maybe 20 or 30 minutes stalking and getting in range, and then taking a succesful shot. That's why I shoot. That's where the pleasure is. The carcass is just the required end result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hambone Posted June 17, 2011 Report Share Posted June 17, 2011 Protecting farm stock is the reason i do it, However why i choose to do it is because i enjoy the hunt. If i didnt enjoy it then i would not go out in the cold wet conditions just to protect a farmers stock that just about sums it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodeer Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 Shoot everyone I can to try and protect our grey partridges, curlews, pheasants, new born deer etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper3 Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 I enjoy shooting, yet I also enjoy seeing the wildlife around when i'm out in the field, now for me there has to be a balance... I am lucky in the fact that my Farmer don't insist on me killing everything that moves, and in a way I'm glad , this means i can go out bag a few bunnies for the table and keep an eye on the fox population, I don't need to worry about game birds or poultry or even lambs, my farmer breeds cattle... but to keep that balance, the need to shoot foxes is a must, so to be able to shoot a fox and know its going to be a good quick kill is satisfying, if i were to go shooting and only see one fox in lets say 4-5 trips, then the fox would live these are just my views and are just the way i like to shoot..I would hate to have a permission that was clear of all foxes and rabbits... the shooting would become boring tin hat ready Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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