ayano3 Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 Just a bit of a food for thought topic. Regrettably, during the debate leading up to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, our MPs voted to remove the curlew from the list of quarry species. One justified his action by saying, "The curlew has such a lovely call." No one would disagree with that but it hardly seems a reason to give the bird full protection. Curlew were never in any danger from over-shooting. The main threat to the species, as to so many others, lies in the loss of habitat. Just why a fight was not put up at that time remains a mystery but the sad fact is that a valuable sporting bird was lost to the wildfowler. This was the season after I started on the Wash. Maybe many wont have shot Curlew...but do you think we will ever get the Curlew re-instated on the quarry list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 Sadly i very much doubt if curlew will ever come back onto the quarry list. I used to shoot quite a lot back in the 1970s , they were a testing quarry , hard to get within range , difficult to hit and very good eating. Of all the waders we lost in 1981 its only the curlew I realy miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gutty Boots Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 Now it's gone from the quarry list I cannot see it being reinstated, what would be the grounds & who would be in favour? Apart from 'fowlers obviously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudpatten Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 The curlew used to be my favourite non duck/goose quarry in the pre Wildlife and Countryside Act days. More meat on them than a redshank, bar tailed godwit or a whimberel and excellent eating early in the season. I`m always unsure where the falsehood that "no fight was put up at the time" comes from. Usually aimed at some imagined shortcoming on behalf of BASC,the CA were nowhere to be seen on this one,the fact is that things moved fast in parliament and there were many other factors which needed to be considered at the time. In the end, as has rightly been stated, it was the will of Parliament that they be protected and not any shortcoming or failure on behalf of shootings representative organisation. The real fly in the ointment is that curlew numbers have fallen dramatically since their protection which was never justified from the status point of view at the time, but is now an important consideration. Breeding numbers in the UK have slumped and over wintering numbers have shown a steady decline since protection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eccles Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 Just a bit of a food for thought topic. Regrettably, during the debate leading up to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, our MPs voted to remove the curlew from the list of quarry species. One justified his action by saying, "The curlew has such a lovely call." No one would disagree with that but it hardly seems a reason to give the bird full protection. Curlew were never in any danger from over-shooting. The main threat to the species, as to so many others, lies in the loss of habitat. Just why a fight was not put up at that time remains a mystery but the sad fact is that a valuable sporting bird was lost to the wildfowler. This was the season after I started on the Wash. Maybe many wont have shot Curlew...but do you think we will ever get the Curlew re-instated on the quarry list Agree with you on the loss of habitat.All along the dovey estuary and the river dovey the farms get a grant not to cut crops etc during nesting times.What's the point when no pest control takes place.The eggs are all eaten by badger,foxes etc.RSPB on the reserve are no better. It's about time they did think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 They only became protected in Northern Ireland a couple of years ago. I shot one the season before the protection came in, they had been feeding on grassland for a number of days, and in terms of the taste it was pretty good. I am concerned about the population trend in England, although in NI they are more abundant, however as others have said, it was not from shooting pressure, very few people I knew including 'fowlers shot them. I was told that a curlew shot on the shore had an unpleasant taste compared with a bird which had been feeding on grass fields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 My memories of eating curlew (shot back in the past), tend to be of my Grandmother bemoaning the smell of the saltings at low tide, that had permeated her kitchen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayano3 Posted March 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 I have heard that way back the Fowlers would use a brown paper bag tied to a stick to decoy Curlew, I had never heard that before :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pole Star Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 I have heard that way back the Fowlers would use a brown paper bag tied to a stick to decoy Curlew, I had never heard that before :unsure: Tell me please chaps ? did Eric Begbie start a campaign to get the Curlew back on the list . Stacks of them here in Orkney but we just have to let the pass by & miss out on a tasty meal !!! , I have shot a few in Co Wexford in the 90s when I lived in Ireland & they had a short season for the month of september only in my memory is correct ? but I think they are off the list there to now ? . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 Ayano , one of the best ways of decoys them was to wave your hat at them. Provided you were out of sight young curlew would fly over to see what was going on. They would also mob the dog. I still have 4 curlew decoys in the shed that get lent out for club displays at country shows. As for meat , curlew are very deep breasted and there is more meat on them than a wigeon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 Could there be enough pressure generated for BASC to try and get them back on the quarry list? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlin vs Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I have shot a few in Co Wexford in the 90s when I lived in Ireland & they had a short season for the month of september only in my memory is correct ? but I think they are off the list there to now ? . We still have them on the hunting list, but I recon it won't be long before it will end. A short season (Curlew - 1st November to 30th November) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudpatten Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 It`s very difficult to see how BASC could come up with the details for a campaign which got around the most obvious objection to their being shot, namely that their numbers have slumped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 It`s very difficult to see how BASC could come up with the details for a campaign which got around the most obvious objection to their being shot, namely that their numbers have slumped. True! Locally I have plenty but that's not much use when you look at the big picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandalf Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 True! Locally I have plenty but that's not much use when you look at the big picture Same around here. Far more now than when we could shoot them. But the big picture says otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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