Tinribz Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Young birds are the best for the table the more i shoot the fatter i get 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Why are so many shooters obsessed with numbers shot , on here. ? At this time of year birds are either adults nesting or young birds , not fully grown , recently flown the nest. Where is the skill in shooting a young bird , it is an easy target & not big enough to eat anyway. Adults nesting are easy targets as they are busy trying to raise young & are not in the true alert & wild mode. Also remember that by shooting an adult you may be leaving young in the nest to starve to death. Surely an afternoon shooting half a dozen good testing birds, that you can pluck & put in the freezer before they a maggot infested,is perfectly adequate at this time of year. Shooting scores of easy birds is not skill its greed. Pest control is achieved by you being there, but on stubbles who needs pest control ? I wish shooters were more happy to just be out there in with the wild life. no reflection on shooting pests in summer as often you need to do it then but those obsessed with counting imo either 1. need to for returns 2. have yet to find the real pleasure cannot be counted and is more a reflection of venue than skill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolly2201 Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 "I wish shooters were more happy to just be out there in with the wildlife" dear Mr Bunnage, just from the very last sentence in your topic ( see above in red) , it is plain to see that you are neither a shooter and/or have Never been shooting, I can understand how you feel to a certain extent ( NOT) but if you where to sit back and listen to what hard working farmers have to put up with what with their crops being devastated by pigeons at different times of the year, I spoke to my local farmer and he informed me that pigeons are eating the crops he has planted in the following months, January, February march april may june july august September October November and last but not least December, Now I am sure even a person like yourself can clearly see that these are eating his crops 12 months of the year and this is the reason I have been asked to control pigeons on his land, if I shoot one pigeon I am happy even if its sitting on a nest I personally don't care where the pigeon is,if I was to refuse to take this pigeons life then it would only fly away like little birdies do and eat some other farmers crops you do not seem to be able to grasp the fact that this is PEST control and pigeons are certainly PESTS costing farmers millions, now if shooters did not kill the pigeons and at the rate which we do then your CORNFLAKES that you eat would cost a lot more, so instead of having a full bowl of cornflakes you would only be able to have half a bowl, please feel free to let shooters know how you feel because it does lighten our day , have a good day sir , and just to help you feel better here is a lovely picture of me sitting amongst some wildlife as you can see I look very happy when I,m with the wildlife and out in the country, all the best to you and if ever you feel the need to complain about our pest the pigeon, then please feel free as I,ll be listerning yours thankfully Evo Brilliant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Beware pigeon watchers you are entertaining an anti . He pops up now and again to try and wind you up and get us to justify what we do . Harnser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich1985 Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 (edited) If he or she is anti and we know he or she is on here just to be a mole for a anti shooting organisation or such like can't he or she be banned?? It seems strange to me that he or she placed the post but has not responded to what folk on the forum have put? By the way evo, brilliant just brilliant. Edited August 2, 2014 by rich1985 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bala Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 If he or she is anti and we know he or she is on here just to be a mole for a anti shooting organisation or such like can't he or she be banned?? It seems strange to me that he or she placed the post but has not responded to what folk on the forum have put? By the way evo, brilliant just brilliant. cant the individual be blackballed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davyo Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 (edited) Why dont we all go shooting pigeons tomorrow that'll **** him off.So everytime he pops up he will be instructing loads of us to go out the next day shooting.So his own actions will result in hundreds more pigeons being shot the next day that he will be soley resposable for. Edited August 2, 2014 by Davyo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 oh no not him again I like just being out in the countryside but we go shooting to shoot not just admire the surroundings, I go fishing to catch fish its not rocket science, and whilst shooting pigeons and catching fish I enjoy being in the countryside also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 If he or she is anti and we know he or she is on here just to be a mole for a anti shooting organisation or such like can't he or she be banned?? It seems strange to me that he or she placed the post but has not responded to what folk on the forum have put? By the way evo, brilliant just brilliant. He dosent have to respond to his post . He has achieved what he is after . He has wound some off us up by getting us to justify what we do . Don't entertain the pathetic little creature . A number one key board activist . Proberbly a lonely unloved small man who is a fraustrated pigeon shooter . If that's his problem if he sends me a message I will take him out and show him the ropes . Harnser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmytree Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Is Bunnage an anti? If he is, then as Harnser pointed out he's achieved what he wanted by winding up a few people. On an open, public forum everything that gets posted can be read by police, activists, political groups, you name it! The posts we make and the responses to those posts may be used against shooting sports in the future so caution might be wise. At least on here most members understand the reasons for the General Licence and how we should behave to abide by it but there are many people elsewhere who don't and are happy to boast of their exploits such as shooting pigeons on their bird tables after putting food out to attract them. I'm starting to believe that it may be better to just enjoy the shooting but look carefully at how we report it on the forums. In the meantime, here's a pic that will keep Bunnage happy, 25 birds taken with an air rifle this afternoon. Selective shooting too, I didn't shoot youngsters or nesting females, how do I know that? Well none of them had full udders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 I don't mind antis visiting a forum now and then, but there's no debate unless they join in, which bunnage hasn't, so they fail to learn anything, though admittedly most aren't interested in learning. However, many many are genuinely ignorant of how things work and by talking we can at least educate them. On another forum some years ago an anti was cheering because someone had posted saying that three of their Bowman traps had been stolen; the anti genuinely believed these were used to 'trap' creatures when in fact the post had been written by a coach from a clay ground! Another, whom I got to know quite well (before a shooter started getting personal and abusive resulting in the thread being closed) was genuinely horrified to learn that corvids had plucked an eye from a landowners prize Tupp when it became stranded on its back for a while, and that they were known to do the same to newborn lambs, while another anti claimed it served the farmer right for keeping sheep just to slaughter them. It was pointed out to her that if we humans didn't eat them they wouldn't exist, a point she obviously hadn't thought about as she stopped posting after that. There are some numpties out there, but there are also some genuinely unknowledgable people also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnage Posted August 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 Its only been 24 hrs since I put this on , give me a chance !!! I am not an anti, I am a farmer, a shooter, but I do love the countryside and all it holds.With the countryside shrinking with urbanization, pressure from public opinion against shooting , I like to air some of my thinking to make others think. I am very disappointed with the views so far. As usual they are abusive & arrogant . Shooters posing like Victorian big game hunters or Maltese Turtle Dove shooters do no good to our public image. Remember what happened to the Passenger pigeon in the USA, wiped out ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr D Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 (edited) I dont think bunnage is necessarily anti shooting. He/she is not advocating no shooting, only not alot of shooting. Birds on nests, etc.... are given as reasons. He/she is not alone in that sentiment. I can remember posting a spring bag a few years ago and I was rounded upon by fellow members from n ireland for much them same reason. Even when I explained the farmer wanted them gone there were those who disagreed. The moral argument about not starving young birds on the nest is an interesting one, because as I see it bunnage shouldnt then be saying just take half a dozen. Surely it doesnt matter how many or few you shoot if the argument is premised on morality? Personally I dont shoot pigeons between the end of april and start of august. Thats my choice, and I am not afraid to say it is driven by much the same moral argument as bunnage. However, ( before I get my head bit off) unlike him/ her I do recognise that it is classified as a pest and that it is legitimate and sometimes totally necssary to shoot them in the late spring and summer. I also know they can and do breed all year round and so the moral argument is difficult to sustain beyond simply recognising that shooting outside of the peak of the breeding season reduces the chance of hitting birds on the nest. I am sure lots will disagree with me, but I have heard all the arguments over the years. Should there be a closed season etc.... personally I think they are a pest species. But I love them. They are a sporting target worthy of respect. Without the pigeons would I have an fac? I doubt it. Edited August 3, 2014 by Dr D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 Its only been 24 hrs since I put this on , give me a chance !!! I am not an anti, I am a farmer, a shooter, but I do love the countryside and all it holds.With the countryside shrinking with urbanization, pressure from public opinion against shooting , I like to air some of my thinking to make others think. I am very disappointed with the views so far. As usual they are abusive & arrogant . Shooters posing like Victorian big game hunters or Maltese Turtle Dove shooters do no good to our public image. Remember what happened to the Passenger pigeon in the USA, wiped out ! You know the Victorian big game hunters became the conservationists that lead the fight to preserve their quarry. Do you know anything of Jim Corbet and what he did to conserve the Tiger? J A Hunter who was contracted by the Government to wipe out Rhino from areas yet started the whole photo safari thing that gave the game a value while still alive ? Here in the UK we have Sir Peter Scott the wildfowler who set up Slimbridge reserve among many other international work and not forgetting the most prominent body of wildfowl conservation etc? I bet Scot killed more fowl with his punt and shoulder gun than any of us ever will though! Likely there are as many dumb antis and farmers as there are shooters. To say the dumb shooter doesn't exist though?-well ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 if i go out and shoot 50, im happy if i shoot 5 im still happy,it just helps to keep numbers down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsallpl Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 Its only been 24 hrs since I put this on , give me a chance !!! I am not an anti, I am a farmer, a shooter, but I do love the countryside and all it holds.With the countryside shrinking with urbanization, pressure from public opinion against shooting , I like to air some of my thinking to make others think. I am very disappointed with the views so far. As usual they are abusive & arrogant . Shooters posing like Victorian big game hunters or Maltese Turtle Dove shooters do no good to our public image. Remember what happened to the Passenger pigeon in the USA, wiped out ! bunnage, I understand exactly your sentiments with loving the natural world and all it includes and agree some of the responses are a bit over the top, however it is important to understand how antis are viewed by most of the shooting / hunting fraternity. Some of the biased and unreasonable statements made without any true understanding and knowledge makes most of us very frustrated with them. As Scully pointed out if they can be educated and are prepared to listen that's great, mind you that goes for anyone really. I think that unfortunately you was labelled by some one as an anti and the response you got just really explains how most of us hold them in contempt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin lad Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 You need a different hobby if you feel this way +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 Its only been 24 hrs since I put this on , give me a chance !!! I am not an anti, I am a farmer, a shooter, but I do love the countryside and all it holds.With the countryside shrinking with urbanization, pressure from public opinion against shooting , I like to air some of my thinking to make others think. I am very disappointed with the views so far. As usual they are abusive & arrogant . Shooters posing like Victorian big game hunters or Maltese Turtle Dove shooters do no good to our public image. Remember what happened to the Passenger pigeon in the USA, wiped out ! This forum is called 'Pigeon Watch', do you genuinely believe that if we shoot less, public opinion will change in any way? Really? Whether we shoot 5 or 500,and whether it is done in the name of pest control or 'sport', we're killing for our own entertainment. I also love the countryside and all that's in it, but I love shooting also. Victorian big game shooters are no longer relevant to what we do (though Kent has made some sound relevant points) and the Maltese Turtle Dove shooters are a problem for the Maltese government. All of our landowners would boot us off their land and get someone else in if we packed in shooting pigeons battering their crop after half a dozen birds or so. To suggest otherwise is frankly, coming from someone who claims to be a farming shooter, extremely naive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 Its only been 24 hrs since I put this on , give me a chance !!! I am not an anti, I am a farmer, a shooter, but I do love the countryside and all it holds.With the countryside shrinking with urbanization, pressure from public opinion against shooting , I like to air some of my thinking to make others think. I am very disappointed with the views so far. As usual they are abusive & arrogant . Shooters posing like Victorian big game hunters or Maltese Turtle Dove shooters do no good to our public image. Remember what happened to the Passenger pigeon in the USA, wiped out ! Then as a farmer I would have thought you would be fully aware of why pigeon need controlling all year . You are disappointed with the views because none of them agree with your own The passenger pigeon may have been hunted in high numbers , and ultimately the very last one was shot but its main reason for extinction was loss of its habitat as they fed exclusively on woodland seeds such as acorns , there was a interesting article in one of this weeks dailys about it. Its is commonly agreed that wood pigeon numbers are still rising , despite the huge numbers shot and year round shooting , almost the opposite is true in that new crops such as rape has allowed the wood pigeon limitless food supply year round , the breeding season is from February - November but they have been know to breed in every month of the year Unlike the passenger pigeon they are very adaptable birds when it comes to food source . Perhaps if you put some genuine helpful input to the forum you may find they / we are a great bunch on here, but instead you just pop up now and again to do a little stiring and then disappear again until next time you feel like winding us all up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 Dear Mr Bunnage , I only wish I could get some good bags!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jam1e Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 I think "Bunnage" starts a thread which he ensures is, provoking and contentious. Then he sits back and takes great pleasure at the people who bite, by spend time posting replies. From a personal perspective, I have to admit that rightly or wrongly, I really find it hard continuing with pest control through the breeding months. It does not sit well with me, at the thought of young birds or animals starving to death, or being easy prey. I was also quite puzzled and alarmed that due to my ignorance, I was unaware that Muntjac do not have a "closed season" Are their young less entitled to a fair go at life, like say, Roe? Don't get me wrong, and please don't bombard me with abuse. I'm a keen shooter/hunter, and i'm not saying that from a farmer/game keepers point of view, the current situation is wrong. As for Muntjac, in my area, they are less common than Roe. So an open season puzzles me? By all means educate me.... Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retromlc Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 I cant be bothered to respond to him,that's why there is a report button,whatever his motivation it's not welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 I think "Bunnage" starts a thread which he ensures is, provoking and contentious. Then he sits back and takes great pleasure at the people who bite, by spend time posting replies. From a personal perspective, I have to admit that rightly or wrongly, I really find it hard continuing with pest control through the breeding months. It does not sit well with me, at the thought of young birds or animals starving to death, or being easy prey. I was also quite puzzled and alarmed that due to my ignorance, I was unaware that Muntjac do not have a "closed season" Are their young less entitled to a fair go at life, like say, Roe? Don't get me wrong, and please don't bombard me with abuse. I'm a keen shooter/hunter, and i'm not saying that from a farmer/game keepers point of view, the current situation is wrong. As for Muntjac, in my area, they are less common than Roe. So an open season puzzles me? By all means educate me.... Jamie The reason there is no close season for Muntjac is the fact they are prolific breeders , they are either pregnant or nursing young at anytime , it is actually favoured to shoot a pregnant doe I believe as they are likely not to be nursing young while pregnant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 This thread has run its course, it may surprise some that as " a farmer" bunnage holds those views, but he is entitled to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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