what orgs are you with

[8 shot]

6 hours ago, Westley said:

Tell me,  what are you doing with the thousands of birds that you must be finding dead, due to lead shot ingestion ? Our marshes down here do not seem to be suffering any losses.

Clearly handing them in to the relivant authorities 🤣

[scolopax]

BASC x 2, BDS, GWCT and as of yesterday, Countryside Alliance. 

[Jim Neal]

15 hours ago, holloway said:

I explained my choice with 6 good reasons in my post .As for the lead shot ban ,well I haven’t used anything other than steel for the last 8 or 9 years in all of my guns ,it’s time for some to move on ,or just wake up to reality .

6 reasons, two of them duplicated and none of them that you couldn't get for free asking the right questions to the right people (or dare I say it solve yourself with a little common sense).

I'm fully woken up to reality.  BASC are a self-serving sham of an organisation.  It's time for them to move on.

You're alright Jack, with your steel shot, wonderful.  I'll get kicked off any land I shoot over if I spit plastic wads all over the place.  I'd happily move away from lead but the massive elephant in the room remains - there's NO viable alternative as yet.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Jim Neal

[holloway]

6 hours ago, Jim Neal said:

6 reasons, two of them duplicated and none of them that you couldn't get for free asking the right questions to the right people (or dare I say it solve yourself with a little common sense).

I'm fully woken up to reality.  BASC are a self-serving sham of an organisation.  It's time for them to move on.

You're alright Jack, with your steel shot, wonderful.  I'll get kicked off any land I shoot over if I spit plastic wads all over the place.  I'd happily move away from lead but the massive elephant in the room remains - there's NO viable alternative as yet.

Ok I guess your not a fan ,I have a friend who had similar views as yourself ….. he has just sold all of his shooting gear and bought a camera , seems happy enough now .

Edited May 1, 2022 by holloway

[Marka11]

My old shoot you had basc ins as part of the membership fees but now I am rid of my old shoot joined another I can pick my own so it’s down to value for money I don’t want a glossy mag every few months but may do a family membership me and my son in law who was in same shoot and has now joined same new shoot as myself if price is right

Edited May 1, 2022 by Marka11

[jall25]

Guys try GWCT they do give something back in my opinion

 

[Jim Neal]

16 hours ago, holloway said:

Ok I guess your not a fan ,I have a friend who had similar views as yourself ….. he has just sold all of his shooting gear and bought a camera , seems happy enough now .

Nice work Sherlock

Your friend is what's known as a cop-out.  If he had the balls he'd stand up for his beliefs.

[London Best]

On 01/05/2022 at 07:17, holloway said:

Ok I guess your not a fan ,I have a friend who had similar views as yourself ….. he has just sold all of his shooting gear and bought a camera , seems happy enough now .

To some it is never more than a hobby. 
To some of us it is a way of life.

[rimfire4969]

BASC and NGO.

I just bought 2 new pick ups for my business and used a BASC discount voucher that got free towbar and fitting by the dealer, saved me £750.00 per truck so I have made the money back for the last 20 ish years I have been a member.

[holloway]

45 minutes ago, rimfire4969 said:

BASC and NGO.

I just bought 2 new pick ups for my business and used a BASC discount voucher that got free towbar and fitting by the dealer, saved me £750.00 per truck so I have made the money back for the last 20 ish years I have been a member.

 Worth having ,especially with the economy as it is .

[Scully]

1 hour ago, London Best said:

To some it is never more than a hobby. 
To some of us it is a way of life.

This.

[holloway]

15 hours ago, Jim Neal said:

Nice work Sherlock

Your friend is what's known as a cop-out.  If he had the balls he'd stand up for his beliefs.

We have simply decided to tackle the lead shot situation in our own way…..,he at a very senior age and a lifetime of shooting has decided he has neither the energy or time to change ,nothing to do with balls or lack of .

And I decided that I would try the alternatives over many years so that I was happy that there is a suitable ,humane ,economic alternative to poisonous lead shot ,I am happy that there is especially with biodegradable wads now showing up everywhere.

Others may feel more comfortable with doing nothing themselves and blaming Basc for everything ,it probably is the easiest option.

[wymberley]

6 hours ago, London Best said:

To some it is never more than a hobby. 
To some of us it is a way of life.

Yep.

The first 'some' have to work to pay for their hobby.

The second, with the exception of those whose employment is shooting related, are those who have no need to partake of anything so degrading.

[London Best]

36 minutes ago, wymberley said:

Yep.

The first 'some' have to work to pay for their hobby.

The second, with the exception of those whose employment is shooting related, are those who have no need to partake of anything so degrading.

Total **** I’m afraid.

[Scully]

53 minutes ago, wymberley said:

Yep.

The first 'some' have to work to pay for their hobby.

The second, with the exception of those whose employment is shooting related, are those who have no need to partake of anything so degrading.

Not sure I understand your meaning by the second paragraph. What is ‘degrading’? Shooting live quarry or having a hobby? 🤔

[clangerman]

1 hour ago, holloway said:

 

Others may feel more comfortable with doing nothing themselves and blaming Basc for everything ,it probably is the easiest option.

blame where it belongs full square down to basc arrogance in taking a decision that was not theirs to make sooner they are out of business the better! 

[wymberley]

39 minutes ago, Scully said:

Not sure I understand your meaning by the second paragraph. What is ‘degrading’? Shooting live quarry or having a hobby? 🤔

Keep up, that man. What do you suppose the third alternative to your two could be? 😜

[Scully]

9 minutes ago, wymberley said:

Keep up, that man. What do you suppose the third alternative to your two could be? 😜

I don’t know what the alternatives to the first two are, never-mind a third! 🤷‍♂️

[wymberley]

1 hour ago, London Best said:

Total **** I’m afraid.

Sorry, but the very first thing that struck me when reading your post was that it read just like one of the earlier letters quoted in Random Shots.

13 minutes ago, Scully said:

I don’t know what the alternatives to the first two are, never-mind a third! 🤷‍♂️

How does 'work' strike you? 

[Scully]

57 minutes ago, wymberley said:

 

How does 'work' strike you? 

If you love what you’re doing it’s not work! 🙂

Edited May 2, 2022 by Scully

[London Best]

2 hours ago, Scully said:

I don’t know what the alternatives to the first two are, never-mind a third! 🤷‍♂️

I think what our friend meant was that anyone to whom shooting was a way of life did not need to partake in anything so degrading as work. 
In other words, they could afford not to have to work.

[enfieldspares]

I am with the CPSA. They offer this: https://www.cpsa.co.uk/files/download/532/CPSA-Insurance-Leaflet.pdf

Legal Expenses Cover In addition to the standard benefits above, competition members (excluding Colts) are also covered for Legal Costs reasonably incurred in;

Defence Against Criminal Prosecution Defence of your legal rights including defence, appeal or defence of appeal against judgement, conviction or sentence in respect of any act or omission leading to criminal proceedings being brought against you as a result of participating in CPSA endorsed activities subject to a limit of indemnity of £50,000 per Insured Incident.

Protection of Shotgun Certificate An appeal to the relevant statutory body or regulatory authority, court or tribunal where the relevant Authority suspend, revoke, cancel, alter the terms of or refuse to renew Your Shotgun Certificate. Cover is subject to a limit of indemnity of £50,000 per Insured Incident

Does BASC offer similar legal cover? No!

OTOH BASC pro-actively led and "welcomed" a voluntary ban on using lead shot which the CPSA didn't. But never mind be happy that you BASC subscription whilst it may now no longer gives legal cover did pay for "jollies" at Catton Park for MPs.

After all it's better by far that those at Marford Mill get their priorities right!

Which seems to be a) no legal cover for refusal to renew or revocation of members' SGCs but b) driven pheasant days for MPs.

And if the Catton Park "jollies" return for the forthcoming season will any BASC spokesman give an undertaking that they will insist that those taking part use only steel shot?

[Jim Neal]

6 hours ago, holloway said:

decided to tackle the lead shot situation

WHAT "situation" before BASC led most of the other orgs into shafting us all?  There was no "situation".  BASC's very reassuring "No evidence, no change" stance was the thing that kept the status quo.  There is STILL absolutely zero evidence of lead being harmful, either as spent shot in the environment or residing in the carcasses of shot game.  Even the historical evidence collected over wetlands makes sketchy reading to me, it seems like the work of people who are looking to find a problem rather than monitor a situation.

6 hours ago, holloway said:

I was happy that there is a suitable ,humane ,economic alternative to poisonous lead shot ,I am happy that there is especially with biodegradable wads now showing up everywhere.

Ignorance is bliss.  You'd better sit down because I've got some bad news for you.

"Eco wads", as they are very incorrectly described, are not environmentally friendly in the slightest.  They are made from Polyvinyl Acetate, which is a plastic, would you believe?!  PVA requires specific enzymes to be present in order for it to be biodegradable.  Randomly discarded into the environment without those enzymes present, PVA will only slowly dissolve rather than biodegrade.  That means it has simply been turned into something described by a very popular buzz term of late: microplastics.  Microplastics are impossible to eliminate from the ecosystem once they are introduced.

These "eco wads" are simply a case of "Out of sight, out of mind".  The problem has NOT been solved, it has been HIDDEN and is just as bad as, if not worse than, spent lead shot in the environment.

Industrial production of PVA is no more friendly to the environment than any other plastic.

Stock can still choke on a freshly spent PVA wad before it has had time to soften.

Forget shooting steel anywhere near trees managed for forestry.

Suitable?!!  Jog on......

Edited May 2, 2022 by Jim Neal

[8 shot]

5 minutes ago, Jim Neal said:

"Eco wads", as they are very incorrectly described, are not environmentally friendly in the slightest.  They are made from Polyvinyl Acetate, which is a plastic, would you believe?!  PVA requires specific enzymes to be present in order for it to be biodegradable.  Randomly discarded into the environment without those enzymes present, PVA will only slowly dissolve rather than biodegrade.  That means it has simply been turned into something described by a very popular buzz term of late: microplastics.  Microplastics are impossible to eliminate from the ecosystem once they are introduced.

These "eco wads" are simply a case of "Out of sight, out of mind".  The problem has NOT been solved, it has been HIDDEN.

Industrial production of PVA is no more friendly to the environment than any other plastic.

Stock can still choke on a freshly spent PVA wad before it has had time to soften.

When you speak to any of the cartridge company reps they are very reluctant to say what is in there wads, and the time scale for them to totally disappear, one quoted months not ideal for any livestock farmer. Our small friends and family shoot will have to stop if/when lead is banned, probarly along with all the birdstrips/gamecrops we and our neighbour plant for the shoot.

[jall25]

21 hours ago, London Best said:

To some it is never more than a hobby. 
To some of us it is a way of life.

Totally this