shotgun tim Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 at work today i seen a mallard with a young duckling so just an opinion who thinks the start of the season is too early ? would it be better to start 1st oct ? the picture is the duck and duckling today i’m in the east scottish borders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant1 Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 i am with you on this one start on 1st oct and extend till end february. been saying this for a while i think there breeding season has extended due to warmer climate . i dont think it is as cold and wet as it was when i started wildfowling 40 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 i was out shooting yester day, a 3 ducks came off a pond i just let them go on, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipper Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 Start October should be able to shoot drakes only in feb.How often do you see more than 1 drake treading a duck . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 This crop up every year for as long as I can remember , and when I have brought the subject up I have been told to leave it how it is , today we went around the Broads for a run out and the temp was 26 degrees, and on the T V weather a few minutes ago it is going to be 27 degrees tomorrow in our region , there was no body more keener than I was when the new season rolled around and the 1st of September was the day most club members made a start , you ask them now and over 90 percent will say they are going to give it a miss until some of the late duck get on the wing and things cool down a bit , I for one would like to see it start at the earliest on September the 20th and both inland and coastal finish together on February the 20th as it is now totally outdated for one side of the sea wall finish in February and the other side of the wall you have to finish the last day in January , the only ones to dip out will be the coastal boys by losing the first 20 days of a new season and to be honest they would be losing very little sport , the quantity would still be the same and the quality of the fowl would be that much better. Now I haven't got the slightest bit of interest in early season duck and I don't make a start till well into October , that is not to say I am against those who still do turn out , GOOD LUCK to those who do , but like I say it is no longer for me . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenshank1 Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 I wonder if wildfowling clubs and individuals and shooting bodies lobbied for a new start date to the season due to climate change would we get good PR for the welfare benefits ? Or would we be cutting our own throats ? Or is not doing anything actually worse and giving antis more ammunition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotgun tim Posted September 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 to see the duck with the duckling today i said to work mates it’s not good in the shooting season in my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushandpull Posted September 5, 2022 Report Share Posted September 5, 2022 Just because the season has opened it doesn't mean you have to shoot. At one time you could shoot ducks in August but most folk were discriminating and "flapper shooting" by a few was looked down on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted September 5, 2022 Report Share Posted September 5, 2022 (edited) I don't see why some in our own community seek to restrict our shooting further. There are enough antis and government agencies doing that already. Edited September 5, 2022 by Big Mat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted September 5, 2022 Report Share Posted September 5, 2022 30 minutes ago, Pushandpull said: Just because the season has opened it doesn't mean you have to shoot. At one time you could shoot ducks in August but most folk were discriminating and "flapper shooting" by a few was looked down on. That is correct , you have got a choice when you start shooting wildfowl but you know and I know that the vast majority now leave starting to later on during the season , yes they did used to start in August but did the temp in those days ever reach 40 degrees like it did this year ? , no it didn't as this year was a record , unlike some of the folk in other parts of the country we have now gone getting on to two months without , or with very little rain fall , this have left many ponds , dykes and inland water ways either dried out completely or very close to it , around the salt marshes you have still got loads of visitors enjoying the last of the summer sunshine and although you are not during anything wrong I wouldn't fancy walking past them with a gun under my arm , if the start was a bit later there would be less people about to watch the proceedings when you are crouched in a gutter , they can often see you , where you cannot always see them . We know that our sport is ( normally ) better at the end of the season than it is at the beginning and would it really make a lot of difference by starting at a slightly later date by 20 days and having it put on in February so the season finish at the same time for both inland and coastal ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holloway Posted September 5, 2022 Report Share Posted September 5, 2022 3 hours ago, Pushandpull said: Just because the season has opened it doesn't mean you have to shoot. At one time you could shoot ducks in August but most folk were discriminating and "flapper shooting" by a few was looked down on. This common sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushandpull Posted September 5, 2022 Report Share Posted September 5, 2022 The argument for the February extension was that while inland ducks were pairing up to breed, those on the coast would not pair up until they had migrated away to the north. It's a tenuous idea and I think best left alone in the modern climate when there is so much to lose. NE are killing coastal wildfowling one step at a time, and BASC seem to be interested in little beyond protecting the game shooting industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krico woodcock Posted September 5, 2022 Report Share Posted September 5, 2022 There is alot of flappers still about more than usual, and alot won't be flying for another 2 ,3 weeks at least.. but as big mat has said there is always young ducks still this time of year and common sense should come into play.. as for putting season back to 1st October, I would agree to that , but if that is done, its only a matter of time before they want to cut season again and again, and fire in as many restrictions as they can in the process. As for extending season into February, of course that would be brilliant, make sense, but they definitely will never, ever do that. And as far as I'm aware, they cant, or say they can't. This was discussed in depth about 12 or 13 years ago here in Ireland,between shooting men ,gunclubs ,and our main governing body the NARGC. and as for extending season into February it was definite no, because of the European birds directive.. so it was more or less agreed to leave season as it was , and leave well enough alone!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted September 5, 2022 Report Share Posted September 5, 2022 3 hours ago, Krico woodcock said: There is alot of flappers still about more than usual, and alot won't be flying for another 2 ,3 weeks at least.. but as big mat has said there is always young ducks still this time of year and common sense should come into play.. as for putting season back to 1st October, I would agree to that , but if that is done, its only a matter of time before they want to cut season again and again, and fire in as many restrictions as they can in the process. As for extending season into February, of course that would be brilliant, make sense, but they definitely will never, ever do that. And as far as I'm aware, they cant, or say they can't. This was discussed in depth about 12 or 13 years ago here in Ireland,between shooting men ,gunclubs ,and our main governing body the NARGC. and as for extending season into February it was definite no, because of the European birds directive.. so it was more or less agreed to leave season as it was , and leave well enough alone!! I totally agree with a lot that have been written above and as I have already said , I have got nothing whatsoever against shooting wildfowl In September , but we have to agree that the climate change is here to stay , only the other day the weather men said these extreme temp's are going to be a regular thing and we have got to get use to them , last year there was great excitement when some Bee Eaters ( birds ) were seen just down the road from where I live , bird watchers came from all over the U K to have a look , twelve months later they not only came back they also nested and brought up a family and now they have moved on , same with a lot of coastal birds , where it was once a rarity to see a Egret , now we don't give them a second look and we have also got two other strains of Egret , the Great White Egret and the Cattle Egret , same with the Avocet and the Spoon Bill , all once rarity's but now we have got rafts of Avocet's and the spoonbills are a regular visitor . No doubt they had the same discussion years ago when the season was in August and I believe it once started even earlier than that , We are now told every year from B A S C to refrain from shooting to many young ones , but the commercial guys who feed the flight ponds with tons of barley can knock hell out the local population from the 1st of September and they are well within there right , and yet I have heard that certain clubs have now put a ban on walking up the dykes on club land as a lot of late hatched duck are still at a flapper stage. Out of interest , I wonder if B A S C ever done a poll to see how many members would agree to a later start , or leave well alone and keep it as it is what the results would be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted September 5, 2022 Report Share Posted September 5, 2022 Maybe for duck, and inland, but no one forces you to go out and shoot from the 1st. September start is way too early for wild partridge. Back when I was a teenager and knew no better most of the wild greys we shot early on were barely half grown, likewise the wild redlegs (remember them?). October start for partridge, November for Pheasants, not that I suggest the legal start date changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted September 5, 2022 Report Share Posted September 5, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, scolopax said: Maybe for duck, and inland, but no one forces you to go out and shoot from the 1st. September start is way too early for wild partridge. Back when I was a teenager and knew no better most of the wild greys we shot early on were barely half grown, likewise the wild redlegs (remember them?). October start for partridge, November for Pheasants, not that I suggest the legal start date changes. I think you would stand more chance winning the lottery jackpot than to shoot a wild English Partridge , it have now been many years since I last walked Partridges up , Same with French Partridges , you would think with all the Partridge shoots around our way that a few pairs get down the marsh and bring up the odd brood , but they don't and you can go years without dropping onto one , how true this is I don't know but the keeper once told me a French Partridge only live for around three to five years . Still we are nearly through the first week of the new wildfowling season and I am looking forward to the first report of a good flight , although with it reaching 27 degrees today they would have to get a move on processing any geese shot and anything else come to that . Edited September 5, 2022 by marsh man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant1 Posted September 5, 2022 Report Share Posted September 5, 2022 while we are on the subject of the shooting season. has anyone gone out for snipe on the 12 of august. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nic Posted September 6, 2022 Report Share Posted September 6, 2022 you choose when to pull the trigger! why take away more days? if you think they will extend the back end of the season when for decades it has been set due to the start of a breeding season, then maybe the tooth fairy does really exist in your house as well. 🙂 yes there are young but also in some areas there are for example canadas in number ... so much so that people are shooting them on GL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainhastings Posted September 6, 2022 Report Share Posted September 6, 2022 Seasons are fine people have brains and can decide for them selves. If any thing they should drop this Sunday rubbish in some counties. Lets get things opened up and reversed for a change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gas seal Posted September 6, 2022 Report Share Posted September 6, 2022 Wildfowl clubs could delay the start of the duck shooting season as and when required, we have cold weather restrictions , we now need warm weather restrictions. The farm shooters could restrict their shooting. I think the commercial shoots would require the law to change. Canada geese are different they are on the General License and also have a shooting season they can stay together for safety with their young in large numbers. The start of the woodcock season will be the first to be changed, by law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainhastings Posted September 6, 2022 Report Share Posted September 6, 2022 Why the urge to change things can we not self regulate. I won't shoot a duck inland for a while yet. I made start on the geese a few days ago. Dropped a few canada's and packed up when I could have had more.. Same as rabbits I don't do it for pest control I do it for sport and enjoyment and bit of free grub. But again use my judgement on numbers and seasons etc. Long live the humble bunny ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted September 6, 2022 Report Share Posted September 6, 2022 1 hour ago, nic said: you choose when to pull the trigger! why take away more days? if you think they will extend the back end of the season when for decades it has been set due to the start of a breeding season, then maybe the tooth fairy does really exist in your house as well. 🙂 yes there are young but also in some areas there are for example canadas in number ... so much so that people are shooting them on GL. You are right , everyone can choose when to pull the trigger and in my case it is now well into October , walking around the marshes in the high 20 degrees and everywhere as dry as a bone is not really the sort of weather I enjoy wild fowling , hands up who do ? When is the start of the breeding season ? , we have seen ducklings every month of the year and I know where there are a few broods of duck of various ages which won't be on the wing for another two to three weeks, As already said , if you have got a problem with Canada geese then you don't have to wait till the 1st of September I have been lucky enough to be able to shoot wild fowl for just over 60 years so maybe the tooth fairy do exist in my house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krico woodcock Posted September 6, 2022 Report Share Posted September 6, 2022 1 hour ago, Gas seal said: Wildfowl clubs could delay the start of the duck shooting season as and when required, we have cold weather restrictions , we now need warm weather restrictions. The farm shooters could restrict their shooting. I think the commercial shoots would require the law to change. Canada geese are different they are on the General License and also have a shooting season they can stay together for safety with their young in large numbers. The start of the woodcock season will be the first to be changed, by law. We definitely don't need anymore restrictions.. as for woodcock season to be changed don't get me started on that, they are hell bent to try and put woodcock into red list,and to try and stop shooting them altogether. But they ( authorities, powers that be, there are several) don't really want to definterate between resident woodcock and migratory woodcock. Resident woodcock have always been thin on the ground, and truth is no one really knows how many are about. I definitely know of pockets I see them roding, croaking late spring. They don't want to accept its habitat destruction is mostly to blame for ( if any) decline in resident woodcock. But when migratory birds arrive in through out the winter woodcock are very much in plentiful numbers. I can flush (rise) anything from 10 to 40 woodcock in a day.. but they are trying to put all under one umbrella. And it's not restrictions they want now. It's ban as much as they can through restrictions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainhastings Posted September 6, 2022 Report Share Posted September 6, 2022 Any restriction in any field sport from fishing to working dogs needs to be slapped right back down. Not a single inch should be given any where Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamch Posted September 6, 2022 Report Share Posted September 6, 2022 Exercise self control and dont ask for legislation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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