Wot no deeks - report

[mack]

I arrived at the field nice and early and was encouraged to see 300 pigeons lift off.

The field is bordered on one side by a small line of trees which the pigeons seemed to be using as sitties. I hid and waited where I had seen them feeding.

I managed to bag a couple that flew too near to me but then they started flying straight past and heading to the other side of the field. I hadnt built a hide so I legged it into the trees which the pigeons were using as a flight line. I managed to bag a couple more.

This is how the day went on, the ones that came too close to the trees got some buckshot but the majority flew happily past and onto the next field of rape. All I needed to do was put some deeks under the obvious flightline and I would have had some great sport.

In the end I got 12, fired loads of cartridges at passing birds, and ended up watching a huge flock eating the next field of rape.

I spoke to the farmer at length about decoys but he said he disagreed and would rather I not shoot the birds at all! I even pointed out the huge damage they were doing but he still didnt buy it.

I did get access to some rabbit shooting though so all was not lost and maybe one day I can convince him about the deeks.

 

Mack

[Roger_Rabbit]

Exhausting day Mack ?? .. but you have respected the farmers wish, unfortunately I don't see his logic but .....

 

In circumstances like that why not get a couple of your mates on each side of the field and keep the birds moving.

 

Nice to hear you had a good conversation with the farmer.

 

A long term project to get the deeks out.

 

Invite the farmer to shoot with you ??

 

Good luck :(

[El Gringo]

Mack,

 

Did you try using any of the dead birds as deeks? If so, how did they work?

 

Since I don't yet have any decoys here in Venezuela, I usually set out the first 4 or 5 birds that I kill and seem to have pretty decent luck with them.

 

Sorry to hear about that farmer's response as well, but you certainly did the right thing by asking in the first place and as RR says, you've got to abide by his wishes.

 

Good luck on the next hunt!

 

El Gringo

[white fox]

He has probably given permission to someone else for the pigeon shooting on his land

[El Gringo]

Hadn't considered that WhiteFox. You could be right.

 

El Gringo

[mack]

Didnt try dead birds this time. That is my next line of attack. I have stuffed the dozen birds in the freezer for next time

 

I dont think anyone else shoots this land because he said he had stopped other people shooting it because they used decoys.

 

I have also considered inviting him to shoot with me so he understands what is involved but Ill wait until I know him better first.

 

My main aim is to show I am diligent, I know what Im doing, I respect his wishes etc so eventually he may trust me and allow me to do the job properly.

 

One day I hope to have excellent sport on these fields (if its the last thing I do hehe)

 

Mack

[El Gringo]

 

In the States I've heard about every reason there is for not being able to hunt on somone's property, but I've never heard the one about using decoys. That's really odd....at least to me.

 

He may not be a hunter at all, but if you can get him to join you on a hunt, as you point you, he may get a better appreciation for what you're trying to accomplish.

 

Of course, he may also enjoy it so much that the next time you show up, you'll find him hunting his own property..........with a huge spread of decoys.

 

Good luck!

 

El Gringo

[Cranfield]

I spoke to the farmer at length about decoys but he said he disagreed and would rather I not shoot the birds at all!

 

I think it would have been better not to have spoken to the Farmer, "at length", about using decoys.

As we all know, its easier for Farmers to say, "No", than "Yes".

Be careful you don't lose any shooting on the land.

 

Next time try, leaving a couple of shot birds on the field, but don't be too obvious, nobody likes a urine extractor, especially Farmers.

 

Anyway, it seems that you didn't have too bad a day, shot 12 and got some exercise.

[Will Beasley]

Just thought I'd write a few words on this.

 

I was on the phone to a client of mine from Cornwall last night and he told me about an interesting new "law" thats sneakily been introduced by the people who control the issues of grants/subsidies to farmers which has restricted his pigeon shooting in a big way.

 

Apparently the low down is that if a farmer takes his grant ( for whatever I dont know, subsidy I expect) in a lump sum then the decoying of pigeons is NOT allowed. If they are accepting their grant payments in installments then its still ok. The reason behind this I presume is that the lump sum would include financial compensation that covers any damage done by pigeons to a crop, or perhaps that the issuers of the grant see that decoying pigeons on a crop could be seen as attracting them to devour a crop that has been grant funded.....your guess is as good as mine at the moment.

 

Now that sounds pretty serious to me, and I can well believe it as there are aleady "laws" laid down about driving around these loveley "Conservation strips" that we're seeing popping up around the edges of fields these days. For those that havent come across these "Conservation strips" basically the farmer gets paid to leave a 6 foot strip around the edges of his field, just wide enough for a 4x4 BUT if they catch the farmer or anyone else driving on it they get a big slap on the wrist and no more money. This is supposedly to encourage wildlife according to the tree-huggers.

 

Perhaps our farmers are being turned into puppets with the strings being pulled by the little Hitlers controlling the grant schemes. I will endeavour to find out more on this matter and will post more info when I have it as I feel it could be quite influential to the future of decoying if this kind of action becomes more widespread.

[fert]

supposedley to encourage wildlife according to the tree huggers!!!!!!!

WHAT ABOUT ALL THE LEVERETS SAT IN THERE FORMS SILAGE TIME?

ALONG COMES THE MOWER AND TADA.maybe these 6foot strips around the headlands might just encourage the wildlife back. more chance for the ENGLISH partridge to nest and have more young.you never know make a full recovery. i think the goverment made a big mistake with the subsidies in the 50s when all the farmers ripped out the hedges. how many animals where affected by that? they might just be trying to make up for. i could go on.by the way will im not a tree hugger. just somebody who respects the countryside with his heart.if we the supposed "countrymen" dont fight for what we got then it will all be ruined.

[lurcherboy]

supposedley to encourage wildlife according to the tree huggers!!!!!!!

WHAT ABOUT ALL THE LEVERETS SAT IN THERE FORMS SILAGE TIME?

ALONG COMES THE MOWER AND TADA.maybe these 6foot strips around the headlands might just encourage the wildlife back. more chance for the ENGLISH partridge to nest and have more young.you never know make a full recovery. i think the goverment made a big mistake with the subsidies in the 50s when all the farmers ripped out the hedges. how many animals where affected by that? they might just be trying to make up for. i could go on.by the way will im not a tree hugger. just somebody who respects the countryside with his heart.if we the supposed "countrymen" dont fight for what we got then it will all be ruined.

Ferts right.

[coney]

Hope this is alright to post here teal, but after will Beasley mentioned the farmer saying he may no longer be able to allow pest control on his land, i said i would look into it. Potentially this situation could have seen the end to our sport! As all farms are going to be under the same single payment schemes.

 

The upshot was DEFRA say they made a mistake (they also got the grouse season dates wrong, now that could have cost a bob or two!!) and are re-releasing a new cross compliance handbook, for land managers. Hopefully this will clear a few things up and you can set a few people straight, if this situation arises on any of your permission. If it does print of the bottom letter and show it to the farmer.

 

Being a cynical ******, and even though i work in the bunny hugging industry i cant believe they could have made such an oversight . But anyway Will asked me to post this for everyone.

 

 

on asking this is what i recieved......

 

BASC to help DEFRA correct shooting guidance on farm payments

 

BASC is working with DEFRA to correct information on shooting regulations published in DEFRA’s latest guidance on reformed farm payments. BASC has pointed out mistakes and problems to DEFRA, which has promised that corrections will be made in new guidance being issued to farmers “in the very near future”.

Dr John Harradine, BASC director of research, said “There were numerous problems in the guidance on the new single payment scheme for farmers in England. The document gave the impression that significant changes were being made to various aspects of shooting game, wildfowl and pest bird species. Also affected were the open seasons for some game birds. The way DEFRA set out the information gave the impression that the 12th of August was closed for grouse shooting. This is not the case.”

“Particular confusion arose over the control of bird pest species. The impression was given that individual licences are needed rather than the control continuing under the general licences that currently operate. The guidance seemed to indicate that both decoys for pigeon shooting and semi-automatic shotguns could not be used. They can, under certain circumstances, and there is no change to these licences at present. “

“We are pleased to see that DEFRA is taking action to rectify the situation, which has caused a large amount of confusion amongst shooters and some organisations. BASC will, of course, offer its services to help ensure such problems are not repeated.”

BASC recommends that any farmers in doubt over what they can and cannot do with respect to shooting under the single payment scheme contact DEFRA in Bristol, tel: 0117 959 1000. BASC members can call the Association for advice.

 

NOTE:

The errors were contained in the “Single Payment Scheme/Cross Compliance Handbook” in the section “Statutory Management Requirements/Environment/SMR 1 Wild Birds”