MerseaDavid Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 (edited) Reading in the Farmers weekly today that there is a new site starting up ********************* where they pay farmers to have someone come and shoot their pigeons. Farmers can earn up to £500 to have someone come round to their farm and shoot the pigeons. That means that it is going to be harder for some of us to find land to shoot over now. Bu tyou can join to get shooting on farms near you and it will cost you around £125 per year but you can then shoot that farm any day you want. (I think) Edited February 20, 2009 by Cranfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiller Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 (edited) Edited February 20, 2009 by tiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerseaDavid Posted February 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 This is the first time I have hered of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webber Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 This thread is doomed. webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 One of the reasons many PW members find it hard to find farmers willing to let them on their land is trust. Farmers are canny, suspicious, wary folk in the main and certainly don’t want just any Tom, **** or Harry wandering their fields with guns etc. Farmers don't like strangers and only time and honesty gets you into their good books. Looks to me like someone’s pinched John Shooters (NPPC) idea and updated it, maybe. Made a better job of it, maybe. BUT not necessarily going to be the end of all your pigeon shooting. If they are paying £500 per annum to every farmer on their books ('will be a farm within 10 miles of you') they are going to need a bigger membership than BASC and CA combined to make that pay (do the math) so I can’t see it making too much of an impression on your shooting. The website talks a good talk and will most likely attract a number of members as the yearly fee to members isn’t dear BUT how many farms actually sign up to the deal might be debatable. £500 isn’t a lot of money if you have to worry about who’s wandering your fields with a gun when you’ve probably no idea who’s likely to be about. We have one farmer in this area who banned all shooting over his land (some 3000 acres) as so many took the **** he had no idea who was out and about, when, with who, etc and every time the phone rang about someone shooting he had to drop things to go see what was going on. Easier to say no shooting at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiller Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 (edited) Edited February 20, 2009 by tiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazkb Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 i contacted them last week and as yet they are not up and running, the nppc is based to far away for me to make any real use off so this looked a better bet. wether or not it works is a different matter, i hope it does but we will see. we have a few farms that dont like shooters of any kind, tough luck for them when the pests destroy their crops then, they can't have it both ways Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocker3 Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 i havent heard of this before and can't see how it would work u would need a lot of members for it to work £500 per farmer £125 per member four members per farm do the maths ? u be willing to pay £125 to shoot on a farm with some one u didnt know all it takes is for somone to do sumthing stupid and ur off that farm .where would it cover ie the whole counrty or just certain parts of it and how many farms would u have the shooting over for u r £125 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggy11 Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 B)Personally if it was a great farm and plenty of shooting.... I would pay the whole £500 to have exclusive rites....... Thats just me though..... Il get my coat.... Nik.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noluv6 Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 I would pay 125 a year at the minute but I could imagine they would get swamped for that price so it would soon go up. Example shooting estate's. Shooting estate's are doing this buying up the farm's and the price's are ridiculous and your right in what your saying,it will of course be harder to get a shoot and it will work out you can't afford to shoot. It is the way it is going to end up. Only rich people will be able to shoot soon. P.s. funny thing is,is we're doing them the favour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaseone Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 On my permission there are 20 guns! I shoot for nought and have done for years but the other 19 pay £385 per Annum and the most I have ever seen on the farm is 3 people and they are the same 3 So what do the others pay to do :o 1 has only been twice in a year As they pay,you cannot even tell them you have a problem on the Rape so get your #ums out here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonevo Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 From what I have seen so far,Farmers in different areas of the country,dont seem too convinced or bothered by the extra £500 per year. I can see that this type of scheme, will not last long.I personally wont be signing up for any amount I wish them well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikee Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 I cant see this really taking off in a big way, £500 to an arable farmer isn't a great deal i dont think, most farmers want people they know and trust and can call on when needed, and don't really want god knows who wandering around their land with a gun, well mine certainly don't, it takes a good while to become trusted by most farmers and when they have a reliable team it must be invaluable at times, and i don't think they would want to loose the trusted reliable vermin shooters, well not for 500 quid anyway. mikee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 dont think any of my farmers will like tom **** and harry out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 (edited) My 2p-worth, both as a farmer and an estate manager: this is rubbish. The FW advert made me laugh out loud. I manage several tens of thousands of arable land in East Anglia. There isn't a commercially-minded farmer or farm manager that I know who views or would view £500 as value for money in this instance. As has already been said, it is not worth the hassle of having unknowns traipsing around private property, when there are hordes of eager volunteers who will do the job. I have never struggled to find pigeon shooters to cover our crops. All of the Shots are locals, or are referred on. They get free shooting, on the understanding that i) they shoot when asked (within reason), ii) that they shoot as many birds as possible, and that iii) they act as dependable eyes and ears for the farms. All of the Shots radio in at the end of the day, or drop in to the farm offices: a bit of 'quality face time' does wonders. I am not denigrating the NPPC. It works well. However, well-managed freebie shooting works equally well at protecting crops. Edited February 22, 2009 by Baldrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevethefish Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Well written and accurate, that's how things should be, I shoot over a few farms and I have found that the estate manager or gamekeeper will inevitably have the last say, and they will only allow trusted or known shooters on the land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 This is being given another hard sell in today's Farmers Weekly, getting a fair few column inches about the merits of the scheme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerseaDavid Posted February 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 My 2p-worth, both as a farmer and an estate manager: this is rubbish. The FW advert made me laugh out loud. I manage several tens of thousands of arable land in East Anglia. There isn't a commercially-minded farmer or farm manager that I know who views or would view �500 as value for money in this instance. As has already been said, it is not worth the hassle of having unknowns traipsing around private property, when there are hordes of eager volunteers who will do the job. I have never struggled to find pigeon shooters to cover our crops. All of the Shots are locals, or are referred on. They get free shooting, on the understanding that i) they shoot when asked (within reason), ii) that they shoot as many birds as possible, and that iii) they act as dependable eyes and ears for the farms. All of the Shots radio in at the end of the day, or drop in to the farm offices: a bit of 'quality face time' does wonders. I am not denigrating the NPPC. It works well. However, well-managed freebie shooting works equally well at protecting crops. I 100% agree with you mate. I also work on a farm and shoot a couple of others and they also dont really care about and extra £500 a year and they also like to know the people that are shooting the land aswell. Pigeon shooters are never hard to find it is just land that is. If this idea does work then good luck to them, but my farms wont be phoneing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David 686 Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) hi all good debate... it sounds like a good idea... but your never going to find framers that will let shooters thay DONT no walking around there land... iv been a <rough shoot> shooter for 20 years.. and as a b.a.s.c member i just cant find pigeon shoting. unless you want to pay £40+ per day... as i live in london and not in the sticks i dont know any farmers growing rape / peas :blink: but iv just started to find some shooting via this forums cheers guys David just want to thank tom for the days pigeon shooting next week its a 140 mile each way but hay-ho i just love pigeon shooting Edited February 27, 2009 by David 686 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 This is being given another hard sell in today's Farmers Weekly, getting a fair few column inches about the merits of the scheme. that'll be costing them then so at least the FW is making its money out of advertising from them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Well lets hope this money grabbing idea dies a death quickly or free shooting will dry up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev 1 Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Ill second that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatGun Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Dont do it !!!!!!! Never ever ever pay for vermin or pest controll ! Just to re-itterate my previous comment........... Do not ever pay someone, to help save THEM money by protecting THEIR crops and THEIR livestock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon master Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 (edited) I agree but its difficult when your trying and your desperate to get some land to shoot on. I took up pigeon shooting about four years ago and allthough I had a fair few woods to shoot in I didnt have any crop fields so I was introduced to the NPPC. I paid my memebership and enjoyed some good shooting and met a few good guys along the way, during my year as a memeber I picked up some of my own land and went from there.. I do agree with you but when you dont have any it can be your only option to get your gun out. The PM (NOT THE ONE GIVING OUT GOLD PLATED PENSIONS TO BANKERS) Edited March 1, 2009 by pigeon master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nats Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Just to let you know i agree we should not pay for shooting i manage a farm and shoot over thousands of acres there is always some one willing to keep the pests off. Spring drillings will be on their way soon........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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