sad times at nigg bay

[fed up fowler 0]

sad times at nigg bay the past 4 weeks has seen wave after wave of travelling cowboys bombarding the beach morning , noon & night shooting at anything up to 200 yards watched them fire 50 shots one morning and hit nothing with hides up that would make a pigeon shooter blush. Parking in RSPB car park shooting in front of birdwatchers hide. Upsetting every local shooter they meet . Leaving litter everywhere they stop and the worst for last seen 3 shooters with 2 children standing at the waters edge waiting for geese when they saw them coming they ran into the water to try and get under them with loaded shotguns above their heads a tragic accident waiting to happen. Any decent wildfowlers thinking of visiting the bay dont take it personal if you dont get a warm welcome from locals this problems been getting worse with each season.

[edenman 0]

Not good to hear mate

[j4wgs 0]

Same thing happening down here on the ythan mate, Mini bus of 10guns turned up 2weeks ago and 8 of them proceeded to let rip at a skien that were atleast 250yds up. now the geese just head for a nearby loch and dont even look at the estuary!! Was up at findhorn this week and things are the same up there aswell..i get the feeling these travelling guns are so desperate for a goose they just shoot on sight injuring more birds than they drop!!

[The Seeker 3,048]

Disgusting behaviour I've witnessed similar things whilst fowling, some "modern pretend" fowlers have not had any proper introduction to the sport, don't understand the limitations of their equipment or indeed what they are looking for.

Quarry identification is another thing, blasting away at anything that flies past within 100 yards. When you have witnessed (as a couple of mates did) a rotating pigeon magnet spinning round with a floating type mallard decoy taped to each arm set on a flash you can only shake your head in disbelief.

Dumfries & Galloway have the right idea, a few of us go up there each year, the wardens strictly patrol the foreshore one of the local lads told us a couple of years ago some a*rse hole had is guns taken off him and a hefty fine in the thousands for shooting a swan served him right.

[ANTHONYCHEZ 27]

i've been going at nigg for some years now not only for the shooting but because i have friends that live in tain and on the cromety and have always found it a quiet spot to shoot, we also get on with some of the locals that often come out for a flght or two with us. we have very good relations with farmers who will allow us to decoy if we want and give us acess to some hard to get to foreshore.

now im not defending the cowboys you might meet, because i have come accross my fare share. but the locals have opened my eyes the most.

we were up when the ban was on last season and went to watch a morning flight, then shooting was heard. when a friend went to approch a man hidden behind a gorse bush with 3 geese to inform him of the ban, just incase he didn't know about it was rudely replied to with ............. your only jealous because you have travelled all this way and you can't shoot. and walked off.we have had them set up almost in your hide , walk off down the waters edge before a late morning flight has started, leave spent lead cartriges and mud crawl on the evening fights to where the geese roost.

i don't think all the blame for bad sportmanship should be on us that choose to travel for some good wildfowling.

[fed up fowler 0]

i've been going at nigg for some years now not only for the shooting but because i have friends that live in tain and on the cromety and have always found it a quiet spot to shoot, we also get on with some of the locals that often come out for a flght or two with us. we have very good relations with farmers who will allow us to decoy if we want and give us acess to some hard to get to foreshore.

now im not defending the cowboys you might meet, because i have come accross my fare share. but the locals have opened my eyes the most.

we were up when the ban was on last season and went to watch a morning flight, then shooting was heard. when a friend went to approch a man hidden behind a gorse bush with 3 geese to inform him of the ban, just incase he didn't know about it was rudely replied to with ............. your only jealous because you have travelled all this way and you can't shoot. and walked off.we have had them set up almost in your hide , walk off down the waters edge before a late morning flight has started, leave spent lead cartriges and mud crawl on the evening fights to where the geese roost.

i don't think all the blame for bad sportmanship should be on us that choose to travel for some good wildfowling.

cant disagree with some of your coments we have our share of idiots and i wont defend them but your not so innocent yourself if your the guy's with chez on the side of your vehicle one morning a friend and i were on the bay for a morning flight you arrived when i informed you there were guns in the area you were heading for one of your party were heard saying "can we get inbetween them " luckly one of you had the sense to disagree but then took it upon yourselfs to set up with your nets less than 20 yards from where i was so your guilty of that practice yourself and other shooters have commented on your practices one saying he was driving down to the foreshore one morning when you came racing down behind him parked and set of at high speed pulling on your jackets and bags as you went to get to the better spot before he could "not a good way to introduce yourself to local shooters" that is if your the people i'm thinking of and no i'm not the perfect shooter far from it before you ask but locals and travellers alike need to start showing a little respect for each other and the area we shoot for the good of the bay now the RSPB are watching our every move looking for any reason to stop us shooting.

[mudman 14]

I had the pleasure of spending last week fowling on the Northern Firths. Did Nigg on the monday morning (I think I may have spoken to you Fed Up Fowler?) and never went back, saw some high shooting coming from the oil tank side.

 

Our bad experience was later in the week at a different bay , 7.20 (nearly daylight) on a morning flight five guys from NE England came over the back fields and set up between our group. I had two starting 40 yards to my left and another three starting 50 yards to the right, this was on a four mile foreshore. I 'commented' that they were a bit a close, there was plenty of foreshore to spread out along and that this was not the Findhorn, but all fell on the deaf ears etc. Then they proceeded to cut me off on what should have been a decent goose flight. Had a bit of a row after flight which is not like me but there attitude was 'we have come to shoot geese and thats what we are going to do', they knew full well they had behaved badly but basically did not care, they had geese on the deck and that was all that counted.

 

Speaking to others later this party of clowns were the ones high shooting at Nigg monday morning and then going out onto the main roost and shooting it up on the evenings.

 

I

[fed up fowler 0]

I had the pleasure of spending last week fowling on the Northern Firths. Did Nigg on the monday morning (I think I may have spoken to you Fed Up Fowler?) and never went back, saw some high shooting coming from the oil tank side.

 

Our bad experience was later in the week at a different bay , 7.20 (nearly daylight) on a morning flight five guys from NE England came over the back fields and set up between our group. I had two starting 40 yards to my left and another three starting 50 yards to the right, this was on a four mile foreshore. I 'commented' that they were a bit a close, there was plenty of foreshore to spread out along and that this was not the Findhorn, but all fell on the deaf ears etc. Then they proceeded to cut me off on what should have been a decent goose flight. Had a bit of a row after flight which is not like me but there attitude was 'we have come to shoot geese and thats what we are going to do', they knew full well they had behaved badly but basically did not care, they had geese on the deck and that was all that counted.

 

Speaking to others later this party of clowns were the ones high shooting at Nigg monday morning and then going out onto the main roost and shooting it up on the evenings.

 

I

sorry to hear your shooting trips have been ruined by these clowns they seem to be everywhere these days. it was not me you spoke to could have been friends of mine who were down that morning. good luck for the rest of the season hopefully these clowns will get the message one day.

[charlie caller 3,654]

Disgusting behaviour I've witnessed similar things whilst fowling, some "modern pretend" fowlers have not had any proper introduction to the sport, don't understand the limitations of their equipment or indeed what they are looking for.

Quarry identification is another thing, blasting away at anything that flies past within 100 yards. When you have witnessed (as a couple of mates did) a rotating pigeon magnet spinning round with a floating type mallard decoy taped to each arm set on a flash you can only shake your head in disbelief.

Dumfries & Galloway have the right idea, a few of us go up there each year, the wardens strictly patrol the foreshore one of the local lads told us a couple of years ago some a*rse hole had is guns taken off him and a hefty fine in the thousands for shooting a swan served him right.

could not agree more total w-----s

[ANTHONYCHEZ 27]

fed up fowler i am not here to make enemies with you but i think you have got your story mixed up, it seemed the other way around to me, but we never complained, thought it was rude but got on with it. and as for your mate seeing us get dressed and walk at the same time well he is bending the truth also. i know that because it was me that drove down behind him thinking he was [bANNED TEXT] i was meeting there, and when it wasn't him waited another 5 mins for them to arrive.

i can understand that locals feel pushed out a little sometimes when they turn up on their local shoot to be met by others that have arived before them keen and in good time, but are to late to get in their favorite gully.

i agree with you guests to your area should show respect to you but it would also be nice to be shown respect even just an hello, good luck or even better talk to each other on where each are thinking of shooting , you will always get people shooting at high geese that spoil it for everyone. but we must work together.,

good luck for the rest of your season hope more don't spoil it for you.

[fed up fowler 0]

fed up fowler i am not here to make enemies with you but i think you have got your story mixed up, it seemed the other way around to me, but we never complained, thought it was rude but got on with it. and as for your mate seeing us get dressed and walk at the same time well he is bending the truth also. i know that because it was me that drove down behind him thinking he was [bANNED TEXT] i was meeting there, and when it wasn't him waited another 5 mins for them to arrive.

i can understand that locals feel pushed out a little sometimes when they turn up on their local shoot to be met by others that have arived before them keen and in good time, but are to late to get in their favorite gully.

i agree with you guests to your area should show respect to you but it would also be nice to be shown respect even just an hello, good luck or even better talk to each other on where each are thinking of shooting , you will always get people shooting at high geese that spoil it for everyone. but we must work together.,

good luck for the rest of your season hope more don't spoil it for you.

not here to make enemies either but the first incident did happen was a couple of seasons ago we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one as for the seconed one i mentioned can only tell you what i was told truth could be being bent you know what people are like when their hackles are up and agree we all need to make an effort with one and other only that way will the cowboys get the message. good luck for rest of your season might see you up here some time and i will introduce myself .

[The Seeker 3,048]

Several years ago me and a couple of mates were out on Wigtown Bay for morning flight, to the right of us three other guys were setting out decoys etc and getting ready.

 

Dawn breaks and a huge skein of geese come over 30 yards up and fly straight over lads to our right heading our way. Not a shot is fired from these lads, I'm thinking they MUST have seen them. Anyway the geese reach us and we have a go one of our lads brings one down and the three guys to our right open up and get a couple.

 

After the flights over we wqner over for a chat like you do, and I say "I thought for one minute you werent going to have a shot at them geese?" the old boy replied "Na we wanted to wait till the reached you lads so we could all have a go"

 

Now that's a Wildfowler!

[kyle304 5]

Your right its been a disgrace! Now I am in no way turning around and saying they aint welcome, but when the boys come from the south, and of course this doesn't apply to every shooter, their attitude and disregard for the locals is a disgrace. I'm hearing more and more stories about encounters with the locals that a few years ago would have been a bit of craic, now after a few annual trips these boys are taking the michael! I've had three different encounters now that were easily avoidable where these boys think they have the right to try and squeeze us out cause they've travelled for their shooting. One encounter with a bit of a yadayya, where he tried to tell me that the stones I was behind was inappropriate to their position..........and i was there first. These boys were from Hampshire, and when the whole lot of them are there there was twelve guns all with autos letting rip 36 shots at every skein, where I wreckon 75% the shots were at outragous distances. I'd like to see where these boys are the rest of the year, where out of respect for my grandfather and the rest of the old school local shooters where the stories are endless of brilliant flights with boys from the south and the pictures still hang on the walls of the local pubs, I try to put in two or three mornings positioning the rocks of the hides with two or three others just as a matter of principle. Now all thats going to happen is the RSPB will kick up hell, meddat and milton access will be blocked, then the whole situation will be proper goosed.

[petertheduck 0]

The worst experience I had was with a small group who had turned up and were staying in a camper can and all their rubbish was just being chucked out the door. They then waited until near full light before taking position and setting up either side of me. I have seen running to try and get under geese and driving them away from others who are sitting patiently but I could not say if they are locals or have traveled there.

 

That said I have met some real gents too.