masmiffy 82 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Every time a topic concerning this appears on this site it is forgotten that it is still legal to shoot hares. The numbers involved are irrelevant! If there are too many, in the landowners eyes, then surely an organised shoot to control numbers isnt a problem. If hare numbers are thin in certain parts then perhaps there should be, as has been suggested, live capture and release to help the populations out. Great idea but who is going to organise and do it! At the end of the day hare shoots have been going for years, as had coursing, one is still legal the other is not simple! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
freelance 448 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Every time a topic concerning this appears on this site it is forgotten that it is still legal to shoot hares. The numbers involved are irrelevant! If there are too many, in the landowners eyes, then surely an organised shoot to control numbers isnt a problem. If hare numbers are thin in certain parts then perhaps there should be, as has been suggested, live capture and release to help the populations out. Great idea but who is going to organise and do it! At the end of the day hare shoots have been going for years, as had coursing, one is still legal the other is not simple! One of the reasons the running dog enthusiasts get a bit miffed over hare drives, is because it is such a beautiful marvelous athlete of a animal. It seems a waste to just blast them with a shotgun when driven towards guns from the beating line, a lot of the hares cannot be sold to the dealers as some are to shot up with lead. And yes before you spell it out to me, i know coursing is illegal now. Back in the day when coursing deer was legal in daytime with full permission in England, a lot of stalkers got miffed as they saw it as there sport only and thought it was unsporting to course them, so can you see my point that at the end of the day all sportsmen from whichever branch of fieldsports they be in. Are bound to disagree over the way certain quarry species are taken. I personally don't like the idea of a hare drive, but that's just my opinion. My neighbor is a keen shooter and a shoot captain, and went on a hare drive last Saturday in linc,s, he said they shot 97. I see it as very poor sport. But he probably dosent see my lurcher work as his cup of tea, at the end of the day whats one mans meat is another mans poison.Atb Freelance 10 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
"Earth!" 503 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Think this one may turn a little nasty 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tegater 789 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 I'll give it till page 7!! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mexlad 189 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 cant understand why anyone would want to shoot an hare unless they were in large numbers and causing problems 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mooch. 177 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 If hares are in sufficient numbers to cause significant crop damage then landowners are perfectly within rights to manage the population. It's also quite difficult to eat a hare that isn't dead. Coursing with dogs is illegal, shooting them is not. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
freelance 448 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 If hares are in sufficient numbers to cause significant crop damage then landowners are perfectly within rights to manage the population. It's also quite difficult to eat a hare that isn't dead. Coursing with dogs is illegal, shooting them is not. No one said coursing is,nt illegal. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roxyboi 64 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Just because something is legal doesnt make it right, the wholesale slaughter of animals by shooters since the ban on working certain animals with dogs is sickening 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
undisputed 1,664 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 This is always going to cause debate between dog men and shooters......the arguement with dogs is that running Hares takes out the weak and infirm in the majority of the time. On the other hand shooting doesn't descriminate against old, young, fit or unhealthy. Some of the numbers I've heard about on Hare shoots are unbelievable with numbers running into the hundreds...to me that isn't sport or hunting....but each to their own I spose 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
albert64 1,882 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 the shooting of hares will always get peoples backs up i was always brought up with the understanding that a dog is for fur a gun is for feather in my view theres nothing better than seeing 1 dog behind an hare now we get lads bragging about taking them on the lamp you never got that years ago the landowners used to make a few quid out of letting coursing lads on and it kept numbers down nowadays they let the shoots on and its like lambs to the slaughter especially at this time of year with it being so mild they'll come for a nosey anyway 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
masmiffy 82 Posted February 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 I was fortunate to grow up in an era when coursing was legal and have watched dogs course hares, I cant deny it was a spectacle worth seeing. I have also been on hare shoots, when asked, to control numbers and have to say enjoyed the days sport. Just seems to me that people who shoot hares, in numbers large or small, get pilloried on here for pursuing their chosen sport. Shoot and hare seem to be words which shouldnt be in the same sentence on this forum no matter what you do What are peoples thoughts and ideas on the issue of relocation of hares from heavily populated areas to the less densely populated areas and how it could be done? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RubyTex 1,957 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 I remember one of the first times i went rough shooting one of the beaters was shouting and screaming that a hare was on it's way towards the pegs and as soon as it ran passed the tree line, 3 or 4 shooters put both shells into it. That's the only time i've ever seen one and i've never seen one since in all my shooting around here. It was huge and i thought it sad that it was more or less decimated and no real meat could be salvaged from it considering what a fine animal it was. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tegater 789 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 I was fortunate to grow up in an era when coursing was legal and have watched dogs course hares, I cant deny it was a spectacle worth seeing. I have also been on hare shoots, when asked, to control numbers and have to say enjoyed the days sport. Just seems to me that people who shoot hares, in numbers large or small, get pilloried on here for pursuing their chosen sport. Shoot and hare seem to be words which shouldnt be in the same sentence on this forum no matter what you do What are peoples thoughts and ideas on the issue of relocation of hares from heavily populated areas to the less densely populated areas and how it could be done? I have caught hares in long nets (used as gate nets) and tried relocating them to areas that used to hold hares and now don't. There are two problems I came across; Firstly, the hare seems quite a fickle animal, and I have lost several that appear to die upon capture for no apparent reason, but I suspect heart attack. Secondly, the reason a piece of land that used to hold hares and now doesn't, needs to be established for the re-population to succeed. If it is getting hammered by illegal shooting or use of gazehounds then it will never work. If the hares have gone because of a change in farming methods, then the chances are it will never work, but perhaps if they were just wiped out by disease some years ago, then there is a higher possibility it may succeed. I believe that unless there is a good reason to suppose that the re stocking of an area has a high probability of success, then the hares should be left where they are. imo. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RossM 8,121 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 I would just delete this thread before it even gets into it........... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hedz31 1,308 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 I would just delete this thread before it even gets into it........... I am suprised it aint been stopped already i have my view's on it but cant be arsed to go into it the only decent shooting men are those that put the time and effort into a good deerstalk i think though Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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