Hunting And The Seasons

[paulus 26]

i believe that to be a true hunter (countryman) you must work with the seasons. this applies to all aspects of hunting, shooting,dog work, ferrets, etc. all to often on here pictures are posted of hares, pheasent breasts ect at this time of year. most try to justify it as pest control, "if i didnt do it someone else would" etc. now ive said before none of this holds any water with me at all, if its pest control then the seasons can be used to your advantage, in the last throws of winter most pest species are at there lowest levels, so an ideal time to cull, if done correctly then come spring and summer they can be left alone as the aim is pest control not eradiction. if there taken for sport then again the seasons are there to make things are sporting and should be adhered to. that just leaves a couple of others, food, now i doubt this applies very often but if this is the only way you can feed yourself i doubt you would have the money for computors and internet access or the will to put pictures on here, so we can discount this, This just leaves one more reason , and that i will leave to your imagination.........................

[Huan72 687]

I totaly agree Paulus. As is often stated on here, the hunting way of life is there for a reason, which is to balance things out. Hunting often gets slated and one of the reasons often given in justification is that hunting manages the countryside and the word is manage.........not destroy. I for one do not want to live in a country were hares, foxes rabbits or any other of our species no longer exist. Some people may say that such species would never go extinct but what would happen if every hunter did not follow the seasons and considered everything fair game all year round.........! Any inbalances in nature are caused by human activity because only we have the ability to disrupt the balance so massively because of intelligence and technology. We wiped out all the top predators in this country to leave the way open for other predators and prey species to run riot so to maintain a balance hunting has its place. Lets not take it for granted that the species we pursue and respect will be here forever, lets appreciate what we have, respect it and follow the seasons, as we have done for generations so that generations to come can enjoy what we are so priviliged to have. Anyway thats enough of that, off to sort out my ferret accomodation...........lost my last earlier this year(old age) and getting ready for some new kits!

[LaraCroft 863]

People don't want to wait for anything anymore - we have a "now" society - the art of seasons, animals or veg/plants, is disappearing. People want a 7 month old pup to be catching rabbits, and they certainly don't want to be told it isn't the right time of year to be doing so. Being seasonal is a lost concept, now everything is available all year round.

[weasle 1,119]

When it comes to rabbits though it doesn't work like that,Farmers corn coming up,The rabbits that are now breeding like rabbits,That have been invisible to the farmer all winter suddenly hoping around everywhere.

In fact if you want to get more permission now is the time to start looking,10 rabbits suddenly looks like a 100.

[The one 8,503]

got to agree with some of that but as said when the corns coming up and the farmers on the phone thats no the time to talk about season 's thats the time to act . or the farmers on the phone when he see loads of young rabbits running about , or you get the call because the guy he had could talk the talk but no do the job . the rabbits and pigeons are on the vermin list so if you get a population explosion you can deal with it as it arises and no wait till the proper season

[Ideation 8,216]

One of my favourites. . .. is . . . .

 

"I HAD to shoot/run/trap this hare (or whatever), as the farmer is having hell with them, and if I don't continue with my serious pest control, I will lose my 20,000 acre permission"

 

Says the man who shoots one hare (or whatever) every few weeks. . . . . . . . during summer.

[paulus 26]

rabbits are no longer seen in the plauge proportions that existed prior to the introduction of mitsy. infact around here rabbit damage even in late spring, early autum when rabbit numbers are at there peak is minimal, far worse is spring and summer slug damage these days. as i said on the first post if you cull hard enough in late winter then numbers should be kept to a level that will be fine untill the autum harvest. i can understand problem species and areas having to be delt with, but your kidding yourself if you believe these are the reasons why people kill this time of year.

[paulus 26]

One of my favourites. . .. is . . . .

 

"I HAD to shoot/run/trap this hare (or whatever), as the farmer is having hell with them, and if I don't continue with my serious pest control, I will lose my 20,000 acre permission"

 

Says the man who shoots one hare (or whatever) every few weeks. . . . . . . . during summer.

very true, "There was 100`s of them, the one i shot was at 137.45567yards at right angles to the oak tree with the sun setting in the west" next weekend im going back

[WILF 47,400]

Harvest only what you need, leave the rest........pigeons and rabbits you can keep at and obviously you can never shoot enough corvids IMHO

 

Now if they didn't have official seasons and a couple of low flying Mallard drakes happen to come low and fast over the pigeon hide or drop into a convenient splash as your are sniping bunnies with the rim fire, and if you fancy duck for your tea then who knows what could happen........but obviously no one does that as we all follow the law and whatever BASC tell us.........but if they didn't ??

 

Some folk hunt and some folk just like to kill stuff........always better to be the first type of person IMHO

[johnny boy68 11,726]

Harvest only what you need, leave the rest........pigeons and rabbits you can keep at and obviously you can never shoot enough corvids IMHO

 

Now if they didn't have official seasons and a couple of low flying Mallard drakes happen to come low and fast over the pigeon hide or drop into a convenient splash as your are sniping bunnies with the rim fire, and if you fancy duck for your tea then who knows what could happen........but obviously no one does that as we all follow the law and whatever BASC tell us.........but if they didn't ??

 

Some folk hunt and some folk just like to kill stuff........always better to be the first type of person IMHO

[fatasafool 216]

Good sensible post paulus ( for a change )

[The one 8,503]

There still good numbers of rabbits too be had and i get more inquiry's about killing rabbits in the spring and summer than the rest of the year .When we where out last week on one rented permission the farmer stopped and asked me to go to another for a look and i know theres a guy running about there all the time and there where signs he had been there but there was also signs of good rabbit numbers

[fitchet 788]

I totally agree. But dogs ain't like guns seasons mean nothing to them. In my area deer are in plage proportions and you can bump into them anywhere. Im not one for keeping my dogs in kennels all summer or keeping them on leads all the time. Saying that going out and purposely hunting this time of year is wrong and shouldn't be done by any true dogman/shooter. Ate

[albert64 1,882]

i agree with most of whats been said, i was brought up in the time you could hunt anything

and you didnt get lads owning up to lamping or shooting hares, them that did usually got a crack off someone

we stopped digging when everything was pairing up, there was no joy in killing cubs

on some of my permissions a train line goes through, i used to ferret it and get big numbers

but now its not worth the myther so i shoot the train line when i need a few for the freezer

as i have to do on the cricket pitches i have permission on

i stopped ferreting one permission this year at the end of january, i had young rabbits on boxing day

and it was getting a joke digging nests out, so just shoot the line now, i can pick and choose what gets shot

[weasle 1,119]

There still good numbers of rabbits too be had and i get more inquiry's about killing rabbits in the spring and summer than the rest of the year .When we where out last week on one rented permission the farmer stopped and asked me to go to another for a look and i know theres a guy running about there all the time and there where signs he had been there but there was also signs of good rabbit numbers

Same here mate,have freezers full of rabbits still going to farms once a week shooting 10 20 in a hour or two,Keeps the permission.

As for seasons well they have changed from the old days ,You wouldnt be out ferreting till november and be finished by febuary if you "listened to the seasons".

I asked a farmer if he wanted hes rabbits controling over xmas ,no theres not many around,Iknew there was but couldnt tell him i knew there was,He rang me easter weekend.