Hares and Myxomatosis

[hindmaist]

But would you shoot a hare?

 

[Renaultman]

Used to but not now as numbers are very low in my area.

Ditto

 

[Raider112]

Serious question and I’d be grateful for answers;
How many of you on here would shoot a hare?

Never, although I've eaten one as a boy.

 

[Yale]

But would you shoot a hare?

No,unless I was very hungry and they were the only food available.

 

[yellow belly]

Serious question and I’d be grateful for answers;
How many of you on here would shoot a hare?

We have stopped shooting except if someone wants on to eat
We report Hare coursers to the police Lincolnshire police take hare coursing prevention seriously not like other counties

 

[yellow belly]

Given the choice and if it was legal I would shoot a buzzard first rather than a hare.

I see 100 more buzzards than hares.

Some fields have more buzzards than hares
Red kites do give buzzards a hard time

 

[Breakthru]

Sad if disease crossover affects them as in this area have never seen so many hares in each field in the last 30 years.

 

[bovrill]

But would you shoot a hare?

I came very close a few years ago. We were catching pikeys coursing two or three times a day for weeks, and until the police started to take an interest because we learnt to insist on a separate crime number each time, it was looking like the only solution was going to be a complete wipe out of hares by shooting them.

 

[unlacedgecko]

one annoyance is local game keeper reducing hare numbers to deter poachers rather than having the balls to deal with the real problem.

I think that’s a little unfair. Given the state of UK policing, ANY confrontation, especially one with a vulnerable ethnic minority, will most likely result in the keeper losing his firearms and therefore his livelihood (including home).

Sometimes it pays to pick your battles.

 

[unlacedgecko]

But would you shoot a hare?

A gun on a local shoot shot a hare once, much to the annoyance of the landowner. He was made to carry it for the rest of the day. I don’t think he ever shot another!

 

[Renaultman]

I think that’s a little unfair. Given the state of UK policing, ANY confrontation, especially one with a vulnerable ethnic minority, will most likely result in the keeper losing his firearms and therefore his livelihood (including home).

Sometimes it pays to pick your battles.

Maybe, but culling all the Hares isn't exactly the bravest solution and for me would be a last resort. One of life's greatest pleasures is going for a wander around on a Sunday morning with the dog and having a look at the crops. I have banned taking deer and hares on my land as they are being that heavily poached I worry for their survival but on a Sunday I will often see some along with Pheasant, partridge, Sparrow Hawks, Kestrels and loads of Buzzrads (ugly barstewards but still impressive). Then there's the owls and bats on a night. I am no David Bellamy, and half of the time I don't even have a clue what I am looking at, but I do consider myself a custodian of the bit of land that I own and would hate to remove any of it's inhabitants.

 

[Doing it for the kids]

To be fair there were far far more hares around when coursing was legal.

It doesn’t exactly account for many in the grand scheme of things.

Shooting the dogs is a low trick that deserves whatever reprisals come your way.

Whilst forgetting about other negative aspects of coursing, which incidentally are mainly due to it being illegal and generally nothing to do with the actual coursing...... it can’t be said that coursing does much to reduce hare numbers.

In fact when coursing under rules was legal, hares were encouraged and numbers thrived. Far more hares are shot than caught with running dos, but apparently that’s ok?

Serious question and I’d be grateful for answers;
How many of you on here would shoot a hare?

Never used to control hares but now shoot 25-50 a year in fields close to public places.

I can’t bring myself to do it but I’d rather get someone else to do,it then deal with the relentless coursers who don’t give a damn about anything or anyone, come when ever they please, and do what they like.

Police try but struggle. Gangs using night vision now, what chance have the police got??

I would far rather cull the coursers and at this rate, plenty in these parts may start doing just that.

 

[Lincoln75]

Whilst I agree coursers are **ss taking pikey scum , what damage do they do on arable land ?

 

[Renaultman]

Whilst I agree coursers are **ss taking pikey scum , what damage do they do on arable land ?

Round here they turn up in their Subaru Foresters and rip the land to shreds.

 

[Doing it for the kids]

Whilst I agree coursers are **ss taking pikey scum , what damage do they do on arable land ?

Apart from driving trough hedges and cutting locks??

That’s the nice bits, it’s the reprisal for anyone who stands up to them.

3 barns set alight within 5 miles of late. Stuff gets nicked as the reccie on the way out

 

[Lincoln75]

Round here they turn up in their Subaru Foresters and rip the land to shreds.

A keeper I knew used to delight in putting a round through tires of 4x4`s he found unattended in gateways .

 

[Princess Pooper]

Whilst I agree coursers are **ss taking pikey scum , what damage do they do on arable land ?

Bought some straw bales from a Cambs arable farmer in the spring, had a chat when we went to view them, as farmers do. They had regular problems with coursers but their modus operandi had changed. The dogs have trackers on and other than the dog handler, the others used to stop in the pub or in their vehicles making their bets so they did not need to drive round the fields. (Many round here still plagued by the off roading though). The Cambs farmer was very worried. His adult son caught a dog handler at night and managed to trap him in with vehicle and whilst police were on their way, the dog handler told the farmer's son a) his own name, his wife's name and what vehicle his wife drove b) his daughter's name, what school she went to and where she caught the bus c) what sort of dogs he had (were not in the vehicle) d) his phone number. Easy enough to find, but still pretty intimidating. Local arable man had 3 gates smashed straight through and ruts all over the fields last spring.

 

[Lincoln75]

Bought some straw bales from a Cambs arable farmer in the spring, had a chat when we went to view them, as farmers do. They had regular problems with coursers but their modus operandi had changed. The dogs have trackers on and other than the dog handler, the others used to stop in the pub or in their vehicles making their bets so they did not need to drive round the fields. (Many round here still plagued by the off roading though). The Cambs farmer was very worried. His adult son caught a dog handler at night and managed to trap him in with vehicle and whilst police were on their way, the dog handler told the farmer's son a) his own name, his wife's name and what vehicle his wife drove b) his daughter's name, what school she went to and where she caught the bus c) what sort of dogs he had (were not in the vehicle) d) his phone number. Easy enough to find, but still pretty intimidating. Local arable man had 3 gates smashed straight through and ruts all over the fields last spring.

It`ll only be a matter of time until a courser mysteriously disappears with threats like that.

 

[Doing it for the kids]

Afraid so, what’s the uk come to.

Heard report of them going in keepers pens and catching hundreds of birds and selling them on.

If the keepers I know caught them I dread to think of the outcome

 

[CopperBeech]

Serious question and I’d be grateful for answers;
How many of you on here would shoot a hare?

I really like hares. And I think shooting them is a disservice. A child could shoot plenty wandering around.