tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7338589224051075532.post421792528061933789..comments2024-03-25T14:11:43.432+00:00Comments on Of Esox & observations : Where is this going?Dylan Wrathallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01285181139467170047noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7338589224051075532.post-53519912291899793042015-02-19T07:28:35.999+00:002015-02-19T07:28:35.999+00:00P.S. Did you know that from January even more of y...P.S. Did you know that from January even more of your money is going to upland grouse moor owners? The subsidy they're entitled to claim was doubled to £56 per hectare. Think grouse moors practices are "out-of-sight, out-of-mind"? Not if you're a taxpayer.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01386338261098293343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7338589224051075532.post-80816836276097392462015-02-18T12:22:24.148+00:002015-02-18T12:22:24.148+00:00Thanks Dylan an interesting post. As are your pos...Thanks Dylan an interesting post. As are your posts about angling but I can't relate to them as I can this one :) I think it might be worth considering this in terms of lowland and upland (red grouse) game shooting. The latest figures (from BASC and GWCT) indicate shooting as a whole contributes £2 billion to the UK economy. Grouse shooting contributes approximately a tenth of this figure. A days grouse shooting will set you back approx. £3000 so the preserve of the few whereas lowland pheasant and partridge shoots are more accessible to the average man. These upland moors are the black holes in which the birds of prey you mention like Hen Harriers and Goshawks but also SEOs and Peregrines "mysteriously" disappear. <br /><br />I guess when you're referring to "reared birds" you're not referring to red grouse? It's very unusual for them to be dumped in stinkpits the way pheasants are. I'm fairly indifferent about lowland game shoots but in my opinion, upland red grouse shooting is based upon organised-crime levels of law breaking. <br />I agree that it's sad that gamekeepers are being tarred with the same brush but I for one am getting a bit tired of the "few bad apples" refrain whenever another gamekeeper is convicted of crimes against raptors. As the Raptor Persecution Scotland website so succintly put it, the people involved in incidents such as this https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/masked-gunmen-caught-on-camera-attacking-goshawk-nest-in-cairngorms-national-park/ aren't district nurses but people with interests in game shooting. Upland grouse shooting needs to change; and I for one wouldn't be particularly upset if driven grouse shooting were to be banned. <br />In each edition the Shooting Times carries a quote from King George VI: “The wildlife of today is not ours to dispose of as we please. We have it in trust. We must account for it to those who come after.” The upland game industry appears to consider that this only applies to game birds and not raptors. <br />I agree that the landowners should be made responsible and vicarious liability, as they have in Scotland, would be a very positive move. However, I'm not holding my breath that we'll see it in England especially while we have a Conservative government. <br />I apologise for a rather rambling comment but, in summary, lowland shooting OK, upland grouse shooting very bad. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01386338261098293343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7338589224051075532.post-76255648580112863572015-02-13T17:23:11.981+00:002015-02-13T17:23:11.981+00:00Derek - thanks for that! If a person is hungry and...Derek - thanks for that! If a person is hungry and has the desire to see the process through from slaughter to plate - then fair play. I have no objection to the harvesting of a natural resource - be that bird, animal or fish, if it is done humanely and for the purpose I have stated. My objection to the industrial scale slaughtering of "reared birds" is tempered slightly by the knowledge that many other species prosper in the environments provided for this purpose. I still don't condone it - our compensation culture meaning that the carcasses never reach the table for fear of a legal claim for a tooth broken on a bit of shot! Instead of these creatures finding their way into the food chain, they are dumped in big pits and buried - a waste of resource if ever there was. <br />When life is treated as a cheap commodity, is it any surprise that some elements within the business see Buzzards, Hen Harriers and Goshawks as equally disposable?<br />If the businesses themselves were held accountable for the actions of their employees - then we would see a change in attitude at the top. Hit the balance sheet hard and you bet killing native birds of prey, or Little Bustards, would all of a sudden be consigned to the history book, where it now belongs! - Dylan Dylan Wrathallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01285181139467170047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7338589224051075532.post-65694816756908353042015-02-13T07:49:22.630+00:002015-02-13T07:49:22.630+00:00Very well said Dylan, you've managed, in a far...Very well said Dylan, you've managed, in a far better way than I ever have over the years, to echo both my thoughts on the subject and those of many others. The "bunny-huggers" of this world do both themselves and conservation an injustice when they take such a blanket approach to the killing of things and live by the belief that if you leave nature to it's own devices it will all balance itself out in the end, which is crap. Some dominant species have always needed to be "managed" for the benefit of others. I have no doubt that in many ways, the hunting fraternity are responsible for far better conservation methods than some alleged conservation bodies, they just need to stop protecting some of the bad apples in their midst.Derek Faulknerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05140363868104172311noreply@blogger.com