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shovel leaner

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Everything posted by shovel leaner

  1. shovel leaner
    I know how you feel , I’ve been there and the feeling is sickening. But it’s not the foxes fault, he is confused because it’s an unnatural amount of food . He kills what he can , half buries some , bites the heads off others . Every Keeper I know has walked into that same scene in the morning. Not just in the pen but when they are scared and fly out and are mopped up on the outside . But you can’t take it personally. He’s a wild animal reacting to a glut of food that you created . I am ruthless and persistent in fox control before and after birds are put to wood . I use every weapon at my disp
  2. shovel leaner
    When you talk of control, I would say you are only controlling something when you get a population to a size that you can live with . If a gun pack is shooting that number they are out of control. If you have a farmer loosing livestock you have to control them otherwise let them be to do what comes naturally.
  3. shovel leaner
    One thing I hate is people who shoot foxes this time of year who then shoot a milky vixen and don’t bother to deal with the cubs . I’ve had to shoot problem foxes this time of year on a mates free range poultry farm . And a hungry litter of cubs can soon do a lot of damage . I hate doing it but if I said no , he would ask someone else . But I make sure I spend time looking for the cubs .
  4. shovel leaner
    I know your tongue is wedged in your cheek mate . But if I relied on the hunt my terriers and Lurcher’s to control foxes , I would be out of a job .
  5. shovel leaner
    I can only say what I’ve seen with my own eyes , but conventional Lamping either with dogs or rifles is not the problem. You will get lamp shy foxes . With thermal foxes haven’t got a clue . What I am seeing now is vehicle shy foxes who are disappearing when they hear a motor . But if you are on foot using a thermal spotter and night vision scope it is very easy to take out even the most cunning and educated foxes . In the hands of indiscriminate hunters who have no let up on foxes , they will wipe out an area I’m sure .
  6. shovel leaner
    Add to all that , pressure from “midnight cowboys “ with thermal . From what I hear fox numbers up and down the country are right down . I’m well foxed where I am and have litters of cubs near me doing well . The first I saw was early March . I was reading that interview with Darren Cashmore in EDRD this month and it made depressing reading . He says that good hunting areas have had their fox populations destroyed by night shooting with thermal. I’m a keeper myself and I have thermal , but I leave the foxes alone from about October when the pheasants can look after themselves. That’s because m
  7. shovel leaner
    Thanks for the write up , I always enjoy reading about working dogs in the states .
  8. shovel leaner
    I haven’t read the article , but just reading the thread and from what I gather the guys were supposedly goading their terrier in an end of dog situation .... utter muppets . No place for their kind in proper earth work . It’s idiots like them that got badgers protected . We need to distance ourselves from this kind of behaviour . Terriers have a legitimate role in pest control and I can hold my head high and be proud of the way I conduct myself at a dig . Anyone could witness what I do and would see that no cruelty was involved . I can’t understand why anyone would want to do what they are ac
  9. shovel leaner
    Sounds like sensible advice mate . ?
  10. shovel leaner
    I was told that if you cut them in half lengthwise then you obviously double the length . And then we rested them in a channel lined with sand . I was also told they don’t like traveling on plastic but the rabbits burrowed in and around it and given it a bit of “air conditioning “ which I don’t think Charlie likes . I think if I’d done what you did it would have been a better job . You live and learn !
  11. shovel leaner
    A few years ago I had a go at making one . After a chat with the local hunt terrier man we decided on a good spot . I had begged some large yellow plastic gas pipe which I cut in half lengthwise. We got the digger out and a trailer of sand which I was informed would be the best thing for the floor of the pipe . When the job was done I stood back and admired my handy work , I dreamt of all the easy bolts I would be having and chuckled to myself at how cunning and clever I was to have constructed such a brilliant artificial. Well as you’ve probably guessed it didn’t quite go to plan , rabbits mo
  12. shovel leaner
    The area I grew up in had some very big fields and very little cover or woods near . The area was hunted over a lot in days gone by but because of the M5 it could no longer be hunted . There were three artificials that were basically terracotta pipe about 10-15 yards long with a slab bed chamber covered with old grave stones they were just straight running in the hedge line . But I used to go over there a lot and regularly found in them , sometimes more than one , 3 was the best . I even found old billy in there , on his travels no doubt and in the days before you could get in trouble . My the
  13. shovel leaner
    I definitely think that Julian would be well advised to keep his gob shut and his opinions to himself. No matter what some of the hunting set think or believe, the majority of them know better than to spout off in front of a camera. We all need to remember the countryside marches, where we all stood shoulder to shoulder through the streets of our capital , pheasant shooters , ferret fanciers, Lurcher boys , hunt staff , terrier lads , beaters , you name it . We were all united on those days . Hunting is the thin end of the wedge, once that’s gone they will start on something else . But the rea
  14. shovel leaner
    So what if they did ? That would be there loss ! Terrier work would survive . I can’t say I’d blame them if meant that they could continue to enjoy what they do . I’m struggling to think of an analogy but it’s a bit like fishermen being told the only way they will be allowed to keep fishing is if they stop drowning maggots . They would probably stop using maggots . Then all the maggot suppliers would be saying what a shower of sh@te fishermen were for not supporting them .
  15. shovel leaner
    They weren’t saying ban terrier work altogether, just with hounds . Thank the Lord for pheasant shoots ?
  16. shovel leaner
    The thing about fox hunting is it’s got very little to do with killing stuff , and a lot to do with horse riding . I’m a keeper who keeps terriers and does a bit with the local hunt and help the terrier man a few times during the season . What I’ve noticed is a lot of being a hunt terrier man is being able to be a representative for the hunt , liaise with keepers and land owners , and be personable , diplomatic, and trustworthy. The hunting scene is a bit cliquey , and they don’t trust newcomers (for fear of anti infiltration) . A lot of dog lads are rough and ready types . Who can come acros
  17. shovel leaner
    I always get mine from a ladder trap . Or from another keeper who has traps going . I’m going to start in a couple of weeks . If you still haven’t got one message me , if you aren’t too far from me .
  18. shovel leaner
    Ground nesting birds are very vulnerable to predators . Something that the RSPB has always tried to brush under the carpet . The decline in Lapwings and their poor survival on RSPB reserves will tell you that . Anyone remember the picture of the Phalarope chick ? The RSPB has woken up to the fact that controlling foxes is beneficial but it is done on the quiet so as not to upset it’s members delicate sensibilities . But it cannot admit the damage that an out of control raptor population is doing .
  19. shovel leaner
    There are so many factors involved here that it is almost impossible to answer with any degree of accuracy. But the answer is a small percentage. Firstly a lot will depend on the stock . If they have been hatched in an incubator and reared in a shed then they have not been imprinted with the mothering skills of one that was reared in the wild or under a broody hen ( something that only happens in the UK on a small scale . So they tend to make poor mothers , partridge even worse . Then the weather plays a huge part , they can’t take a lot of cold and wet . Then it’s availability of good protein
  20. shovel leaner
    Ordered one after being out with a lad with one . They are a brilliant bit of kit for around here in the Cotswolds. I also dig in Wiltshire on the downs in chalk and chalk and flint in Hampshire. They make the cut back garden forks I used to use seem flimsy. They are worth the £85 I spent on it . I’m sure It speeds us up , even if it cuts a couple of minutes off a dig it’s money well spent . I ordered mine on a Monday and it was with me Friday.
  21. shovel leaner
    I notice that the tree hugging animal rights brigade, don't have s lot to say about Halal slaughter , thousands are slaughtered every day without being stunned. The RSPCA and the chief vet says it causes unnecessary suffering , but what is done about it ? Absolutely nothing that's what . Don't want to be seen as racist do they , scared stiff that they will upset the muslims and the leftys . We are a soft target .
  22. shovel leaner
    Thats nothing, I had that many in a stop end the other day . The hedge I kicked em under is stinking now though . ?
  23. shovel leaner
    To his family and peers he will explain his behaviour as , ,"I was absolutely incandescent with rage and placed them all under citizens arrest ". To us mear mortals he's a total nut job !!!
  24. shovel leaner
    I found a guy hanging from a fallen willow , it was only low and he'd chucked a rope over one branch and stepped off . He was surrounded by cattle who were all butting him around and he was swinging back and forth covered in cow snot . He was obviously dead so I called plod . I went home and thought about it and thought "selfish cnut " . I later heard his story . He'd just been made redundant , his Mrs was leaving him for his best mate , who incidentally he had just found out had fathered the boy who he had brought up for 20 years thinking was his . He was also going into hospital to have his
  25. shovel leaner
    I don't understand what you mean , perhaps it's just me being a "muppet" . In a previous post I said that there was plenty of choice of new and used . 222 rifles around . Look on guntrader , 102 at the moment. They range from £200 CZ Brno's to new Blasers , plenty out there .
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