wildlife in ireland

[kvnmcwebn 0]

It seems like we dont have nearly the amount of game and wildlife here in ireland as you guys in do in england. Its a shame theres plenty of habitat. I guess its just not managed as well. Just speaking my mind.

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Excellent point though, mate.

 

Having seen both sides of the coin first hand, it strikes me that, even today, large areas in england are still preserved for Game. With that activity and all that it entails come the knock on benefits to other than just the pheasents usually central to the issue.

 

Here? " Game Preservation " means 'Don't shoot the female birds'. The land is given over to livestock and game and wildlife in general is peripheral and incidental. Perhaps that's why the control of predatory vermin is so relegated to a pass time amongst the Gun Clubs and other enthusiasts? No one considers it serious enough to take seriously.

 

To present it from another - perhaps simplified? - angle; Basicly, no one much cares about what the 'Game' is up to, or going through, till Opening Day. Then every man with a gun wants to get out there and bag himself something.

 

That's been my own observations around me anyway. And I expect that's why I see virtually no 'Game', but Game destroying vermin type creatures thrive.

[Guest Frank]

In the 22 years of living here, i have noticed this too.

Take the rabbit and hare, no where as near the numbers as the UK.

Altough i have found, gaining permission to hunt the rabbit over here, seems far more easier, then the Uk. I have also found it much easier to hunt for deer, getting a deer permit and rifle, is not too diffucult......At the moment anyway, i think their is a change coming though, as far as firearms and deer permits go.

[Guest pip]

Alright lads where im from the place is alive with vermin and up until 6 years ago the only time you asked for permission was if you happened to stumble across a farmer,now with houses and wild bird cover every where the vermin has increased and permission is needed for your own safety ,in case some clown who just moved out thinks everyone with a dog is up to no good .We have patchy population of rabbits although not enough to merit keeping a rabbiting dog or ferrets hares are around but not many however the fox population is thriving and anyone who hunts hunts fox,in 12 years of hunting iv e only been refused permission twice,no deer about apart from the odd outlyer red stag but without the fox we d be screwed.

[kvnmcwebn 0]

As you guys say theres pockets of rabbits and deer up here and theres plenty of fox. My dogs flushed a pair of grouse from the heather the other day. A Few old guys i know that used to shoot say the bog used to be full of them. I asked what happened and they all say the fox wiped them out. I dont know if thats true or not. Our government throws loads of money into managing the fisheries/angling because of a tourism draw. It doesn't seem to be big into wildlife management at all except for maybe in the national parks. In my opinion theres not much they can do to bring the fish back but theres a lot they could do to increase the game and wildlife. Wouldn't good hunting draw some tourism as well?

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

'Wouldn't good hunting draw some tourism' ? Another good point, mate. But, let's face it; Hardly in tune with the present political climate. " Come to Eire ~ and Kill Things ". Plus the Gards would have a bloody fit. All those weapons passing in and out.

 

Of course, that would be 'Their' attitude / take on it. What They'd simply refuse to grasp would be, as ye quite rightly imply, the economic boost inherrent in the whole concept. As I look out my window right now I see a vast swathe of barren land. It's all just sitting there. Wasting away the winter. Cattle are all in huge sheds, eating silage. Nothing moves out there on the bog and the fields. And I, for example, am sat here killing time by chatting in fora, before I go out and set a couple of traps, just for something to do.

 

Oh, and the building game is teetering on recession, isn't it? This time next year, how many fit and able men will be in a similar situation? Time on their hands and empty pockets? Sat staring out at acres and acres of wasted ground as they waste their lives away looking out at it?

 

Now let's have a re think: What If Game were preserved here, more like it is in england? The " Shooting Clubs " could become 'Syndicates'. Game Farming could work along side Farming, just as in uk. People could become employees of all sorts of such ventures and the infra structures which support them. Men getting paid to actively get out there and decimate the mink, crows and other vermin which decimate much of what wild stock there is. Deer herds could be encouraged and managed. People getting busy for change.

 

Come the winters, away go the cattle to their sheds and the lands around me could begin to echoe to the sound of twelve bore and stalking rifle. And the happy, healthy chink of currency which would accompany it all! Wildlife in general would, of course, benefit vastly from all this and it'd be a new string on the harp of the Irish economy. And why should the Lurcher and Terrier Boys be left out? Why would I, as (an imagined!) Shoot Owner trouble myself with going after the foxes who'd be going after my Game? I could get paid to simply allow others to come here and do it all for me! Much of Eire appears to have no shortage of foxes as it is. Boost the Game and wildlife population? Foxes would boom even better under such conditions and there's be a truly bountiful harvest available. And all perfectly legal!

 

But; It won't ever happen, will it. The idiots in Dublin will screech and scream. Political Correctness, metropolitan style, will have it's way in the countryside. The building trade will crumble. The fields lay empty and barren. The tax burden will rise apace with the unemployment figures.

 

Hey f*cking ho. It was a nice little fantasy, just for a moment there. Better get back to reallity. Get these Dogs out and set those traps; To fill my empty time, if not my empty pockets

[SNAP SHOT 194]

UP our way there is no shortage of hare but rabbit's aren't as plentyfull, the fox population is good, deer excellent if only red's, most gun club's around here are setting aside land to rear and release birds such as partridge, pheasant, grouse, So we're not to bad up here i think, the only downfall is the people leasing coilte forestery for large sums of money, and us not being able to shoot it because the germans pay big bucks for red trophy's

So i say let's just keep it too ourselves but get our act together a little.