Making the news today....

[Jamespepperpot]

7 hours ago, daveatdave said:

James you do not know the anti hunt lot if hound hunting goes all shooting and fishing is on there agender next and they will hammer it just like they are doing with the hounds now and they will not know what has hit them 

I dont agree, that's just the typical fieldsports britain/BASC mentality. There are enormous amounts of scientific backing and ecological reasons why deer are managed in the UK. Its something that's never been so important, especially in the south east.

Hound hunting has no backing or real purpose, its just a weird charade. The majority of non hunting types I've had discussions with understand the need to manage deer and foxes. They just don't like the pomp and nonsense that comes with certain types of fieldsports.

[Johnsond]

19 minutes ago, Jamespepperpot said:

I dont agree, that's just the typical fieldsports britain/BASC mentality. There are enormous amounts of scientific backing and ecological reasons why deer are managed in the UK. Its something that's never been so important, especially in the south east.

Hound hunting has no backing or real purpose, its just a weird charade. The majority of non hunting types I've had discussions with understand the need to manage deer and foxes. They just don't like the pomp and nonsense that comes with certain types of fieldsports.

Non hunting and anti hunting there is a huge huge difference !!. 
Anti hunt groups have made it clear it’s one thing at a time, start with the easy targets and work up to the likes of fishing. 

[Youngstu]

8 hours ago, Johnsond said:

You didn’t know pistols were illegal in the UK?? 
Shooters in the UK have never been allowed automatic weapons, pre Hungerford SEMI auto full bore were legal for certain competitive disciplines. 

I knew that standard pistols were illegal but had wrongly assumed that this didn't apply to specific target shooting models as I thought these were still used in competitive sports, but I suppose what I thought I'd seen must have all been air powered.  I guess that this was deemed necessary at the time as there would always be people arguing the toss over whether or not something fitted into a certain category. 

[eggsarascal]

Where the hunts fall down is the blocking of bolt holes, and terrier lads digging on earths to get foxes "up". In my eyes a fox should get the chance to go to ground.

 

 

[difflock]

Come and live in NI, and at least you can still own and shoot pistols, if not full bore semi auto rifles.

[MattyF]

Didn’t Tony Blaire ban hunting with dogs ! What has got the antis backs up and done no other Feild sports favours is most hunts have carried on and openly killed foxes regardless .. the terrier boys have been illegal for years but still carried on.
I’m in no way anti hunting with dogs and would completely turn a blind eye to any hunts in my area as I feel it’s the most effective way of controlling foxes and keeping there population healthy... but most of the hate for fox hunting in general is a class war thing and has nothing to do with animal welfare.

[Jamespepperpot]

30 minutes ago, Johnsond said:

Non hunting and anti hunting there is a huge huge difference !!. 
Anti hunt groups have made it clear it’s one thing at a time, start with the easy targets and work up to the likes of fishing. 

Obviously, there are usually 3 groups of people. Those that are convinced either way and those who are unsure in the middle. Personally I find that it's only the people in the middle that are worth having discussions with. My girlfriend who was a vegetarian has no problems eating venison. Neither do her family who were anti hunting previously. So far no one i have shared or cooked venison with hasn't failed to come round to it. 

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

36 minutes ago, Johnsond said:

Non hunting and anti hunting there is a huge huge difference !!. 
Anti hunt groups have made it clear it’s one thing at a time, start with the easy targets and work up to the likes of fishing. 

It seems to me, the only attempted justification for (actually its a stretch to call it a justification ‘for’, but perhaps better described as an irrational fear of it being (further) restricted since there could be implications for other aspects of field sports)

 

A bit like saying “better not increase the sentencing for rapists, just in case the cost of a FPN speeding ticket goes up. 
 

Anybody got ANYTHING constructive to offer in support of this illegal activity?

[The avantgardener]

I was recently on a felling job where I was asked to turn up on site a bit later as they had the hounds on the next day ‘trailing’ foxes.

I turned up to find 60 hounds, countless horse boxes and range rovers, tweed wearing ladies blowing their little bugles.

The pheasant pen was damaged and the poults where all through the wood, the keeper had to stop what he was doing to sort it out.

 

Not one fox dealt with.

 

If I had to come up with the most uneconomical way of dealing with fox numbers this would be it.

 

[trigger_andy]

Just now, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

It seems to me, the only attempted justification for (actually its a stretch to call it a justification ‘for’, but perhaps better described as an irrational fear of it being (further) restricted since there could be implications for other aspects of field sports)

 

A bit like saying “better not increase the sentencing for rapists, just in case the cost of a FPN speeding ticket goes up. 
 

Anybody got ANYTHING constructive to offer in support of this illegal activity?

I find that a very unfair comparison. But sticking with your analogy its would be more akin to a rapist sentence increasing and that in turn bringing up the sentences for sexual assault.