No, you immediately jumped to a conclusion (from god knows where!) that they might be shooting raptors, and despite them telling you otherwise, disbelieved them and asked on here.

So you didn’t pass judgement on pigeon shooting, you passed a judgement that the most likely scenario was that two people with guns were probably breaking the law and lying to you about it, and that you needed to check up on them!

The only high horse here is yours!
Oh please, get over yourself! I’d have done exactly the same, except I’d have settled down somewhere out of sight and watched for a while. There are lots of buzzards around my way, plus ravens and Peregrines, and lots of game rearing for shooting, so it would not be out of the question.
And I’m not a bloody townie, I was raised in a small market town, and brought up in the countryside. Karin was being perfectly correct in being suspicious; plenty of raptors are killed by game shooting types and pigeon racers.
Get off your high horse.

Oh please, get over yourself! I’d have done exactly the same, except I’d have settled down somewhere out of sight and watched for a while.

Out of interest, were they shooting raptors?

Look what a surprise there’s a certain person being an unpleasant troll yet again.

If they look like they are shooting pigeons then they probably are shooting pigeons. If you know the landowner then speak to them and ask if they know about the pigeon shooters, genuine guys will be doing it with permission.

Why would someone with a shotgun license, who should understand a bit about the law, shoot birds of prey in place where there is a chance of others walking about? Anybody with a licensed gun, shooting something on land where they have permission would be an absolute clown to do so. The easiest, most effective, least risky way of killing them would surely be by poisoning.
I used to shoot years ago, the amount of times the police would come to see what we were doing was ridiculous…all because someone had called them (usually a dog walker, as we weren’t near houses). To be honest, we could have told the police anything and they would have believed us. They probably thought if we were doing wrong we would have hid or ran away.

Look what a surprise there’s a certain person being an unpleasant troll yet again.

Not at all. I’m impressed that he took the time to find out for himself what they were up to and as an extension to this, what the outcome was.

Wasn’t talking about the OP.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/26killed-in-america-sky-news-now/page/3#post-4471770

You will ike this comedy Gold then Grum

Pretty sure Karin of nine is both female and a Star Trek fan- and her OP was perfectly reasonable asking only for advice

I am half in love with her already ..now what does she think of a fat sarcastic star trek fan 😉

I don’t think you really understand the definition of the word Grum 🙄

And note that I was not the only person who thought that calling the thread ‘shooting raptors’ was inappropriate and inflammatory when there was no suggestion whatsoever thats what they were doing, just a townies immediate presumption that someone shooting something in the countryside just must be doing something wrong.

Neither was I. I referenced countzero and as your post followed mine, I assumed you were calling me an unpleasant troll?

I’m a bit confused – are dead pigeons good bait for catching high horses then?

d45yth

How do you know they had a licence?* I couldn’t tell, and I was quite close to them.

*license is a verb, licence is the noun.

If you honestly thought for even one second that they didn’t have a licence, then I would have thought the first thing you would have done is phone the police, rather than ask on here if they were shooting raptors.

or is it just something that you’ve now ‘thought up’ to justify your earlier speculative hysteria?

And yes, I think its perfectly understandable and reasonable for members of the law abiding gun ownership community to feel aggrieved that they can’t go about their perfectly legal, perfectly respectable sport, that fulfils a valid pest control objective, without people presuming that they are up to something nefarious, due to a media diet of gun hysteria.

Ive looked into shooting raptors and have decided youd need more than a Browning OU..

just a townies immediate presumption that someone shooting something in the countryside just must be doing something wrong.

Nice ad hominem and a straw man …you are really pushing yourself over the weekend I see.

or is it just something that you’ve now ‘thought up’ to justify your earlier speculative hysteria?

oh nearly two in a row – you must be getting tired now 😥

In what sense is the OP hysterical

two men in a hide at the side of a field, short crop in field, plastic and other/dead pigeons used as decoy. They tell me they are shooting pigeon – are they? Or should I call the police?

Seems like you are hysterically looking for a reaction in your war against “townies” who dont understand you countryside folk and your killing for fun ways

OP – Thanks for the English lesson, seriously. 🙂
If you really are looking for an answer to your question and aren’t just a comedy member of the grammar police. I very much doubt someone with an illegal firearm is going to out shooting in broad daylight, especially tucked up in a hide rather than being mobile. It would be far to easy to be caught unless you were in a very remote place.

They tell me they are shooting pigeon – are they?

Ever heard of Occams Razor Junky? I still don’t see what justification or logical explanation the OP had for disbelieving what she was told by the shooters – who we can only conclude she never doubted the legality of, since otherwise she would have phoned the police immediately.

Neither was I. I referenced countzero and as your post followed mine, I assumed you were calling me an unpleasant troll?

Nope.

And I make a point of not feeding the troll so I won’t be responding to his ‘comments’. But he is a corrosive influence on this forum – far worse than some others who have been banned.

Yes, female and a star trek fan 🙂 (but I am very old)

Not a townie.

Zulua-eleven: LOL at “speculative hysteria” – as I said before, you don’t know me and you don’t know where I live, what my experience is or what the circumstances are.

Yes, the title WAS controversial. As previously stated this was because:
(a) I was posting with one hand – two dogs in the other
(b) I was in a hurry
(c) my battery was low
(d) I was deliberately trying to get a quick response . .

. . . because if they WERE poachers/folk killing for fun, I wouldn’t have had much time to do something about it.

I dated a gamekeeper for a while, he told me specifically that his bosses would be very happy to ‘accidentally’ shoot or poison a bird of prey. One of the reasons I stopped seeing him was the cavalier attitude to wildlife that some gamekeepers have. These people were licence holders. Some gamekeepers believe they are above the law.

Anyway once you had asked them what they were doing, did ask them for some of the pigeons to take home and cook. Bet they’d have given you a few birds, woodies make great eating. You should have taken the chance to fill up the freezer. Love this time of year for stocking up, freezer is well on its way to being full. Pheasant, Partridge, duck and even a brace of Grouse. Great food, had grouse curry last night left overs from last Sundays roast.

I have typed out several replies and deleted them all.

You carry on thinking I’m hysterical.

And I’ll carry on giving a shit about what’s going on around me. If I’m wrong, no harm done. If I’m right, then I will have helped someone or something.

You’re not the one sounding hysterical, don’t worry!

HARE COURSING
Ive just seen a woman with two dogs, she told me she was walking them, but was she illegally chasing game?

See where people are coming from?

^^^NO – in your example they would have to be chasing something – its a rubbish comparison

You’re not the one sounding hysterical, don’t worry.

Live long and Prosper

FTFY 😀

I still don’t see what justification or logical explanation the OP had for disbelieving what she was told by the shooters

I thought she was asking whether they should be believed- the question mark and it being a question kind of gave it away that she was unsure and wanted some help deciding /information from the informed.
I have no idea why you think she had made up her mind – Lack of comprehension, desire to hurl abuse to perceived townies? who knows, who cares.

Two men in a hide at the side of a field, short crop in field, plastic and other/dead pigeons used as decoy. They tell me they are shooting pigeon – are they? Or should I call the police?

You seem to have made a lot of assumptions [ leaps of logical fantasy] here and then you use occams to back up your view…its tragic.

Why not just be yourself?
I know its scary but we might actually like you if you just be yourself rather than this just play this character/wear your mask.
You know lots about this subject [ possibly the STW expert] and could have helped her, been informative and shared your knowledge.
However you chose to not do this and do your usual to a thread.

Its tragic you choose to do this when you have so much knowledge to give

The content post was fine. However, the title was (as the OP has admitted) deliberately provocative/sensationalized in order to get a response.

Why? She didnt see anyone shoot anything? Like I theoretically wouldnt have seen her dogs chasing anything.

Person walking two dogs near a field of stubble, ready to slip them from the lead as soon as hare appears. Alternatively person with two dogs flushing foxes to guns. Which one is braking the law?

It would be a fair question as my dogs are Greyhounds. I had their muzzles on them so I could let them off for a run without fear of them being able to catch/hurt anything.

If I had been asked I would have been happy to assure the questioner that I was not coursing. And, since we have lots of travellers round here, who are regularly caught hare coursing, I would have been glad that someone was keeping an eye out.

I would not, however, have thought the questioner was being hysterical, it’s a simple question showing concern for wildlife.

Nice dogs. Retired, rescue or had them from pups?

This one’s going to go on, and on, and on, and on, and on…

Karin, you have similar issues to what we have here in Wiltshire. There are regular reports of hare coursing taking place, and badger baiting is a serious issue, and there have been a number of reports of raptor poisonings and shootings where there are game bird rearing pens. A couple of years ago, I noticed a number of Ravens flying around several copses of trees near the Herepath heading east from Avebury towards Marlborough. On of those copses also has pheasant rearing pens inside it. For the last year or so, though, the Ravens have disappeared, no sign of them at all. There are also lots of sheep across Fyfield Down, and it’s not that unusual to come across a corpse under a hawthorn or sheltering Sarsen, so it’s difficult not to draw certain conclusions. Dead animals that would be very attractive to carrion birds, and said birds in an area where game birds are reared…
I’m sure Junkie will have something to say about my assumption in a minute. 🙄

mt – retired racers. I got them on October 6 this year. I love them, they’re an absolute joy. Wonderful pets.

Unfortunately my high horse died last summer, so I am now sadly on foot… but I rather thought that Karimofnine was asking a perfectly reasonable question in the OP.

Question = reasonable
Title = trolling

Thusly;

HARE COURSING
I’ve just seen a woman with two dogs, she told me she was walking them, but was she illegally chasing game?

See where people are coming from?

what the OP describes sounds to me like a classic pigeon shoot.. what made you suspicious..?

I’m sure Junkie will have something to say about my assumption in a minute.

Why ?
Sorry to disappoint I thought your posts have been nothing but reasonable.

I was curious because, despite having dated a gamekeeper and knowing others, and despite working on several different farms, and despite living in the country and walking on farmland almost every day, I have never seen pigeons shot in this way.

I’ve seen them scared off by gas guns, and I know one farmer who randomly blasts up into trees with his shotgun, I’ve seen people picking them off with .22, I’ve heard about people using models of birds of prey to frighten them away. Then again I’ve seen gamekeepers trying to catch birds of prey by tying live but wounded rabbits to wire, luring with dead birds, or live birds in cages. I’ve been lamping rabbits with the gamekeeper, and caught rabbits with lurchers. I’ve seen snares, traps, nets and lures. I’ve seen rabbit warrens gassed, and seen rabbits driven out by ferrets or terrers and then netted and shot/bashed on the head. I’ve seen ducks shot by using decoys. But, through all my 57 years, and all my travels living, cycling and walking all over England, Scotland and Wales I’ve never seen pigeons shot by using decoys.

But I know I don’t know everything, so I thought I would ask. I find asking questions is a very good way of finding out things I don’t know.

Those hides are bloody effective too. Nearly walked into one on the edge of a field on a bright, sunny day. In my defence, I was concentrating hard on what appeared to be two pigeons behaving very oddly – flying round and round about a foot off the ground.

Of course, it was a decoy but I was pretty much upon the hide before I realised what was happening! Guy shooting was very amicable and told me that all the local farmers hire him to come and decimate the woodie population in early Spring. He had a huge pile of dead pigeons which my dog decided to piss all over 😳

I find asking questions is a very good way of finding out things I don’t know.

So, your title could have been, “Were they shooting raptors?” or perhaps, “Is this a pigeon shoot or something else” etc. etc. etc.

As above, your question was entirely reasonable, your title seemed to show a certain bias or assumption.

Karin, well you kept (some) people entertained! 😉 It is a little strange that you have not experienced decoying pigeons but no harm in asking the shooters or your game keeping friends if you feared that people were up to no good, however unlikely you OP made it seem. But I guess you knew the answer!