Forest of Dean Cull

I think that there is some confusion here as well as some misinformation from the powers that be.

The local paper and BBC both reported that the cull was deemed necessary because boar have attacked and killed several dogs and chased people on horseback.

You say "chased people on horseback". the answer is simple......take the horse off the boar!!
 
boar wont kill dogs that dont do bother them... maybe people should keep their dogs on leashes???
 
They are making them in to public enemy number one. Culling a 100 if Stoner is correct will make not one bit of difference. I have seen videos from friends I shoot with in the dean of grounp of 20 -50 boar at a time in one small spot there must now be thousands and it was only 2002 they were set free. It is in my opinion time to use local wild life mangers who know the area to harvest a cull and use the meat locally.Turn what they have in to a local resource and its a win win for all.
 
Clearly what's needed is a some proper co-ordination of interested parties. It could be called The Boar Initiative...:stir:

It's already there mate but not quite called that.

They are making them in to public enemy number one. Culling a 100 if Stoner is correct will make not one bit of difference. I have seen videos from friends I shoot with in the dean of grounp of 20 -50 boar at a time in one small spot there must now be thousands and it was only 2002 they were set free. It is in my opinion time to use local wild life mangers who know the area to harvest a cull and use the meat locally.Turn what they have in to a local resource and its a win win for all.


Every man and their dog are already out there shooting the crap out of them. The real number taken in and around the FOD each year is at least double what the official FC cull figures are if only one half of what I hear is true. Many are already making the most of the "local Resource".

I don't believe a quarter of what has been reported on the television or in the newspapers.
Incidentally several of the Dean FC rangers regularly view this website and are most amused by most of the comments and suggestions made. That's not totally true, actually they are ****ing themselves laughing.
 
My Grandfather used to say, everyone knows what to do with a kicking horse except the poor bugger who owns it!!!.........
 
Did Country file mention that the target was 900 boar and that extra rangers were employed, but they only managed to get 48% of the target?:roll:


Admittedly this is second hand information, so could be questioned, but they can reproduce rapidly. All the sows we have shot recently have been carrying 8 -10 well developed young.

8-10 well developed young per sow? You been shooting Gloucester Old Spots??
 
Carrying 8-10 well developed young does not equate to 8-10 live births, nor pigs reared and reaching breeding weight
 
way way too little, and about 10/15 yeras too late
Believe it or not John, there are less boar in Chase and Penyard today than there were 5 years ago. Different story in the main Dean but still not the apocalypse some would have us believe. Between the FC and private hunters, there are ALOT of boar being culled. Unfortunately with no cooperation or communication so no change there!

All the best

Penyard
 
They are making them in to public enemy number one. Culling a 100 if Stoner is correct will make not one bit of difference. I have seen videos from friends I shoot with in the dean of grounp of 20 -50 boar at a time in one small spot there must now be thousands and it was only 2002 they were set free. It is in my opinion time to use local wild life mangers who know the area to harvest a cull and use the meat locally.Turn what they have in to a local resource and its a win win for all.
The first escape was, I believe, more like 1997 in the Weston under Penyard area, the later release was of boar from a different origin on the other side of the forest in the Staunton area. I saw about 30 when out stalking with JDM near Penyard in 2006 and have a photograph with another 34 boar visible taken on the other side of the forest about the same time, this was when DEFRA estimated the FoD population at less than 100!!

They are now far more widespread, have crossed the Wye and are as far down as at least Tintern (probably St. Arvans) on the Welsh side.
 
It's already there mate but not quite called that.


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Every man and their dog are already out there shooting the crap out of them. The real number taken in and around the FOD each year is at least double what the official FC cull figures are if only one half of what I hear is true. Many are already making the most of the "local Resource".

I don't believe a quarter of what has been reported on the television or in the newspapers.
Incidentally several of the Dean FC rangers regularly view this website and are most amused by most of the comments and suggestions made. That's not totally true, actually they are ****ing themselves laughing.

Just out of interest 8 x 57 how many FC rangers are there managing boar in the FOD? Like you say with out the privateers out there they would have much less than a snowballs chance in hell of managing boar numbers. They won't be ****ing themselves laughing when they have to spend all their time trying to get contraceptives into boar which is the latest idea from somewhere up on high.
 
Just out of interest 8 x 57 how many FC rangers are there managing boar in the FOD? Like you say with out the privateers out there they would have much less than a snowballs chance in hell of managing boar numbers. They won't be ****ing themselves laughing when they have to spend all their time trying to get contraceptives into boar which is the latest idea from somewhere up on high.

I don't know George. I personally know of three but it might be five, seven or even more though in some cases their beats extend much further North and so they are not just confined in the Dean.
I know the two NRW guys who work our side of the river but according to the one while the boar have certainly crossed the river so far they aren't in any significant numbers. As Paul K says they are certainly down as far as Tintern as a friend of mine who lives there was watching some the other evening. Also another member of our rifle club has shot them only just a mile or so outside of Chepstow in the last year.
 
I don't know George. I personally know of three but it might be five, seven or even more though in some cases their beats extend much further North and so they are not just confined in the Dean.
I know the two NRW guys who work our side of the river but according to the one while the boar have certainly crossed the river so far they aren't in any significant numbers. As Paul K says they are certainly down as far as Tintern as a friend of mine who lives there was watching some the other evening. Also another member of our rifle club has shot them only just a mile or so outside of Chepstow in the last year.
Just out of interest I put in a FOI request to the NRW for deer and boar cull numbers 2012 to 2016 and only one boar had been shot by NRW rangers up to the end of 2016 and that was in 2103/14.

I believe that DEFRA were trialling contraceptive on the boar at Penyard in 2005-2007ish. They were lacing fruit with it but there were concerns with other species and livestock picking it up.
 
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All that probably indicates Paul is that they aren't a problem on NRW lands at the moment.
 
You might also be interested to know that in addition to the boar, there were typically 150 fallow per annum, and over the four years there were also 8 reds and 45 roe taken in to the NRW larder at Itton, but no muntjac at Itton (or anywhere in Wales apparently, but I'm not sure I believe this.)
 
When did you post this, estimate was of between 1,000 and 1500 in the Autumn, FC cull is set at 650 animals, I know 2 guys, not FC, who have shot over 115 between them this year already, FC were at 450 before Christmas.
 
You might also be interested to know that in addition to the boar, there were typically 150 fallow per annum, and over the four years there were also 8 reds and 45 roe taken in to the NRW larder at Itton, but no muntjac at Itton (or anywhere in Wales apparently, but I'm not sure I believe this.)

We have plenty of munty with us in monmouth and get the odd red coming in and boar
 
I was in the forest last week and couldn't believe how many boar we saw, they are here to stay.
I also know of one that was shot not too far out of Gloucster and 3 were seen.
I couldn't get over how big some of them are ! :shock:
 
while that last comment is true, its also very easy to get rid of them if theres excessive poaching and mismanagement.
 
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