Poachers

[David Barker]

Looking back over many years poaching was a thing and we had gangs of lads running up and down the country taking deer that did not belong to them. You could sell a roe deer then for £1.25 per pound. Or £40 for your average deer. Wages in the 80 and 90 would have been around 80 to 120 so it made it worth while. In my area poaching except the one for the pot lads has all but gone now. So many be the price reduction for our deer has done some good.

 

[Camdig]

I would agree, I also think the miner strikes around central Scotland would of motivated quite alot of folks back then.
Most poaching now I would say is done from the roadside with rifles but it's few and far between.

 

[Dave_45]

I would agree, I also think the miner strikes around central Scotland would of motivated quite alot of folks back then.
Most poaching now I would say is done from the roadside with rifles but it's few and far between.

A friend of mine was severely affected by the miners strike in the fife area, as was most of the folk in the area to be fair.
He told me bars used to be 4 rows deep to get served a drink and shops bustling on Saturday mornings , everyone had money to spend , then when the pits shut it was like it just vanished and never happened….

Anyway, during the strikes they didn’t have money but they ate like kings ….

 

[bottletopbill]

The stalker that mentors me donates it to the old and other's.
The way it is going think we could all do a bit to help other's (labour)

 

[finbar]

A lot of my wayward skills were taught of old pitman
RIP the pitman we will never see the likes of them men again

 

[LuckyEddie]

When I was young, my dad and I never really visited the estates but kept to the disused railways.
Dad was a jute factory worker and mum did seasonal work so the chance of other meat was never missed.
Mainly rabbits, until I got my air rifle, but if a pheasant happened to be caught it was not passed by.

Funnily enough never fished illegally and always got a permit

 

[bigtone]

It's more likely to be technology that's cut down on poaching,with trailcams,drones and alerts straight to your phone.Also you wouldn't have an armed response and half a dozen 'semi auto' rifles pointed at you 40 years ago,times change.

 

[Heym SR20]

Mmm. I would disagree. With high figures for cull animals in the larder being paid by Forestry Scotland there has been plenty of individuals helping themselves. Indeed I know of a couple of individuals who were going around local tenants offering £50 for every deer they could shoot. They were getting £130 for each one in the larder.

I know that on one bit of ground I shoot over they were stupid enough leave empty cases behind along with heads, legs, vehicle tracks etc. I also found the remains of a deer with a little round hole in the shoulder blade.

Police were informed but didn’t have the resources or inclination to respond. They did ask how we knew that poaching was going on.

I have been out my other piece of ground. I have noticed that all the Roe are very nervous and flighty. Rather suggests that somebody else is after them.

These days of nightvision and moderators nobody will know if you are out at 2am in dark. And a balaclava takes care of any cameras etc.

 

[Dave_45]

The penalties

Mmm. I would disagree. With high figures for cull animals in the larder being paid by Forestry Scotland there has been plenty of individuals helping themselves. Indeed I know of a couple of individuals who were going around local tenants offering £50 for every deer they could shoot. They were getting £130 for each one in the larder.

I know that on one bit of ground I shoot over they were stupid enough leave empty cases behind along with heads, legs, vehicle tracks etc. I also found the remains of a deer with a little round hole in the shoulder blade.

Police were informed but didn’t have the resources or inclination to respond. They did ask how we knew that poaching was going on.

I have been out my other piece of ground. I have noticed that all the Roe are very nervous and flighty. Rather suggests that somebody else is after them.

These days of nightvision and moderators nobody will know if you are out at 2am in dark. And a balaclava takes care of any cameras etc.

it wasn’t lost on me that trail cams can be negated with a £5 quid from an army surplus store balaclava.

 

[bigtone]

Mmm. I would disagree. With high figures for cull animals in the larder being paid by Forestry Scotland there has been plenty of individuals helping themselves. Indeed I know of a couple of individuals who were going around local tenants offering £50 for every deer they could shoot. They were getting £130 for each one in the larder.

I know that on one bit of ground I shoot over they were stupid enough leave empty cases behind along with heads, legs, vehicle tracks etc. I also found the remains of a deer with a little round hole in the shoulder blade.

Police were informed but didn’t have the resources or inclination to respond. They did ask how we knew that poaching was going on.

I have been out my other piece of ground. I have noticed that all the Roe are very nervous and flighty. Rather suggests that somebody else is after them.

These days of nightvision and moderators nobody will know if you are out at 2am in dark. And a balaclava takes care of any cameras etc.

True regarding a balaclava.They have more nerve than me.Driving around at silly o'clock with a rifle and a few dead deer I'd look guilty from a mile away.

 

[bottletopbill]

Went on my first stalk and got lost in the middle of nowhere sat at a T junction 2.30am with hazards on pitch black (sat nav sent me five miles away)
Two coppers in a van drove straight past me I chased them for about two miles flashing my headlights and hooter to ask directions.
No questions asked

 

[Mungo]

I very much doubt that there’s much ‘real’ poaching going on across much of the country.

Yes, it happens, but I think locally quite restricted. As pointed out, the economics don’t stack up.

An awful lot of what people think is poaching is much more likely to be people the landowner has given a nod to but you don’t know about. Or at least the landowner knows is happening, knows who it is, but doesn’t really care enough about to bother with.

 

[Ratel]

Our biggest problems are the "Caravan utilising nomadic travelling society" driving across crops whilst chasing hares. No money in deer or birds, unless you get them from release pens or rearing fields.

 

[JTO]

The money is in the betting, not the meat, I believe, but it's got to come from somewhere else!

 

[Rake Aboot]

I’ll freely admit to hunting over the wall a lot when I was young.
22 and married with two kids, working full time to let my mrs be a stay at home mum.
That’s what got me into hunting in the first place, food was expensive so lurchers and ferrets it was.

I doubt anyone poaches for that reason nowadays.

 

[Bo Diddley]

Without incriminating myself too much, I had a part-time keeper's job for very little money 40 years ago, if you plopped over a decent Roe into the game dealers you received £30-£35 in cash... that was a days wages for someone in the building trade at the time, so if you plopped over 5 roe it was a weeks wages... fast forward 40 years and Roe are still £30-£35 a carcasse, no value = no poaching.

 

[JH83]

Even as little as 4/5 years ago poaching around christmas was severe to cater for the ‘turkey alternative’ market. It isn’t so much now, certainly around here.

Nowadays deer poaching is mainly bull x lurcher lads looking for sport. Deer are mainly left, as they know if stopped it’ll be a conviction. Everything is videoed as there is real money in pups from a proven dog, the networks nationally between poachers is remarkable. In certain areas it can be really severe, lads out several times a week on the same areas/herds.

 

[Sheamus]

I nearly come close to posting a full confession several minutes ago. But thought better of it.

 

[Finnwolf VL63]

Theres plenty of poaching still going on today, maybe not as many dog boys with lamps and lurchers.I have caught many respectful law abiding shooters over the year's,and saw a rise when sound moderators became common place and don't get me started about thermals on Deer Stalking rifles.

 

[firebird]

Here in Ontario we have to buy a tag per animal. But that’s online and you print your own tag on an 8x11” piece of paper at home. It’s illegal to print more than 1….. You have to have 1 tag per animal until it’s “processed” And a deer is considered ‘processed’ once it’s cut into steaks and ground…lol

I wish we could use moderators