Double O Buckshot.
Hares….yay or nay?
- Thread starter Jeebs
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- dilemma hares pest control
Hard to sell today ! Even Rabbits are when selling to the general public . If the farm needs them gone ( no or very few Hares ) No damage to the pasture by off road chasing . Hare is good eating but hard to give away for human consumption but many Pet stores do well selling rabbit and Hare .
Your fully entitled to your opinion mate, as am I. I do struggle a little with the concept of not doing what the landowner wants when they give you ground to shoot. Its legal and beyond that its down to what you feel is acceptable or not and that is very subjective. Not sure how what I said justifies "shooters giving up".
I personally would prefer that no crime was ever committed and then these sorts of things would be completely moot points...but alas that is never going to happen.
Since the demise of the rabbit hare numbers have boomed at home. Luckily the bosses like them so I can just enjoy watching them. They do attract problems a few times a year but we try and deal with that rather than the hares. The only time they bother me is when they pretend to be foxes or munty through the thermal and I waste time sneaking up on them. There are worse problems to have though.
I appreciate them even more, when they start to indicate an unseen by me predator.
Smellydog
Well-Known Member
I recently shot a fox unseen at first purely because I noticed the hares stand up and then one ran off. Sure enough out of the treeline stepped Charles.
Depends what type of plantation really mate
stavross
Well-Known Member
I can’t see why some people are so against shooting hares but seem quite happy to kill every, deer, fox, rabbit, pigeon, stoat etc, etc they see, if there’s an abundance of hares then there’s no problem ( in my mind) shooting some, the main thing to me is to know your land and what’s on it, I have some places where I won’t shoot deer unless the numbers go up and two of the farms I shoot ask me to leave them until I see more than they say is acceptable to them, likewise I have a couple of places I don’t shoot hares because they are not a problem but when you can go on a farm and see 150 then the farmer wants something done about them ( this is just my opinion and as Mrs Stav says nobody wants my opinion ) at the end of the day if you can justify it to yourself and are not breaking any laws then you make the decision on what you should do
Good for you mate and I dont think anyone is saying they dont like to see them. However counting 12 in an hour is not a lot when you consider some places you can see 100 in 1 40 or 50 acre field. I think the whole issue here is respecting that its legal to shoot them and if people do so then a little bit of respect for that decision should be shown. I see hares every day of the week at home (and to be fair I dont shoot them) but I rarely see a stoat or weasel which I find fascinating. Do I take the moral high ground when I see people shooting or trapping them- absolutely not as I understand the need for their control. Yes it could be argued they are a predator so its not the same but both in the right circumstances both are a pest and may warrant control.
Ultimately do what you think is right...same applies to foxes, deer on CL55, deer out of season etc etc
BenBhoy
Well-Known Member
Agreed mate, I only used that figure as that what OP said. Looking at my trail cam this morning over fox bait & just constant hares.
No moral high ground with me either pal. Tbh I think it's probably because I hark back to the days of longdogs. Just don't feel right shooting them, dopey buggers until they turning full sprint on a sixpence. Found my Waterloo cup badges other day actually. If only again.
Agreed mate, I only used that figure as that what OP said. Looking at my trail cam this morning over fox bait & just constant hares.
No moral high ground with me either pal. Tbh I think it's probably because I hark back to the days of longdogs. Just don't feel right shooting them, dopey buggers until they turning full sprint on a sixpence. Found my Waterloo cup badges other day actually. If only again.
I detest shooting them as I love seeing them and in most cases I prefer not to shoot them. I shoot on a commercial plant nursery and anything that eats the plants gets it whether that is hares, rabbits or deer. I prefer not to have a moral conflict but ultimately the farmer dictates what I do (within legal boundaries) and if I dont want to do that I shouldnt feel hard done by if I lose the ground. If I asked someone to shoot a fox for me in May and someone said " I would rather not they may have cubs"...well I would get someone else.
Pellet Pinger
Well-Known Member
Zero tolerance here, acres and acres of this, if you get a couple in they run riot.
Smellydog
Well-Known Member
I was driving past a new tree plantation with deer fencing recently and watched a hare slip through the mesh. The tiny saplings had no guards !
Pellet Pinger
Well-Known Member
There’s fine mesh vermin wire fencing dug in on all perimeters and gates and they still get in somehow.
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