MPs Visit

I know we are doing things right and well or our farm and shoot - the biodiversity increases over the last 10 years is testimony to the hard work of all our members.

With shooting being under seemingly constant attack and receiving such bad press from many i thought i would invite our MP to look at the real ground floor work shoots do and the obvious results they produce.

So today i had an hour and bit and gave our MP a whistle stop tour of our ground

I showed him the pen - the poults - the ponds we have dug - the hedges we have planted and laid - the coppice we have cut. I showed him the feeders - the wild bird plots and the nest boxes.

He got to see a Larsen ,a ladder and a fox trap and a high seat or two. It was great because on the ladder trap was a couple of owl pellets which he had never seen either.

He asked questions and i am sure has gone away with far more knowledge of the countryside and some of our issues

This engagement may work well for some of you guys on here as i know some of you do an awful lot for shooting and conservation too.

 

[Brighty3006]

May I say well done. Brilliant

 

[jall55]

May I say well done. Brilliant

Thankyou !

 

[WH308]

Well done, do you know what his views on shooting are? Is he already supportive, or just decent and open minded enough to come and see for himself?

 

[BLUEROLL]

Well done to you and your team.

 

[jall55]

Well done, do you know what his views on shooting are? Is he already supportive, or just decent and open minded enough to come and see for himself?

He was pretty open minded i believe - perhaps leaning to Pro

I think it was really good to show him a poult in a pen - even though i do say so myself - a bit big headed - but our pens are great and a credit to our 82 year old keeper !

It was also great for me to show him the traps - and i had a crow decoy bird in the ladder - that is in super fettle
On the trap was a couple of owl pellets - again which he had never seen before - so i feel he went away with a bit of knowledge

 

[jall55]

He was pretty open minded i believe - perhaps leaning to Pro

I think it was really good to show him a poult in a pen - even though i do say so myself - a bit big headed - but our pens are great and a credit to our 82 year old keeper !

It was also great for me to show him the traps - and i had a crow decoy bird in the ladder - that is in super fettle
On the trap was a couple of owl pellets - again which he had never seen before - so i feel he went away with a bit of knowledge

My challenge is now to get the Labour gent out - who so far keeps body swerving me !

 

[VSS]

Excellent! Well done!

 

[enfieldspares]

For all the brickbats and criticism that he earned...and some very rightly so...during the passage in 1996 of the Tory Handgun Ban the ONLY MP (and we invited all the Leicester and Leicestershire MPs) that visited our pistol club was Keith Vaz. He came alone, stayed for an hour, spoke with the members present. And had the honesty too at the end to say that although he was grateful that we'd invited him that he nevertheless hadn't changed his mind about supporting a ban on handguns. None of the others, not one, Tory nor Labour ever came.

 

[jall55]

Managed to get the opposite MP to come and agree to have a look at our little shoot
Date TBA but i will keep you all updated

 

[Northwest]

My challenge is now to get the Labour gent out - who so far keeps body swerving me !

I am trying my very best to get my local MP to come out and see for himself, my timing has been really bad though, but I haven't given up and I hope he recognises this.

 

[jall55]

I am trying my very best to get my local MP to come out and see for himself, my timing has been really bad though, but I haven't given up and I hope he recognises this.

Good on you Northwest - perhaps make him realise that you are involved with a circle / community of x amount of members
Gets their attention a little

 

[bottletopbill]

Need to get Nigel Farage out around some shoots he is a country boy and show him .

 

[Northwest]

Need to get Nigel Farage out around some shoots he is a country boy and show him .

If only.

 

[Jim 7]

Great job mate good idea to promote ourselves

 

[bottletopbill]

Perhaps shooting organisations could promote days across the uk not just in one area.

 

[jall55]

Hi Guys
Great today really

Had the opposite MP over - and a local councillor

Its was great to show him our meadows still in flower - our wild bird plots moving with life and our lakes and ponds teaming with ducks and insects - very much in stark contrast to our local country parks

I showed him again the traps and pens - the hedges - coppice and work we carry out

I showed him photos of our shoot days - all the guns and beaters very much on the same page

I showed him pictures of some bits of land before we got stuck into and we had great discussion about the wildlife trusts approach and funding from various quarters for various things

I told him how we have so many helpers whose main interest is seeing the results their work achieves in the following years

The one thing that they had obviously heard was that birds are shot and dumped - when i advised that we have a scrum most weeks for the birds he was shocked - when i could then back this up with photos of birds being handed out he seemed genuinely taken aback and a little impressed

I had written to said MP about trophy hunting many moons ago and the initial response i got was very negative - my reply to him on that subject included evidence and accounts from MPs in some of the countries effected and he brought up the subject today saying it just shows how little we understand in this country about some of the complex issues

We concluded our meeting with him requesting a return visit in the season to see the flocks of finches and even to experience a day on the shoot

Its amazing how little these people actually know about our way of life but i believe full credit to them for coming , looking and listening to what we have to say, it can only aid us in future battles.

 

[bottletopbill]

This what we need to show these folks who seem to think we are mad murderers and just want to kill for the fun of it.
We do care for the countryside and animals and how we work with endangered species to protect them.
Not just talk as most of these antis do.