Seeing as we all like to complain so much.....

How’do!

Theres half a chance this will be a slightly shorter post than normal but I’ll try :old: :rofl:

I often read tales on here of nightmare with the various organisations with which we are forced to interact, the trials and tribulations of the almost postcode lottery nature of dealing with the police and the apparent lack of anyone realistically seeming to be on “our” side.

As such, I thought it might be a slight change to report a few alternate scenarios by way of encouragement that maybe all hope isn’t lost and there’s still some good folks out there!

The first is a brief interaction with SACS. I became a member after asking a few questions on here in one of my very early posts and taking on board some advice from a few of the old(er) hands. Since joining as a member of SACS I’ve sought their advice a few times and found them swift at replying and very helpful. This occasion was no different - I sent an email full of questions including a lengthy question regarding using a clay trap on our Croft land at home. For the avoidance of doubt - if you think my posts can trundle on a little - you should see my emails!! Ha! I received a reply almost instantly from a helpful lady in their office answering one of my questions straight away and explaining that she’d forwarded the rest of my questions onto one of the Directors who’d be in touch in due course as they were very busy. However, that transpired to be slightly inaccurate as a full and informative reply was received within 24 hours! All questions meticulously answered - the offer to drop his name in relation to one thing I’d queried and the continued promise to get in touch if there was anything else. I know many feel let down and often rightly so by our Representative Organisations but I can honestly say that, for not the first time, I’ve had more than my monies worth of membership fee from SACS.

My second tale is, you’ll be pleased to hear, much shorter! I’ve recently applied and acquired a variation. Despite years of military experience I’m really very new to the sport/hunting scene and equally to the private ownership of firearms. I can honestly say though that I’ve found my local FLO at Glasgow helpful, quick to respond and always prepared to answer queries and questions both via email and over the phone. Equally I feel blessed with a very proactive and approachable local FEO. The case of my variation is no different - money and paperwork sent in - requesting the addition of a .223 and an increase to the level of ammunition to be held for my .308. Both approved and my license returned within a week and, without adding insult to injury to those of you with very different experiences of the police, they actually approved my ammunition increase by slightly more than I’d asked for! So, once again, also a thank you to Police Scotland.

Finally, a tip of the hat to Scottish Natural Heritage. We constantly read issues and confusion about General Licenses and Licenses in General...... see what I did there? Oh, never mind!!:rofl: For some time now I’ve been promising to pop and see a neighbour to have a look at his Canada Goose collection and to finally follow through on my offer of helping him “look after” them - or maybe that should read “take care of”..... Popped up last week - had a look - formulated a plan and set off to try and borrow a hide/blind/nets etc to get myself setup. My neighbour, who’s been a farmer in this shire for many years was merrily convinced that the geese could be taken under license as a pest. However, there appears to be an awful lot of conflicting information online and when I thought of asking a Head Stalker friend on a local estate for the lend of some nets it was he that put some doubt into my mind. From a purely supportive position he simply reminded me to be careful pointing out that geese are just out of season and to be very sure what I was doing. Sensible advice I think. Being a believer in having ones ducks all in a row (pun intended!) I decided to shot a quick email to the licensing department at SNH. To be fair I wasn’t overly hopeful - I assumed they’d take forever to reply and that they probably wouldn’t offer advice but simply point me to a website etc. How wrong was I! A clear and concise reply within 12 hours of sending my email and confirmation that I’m happy to proceed as queried in my email and that GL02/2020 indeed covers what we have planned.

In conclusion and, assuming you’ve kept up, you may well think “aye pal - *********** lucky for you” and you’d probably be right! I just thought that it occasionally is worth saying thank you and offering praise where it is due!

Finally, whilst typing, I’ve just had a knock at the door from our awesome local postman who delivered my second, hand made leather ammo wallet from SD’s very own Cottis and I can happily say I’m as equally pleased with this one as I was the first!

Happy Days!!
 
How’do!

Theres half a chance this will be a slightly shorter post than normal but I’ll try :old: :rofl:

I often read tales on here of nightmare with the various organisations with which we are forced to interact, the trials and tribulations of the almost postcode lottery nature of dealing with the police and the apparent lack of anyone realistically seeming to be on “our” side.

As such, I thought it might be a slight change to report a few alternate scenarios by way of encouragement that maybe all hope isn’t lost and there’s still some good folks out there!

The first is a brief interaction with SACS. I became a member after asking a few questions on here in one of my very early posts and taking on board some advice from a few of the old(er) hands. Since joining as a member of SACS I’ve sought their advice a few times and found them swift at replying and very helpful. This occasion was no different - I sent an email full of questions including a lengthy question regarding using a clay trap on our Croft land at home. For the avoidance of doubt - if you think my posts can trundle on a little - you should see my emails!! Ha! I received a reply almost instantly from a helpful lady in their office answering one of my questions straight away and explaining that she’d forwarded the rest of my questions onto one of the Directors who’d be in touch in due course as they were very busy. However, that transpired to be slightly inaccurate as a full and informative reply was received within 24 hours! All questions meticulously answered - the offer to drop his name in relation to one thing I’d queried and the continued promise to get in touch if there was anything else. I know many feel let down and often rightly so by our Representative Organisations but I can honestly say that, for not the first time, I’ve had more than my monies worth of membership fee from SACS.

My second tale is, you’ll be pleased to hear, much shorter! I’ve recently applied and acquired a variation. Despite years of military experience I’m really very new to the sport/hunting scene and equally to the private ownership of firearms. I can honestly say though that I’ve found my local FLO at Glasgow helpful, quick to respond and always prepared to answer queries and questions both via email and over the phone. Equally I feel blessed with a very proactive and approachable local FEO. The case of my variation is no different - money and paperwork sent in - requesting the addition of a .223 and an increase to the level of ammunition to be held for my .308. Both approved and my license returned within a week and, without adding insult to injury to those of you with very different experiences of the police, they actually approved my ammunition increase by slightly more than I’d asked for! So, once again, also a thank you to Police Scotland.

Finally, a tip of the hat to Scottish Natural Heritage. We constantly read issues and confusion about General Licenses and Licenses in General...... see what I did there? Oh, never mind!!:rofl: For some time now I’ve been promising to pop and see a neighbour to have a look at his Canada Goose collection and to finally follow through on my offer of helping him “look after” them - or maybe that should read “take care of”..... Popped up last week - had a look - formulated a plan and set off to try and borrow a hide/blind/nets etc to get myself setup. My neighbour, who’s been a farmer in this shire for many years was merrily convinced that the geese could be taken under license as a pest. However, there appears to be an awful lot of conflicting information online and when I thought of asking a Head Stalker friend on a local estate for the lend of some nets it was he that put some doubt into my mind. From a purely supportive position he simply reminded me to be careful pointing out that geese are just out of season and to be very sure what I was doing. Sensible advice I think. Being a believer in having ones ducks all in a row (pun intended!) I decided to shot a quick email to the licensing department at SNH. To be fair I wasn’t overly hopeful - I assumed they’d take forever to reply and that they probably wouldn’t offer advice but simply point me to a website etc. How wrong was I! A clear and concise reply within 12 hours of sending my email and confirmation that I’m happy to proceed as queried in my email and that GL02/2020 indeed covers what we have planned.

In conclusion and, assuming you’ve kept up, you may well think “aye pal - *********** lucky for you” and you’d probably be right! I just thought that it occasionally is worth saying thank you and offering praise where it is due!

Finally, whilst typing, I’ve just had a knock at the door from our awesome local postman who delivered my second, hand made leather ammo wallet from SD’s very own Cottis and I can happily say I’m as equally pleased with this one as I was the first!

Happy Days!!

Do you happen to have Saturdays winning lottery numbers by any chance?
 
How’do!

Theres half a chance this will be a slightly shorter post than normal but I’ll try :old: :rofl:

I often read tales on here of nightmare with the various organisations with which we are forced to interact, the trials and tribulations of the almost postcode lottery nature of dealing with the police and the apparent lack of anyone realistically seeming to be on “our” side.

As such, I thought it might be a slight change to report a few alternate scenarios by way of encouragement that maybe all hope isn’t lost and there’s still some good folks out there!

The first is a brief interaction with SACS. I became a member after asking a few questions on here in one of my very early posts and taking on board some advice from a few of the old(er) hands. Since joining as a member of SACS I’ve sought their advice a few times and found them swift at replying and very helpful. This occasion was no different - I sent an email full of questions including a lengthy question regarding using a clay trap on our Croft land at home. For the avoidance of doubt - if you think my posts can trundle on a little - you should see my emails!! Ha! I received a reply almost instantly from a helpful lady in their office answering one of my questions straight away and explaining that she’d forwarded the rest of my questions onto one of the Directors who’d be in touch in due course as they were very busy. However, that transpired to be slightly inaccurate as a full and informative reply was received within 24 hours! All questions meticulously answered - the offer to drop his name in relation to one thing I’d queried and the continued promise to get in touch if there was anything else. I know many feel let down and often rightly so by our Representative Organisations but I can honestly say that, for not the first time, I’ve had more than my monies worth of membership fee from SACS.

My second tale is, you’ll be pleased to hear, much shorter! I’ve recently applied and acquired a variation. Despite years of military experience I’m really very new to the sport/hunting scene and equally to the private ownership of firearms. I can honestly say though that I’ve found my local FLO at Glasgow helpful, quick to respond and always prepared to answer queries and questions both via email and over the phone. Equally I feel blessed with a very proactive and approachable local FEO. The case of my variation is no different - money and paperwork sent in - requesting the addition of a .223 and an increase to the level of ammunition to be held for my .308. Both approved and my license returned within a week and, without adding insult to injury to those of you with very different experiences of the police, they actually approved my ammunition increase by slightly more than I’d asked for! So, once again, also a thank you to Police Scotland.

Finally, a tip of the hat to Scottish Natural Heritage. We constantly read issues and confusion about General Licenses and Licenses in General...... see what I did there? Oh, never mind!!:rofl: For some time now I’ve been promising to pop and see a neighbour to have a look at his Canada Goose collection and to finally follow through on my offer of helping him “look after” them - or maybe that should read “take care of”..... Popped up last week - had a look - formulated a plan and set off to try and borrow a hide/blind/nets etc to get myself setup. My neighbour, who’s been a farmer in this shire for many years was merrily convinced that the geese could be taken under license as a pest. However, there appears to be an awful lot of conflicting information online and when I thought of asking a Head Stalker friend on a local estate for the lend of some nets it was he that put some doubt into my mind. From a purely supportive position he simply reminded me to be careful pointing out that geese are just out of season and to be very sure what I was doing. Sensible advice I think. Being a believer in having ones ducks all in a row (pun intended!) I decided to shot a quick email to the licensing department at SNH. To be fair I wasn’t overly hopeful - I assumed they’d take forever to reply and that they probably wouldn’t offer advice but simply point me to a website etc. How wrong was I! A clear and concise reply within 12 hours of sending my email and confirmation that I’m happy to proceed as queried in my email and that GL02/2020 indeed covers what we have planned.

In conclusion and, assuming you’ve kept up, you may well think “aye pal - *********** lucky for you” and you’d probably be right! I just thought that it occasionally is worth saying thank you and offering praise where it is due!

Finally, whilst typing, I’ve just had a knock at the door from our awesome local postman who delivered my second, hand made leather ammo wallet from SD’s very own Cottis and I can happily say I’m as equally pleased with this one as I was the first!

Happy Days!!

So,,, you got laid,eh,, been a while has it.? :thumb: :rofl: :rofl:
 
The positive stuff is always good to hear and always seems to be outnumbered by the tales of doom and gloom. Glad you are finding lots of good stuff going on.

And those wallets are all blessed by the hunting spirits. You are guaranteed to have many successful days with them in your pocket. If you run in to any problems, catching some thread on a bramble or lose a popper or anything like that, give me a shout so I can sort it out for you.
 
All joking aside - the real issue is that my experiences shouldn’t actually be in anyway outstanding or unusual, they should be the basic norm for everyone. It should be a minimum expectation that the various professional organisations we interact with should be fair, helpful, polite and, well, professional!!
 
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