My shoot is in an area that is regularly poached by "lurcher boys" riding over the crops at night in a convoy of 4x4's, lamping with dogs for whatever moves. Although our boundaries are pretty solid, we back onto another shoot with a history of aggravation by a certain section of society. Their boundaries with us are pretty week, so they get in by the back door, hence our problem. I like to think I take care of the foxes on the shoot, and we have very few rabbits because of our stony clay soil. We have given up with releasing partridge onto the shoot, as the constant disturbance by the 4x4's at night drives them away. The fallow deer stay in the woods. We do have a lot of badgers though, which is what they chase. We have had little or no hares on our land for over 30 years, until this year. My theory is that they are now thriving in the farm subsidy wild bird seed areas.
I counted six the other night when out foxing. I do not want to shoot them just because I can, especially if they are re-establishing themselves in the area. However, if the "lurcher boys" find hares on the land they will double their efforts and we will be plagued by them until the hares are wiped out. Should I leave them to breed ? Should I shoot them to deter the "lurcher boys" ? What to do ?
I counted six the other night when out foxing. I do not want to shoot them just because I can, especially if they are re-establishing themselves in the area. However, if the "lurcher boys" find hares on the land they will double their efforts and we will be plagued by them until the hares are wiped out. Should I leave them to breed ? Should I shoot them to deter the "lurcher boys" ? What to do ?
