Coming through your letterbox or to a newsagent near you very soon.
There is a striking editorial by Dominic Mitchell and a couple of pages on the subject of Hen Harriers by yours truly.
I just hope that many newsagents put this next to The Shooting Times and The Field on the shelves.
Birdwatch is a big supporter of this e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting in England. Many thanks to them
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I work for a major high street magazine retailer Mark. Unfortunately, I don’t think my line manager would be too happy about this move. You see our 4 copies of ST. and The Field are usually returned unsold!
Birdwatch by comparison sells all but 1 or 2 copies.
Maybe shooters are just not big readers?
BBC SHOOTING POLL – MORE GOOD THAN HARM ?
YES 84% (37876 votes)
NO 15% (6837 votes)
NOT SURE 0% (165 votes)
Total votes: 44878
MARK’S TOTAL 8,500
‘NUF SAID !!
Trimbush – did you enjoy the Game Fair? I thought I saw you going into Churchills at lunch time on Saturday? Might that have been possible, do you think?
Trimbush
And what will be the outcome of the BBC Shooting Poll? My suggestion is in parentheses below
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On the other hand, this petition (http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/65627) which as you have intelligently suggested, is smaller in number; may have a greater impact and more significant effect.
You see (or not), it is not the volume of votes that matter, but how they are used and to what effect. I suspect more public are being made aware of hen harriers via http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/65627 than via an unweighted and shoddy poll. By all means promote the results, in fact I urge you to. It can provide plenty of opportunity to respond with http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/65627 and raise awareness of the real issues.
Richard
Hi Richard
The e-p states – “The time has now come for the public to call ‘Enough!’ and require the next government to ban driven grouse shooting in England”
Govt doesn’t ban something (shooting driven grouse) just because 1,2 3, 4, or 54 instances of hen harrier destruction occurs – it uses the law to detect etc offenders
Now if you suggested pedophiles were strung-up – then the govt would no doubt consider it – but still reject it – chemical castration – no! human rights y’see
Chances of banning grouse shooting? Weighted or otherwise –
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What you say may be true Trimbush but the long term chances of grouse shooting getting out of this unscathed ZERO.
Trimbush,
Your response neatly illustrates the failure to understand one of the purposes of the e-petition. It would be surprising if the e-petition directly led to the banning of driven grouse shooting. However, it may just, just lead to raising awareness of the issue and increasing the public’s disquiet over illegal persecution. This may lead to increased pressure on authorities to ‘do more’ under current legal environments or change the status quo. Whichever takes place, there will be better outcomes for the uplands including hem harrier. I don’t think the status quo will last long. Hence why those who want the status quo to remain are worried…very worried.
I do not believe any of that will occur – people are too busy getting on with their lives to bother with this!
Cheers
ps – a very old falconry book- it states:-
“It is said that the peregrine and the merlin are destructive to game on the grouse moors. With regard to the latter hawk, I pledge my long practical knowledge of its habits, that it is utterly unable to kill an old uninjured grouse ; but the strongest females may occasionally take wounded or diseased birds, and, I fear, possibly a few backward young ones. The peregrine however, is considered the more seriouB culprit of the two, and is persecuted accordlugly. If we are to believe some accounts, he takes a grouse a day : and calculations, remarkable chiefly for their ingenuity^ have been made to prove, on the plan I think how many head one pair would cause to be destroyed in the course of a year- I am not denying that a cast of peregrines on a moor, or moora, of many thousand acres, will kill many grouse I but I object altogether to the doctrine that they will perceptibly lessen the bag of the sportsman”
Life and the sport has moved on – if so-called conservationists adopted a different approach things may be different ………..
I, personally, wouldn’t trust the BBC to tell me the correct time.
Mark, it’s the August edition!
PeterD – you’re right!
Thats what I call getting the message into the public eye. Not just birders but other people will see this in the newsagents, its a stunning picture and a punchy message. Well done Birdwatch.
What’s the Circulation of said magazine then? Preaching to the Converted surely?
Getting a bit desperate relying on advertising via front covers in newsagents!
Still – you’re nearly there – and then you get your letter ……….. then?
And of course, the Shooting Times doesn’t preach to the converted?? Your point is?
You seem to be a very angry individual who offers nothing but vitriol; in this and other posts. You could of course write nothing, but yet you seem to be tempted back to spit out more.
You infer from your comments that there is nothing to worry about from Mark’s e-petition; yet the sentiments conveyed suggest otherwise. Its as if by writing what you do, you think you change the reality. As I have said elsewhere, on this subject, those who wish the status quo to remain need silence, crave silence, require silence…yet it only takes a whisper. Things are changing, you may not like it, you may not wish for it, you may not want it. But they are changing…imperceptibly at first perhaps.
I also find it interesting that you hide behind a pseudonymn…wonder why?
Richard
Hi Richard
My identity has been discussed (and confirmed) on this blog before (at least twice)
You’ll no doubt recall the following:-
Licencing of upland grouse moors and gamekeepers.
Responsible department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Given the continuing levels of illegal persecution of birds of prey the Government is called upon to introduce a system of operating licences for upland grouse shoots.Following any proven offence of persecution on the shoot concerned, i.e. illegal trapping, use of poisons, shooting or the interference with or destruction of nests, the licence would be revoked for a period of not less than two years and commercial shooting activity cease.
Linked to the above the Government is called upon to introduce an accreditation scheme or licencing system for all gamekeepers, be they employed in a full time or part time capacity. If an individual then has any proven involvement with raptor persecution, the licence would be withdrawn for a period of three years along with the right to hold a gun licence. Any repetition of an offence would result in the licences being withdrawn for life.
This e-petition has received the following response:
As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response:
The Government is aware of incidences of illegal killing of birds of prey and Ministers take the issue very seriously. To address this, senior Government and enforcement officers in the UK identified raptor persecution as a national wildlife crime priority. Raptor persecution is subject to a prevention, intelligence, enforcement and reassurance plan led by a senior police officer through the Raptor Persecution Delivery group. The National Wildlife Crime Unit, which is funded by the Government, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities affecting birds of prey and provides assistance to police forces when required.
Shooting makes an important contribution to wildlife control and conservation, biodiversity and to the social, economic and environmental well-being of rural areas, where it can provide a supplement to incomes and jobs. The overall environmental and economic impact of game bird shooting is therefore a positive one and it has been estimated by the industry that £250 million per year is spent on management activities that provide benefits for conservation.
When carried out in accordance with the law, shooting for sport is a legitimate activity and our position is that people should be free to undertake lawful activities. There are no current plans to restrict sport shooting in England. This Government encourages all shoot managers and owners to ensure they and their staff are following recommended guidelines and best practice to reduce the chances of a conflict of interest with birds of prey.
We acknowledge that crimes against birds of prey are abhorrent but it should be noted though that, despite instances of poisoning and killing of birds of prey, populations of many species, such as the peregrine falcon, red kite and buzzard have increased. While a small minority is prepared to kill birds of prey, and where possible these people are brought to justice, this demonstrates that the policies in place to conserve these species are working.
Number of signatures: 10,428
Created by: John Squire Armitage
Closing: 27/02/2014
Cheers
Peter J Brady
Trimbush – (foxhound)
Trimbush – yessss. Were you at the Game Fair on Saturday?
There was a few flaws with the BBC poll.
1)no registration of either a postcode/email unlike the epetitions thus open to fraud
2)by simply voting and then clearing history/cache and cookies I was able to vote for all three options
3)the wording of the BBC poll was a tad dubious and a little unclear
It is amusing to see you Trimbrush promoting the bbc poll as after tracking back on this blog you didn’t seem to like the BBC coverage on other issues the Badger cull and the BBC’s coverage for example you even called them leftist (words to that effect) , is the change of heart because suddenly your opinion chimes with theirs?
Maybe they’ll do one on the bigger threat of climate change rather than publishing a magazine full of adverts encouraging birders to travel all over the globe burning carbon?
No, they won’t.