Vermin control scheme.

Invincible

Hi lad's,
I was just wondering what sort of a vermin scheme is being ran at county level in your area,as we are at present upgrading our's at county level.Have ye actual vermin counts,or do ye take unverified counts from clubs throughout your counties?
What incentives/penelties do ye impose on clubs regarding their vermin returns?

Terrier

Galway (NARGC)

• Clubs split into groups for 5/6 - grouped by location

• 5 Counts last Monday of Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April

• Fox tail - 10pts
• Mink - 20pts
• Grey Crow - 8pts
• Magpie - 8pts
• Crow\Jackdaw - 1pt
• Pigeon - 1pt

• €100 for group winner, €250 for overall winner (i think never won this)
• Every second year the total number of members of the club is takin into account and percentages are given in order for smaller clubs to have a chance.
• No penalties for no returning clubs (quite a lot)
  Major issues at the moment is storage with ESB costs so high. Hanging birds not really an option for us. Trying to get heads only for mags, Greys and pigeons an the moment to save a lot on storage.
• At present also a 50% return on purchased Vermin equipment

whitser

im surprised mink is more points then fox? is that because they are more plentifull in your area then the fox or do they do more harm to rooster stocks?

meathstevie

The points awarded to mink have a lot to do with 2 issues as far as I know :

1. They're extremely destructive.
2. Unlike the fox they're not a native species.

whitser

yeah, the non-native thing would push up the points,rightly so.

KRICO.22

Do you take a score on Grey Squirrels?

pestshooter7

What clubs in galway are in this??

johngalway

Not being in a club anymore, i'm surprised magpies are the same points as greycrows, seeing as greycrows are much easier to get.

meathstevie

I'd go for a verifiable count anyway, no matter what the points. Heads, tails, wings whatever. If you just rely on bag returns most clubs will be quite honest but when there's a few bob involved there'll always be one....

Terrier

pestshooter7 wrote: »

What clubs in galway are in this??

All NARGC clubs under the GGHA (Galway Game Hunting Association)

KRICO.22 wrote:

Do you take a score on Grey Squirrels?

No Grey squirrels in Galway - Yet!

johngalway wrote:

Not being in a club anymore, i'm surprised magpies are the same points as greycrows, seeing as greycrows are much easier to get.

Only along the coast line John - go into the midlands and there is feck all compared to the coast line

whitser wrote:

im surprised mink is more points then fox?

Easy to shoot\lamp foxes .. a lot more time and effort in catching mink!

meathstevie wrote:

I'd go for a verifiable count anyway, no matter what the points. Heads, tails, wings whatever. If you just rely on bag returns most clubs will be quite honest but when there's a few bob involved there'll always be one....

Each group of 5-6 has a counter to which all vermin has to be presented and during that count he will cut\chop all entries so that they can't be used again.

Back to 'Invincible' post does anyone else take part in vermin returns around the country? Or does anyone have access to return numbers? Galway publish theres every year at the AGM.

johngalway

Terrier wrote: »

Only along the coast line John - go into the midlands and there is feck all compared to the coast line

Oh I see, so we're just lucky to have the buggers lol. Hmm, alright then, better make some of them unlucky this weekend

tikkamark

Terrier wrote: »

No Grey squirrels in Galway - Yet!


Back to 'Invincible' post does anyone else take part in vermin returns around the country? Or does anyone have access to return numbers? Galway publish theres every year at the AGM.

I'm in charge of the wings heads and tails in our club in meath as far as i know theres a seperate comp for the grey squirrels here with a nice grant to the winning club.

We take part in a count where everything was counted first hand but the issue with pigeons where you could pick a number out of the sky is just bull:rolleyes:

Is it true they now want grey crow wings instead of heads...there's not much difference between a crow and a grey crows wings.

KRICO.22

tikkamark wrote: »

I'm in charge of the wings heads and tails in our club in meath as far as i know theres a seperate comp for the grey squirrels here with a nice grant to the winning club.

We take part in a count where everything was counted first hand but the issue with pigeons where you could pick a number out of the sky is just bull:rolleyes:

Is it true they now want grey crow wings instead of heads...there's not much difference between a crow and a grey crows wings.

Our club (meath) is currently scoring Grey Squirrels at 1pt for the tale. There is talk of increasing the score. Do you know if there is any truth in this?

Never heard of the seperate comp for the squirrels where can i find out more?

Invincible

Terrier wrote: »

Galway (NARGC)

• Clubs split into groups for 5/6 - grouped by location

• 5 Counts last Monday of Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April

• Fox tail - 10pts
• Mink - 20pts
• Grey Crow - 8pts
• Magpie - 8pts
• Crow\Jackdaw - 1pt
• Pigeon - 1pt

• €100 for group winner, €250 for overall winner (i think never won this)
• Every second year the total number of members of the club is takin into account and percentages are given in order for smaller clubs to have a chance.
• No penalties for no returning clubs (quite a lot)
  Major issues at the moment is storage with ESB costs so high. Hanging birds not really an option for us. Trying to get heads only for mags, Greys and pigeons an the moment to save a lot on storage.
• At present also a 50% return on purchased Vermin equipment

Ther's a seperate prize this year at National level for mink,300 euro for RGC with most culled,200 euro for second prize,counted at 1 point per mink to simplify numbers.
Why not collect both wings of mags,greys and pidgeons,eliminating need for freezing,this exists with us at the moment.

Invincible

tikkamark wrote: »

I'm in charge of the wings heads and tails in our club in meath as far as i know theres a seperate comp for the grey squirrels here with a nice grant to the winning club.

We take part in a count where everything was counted first hand but the issue with pigeons where you could pick a number out of the sky is just bull:rolleyes:

Is it true they now want grey crow wings instead of heads...there's not much difference between a crow and a grey crows wings.

The Grey squirrell scheme runs from 1-9-2007 to 31-8-2008,nationally,1 point per squirrell,5000 euro in prize money,prize layout to be announced later.
Best gun club for vermin control,nationally will get 300 euro and trophy.

The reason of collecting both wings,might be to eliminate cold storage of complete carcass.

Invincible

KRICO.22 wrote: »

Our club (meath) is currently scoring Grey Squirrels at 1pt for the tale. There is talk of increasing the score. Do you know if there is any truth in this?

Never heard of the seperate comp for the squirrels where can i find out more?

This is the first year of the squirrel competition,the forestery service have provided a grant of 5000 euro in conjunction with the N.A.R.G.C for the scheme,they're concerned with the damage the squirrels are doing to their forests.If there's a good response and many greys accounted for this year,a higher level of funding may be available next season.

tikkamark

Invincible wrote: »

The reason of collecting both wings,might be to eliminate cold storage of complete carcass.

It makes sense in that respect but the fox tails still need to be kept frozen or they go off fairly quickly even when there taken off the bone.It would be handy to shoot 100+ crows over a field of silage cut the wings about 1" from the body then call them grey crows!Its ridiculious:rolleyes:

Kareir

This might be cynical, but has no-one just bred a ton of whatever animal, killed 'em, then turned up at their local club?

_Kar.