how far?

whitser

just wondering how far lads on here travel for their hunting. i have land in wicklow,meath-louth border and kilkenny and around north county dublin.
sometimes i have 15 mins drive sometimes its 2 hours. do most lads on here have hunting on their door-step or do they travel?
i dont mind the long drive that morning but after a day on the hills following after hounds or digging an 8 foot hole the drive home can be killer,especially trying to stay awake. and especially when the fcuker beside you is snorring.

stevoman

whitser wrote: »

just wondering how far lads on here travel for their hunting. i have land in wicklow,meath-louth border and kilkenny and around north county dublin.
sometimes i have 15 mins drive sometimes its 2 hours. do most lads on here have hunting on their door-step or do they travel?
i dont mind the long drive that morning but after a day on the hills following after hounds or digging an 8 foot hole the drive home can be killer,especially trying to stay awake. and especially when the fcuker beside you is snorring.

i usually hunt within a 10 mile radius of my town although i do hunt with lads who go from longford to wexford to hunt. its funny you should ask this questions as from reading magazines etc from england its not uncommon for men across the water to travel up to three hours to hunt.

Mac Tire

Well i live in the eastern part of Donegal and i have stalking leases all over the county bar a wee bit here and there...so i could will do a few hours driving to get to a particular area...But for anythingelse i stay around my own area and then just what the local club have...

bitemybanger

Somtimes i drive about a mile from the house, most of my hunting is dont within a 20 mile radius but i have permission on 1000+ acres in westmeath, have permission in north county Dublin, Wicklow, Louth, Cavan and Monaghan.

My shooting buddy has family in and around Athlone and they have a good bit of land but havnt been there.....yet:)
So all in all, im fairly lucky as i have a good choice of land and terrain

whitser

yeah noticed that my self in the mags. i think 2.5 hrs to 3 is the max i'd do. having said that if i knew i'd be in for a hetic days hunting in lovely ground i'd probably go futher occasionly.
one reason i ask is the price of petrol going up and up i'll feel the hit on the days i go futher afield. and was just wondering how far other lads travel? is a coulple of hours common or do mst walk out their door and into the fields?
one lad i know lets his hounds out the back gate and off he goes,lucky bsatard.

kowloon

My nearest permission, about 150 acres starts about 20m from the living room .

whitser

bitemybanger wrote: »

Somtimes i drive about a mile from the house, most of my hunting is dont within a 20 mile radius but i have permission on 1000+ acres in westmeath, have permission in north county Dublin, Wicklow, Louth, Cavan and Monaghan.

My shooting buddy has family in and around Athlone and they have a good bit of land but havnt been there.....yet:)
So all in all, im fairly lucky as i have a good choice of land and terrain

my mate has land in monaghan, wild place to hunt. kavanagh wasnt lying when he talked about the stony grey soil,its un-diggable, blisters comes to mind. but lovely to hunt across.

bitemybanger

whitser wrote: »

my mate has land in monaghan, wild place to hunt. kavanagh wasnt lying when he talked about the stony grey soil,its un-diggable, blisters comes to mind. but lovely to hunt across.

One of the best all round rough shooting spots i know of, havnt gone up for fox yet but it looks like it will be crawling with them, im off out for the night later out to the far side of Mullingar so will be out till dawn or there abouts.

stevoman

whitser wrote: »

my mate has land in monaghan, wild place to hunt. kavanagh wasnt lying when he talked about the stony grey soil,its un-diggable, blisters comes to mind. but lovely to hunt across.

we are lucky in, laois offally that we are built on rabbit sand and digging is usually not to hard a graft!

It wasn't me!

My current permissions are only about fifteen minutes' easy drive away from my place, and I suppose I wouldn't be bothered travelling huge hours anyway. North west wicklow has all the hunting I need to be honest. (And found myself a barley farmer with a crow and pigeon problem today, so looks like I might get in some pigeon bashing at the end of the summer. )

john mcvey

im the lucky one,
i walk out of my fromnt door down the lane, i live on a dead end lane with no neihbours for half a mile, and im in the middle of the clubs land, good woodcock and snipe in the winter and ducks on the lake,
i set up my clay trap in the field next to the house,
north cavan
heaven

J.R.

live in Dublin city - nearest shooting ground is one & a half hours.

bitemybanger

Change of plan, not headin to Mullingar so if you see a couple of lads around oldcastle dressed like the 56th infantry batallion, warpaint an all, dont worry:pac:

mallards

All my hunting is exactly 100 miles away in Tyrone. Great place for rough shooting though!


Mallards.

patbundy

bitemybanger wrote: »

Change of plan, not headin to Mullingar so if you see a couple of lads around oldcastle dressed like the 56th infantry batallion, warpaint an all, dont worry:pac:

:eek:

Hezz700

Once i step outside my back door i have a little under 4000 acres i have permission to shoot on. My family has farmed this area for a generations and there is a lot of them so its has always been easy for me. somtimes i don't apreciate that fact enough until i hear the lenghts others have to go to in order to get some ground.

whitser

you really are lucky. thats a good size plot to hunt,and on your door step, appreciate it.

ivanthehunter

*

ivanthehunter

I'd drive any where with in one hour and thats no bother but any more is a killer.

Sparks

Interesting to see how local most people stay.

stevoman

Sparks wrote: »

Interesting to see how local most people stay.

i take it then you'v never expereinced that wrath of being caught hunting across another man "hunting land", even if he isnt the landowner.

some men can be very protective of where they hunt and the worst thing is 9/10 it isnt even thier land to run you off and they will try every trick in the book. permisssion is so important as well as the legal factors.

Sparks

Not what I meant stevo. I meant that it's interesting in that I've met target shooters who drove for five hours to get to their club; but most hunting seems to be done by people far more local (ie. you don't tend to drive two hours before getting to the land you hunt on)

stevoman

Sparks wrote: »

Not what I meant stevo. I meant that it's interesting in that I've met target shooters who drove for five hours to get to their club; but most hunting seems to be done by people far more local (ie. you don't tend to drive two hours before getting to the land you hunt on)

my point exactly sparks. when hunting you usually stick locally as trying to hunt in places generally more then a 10 mile radius from where you live is very tricky because of the whole politics so to speak of being an outsider getting some good shooting, as locals from that area usually are not too pleased too see you coming.

Sparks

Ah, I see.

It wasn't me!

That and it's easier to find a field than an accommodating range. I've currently a 65 mile round trip for training.

whitser

Sparks wrote: »

Not what I meant stevo. I meant that it's interesting in that I've met target shooters who drove for five hours to get to their club; but most hunting seems to be done by people far more local (ie. you don't tend to drive two hours before getting to the land you hunt on)

some lads seem very local and some like myself have land all over. i like the fact that i hunt in different spot every sunday during the season. i only hunt land every 5 or so weeks so this way things have a chance to settle and foxes have a chance to move in. also driving up and down to different spots you get to hunt different landscapes which is great for me and the hounds. one week your up to your knees in a bog the next your up getting blown off hills of gorse,great.

Hezz700

stevoman wrote: »

i take it then you'v never expereinced that wrath of being caught hunting across another man "hunting land", even if he isnt the landowner.

some men can be very protective of where they hunt and the worst thing is 9/10 it isnt even thier land to run you off and they will try every trick in the book. permisssion is so important as well as the legal factors.

I recently was approach by a guy while i was scouting about on some newly aqquired land to see want hunting was on offer, he told me in no uncertain trems that he was the only person allowed to shoot this ground and that i would have to move along while i had the chance. I politely offered to accompany him to the landowners house so we could straighten out the issue. He then tried to give me a lecture in safe shooting while making a hasty retreat.

Only an hour or so before i had arrived at the landowners house on request, had a cuppa and discussed his rabbit problem, so i was happily within my rights. but thats the kinda thing that goes on so its important to have your house in order.

whitser

this sort of thing is not un-common. landowners are nearly always sound its the lad who thinks he owns the place thats the worst. generally when i meet lads out im hunting fox they are shooting roosters or whatever so theres no clash of interests. i know gun clubs get wound up over non-members shooting on their land but at the end of the day if the farmer says its ok then its tough sh1t.
if i have permission in an area and happen to hunt across a patch that i dont know if i meet the farmer i tell him what im at and the farmers i know in the area and never once have i had a problem,in fact i end up getting the ok to hunt his land as well.

stevoman

whitser wrote: »

some lads seem very local and some like myself have land all over. i like the fact that i hunt in different spot every sunday during the season. i only hunt land every 5 or so weeks so this way things have a chance to settle and foxes have a chance to move in. also driving up and down to different spots you get to hunt different landscapes which is great for me and the hounds. one week your up to your knees in a bog the next your up getting blown off hills of gorse,great.

on that note whitser, i find it easier to get permission on lands once you dont have a gun on the land and just a few ferrets. have you noticed this in respect of just using hounds?

whitser

yeah, sometimes. one thing i have found is that if you keep lurchers farmers can be put off sometimes because they usually associate lurchers with travellers. but once they see your sound and your dogs a stock proof then they usually mellow. as for guns most farmers are hesitent i think from a safety and insurance point of view,especially rifles. generally i find farmers open to most hunting,sometimes they'll even come on a dig to have a look. some think we're mad to be out in the weather when they have the sense to get in doors.
but ferretting is a good way to get permission for other hunting. im sure you've asked could you ferrett then in time you got permission to shoot or hunt etc...

stevoman

whitser wrote: »

yeah, sometimes. one thing i have found is that if you keep lurchers farmers can be put off sometimes because they usually associate lurchers with travellers. but once they see your sound and your dogs a stock proof then they usually mellow. as for guns most farmers are hesitent i think from a safety and insurance point of view,especially rifles. generally i find farmers open to most hunting,sometimes they'll even come on a dig to have a look. some think we're mad to be out in the weather when they have the sense to get in doors.
but ferretting is a good way to get permission for other hunting. im sure you've asked could you ferrett then in time you got permission to shoot or hunt etc...

yeah generally if i get permission hunt a few times with fetters first before i ask abot bringing my shotgun. a lot of landowners enjoy seeing the ferrets and if they have kids they also enjoy letting the kids pick them up and handle them. i think a lot of them always think of ferrets as the countymans and poachers pet and have a good repuattion with older rural folk.

whitser

thats it,most farmers i know dont hunt but they appreciate a good dog and have an interest in how i get on when im on the land. when you tell a sheep farmer you've taken a big dog fox out of circulation then he's happy. i'll always drop in a bit of rabbit or game ready for the oven as well,its always appreciated. wasnt for farmers i'd be stuck at home on a sunday.

Kareir

About.... 5 minutes walk for deer?
Foxes vary, never shot rabbits, though i've been meaning to try, and magpies are either 5 minutes walk or land right outside the house with a convienient backstop

_Kar.