not happy with local gun club

stevoman

i was talking to the chairman of my local gun club today after the annual call for money. i was asking about birds and they said they released 150 and that i should go hunt near the other gun clubs ground because they took our land and that they have loads of pheasents released and i am to shhot anywhere and pay no attention to signs as anyone at all shoots our land and they dont bother joining the club.

what a load of gokky! three clubs have sprung up around us and no objections our club has made or meeting about it. i put meself forward last year to help out with the club but i was met with the attitude that i wasnt needed. we have no meetings and no input from any members.

dont get me wrong, im glad to see surrounding clubs springing up because its great to see lads with an interest in the area etc, what bugs the hell out of me though is that i cant seem to get into these clubs because "membership is closed". :mad:

bunny shooter

Are any of these clubs NARGC clubs?

Some NARGC clubs are "closed shops" and lads are setting up "clubs" to get/secure licences. Hasn't happend in my area, yet, as the local clubs are all glad of new members unless they are "undesirable

Terrier

In order to set-up a NARGC affiliated gun club an application must be made to the county board. This application must include

• Maps of the proposed club boundaries
• Letters from neighbouring gun clubs showing no issue
• Club Constitution
• 5 or more paid members

Then it must be voted on at a county meeting to get approval.

A club without an open committee will always have issues. Clubs have to proactively talks to landowners, always respect there wishes and tell them how to deal with shooters on there land, explain insurance covers etc.
We raffle off bottles of Whiskey at christmas to any landowner nominated by a members, this allows for a chat and lets them know we value access to there lands. Vermin control is a big way to keep landowners happy, removing grey crows, magpies and problem foxes will nearly always be greeted with a welcome.

Dusty87

This sort of sh!te goes on in my area and is why i dont want to join one. I would only love to be a member of a club, but the only one that wasnt 'full' wanted me to write a big letter 'to whom it may concern' asking to be let in, that i promise to shoot bolting foxes EVERY sunday, and a load of other stuff. Then im not really a member until i prove myself. Iv no problem helping out at all, but the way they put it to me was if they didn want me. Wasnt arsed in the end. All the rest around are closely knit family members etc.

stevoman

well to be honest its a bit of a pian in the ass. yeah they are all nargc clubs so all above board, but if you are a genuine shooter who is willing to put work into a club and is not looking for a few easy pheasents then i think you should be given some consideration.

thats one thing that annoys me about pheasent shooting and gun clubs etc. it always seems to be a closed shop. in some cases it would be easier to gain access to a freemasons meeting.

Dusty87

Thing is stevo, a lot of the boys in the local clubs are for the easy pheasants, but because there brothers, friends, uncle etc are high up in the club its no problem. But people like me who generally want to work and enjoy it and are willing to put in the work dont get a look in.

stevoman

same everywhere you go. ah well, what can you do. i still can hunt my own gun club land so its not too bad. the chairman is right though, i'l be bumping into non members everywhere 9but they are usually the lads who make a burst at it for the first 2 weekends)

Tackleberry.

Our club is still open till fifthy members after then you have to be invited by a member to get in, as a club we don't do much, as our lands ain't huge but let off pheasent's in March for breading and again in August for shooting in November, we have a clay shoot between ourselves for a bit of crack once a year this year its at xmas with a prize or two to win. One meeting a year to sort out insurance and commitee meeting is rare but the odd phone call will sort the clay shoot ......all is well to be honest. You realy only need 3 or 4 good lads to have a club ..... let the rest pay there money and thats what we do and thats the same money that puts the pheasents on the ground for shooting season...The Ducks mind themselves