THis might be a stupid question....

Arcto

So I recently was granted a firearms license for a shotgun. I go out around 3 times a week, as I have the spare time(good old recession!).

I was wondering do farmers ever pay people at certain crop planting times to go shooting birds that are eating crops or do they just use the noise makers and scare crows to scare them off?

....so yeah probably a dumb question but....yeah

bunny shooter

No such thing as a silly question, just silly answers, and you'll get lots of them here

I have seen farmers supply shells but never heard of anyone getting paid.

I do it as a favour for the farmers as I get to do a bit of shooting and it's also a kind of a thank you for allowing me access to shoot game once the game season comes around and of course bunnies .

Another consoderation is if you are getting paid I think your shooting insurance eg NARGC becomes invalid.

I know lads are out of work and money is tight but it's tight for everyone, farmers included. The chance to shoot game & bunnies for the pot has always been reward enough for me, even in the previous poor times.

Arcto

That answers that then!
Id be happy enough with a few hundred shells and told to go clear a field but ive been googleing it and looking in advert areas and havnt even seen this mentioned. I suppose its just if you know someone I guess.

Ah well, back to the drawing board!

cavan shooter

A cup of tea and at certain times, bags of spudz, cabbages.
But normally its the reciprocation of letting you shoot the pheasant.

Cass

Arcto wrote: »

..............I was wondering do farmers ever pay people .................

Never heard of it myself. As the lads mentioned above its a "give and take" agreement between yourself and the farmer/landowner. You get permission during Duck/Pheasant season ,etc to shoot them on his land FREE of charge and in return you maintain vermin control during the off season also FREE of charge to the farmer.

Personally i wouldn't even mention the subject to any landowners/farmers you have permission with. Some may laugh at the idea, but others could get "the hump" and tell you to find your shooting elsewhere.

kieran1141

Arcto wrote: »

So I recently was granted a firearms license for a shotgun. I go out around 3 times a week, as I have the spare time(good old recession!).

I was wondering do farmers ever pay people at certain crop planting times to go shooting birds that are eating crops or do they just use the noise makers and scare crows to scare them off?

....so yeah probably a dumb question but....yeah

i shoot standing corn for years for the same farmers onely in the last few years would be getting shells, 1 farmer got me 2 1/2 thousand shells and another 1000 but having said that we fired a total of about 7000 cartridges in 6 week and a lot of driving 130 euro diesel in 1 week alone, but give me a lot of land to shoot would be a few thousand acres, and have become good friends with 8 or 10 farmers, and make sure you have insurance. having said that if i never go cartridges i would still shoot pigeons i love the pigeon shooting above all else.

johnner1

[QUOTE=kieran1141;68502721 1 farmer got me 2 1/2 thousand shells and another 1000 but having said that we fired a total of about 7000 cartridges in 6 week .[/QUOTE]

how many birds did you shoot out of 7000 rounds, and how much did you make on them?
.im jumping the gun and presuming you have not got around 5000 pigeon's in your own freezer;)

kieran1141

johnner1 wrote: »

how many birds did you shoot out of 7000 rounds, and how much did you make on them?
.im jumping the gun and presuming you have not got around 5000 pigeon's in your own freezer;)

we dont pick up the pigeons in standing corn on any of the land we shoot, would'nt have an exact figure but have shot over 1300 i think in 2 days at 1 stage thats 2 of us, my partner writes it down, iam doing this 30 year so gave up on that, he says i shot 211 out of 237 one evening.

johngalway

If you're getting T and a sarnie as well as shells I'd say you're doing very well

Myself and a mate got a few € for shooting foxes, took the sting out of ammo, petrol and time. But those were "had to be done" jobs.

If you mention money, you will get many, many, many promises, that much I can guarantee you Those people may then develop amnesia if they meet you elsewhere :rolleyes:

kieran1141

johngalway wrote: »

If you're getting T and a sarnie as well as shells I'd say you're doing very well

Myself and a mate got a few € for shooting foxes, took the sting out of ammo, petrol and time. But those were "had to be done" jobs.

If you mention money, you will get many, many, many promises, that much I can guarantee you Those people may then develop amnesia if they meet you elsewhere :rolleyes:

you will be promised a lot of things in this life but if i never got shells i would still do it as it give me a lot of land for ducks, pheasants and even deer in 2 places, i wont be buying 4 or 5 thousand shells next year are hard time are here but hopefully i will do a good bit of it.and to answer another question by a member any pigeons that are around bouncers, spinners or decoys we pick up and give to friends who realy love them but wont walk or drive through corn, and use the same path in and out while setting up decoys and other stuff. this usually keeps everybody happy.

johnner1

kieran1141 wrote: »

we dont pick up the pigeons in standing corn on any of the land we shoot, would'nt have an exact figure but have shot over 1300 i think in 2 days at 1 stage thats 2 of us, my partner writes it down, iam doing this 30 year so gave up on that, he says i shot 211 out of 237 one evening.

thats great pigeon to round ratios great stuff.

i can understand you not wanting to trapes all over the crop but leaving pigeons to rot into the ground is not a great practice either.

i have be known to beat my way into brambles to retreive a shot bird not because i need the meat,it's because i have respect for my quarry.

did you ever think of getting a good retreiving dog to do the work for you and in using a dog it would keep crop damage minimal.

kieran1141

johnner1 wrote: »

thats great pigeon to round ratios great stuff.

i can understand you not wanting to trapes all over the crop but leaving pigeons to rot into the ground is not a great practice either.

i have be known to beat my way into brambles to retreive a shot bird not because i need the meat,it's because i have respect for my quarry.

did you ever think of getting a good retreiving dog to do the work for you and in using a dog it would keep crop damage minimal.

we had this descussion before before and as a lot of members said some farmers dont want you running around after pigeons and our lads dont and thats fine with me, have 3 great springers and a lab but they dont want dogs going in and out trying to pickup mabey 4 or 5 hundred pigeons, if we can shoot pigeons over stubble trying to go into standing corn then we bring dogs and pick up, but if were caught running dogs all day in and out its out the gap for us, you have to do what the farmer wants if you want to stay hunting on there lands, this has worked for me for 30 years, and i do respect the quarry and the farmers wishes.