people lamping foxes versus people hunting foxes with hounds

ormondprop

Much the same as yourself tackleberry, i do both but only lamp land we don't or can't hunt, that we we're all happy, problem is a load of lads come in to our area lamping on land they don't have permission for and i know they don't have permission because they've hunted our land and the land of other lads that hunt with us,
Although saying that i don't think as many lads are lamping anymore around here and i reckon its because of the recession, a lot of the lads that took up lamping were lads with a lot of money that bought rifles for the craic but have since sold them or gone foreign due to the recession

Paddysniper

Tackleberry. wrote: »

Ive lamped many foxes but dont do as much nowadays as i more enjoy the Sunday hunt a few lads, a pack of barking springers and that it bring on the crack and hope its a good day.
I fully understand the "shooting our foxes" statement from the hunt crowd, packs of dogs hunting a full day and meeting feck all ain't much fun, and we all hunt/shoot for our pasttime (I don't agree with calling it sport).
Lamping foxes is a great way of taking care of problem foxes but its a easy way of wiping out your area of foxes all together and honestly you don't want to do that either, natures balance and all that... Look for the post "shooting the local fox" it was posted some time ago.
"Another mans sport" as I was told many years ago as I started into shooting, I had shot a hare and was told that the coursing lads would not but happy. I haven't shot a hare since..
Nobody owns any fox but It's all a balance that's all ill say, I hope yee see
my point.

Like yourself I enjoy the craic with a few lads hunting with dogs.
The hunt crowd as you put it are less than ten men with dogs hunting 20 plus acres of forestry. And they say that there's no foxes about because lampers have them all shot.
How the hell can anyone expect to get many foxes that way.
I agree with you totally though, everything does have a place but needs to be managed.
It's sport for the lads I'm talking about, to me it's vermin control. Same with all the magpie trapping I do. The more vulnerable wildlife needs a helping hand and if night time is the only way to get results then ill do it.

wirehairmax

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/call-for-hunting-ban-as-dogs-attack-pet-terrier-3368163.html

The lads hunting with dogs not exactly helping themselves with incidents like this. I know there was probably not much to report about but it just feeds the anti's. The owners of the hounds probably should have had more control of the dogs and prevented this or at least got in quicker and sorted it out better.

thelurcher

wirehairmax wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/call-for-hunting-ban-as-dogs-attack-pet-terrier-3368163.html

The lads hunting with dogs not exactly helping themselves with incidents like this. I know there was probably not much to report about but it just feeds the anti's. The owners of the hounds probably should have had more control of the dogs and prevented this or at least got in quicker and sorted it out better.

That's an unfortunate story - it's been doing the rounds of the papers all week. Wonder what really happened?
It's so rare though - I do a lot of hunting with hounds - twice a week minimum for the last 15 years and I've been out with just about every pack in the county - never seen this happen and we'd have come across dozens of pet dogs every day I've been out. I've seen cur dogs swing from foxhounds ears and they just shrug them off.

No one would or could work a terrier around hounds if they were dog aggressive - they know their quarry and that's all they have interest in. That said obviously every few decades accidents are bound to happen.

The Harrier

Spunk84 lad where are you from, if you where from Monaghan you would know that most of the foot packs hunt hare first and foremost. While we will hunt a fox if we come across one they are not the main quarry, so we are not too bothered if they are shot or not or who by. Most packs would have someone from there area who is into digging/shooting that they would ring if they put up a fox. It is probably these lads that gave you grief not the hound men. In my own pack we would ring two brothers of one of our members.

I remember once our pack put a fox to ground and before the two lads got to the hole there was a bunch of fellas from across the border at it, the lads were not best pleased as they saw it as "their" fox in "their" country, so I would say it was this type of a situation you found yourself in. I am not too sure if its the same in shooting but with hound packs( as in registered packs not gun packs), you have your own country and you stick to it, as to go onto another packs country is a massive no no.

As far as I know there is no issue with the driven gun packs up here and the lampers as I would think that it is mostly the same lads at both. The only problem with lamping up here is that it does seem to attract a tiny minority of no-nothings who are only interested in blood, young lads who really should not have a caterpult let alone a gun. They would not go out for a days shooting as it might mean getting wet and dirty where as spinning about in a car is more their idea of sport. One farmer lost a Llama this year to lads lamping, you could not believe anyone could shoot it, it was lying down with its head stretched in front of it when some fool thought it was a fox and shot it right between the eyes. This caused no end of grief to gun men and hound men both as the farmer sees no difference just hunters. That said the majority of lads who are lamping in this area are sound and into all country pastimes.

One thing I notice on this board that it seems to be a split between sports in other parts of the country. I can only speak for the Monaghan/Fermanagh border area but up this way if your into one sport you will generally have a passing interest in others, when I am out hunting and we see pheasants woodcock etc I would always let my neighbours who are into that type of shooting know the location, in the same way the gun lads will let us know if they see hares or foxes in an area. Each to there own and all that but we share enough common ground to be neighbourly to each other.

cavan shooter

Very interesting thread and a bit nippy in parts I would lamp most Fridays However since January I'd be out with hounds and or terriers and to be honest you cant beat the craic hunting cover with well behaved Guns and Well behaved Dogs. I actually believe that your better to switch to hounds around Christmas as the wilier foxes are sitting tight.

Sunday beats are the way to go for me. Some fellas are giving legitimate lampers a very bad name, as we all known lamping from a motorised vehicle is illegal, yet there are times around me that you'd swear that there are mobile lighthouses going about. I dont think that foxes are being shot over by lads into hounds, (it just sounds like too much work,)

I do think that foxes are getting smarter, and a few years ago(2007) a thread was on here regarding car damage on carcases submitted to a PHD student in Galway, was quite interesting, he put out the hypothesis that foxes that are lamp shy maybe running for fear of getting hit by a car, again.