I've been taking to the gamekeeper on my shoot for the last couple of days about a problem we are having with our neighbouring shoot.

Basically we have a large pond about 400m away from the boundary, where our ducks reside. Of an evening they have been getting up and havig a fly around to stretch their wings for a few minutes. The neighbouring shoot has copped onto this and have been down there shooting them a few evenings last week.

This isn't the first time this has happened as a couple of years ago they would line out accross the boundary when we were driving the ducks and shoot them during our drive. I reckon they shoot about 10%-15% of our ducks in this way. And I dread to imagine the pheasants they are shooting!! Last year they lined the entire boundary with feeders to pull our birds over while we don't really feed our boundary for fear of being accused of just that...

I know that as a shoot that puts down 10 times as many birds as they do, we will be a net loser in the boundary games that pheasants & Partridges play, but this is taking it too far. We have not even started shooting yet!!

As you can imagine I'm absolutely furious and any ideas on how to deal with this would be gratefully appreciated.

Rgd,
FB

Kiri,

potentially this is a right can of worms,

have you spoken to the neighbour about this? or are they not that approachable on the matter.

if you stoop to their level it could end up in tit for tat shenanigans that you could spend more time worrying about what they may do rather than enjoying your own sport.

i have heard of feeders being put out on the boundaries to draw birds over, as well as keepers sitting out with the .22 plinking their own birds that wander to the neighbours hoppers,
diesel has been known to be a good deterrent in hoppers to put birds off.

as for the ducks, that's a tricky one, i assume you are feeding the ducks, have you fed the ducks away from the pond and fed more into your own ground and thus further away from your boundary, ducks will inevitably fly around abit before settling on the pond, they havnt been sending a dog in to flush the ducks have they?

would some large raptor decoys work on the boundary to keep the pheasants at bay from straying over?

FB

Tell me the neighbouring landowner is not part of the shoot!

If not, then appraise him as to exactly what his tenants are doing.

He may not be impressed - indeed, he may consider their future..........

Rgds Ian

Ian,

It's the same guys from accross the railway that we had problems with before.

the ducks have been fed up the hill and away but they like to have a fly about of an evening.

I'm really not sure about what to do. I'm planning on going to see the land owner some time soon, and in the mean time the keeper is doing his bit.

It's unbelievable that we get this kind of behaviour really in such a way.

FB

K,

You have pm.

Regards,

Amir

Kiri, it is prefectly believeable. There is something about large numbers of pheasants or duck that brings out an unpleasant greedy streak in some people.

If the landowner is not a member of the shoot, you might get some joy that route. The best result is if you could get these "sportsmen" evicted and take over the tenancy yourselves.

Unfortunately, it is doubtful you have any legal route to prevent this behaviour.

If the UK has the same legal approach to game as exists in France, and if they are wild animals, then they are Res Nullius, ie the game belongs to no one and can be appropriated by anyone following the rules of that appropriation. If they fly over someone else's property and that person has the legal right to shoot winged game, then he can most probably shoot them. You might want to get him on a technicality such as how close he is shooting them to a road, habitation or public access place if there are any limitations on that in the UK.

As previously suggested, placing decoy owls right on the boundary would probably limit the overflights as well and deviate the birds from that route.