an ancient pursuit.

fish · an ancient pursuit.

in todays society some find it hard to imagine folk still practice the old country ways of getting a free meal over the years of strugling to feed myself and my family i have learned from the old poachers and from books,well if your interested read on here a few tips,well where to start!

hares, hares like to sit in a clump of grass some call it a 'form',approach from down wind on a windy and wet day,creep up,he will be crouched down ears back feeling sorry for himself! then dispatch with one stout wack on the head,do it right or itll scream like a child and the keeper will be upon e before yer knowit! when using a long net for the beast,set yer net at gate ways,theyre lazy sods and prefer to run under a five bar than through the hedge! when using a long net be sure to let a foot or so lay on the ground and bow away from the drive,that way the hare will get caught propper and not run along the net.

conie,staple diet of the poacher for a thousand years! so many ways to get a meal there! snares are handy,but old conie are wary,theyll smell yer hands easy enough! i keep mine in a rabit hutch,theyll take on the smell of the rabbit,when i go to set some snares ille put then in a bagwith some of the bedding ,just to rub me hands with before i setum.theyll ned seting 3 fingers high find a used run,how do you know if theyre used ?i hear you say! well find a well worn run ,cut a briar and place it across the run,next day return,if its used therll be a bit of hair on the thorns.problem with a snare is the foxll check them too! easy meal to be had!dont forget to use a stout peg,in times past an anchor or big stick was added incase the peg was drawn.
gins are/were good for conie,bit illegal though,ime told that they should be burried for a week to mask the scent of man.
when stalking prey with gun or bow,be ever conciouse of all around you,a pidgion flying accross a field that suddenly changes direction means he saw man,and that man may be the keeper! listen for the blackbird,he is just as eager to give the keeper away as you! with powder rounds only shoot once ,the first will get the keepers attention,the second will tell him where you are! never return the way you went ,he may have seen you slip out the back gate and into the fields!.allways keep the setting/rising sun behind you,makes it harder for your prey to see you.
there are many tips i could shareif yer interested! Wink

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Bovey Belle

I think round here, there's still a bod or two who haven't lost the knack, fish. I could always get a pheasant (if I weren't friendly with the chaps who have the shoot next door), as they roost in the ash tree in the corner of our paddock. Since I'm an absolutely USELESS thrower, I would have to get OH to lob a goodly stick up there to nab one! One of our neighbours (so legend has it) used to go "fishing" for sewin by lobbing a bottle of bleach in one of the deeper pools and all the fish would float to the surface. Not sure whether to believe this or not as I should imagine they would stink mightily of bleach and be inedible.

There is a lovely book I've had from the Library in the series "Tale of the Old . . ."
- in this case, Gamekeepers. I have the Horseman one myself at home. Great to hear that the old memories have been written down.

I met up with an old boy who lives down in the Valleys, but used to have this particular area as his "patch" during WWII when rabbit was on the menu. He would buy the rabbits off local chaps who trapped them, and in phenomenal numbers - something like 6,000 a week if I remember rightly.

muntjac

i have the tales of the old series .. plus a lot of other titles of ian nial
KEEPERS HAT on now
please remember that the methods described are illegal folks . you may take any rabbit anytime of tne year on your own property with legal methods which bow and arrow type things are not . as you can pheaants in season but special consideration should be given to hares as they cannot be sold Mar 1st to July 31st
There is no close season for hares, but they are included in the definition of game and are therefore protected on Sundays and Christmas Day.
Landowners need to be aware of the legal restrictions of shooting hares at night:

mrutty

My Grandather could famously just walk up to hares and pick them up.

My Father still is the snare king.

Me, I was the best shot in the family.

Always good to learn country skills, I'm still to meet someone that sets their fishing tackle up like my family way.

As always just coz you can do it one way remember to check the law.

Oh and as for fishing the my Father has been fishing with a granade and I know how the Royal Navy gets fresh fish Cool

Haize

Illegal to use bow and arrow / crossbow even on your own land?

mrutty

muntjac

why waste bait n time fishing when ya can get it all in a bang Wink

muntjac

absolutly ilegal you cant use anything other than a gun /air rifle /stick/ snare ferret n nets + long nets
for ful details .
www.basc.org.uk

Bovey Belle

I still have the scar on my leg where I was hit with my best friend's cousin's arrow . . . He was aiming at the coal shed door at the time - no close season for coal shed doors . . .

Oh, and my ex-husband was once in the paper for being caught with a cross-box in the New Forest (and he thought he was so clever . . .) Guess that's why he's my ex . . .

Haize

Strange, given that it is still legal to shoot Scottish people from York, and there is somewhere that you are allowed to shoot the Welsh Laughing

Also, it has never been removed from law in some places that all men & boys capable must do at least 1 hour archery practice on the village common every Sunday!

fish

Bovey Belle

I used to live in Butts Road, Southampton, so perhaps that where they used to do the archery practice!

Somerset Lad

I still have all my nets, ferret finder, net knitting gear, everything except the ferrets, they were burried in the garden a few years ago. Old age comes to us all ,hopefully. Still fish for trout ,and sea fish. Wink

fish

are you interested in selling the kit somerset lad?

oh and by the way roads and lanes were indeed named after the butts used for the practice.

Somerset Lad

Sorry Fish, i still have illusions of going out again, my old sidekick keeps nagging me ( not the wife you understand), so i may have a go again next season. I do miss it ,even sitting down and Knitting the nets. Wink

fish

if yer interested you can come up here,dinner included! Laughing

Somerset Lad

Thanks Fish, rabbit on the menu? Laughing

fish

home made buny burgers? Very Happy

Somerset Lad

My grandsons love em. Laughing