that is a great clip CH hahaha - coyote hunting - yup just for fun mainly though you can use the pelts.

They do aim for foxes, just settle for coyotes if they can't find one.

mmm no doubt! Shooting coyotes and gophers when there is nothing else to do does seem to be a national pastime here

Shooting yes, but they do the whole horse and hounds thing, had I more balls I'd try "following".

Thanks.

Hi Mandy - I wouldn't fancy trying it myself. I've had a go at clay pigeon shooting though.

What is a gopher?

Gopher

and at the risk of upsetting the weak of stomach (bearing in mind gophers are as much of a pest over here as mice and a darned sight more of a hazard to livestock) the thing to do is try and get a gopher with a bow - you have to be a good shot

Another point to raise too when we were talking about the issuance of tags earlier in the thread (tags being what hunters apply for to be allowed to hunt an animal) a percentage of tags will be applied for by the anti-hunting groups, and once awarded will be ceromoniously destroyed as if saying "look heres a little bambis life that I just saved"

When all they are doing is messing up the numbers which are allocated for cull.

I liken it to those who protest against things being tested on animals. If you are that much against it, you volunteer to test the product.

mmm can see what you are saying but I think the main difference there, is that in hunting the intention is for a clean kill, with animal testing whilst there isn't the actual intention to cause pain - its pretty much a given side effect of what they are doing.

(nice to see ya back btw )

not something i am into, and i didnt let my children play with guns because in the uk its all too easy to pick up a real one and kill someone ( kids seem to do it all the time ) not something i will be racing to join in with, but i respect the rights of others to enjoy themsleves. i stick bits of special paper together and add photographs, most people dont get scrapbooking ( ok its not an extreeme sport, but a craft knife in the foot can be deadly!) it'd be really boring if we all liked the same things.

Crikey, where do you live!?!?

I've never seen a real gun in the UK throughout my entire life and don't know anybody who owns one.

Apart from on armed police officers the only time I ever saw a gun in the UK was on a USAF base.

If you're finding that it's too easy to pick up a real gun, I'd suggest that you change your circle of friends to people who are either responsible gun owners who lock their weapons away (as required by law) or to people who aren't in the drug/gang culture.

I suggest the majority of people in the UK couldn't tell the difference between a real gun, toy gun or a paintball gun unless it was close up or explained to them. We've been conditioned in the UK to think all guns are bad, which is incorrect. GUNS DO NOT SHOOT BY THEMSELVES! It may have been the weapon of choice for a number of crimes, but look at the increase in stabbings. I could walk into Tesco and buy a large bladed kitchen knife, then go and stab someone. What are the government going to do then? Ban kitchen knives. I don't think so.

Load chamber, aim, squeeze trigger and the animal drops with hopefully a good clean kill. Butcher as required and put it in your freezer. For many on the forum this will be seen as barbaric and medieval, I however, have no problems with it at all. You know where it came from and how it died. If you wish to mount it on your wall then so be it, perhaps it's better than rotting on the forest floor. Going back to an earlier comment on the excess number of horses. If they're a problem/nuisance, can they be culled and put into the food chain? Sorry Mandy, I know you're a horse lover but farmers globally are struggling to cope with the demand for food. As far as the hunting goes, I'm with you all the way. Just remeber kids-alcohol and weapons don't mix.

Shaun