Dafty

So, here we go again - the season has begun when we will have the next few months of twice weekly mayhem, with grown men lurking in the bushes, dressed up in camouflage, and armed with large shotguns, poised and ready to blast anything that moves to kingdom come. Creepy really. What exactly they are hunting for, I,m not quite sure. The only things I have seen around in Algarve are small birds, starlings and the like and there can,t be much left of them after a direct hit from a 12 bore spread..
I live in the suburbs of the city and am astonished that the use of firearms is still permitted anywhere south of the EN125 these days,considering density yet it,s common
We have traffic,cyclists,walkers, joggers and dog walkers around, particularly at weekends and, coupled with houses, lots of overhead power and communication cables it just does not seem appropriate anymore. The "hunters" I,m sure are well aware that they are breaking the rules when shooting close to houses but do so regardless of the law. These type of individuals should not be entrusted with a firearm in my opinion. We have called the GNR on several occasions when the shooting has become so intense it sounds like war has broken out, but they are quite layed back about it and usually play the "muito complicado" card.
Getting a bit fed up with it really, but suppose it,s one of the negatives of living in Portugal - to be tolerated - or not

ouriquejan

The hunters have to adhere to a strict code, what to shoot and when. Also register all dogs. They shouldn't be within 50 metres of a dwelling.

Here in the Alentejo, they shoot fox, boar, partridge as well as the smaller birds.

Speaking to a hunter the other week, he favours the bigger game, and whatever he shoots, him and his family eat.

The Thursday crowd tend to be people down from Lisbon, so it can get a little hairy. But the Sunday hunters are, here anyway, all local.

Shanorme

It tends to be partridge, wild boar and rabbits around here, which get eaten. There are signs on various bits of property here which prohibit the hunters from shooting across one's land and to be fair, they seem to respect it.

macliam

You appear to live in a different hunting area to us, ouriquejan. Our "hunters" use our road for access to their clubhouse, so we have regular dust-storms from pickups carrying yapping dogs speeding through a sheep-rearing area. Then we are treated to the sound of gunfire for much of the morning, until it becomes time for them to retire to the clubhouse and toast their exploits with local medronho before weaving their way back along the road in the late afternoon, sometimes forgetting their dogs!

People here know well that the cat population reduces markedly during the hunting season and I am always in fear of my podengo being mistaken for a fox! That is without the cuts to my fencing where hunters have retrieved their "valuable" hounds from my land (where I don't allow hunting)..... I have repaired three cut fences in the last year. BTW - we have never seen a javeli on outr land in over 8 years - and precious few rabbits or any other wild animals either!

However, they are marginally better than the plague of off-rad trials bike riders (over 20 in a group last week) who speed down the road without a thought about other users, or the 4x4 buggies who seem to think the road is their personal racetrack. Oh, the peace of the countryside!

ouriquejan

We do seem to be lucky with our local hunters. None have ever - so far - been on our land or cut the fences. However, on one side we have the largest fire break in Portugal as our neighbour has no idea of land management and it's very bare and has been for three years and on the other, the fields have been cleared, so it is easy for us to watch them.

And yes, those bikers make me mad. They tried to get across the bottom of our field last year, thinking it led to another track.

Dafty

Seriously? !!! Perhaps the hunters are more law abiding up there !