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The sport of wildfowling has a
long and noble past, having captured the enthusiasm and
imagination of mankind since earliest times. Long before the
invention of firearms, the value of duck and geese as both food
source and sporting quarry was recognised throughout the world.
Chinese, Egyptian and Roman artefacts dating back to 1300BC bear
witness to the ingenuity which our predecessors brought to the
pursuit, utilising throwing sticks, bows, clap nets and decoys to
cull a harvest of fowl from the marshes. Early in the 17th
century the development of relatively reliable flintlock guns
made wing shooting a practicable proposition and, by the time a
further 100 years had passed, the origins of fowling as we know
it today were well established. Each improvement in shotgun
design increased the efficiency with which the wildfowler could
pursue his quarry until, with the advent of the hammerless
breech-loader and modern nitro powders, the optimum weaponry
became available to the longshore gunner.
As the year 2000AD* draws nigh wildfowling is in good heart but
exponents of the craft cannot afford the luxury of being
complacent about the future. Wildfowl populations and habitats
require to be conserved, political threats to traditional
countryside activities have to be tackled and fowlers must
constantly reappraise the manner in which the essential freedoms
of their sport can be accommodated within a society which is
subject to ever-increasing regulation.
* Fowler in
the Wild was first published in 1987
CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH
In the vanishing landscape of the British countryside the twin
pressures of intensive agricultural and industrial development
have eaten up vast tracts of marsh and fen which once harboured
great hordes of wildfowl. In other countries, also, prime duck
and goose habitat has disappeared or been threatened in a similar
manner. Wildfowlers were not slow to recognise the dangers nor
hesitant to meet the challenges presented by the changing rural
scene. Led by WAGBI (now the British Association for Shooting
& Conservation), many fowling clubs and dedicated individual
sportsmen readily accepted the need to co-operate with other
conservationists and the value of such joint initiatives was
acknowledged in a booklet entitled Wildfowl Conservation in Great
Britain - The Story of a Triumvirate published by WAGBI, the
Nature Conservancy and the Wildfowl Trust in 1970.
Wildfowl Refuges and Nature Reserves
Conservation implies the management of limited or vulnerable
resources in a way which will ensure their maintenance and
increase. From the point of view of the wildfowler it makes a
great deal of sense to offer sufficient protection to the wild
populations of geese and duck to ensure that their numbers are
maintained despite the many adverse factors, such as habitat
erosion, which are at work. To this end, a national network of
wildfowl refuges was welcomed, many wildfowling clubs established
their own wildfowl sanctuary zones and fowling interests became
represented on the management committees of important nature
reserves.
In the years ahead it will become increasingly necessary for
wildfowlers to demonstrate their commitment to reserve areas.
Only when sanctuary zones are managed, directly or indirectly, by
wildfowling clubs and organisations can we be confident that the
future of the sport is secure. The alternative is an escalation
of land purchase and reserve creation by protectionist bodies
which may not always be sympathetic to shooting. Already there
are tragic examples of marshes which, for many years, were
exceedingly well managed by wildfowling clubs being bought by
protectionist organisations and all shooting proscribed. In some
parts of the country well-organised fowling clubs have countered
this threat by purchasing the freehold of the areas which
traditionally they have shot but much greater financial resources
will be required if this trend is to continue. The BASC's
Wildlife Habitat Trust Fund has a very important part to play in
this process.
Research
There is still a great deal which is not fully understood about
the behaviour of wildfowl, the effects of habitat changes upon
their distribution, the manner in which breeding success
influences long-term population levels and many similar matters.
In order that wildfowlers may contribute to the overall stock of
knowledge concerning their quarry and, more particularly, that
scientifically derived evidence may be available to repulse any
threat to the sport, it is highly desirable that the BASC's
research programme continues to expand.
Already much sterling work has been undertaken by the research
staff at Marford Mill, with many clubs and individual wildfowlers
playing a crucial role by collecting and supplying data to the
research projects. The National Shooting Survey, BASC's duck wing
study, an exercise to assess the effect of hard weather upon
wildfowl condition and collaboration with other bodies in an
attempt to evaluate the detrimental effects which may follow the
ingestion of lead shot by wildfowl are but a few examples of the
type of projects which have been mounted.
It would be a tragedy if research of this nature was curtailed
due to lack of support by wildfowlers. In the absence of properly
conducted investigations there would be a great deal of
additional scope for opponents of shooting sports to present
fallacies and half-truths in support of their arguments.
POLITICAL THREATS
One of the most important functions of the BASC is to monitor
political activity at local authority, government and European
levels. In many parts of the country the designation of Sites of
Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and Special Protection Areas
(SPAs) posed a threat to wildfowling which had to be countered.
Any draft legislation affecting land use, wildlife conservation
or firearms must be carefully studied and the appropriate
representations made.
It is likely that, in future years, governments will come under
increasing pressure from protectionist organisations, the law and
order lobby and European directives to introduce or amend
statutes in ways which would be detrimental to shooting sports.
The only effective safeguard which wildfowlers have is a strong
and influential parent body and it is not too severe to suggest
that, in Britain today, no person deserves to carry a shotgun
unless he also carries a BASC membership card in his pocket.
Much of the political antipathy to country sports is founded upon
ignorance and an absence of rational thought. A very high
proportion of the population lives in urban conurbations and has
little knowledge or understanding of the ways of the countryside.
Nurtured on the "cuddly bunny" syndrome, many people
see the world of nature through rose-coloured spectacles which
are often tinted to the point of opacity. They do not appreciate
that there are only four ways in which a duck or goose can die -
by predation, starvation, disease or shooting and that, in
anybody's terms, shooting is the least unpleasant of those. To a
countryman it may seem strange that the city dweller who decries
fieldsports can quite happily go into a supermarket and buy a
plastic-wrapped battery fowl for their family dinner but few of
the people who oppose shooting stop to think in those terms.
Despite the irrationality of their arguments and actions, the
animal liberation fanatics cannot be ignored. The fact that over
five million people in Britain engage in fieldsports may convince
all of the major political parties that it would be electoral
suicide to legislate for the total abolition of shooting or
fishing but there remains a danger that our sports will be eroded
at the edges by restricting the quarry species or by imposing
further regulations upon the possession and use of firearms. It
is up to each and every wildfowler to maintain public relations
of the highest standard in order to counteract the pressures of
our opponents.
SELF DISCIPLINE
One of the most effective ways of avoiding unnecessary statutory
restrictions upon wildfowling is to voluntarily accept sensible
and moderate codes of conduct. Many of the traditions of fowling
are founded upon the great sense of freedom which the estuarine
gunner experiences when he is out on the saltings long before
dawn. It is, therefore, understandably an anathema to many
fowlers to suggest that they should accept a degree of regulation
which would never have been dreamed of by their forefathers. The
rise of wildfowling clubs was not universally popular nor, until
recently, was the BASC accepted by many shooters. Nevertheless,
there can be few wildfowlers who do not now recognise that the
state of their sport would be very much poorer today had it not
been for the efforts of the BASC and its affiliated clubs during
recent decades.
In some coastal areas the introduction of wildfowling permit
schemes is still resented and any mention of bag limits is sure
to arouse strong emotions where fowlers gather together. Compared
to our contemporaries in the USA or in most European countries we
still have a much-envied degree of freedom and there are aspects
of this which we should cherish and carefully nurture. On the
other hand, where a slight restriction on our practices can be
shown to be to the long-term benefit of our sport or where a
little modification to our traditional behaviour might secure a
better future for our quarry, we should not automatically throw
up our hands in horror. By being seen to be responsible, logical,
well-informed and caring in our attitudes to the duck and geese
of the marsh, we will ensure that our sons and grandsons may also
enjoy that unique combination of solitude, tranquility,
excitement and fulfillment which is the heritage of every true
wildfowler in Britain today.
This file is an
extract from "Fowler in the Wild" by Eric Begbie. It
may be reproduced, in whole or in part, by magazines or other
publications with the prior permission of the author.