Ducks

Liam · 17-04-2011, 11:10

Well, the gun clubs investment over the last five years is beginning to pay dividends. Sixteen ducklings at least on our local pond/lake/fishing lake. We have bought in one hundred young ducks every year for the last five years and built two duck ponds locally and finally it seems like some are staying and breeding in the local lakes. I hope they stay as before we started buying them, ducks were a rare sight on the lakes. It's nice to see them as a lot of locals go for walks in the area and enjoy seeing ducks there. We have another hundred coming at the end of May so will probably be overrun this year. Of course we do shoot some during the season but most of them survive as most of our members are lousy shots

extreme-4x4 · 17-04-2011, 13:36

isnt that a bit like . well in the local paper in sussex a few years back , the local fox hunt, was found to be breeding fox's .

i dont know , it just dont seem right.

by all means if you see a duck and you can eat it or sell it for some use dead , then shoot it . but breeding or buying them in for the purpose of sport. just seems a little odd. why not just buy in dead ducks to start with ?

just my thoughts and im not picking more curious than picking

explain

larson · 17-04-2011, 13:57

were you going to buy the dead ducks from if nobody breeds them? theres not enough wild ducks tomeet demand

extreme-4x4 · 17-04-2011, 18:00

if there is not enough wild ducks, why do they need to be shot ?

larson · 17-04-2011, 18:06

food and sport i supose... pheasent are also shot, these are bread to shoot and the local game dealer ends up with them for sale in his shop. they also go to restarants..

harlowmaverick · 17-04-2011, 18:10

Well it's that time old thing isn't it, what came first!
The chicken or the egg, it's fantastic that your club introduces so many new ducklings to your waters, but I have to tell you that they do have wings and are not like salmon that return to the place where they were spawned.
They will stay / return to where ever they feel relatively safe and where there is plenty of food.
Try and retain the birds that you have before introducing young birds that are growing and require extra nutrition.
Make your waters safer by taking out some foxes, restricting the use of dogs around the water, making little islands for them etc etc etc.
Once you have mastered retaining your birds then you can go on to manage them.
Phil

larson · 17-04-2011, 18:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by harlowmaverick

Well it's that time old thing isn't it, what came first!
The chicken or the egg, it's fantastic that your club introduces so many new ducklings to your waters, but I have to tell you that they do have wings and are not like salmon that return to the place where they were spawned.
They will stay / return to where ever they feel relatively safe and where there is plenty of food.
Try and retain the birds that you have before introducing young birds that are growing and require extra nutrition.
Make your waters safer by taking out some foxes, restricting the use of dogs around the water, making little islands for them etc etc etc.
Once you have mastered retaining your birds then you can go on to manage them.
Phil

harlow the gamekeeper

good advice

terranobreakershropshire · 17-04-2011, 19:31

floating coups, worth their weight in gold on ours, make sure you got no rats though, a lot of trouble this year with rats and the eggs!

Liam · 17-04-2011, 22:40

All good points Phil but in my post I didn't cover everything. We built ponds to allow us introduce the ducks where there was no pond previously, we have it pretty secure, fenced, electric fence at mink height and fox height, away from public access on a farm. Obviously ducks will fly and we have two large ponds within a mile where these ducks usually go. These ponds are open to the public and we don't shoot on these ponds, in fact any ducks that are shot are usually shot on the local rivers. There are also two other gun clubs adjoining ours who also buy in young ducks and to the same as ourselves. The duck population has plenty of secure and safe breeding areas, other than the ponds we put in. Vermin control is always ongoing,larsen traps,mink traps,fox drives etc. To be honest, very few get shot at, never mind killed and eaten. It is nice to see them on the water, though. We also release pheasants and have built two pens for that purpose, plus we are considering trying to rear a few partridge. Things are a lot different here regarding hunting, here it is mainly the gun clubs who introduce and manage ducks and pheasants, not too many gamekeepers needed. The club members do the work and pay for the birds, some clubs are better than others at this. We are a small club, about 20 members, so we are limited in manpower and money. We will never have the luxury of managing the ducks or pheasant but I am pleased that there are more in the area than previously. I don't eat duck or pheasant so don't shoot them but do shoot deer and rabbits,yummy.

Liam · 17-04-2011, 22:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by extreme-4x4

isnt that a bit like . well in the local paper in sussex a few years back , the local fox hunt, was found to be breeding fox's .

i dont know , it just dont seem right.

by all means if you see a duck and you can eat it or sell it for some use dead , then shoot it . but breeding or buying them in for the purpose of sport. just seems a little odd. why not just buy in dead ducks to start with ?

just my thoughts and im not picking more curious than picking

explain

Can't explain, it's my hobby

Take your point though, it does seem odd but so do lots of things in life, like trying to drive a 4x4 through a hole full of water and mud when it's easier to drive around it.

I suppose part of it is the challenge of introducing ducks to a location where they had not been for a long time and seeing them thrive and give pleasure to people out with their kids for a walk. The other part of it is trying to hunt them with dogs during the season and seeing if you have a well trained dog and also seeing if you can shoot a bird in flight. It's a many faceted thing and works on a number of levels, bring back wildlife to an area, providing a safe haven for breeding, doing something that people can enjoy, training a dog, hunting wildlife, shooting wildlife, eating wildlife and enjoying the outdoors. That's it for me anyway, others might have different reasons.

danielj · 17-04-2011, 23:25

Liam, you're not shooting enough of them deer. They appear to be a lot more of them around than there used to be. They are even becoming a bit of a hazard in places crossing the roads. Gun club members used to serve to do some bit of culling of them and keeping the numbers in check. Less gun club members around these days it would seem.

harlowmaverick · 17-04-2011, 23:34

Only trying to help lol, I help to run a few shoots myself

Sounds like you have a good little setup going, well done

Liam · 17-04-2011, 23:45

[QUOTE=harlowmaverick;145898]Only trying to help lol, I help to run a few shoots myself

Sounds like you have a good little setup going, well done[/QUOTE
All advice welcome,Phil. I'm crap with a shotgun so enjoy seeing the ducks and pheasants about the place.

17-04-2011, 11:10	#1
Liam Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Laois,Ireland Posts: 923	Ducks Well, the gun clubs investment over the last five years is beginning to pay dividends. Sixteen ducklings at least on our local pond/lake/fishing lake. We have bought in one hundred young ducks every year for the last five years and built two duck ponds locally and finally it seems like some are staying and breeding in the local lakes. I hope they stay as before we started buying them, ducks were a rare sight on the lakes. It's nice to see them as a lot of locals go for walks in the area and enjoy seeing ducks there. We have another hundred coming at the end of May so will probably be overrun this year. Of course we do shoot some during the season but most of them survive as most of our members are lousy shots

17-04-2011, 19:31	#8
terranobreakershropshire Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: shropshire Vehicle: d22 double cab 2001 Posts: 175	ducks floating coups, worth their weight in gold on ours, make sure you got no rats though, a lot of trouble this year with rats and the eggs!

17-04-2011, 13:36	#2
extreme-4x4 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: WALES Posts: 6,295	isnt that a bit like . well in the local paper in sussex a few years back , the local fox hunt, was found to be breeding fox's . i dont know , it just dont seem right. by all means if you see a duck and you can eat it or sell it for some use dead , then shoot it . but breeding or buying them in for the purpose of sport. just seems a little odd. why not just buy in dead ducks to start with ? just my thoughts and im not picking more curious than picking explain

17-04-2011, 13:57	#3
larson Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: moomin vally Posts: 1,138	were you going to buy the dead ducks from if nobody breeds them? theres not enough wild ducks tomeet demand

17-04-2011, 18:00	#4
extreme-4x4 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: WALES Posts: 6,295	if there is not enough wild ducks, why do they need to be shot ?

17-04-2011, 18:06	#5
larson Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: moomin vally Posts: 1,138	food and sport i supose... pheasent are also shot, these are bread to shoot and the local game dealer ends up with them for sale in his shop. they also go to restarants..

17-04-2011, 18:10	#6
harlowmaverick Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Harlow, Essex Vehicle: Nissan Terrano 3.0 tdi 03 Posts: 962	Well it's that time old thing isn't it, what came first! The chicken or the egg, it's fantastic that your club introduces so many new ducklings to your waters, but I have to tell you that they do have wings and are not like salmon that return to the place where they were spawned. They will stay / return to where ever they feel relatively safe and where there is plenty of food. Try and retain the birds that you have before introducing young birds that are growing and require extra nutrition. Make your waters safer by taking out some foxes, restricting the use of dogs around the water, making little islands for them etc etc etc. Once you have mastered retaining your birds then you can go on to manage them. Phil

17-04-2011, 22:40	#9
Liam Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Laois,Ireland Posts: 923	All good points Phil but in my post I didn't cover everything. We built ponds to allow us introduce the ducks where there was no pond previously, we have it pretty secure, fenced, electric fence at mink height and fox height, away from public access on a farm. Obviously ducks will fly and we have two large ponds within a mile where these ducks usually go. These ponds are open to the public and we don't shoot on these ponds, in fact any ducks that are shot are usually shot on the local rivers. There are also two other gun clubs adjoining ours who also buy in young ducks and to the same as ourselves. The duck population has plenty of secure and safe breeding areas, other than the ponds we put in. Vermin control is always ongoing,larsen traps,mink traps,fox drives etc. To be honest, very few get shot at, never mind killed and eaten. It is nice to see them on the water, though. We also release pheasants and have built two pens for that purpose, plus we are considering trying to rear a few partridge. Things are a lot different here regarding hunting, here it is mainly the gun clubs who introduce and manage ducks and pheasants, not too many gamekeepers needed. The club members do the work and pay for the birds, some clubs are better than others at this. We are a small club, about 20 members, so we are limited in manpower and money. We will never have the luxury of managing the ducks or pheasant but I am pleased that there are more in the area than previously. I don't eat duck or pheasant so don't shoot them but do shoot deer and rabbits,yummy.

17-04-2011, 23:25	#11
danielj Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Ireland Vehicle: Terrano 2.7TDI 03 LWB Posts: 695	Liam, you're not shooting enough of them deer. They appear to be a lot more of them around than there used to be. They are even becoming a bit of a hazard in places crossing the roads. Gun club members used to serve to do some bit of culling of them and keeping the numbers in check. Less gun club members around these days it would seem.

17-04-2011, 23:34	#12
harlowmaverick Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Harlow, Essex Vehicle: Nissan Terrano 3.0 tdi 03 Posts: 962	Only trying to help lol, I help to run a few shoots myself Sounds like you have a good little setup going, well done

17-04-2011, 23:45	#13
Liam Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Laois,Ireland Posts: 923	[QUOTE=harlowmaverick;145898]Only trying to help lol, I help to run a few shoots myself Sounds like you have a good little setup going, well done[/QUOTE All advice welcome,Phil. I'm crap with a shotgun so enjoy seeing the ducks and pheasants about the place.