Irish Extra September 2022
By the time you read this the season will be well and truly opened. I am writing from sunny Spain at present and can think of nothing better than a cold frosty morning. Before leaving I had a couple of early mornings out with David at the request of a local landowner where he stalks reguarly. The Deer population has had a notable increase in this and many other areas and tha farmer had been troubled with several red stags making a job on his potato crops, and with the season open in Northern Ireland we were able to pay a couple of very welcome but unfruitful visits. September in the republic of Ireland brings with it Ducks, Deer, Grouse which are now conserved rather than shot and of course with the crops down it will be time to get back to lamping rabbits. Today as I write, my notifications or “memories” on my phone informed me it was my old bitch “Fudges” birthday. Its almost hard to believe its been 12 years since she was born. It was quite a funny story as the night her mother”Ruby” whelped the pups I left her at 7 in the morning with 10 healthy puppies feeding well. She appeared complete and content and I decided to get a few hours sleep and aowke just befotre lunchtime to find 11 pups! Fudge was a little late one and I decided there and then she was the one I was keeping, but I think she had decided already anyway. Fudge has all but stopped working now, her prey drive is all but gone and she is living out her days a little heavier than she should be and I dont mind, she has been a good one, only a collie whippet greyhound but she did more than most bigger dogs I have owned.
Licensing Issues
With the firearms licensing back log in Northern Ireland recently being declared a critical incident, it is not something that has came as a surprise for license holders and hopefully this will drive some action and move towards a mouch needed drastic improvement in licensing. As I now live in the Republic of Ireland I now fall under their licensing regulations and over the last 15 years or so have never really had an issue or delay with any licensing up until this year when I purchased a 20bore shot gun and some 6 months later nobody or no one seems to know anything about my application! I have faith it will however be resolved soon and although I wont tell the lincensing officer, I am in no rish for the gun as it will be late October before I make a few days at my Teal spots or try for a Mallrd closer to home. My gripe with licensing on ROI is the lack of a “One on one off” system with every application, be it within the same calibre or not requiring a new application which occassionally can take a little longer than required, but ususally not. I feel that our organisations such as the NARGC with the backing of the gun trade should be pushing for a one on, one off system as Norther Ireland the rest of the United Kingdom has, the benefits to the gun trade alone would be huge, let alone speeding up the process and reducing paperwork for everyone involved. I am not a man for changing guns regularly, in fact my last ,shot gun which I parted with to a new shooter for a few bob, was in my possession for 17 years and it would have remained so had it not been a little awkward to do so.
Final checks
Every year around this time, I always think of my old friend and former Irish Extra writer, Philip “Plus Twos” Lawton who passed away bac in 2013. Philip was a great man for final checks and it was something that stuck with me since he and I discussed it many years ago. In mid or late August he had a habit of going through everything he would use for the winter, checking guns that may have been laid up over the summer, lamps, batteries, bulbs & making sure he had plenty of everything he needed as there can be nothing more annoying than finding a gun with a broken firing pin or some other fault as you set off for your first days sport in Autumn, or even realising late on a Friday nevening you need shotgun ammunition and the merchant is either closed or a long drive away, check now, stock up now and save the hassle later. I do the same myself and have for many years and top up batteries for ferret finders, lamps, fuses and dog locator collars and a small first aid kit which I carry in the truck but thnakfully rarely have to use.
Country sports nowdays does a huge amount of conservation work, with many putting in far more than is ever taken out and it is heart warming to see. Its only a little over a year ago since a Northern Ireland club built and located many dozens of duck tubes, other clubs release many dozens of Mallards, carry out predator control and really keep the balance that really is required in the countryside.
Just recently I read of the Boora project which is a Grey Partridge conservation project. The birds which arrived into the recently constructed pens in late August are part of an exchange program agreed recently between the NARGC and the NPWS. This venture will benefit other counties who are part of the project. The Carlow project is one of the NARGC keystone projects in the Country along with Dublin and Kilkenny, Cork, and Meath. A tremendous amount of work was done by Larry Bolger and his team in preparing the new pens which will see the birds released locally.
Speaking of the event Chairman of the NARGC John Butler, said “that what happened today was exactly the type of cooperation we should all be aspiring to, The NARGC have a number of very successful Grey Partridge Projects and these are ran on the ground by local club members. I would particularly like to thank Padraig O’Donnell and his team from the NPWS for their cooperation and hope to do more exchanges over the coming years”.
The Grey Partridge is one of only two native Irish Gaem Birds, the other being the Grouse and the recent work at increasing numbers is fantastic considering they dropped to less than 20 birds with the core being in the Boora area in the Midlands where this recent project has taken place. This type of of work which stems from Hunting, Shooting & Fishing is fantastic and vry commendable and will ensure the future of the Grey partridge and many other species, Im just waiting patiently for the ANTI hunting, shooting and fishing groups to show us THEIR conservation work.
Until next time….Have a good season!