Old Poachers tricks

[w00dsmoke]

poaching thread huh?

Now chatting on here and letting you all know my wee secrets for a nice xmas feed would just be plain stupid now wouldn't it?

There's some really stupid suggestions in this thread so far...I'm really starting to chuckle, it's like sit in a field and make a noise like a carrot and you'll catch a rabbit! pmsl It's like thread a hundred raisons on a thread of heavy cotton and peg it in the ground, wait til the pheasants eat one and then carry on and they can't walk away after swallowing the thread...nuts come on! Soak grain in whiskey...I've heard it all...all you get is a wood full of drunk bluetits and chafinches that the foxes gobble up...(I tried that one as a kid!)

If you wanna poach only do it for a meal and no more and if you really want to learn for a survival view point you have to think illegal which means that you cannot practice it for real. Enough UK wildlife is damaged in the semi urban environment by folk thinking they are poachers to snare deer etc it's rediculous.

Do it cleanly, quickly and unseen and you'll be fine... but to be legal you'd best stick to roadkill!

 

[bushtank]

I poach cos i can i get what ever is about. game bird or fish If i stumble acorss easy food then im going to have it not cos im hungury or skint just cos i can .that is part of living on the land and being a poacher

 

[mrostov]

A couple of books some here might find interesting are these on Amazon.

Poachers and Poaching - Knowledge Never Learned in Schools (Hardcover)
by John Watson

A reprint of an 1890's era book about skills for poaching in Britain.

Survival Poaching (Paperback)
by Ragnar Benson

A 1980's era book about skill and tactics for poaching in the US.

 

[Goose]

poaching thread huh?

Now chatting on here and letting you all know my wee secrets for a nice xmas feed would just be plain stupid now wouldn't it?

There's some really stupid suggestions in this thread so far...I'm really starting to chuckle, it's like sit in a field and make a noise like a carrot and you'll catch a rabbit! pmsl It's like thread a hundred raisons on a thread of heavy cotton and peg it in the ground, wait til the pheasants eat one and then carry on and they can't walk away after swallowing the thread...nuts come on! Soak grain in whiskey...I've heard it all...all you get is a wood full of drunk bluetits and chafinches that the foxes gobble up...(I tried that one as a kid!)

If you wanna poach only do it for a meal and no more and if you really want to learn for a survival view point you have to think illegal which means that you cannot practice it for real. Enough UK wildlife is damaged in the semi urban environment by folk thinking they are poachers to snare deer etc it's rediculous.

Do it cleanly, quickly and unseen and you'll be fine... but to be legal you'd best stick to roadkill!

Thats why I get squirrels watching me when I am setting up, they think I am nuts!

 

[Buckshot]

Poaching is illegal.
It is stealing
Would you take a fiver from someones wallet?
Just because you can't see the person when you're doing it to doesn't make it any less wrong - it's still stealing.
All this rubbish about 'it doesn't hurt' anyone is just that - rubbish. There is no such thing as victimless crime.

Anyway, Regardless of my - or your own views on the subject, as poaching is illegal in this country it cannot be condoned on this forum.

Please be aware when posting on this thread.

If, however, you want to discuss survival techniques that may have been used in days gone by please do but be aware that some of these methods will be illegal today.

Thanks

Mark

 

[leon-b]

i saw the trick where you thread dried fruit etc onto a piece of cord and tie it to something secure on ray mears, does this work ?
leon

 

[dommyracer]

I remember a book my mum read to us when I was a little one - something about soaking raisins in rum to catch Pheasants...

Sounds like Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

 

[big_swede]

Sounds like Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

But in that book the don't steal the pheasants, do they? As I recall, the just wanted them to be asleep for the landowners great hunt. Hmm note to self, must read again..

 

[dommyracer]

Thats right, they put them to sleep then hide them in a loft so that Mr Hazell is humiliated.

 

[mrostov]

One of the more ingeneuous methods of primitively hunting larger predators without a firearm, was how the Inuits and Indians of the American northwest did sometimes did it. This method, used mostly against wolves, but sometimes against bears, was used in colder weather when the quarry's fur coats were often the thickest and fat would stay frozen. This was also usually when the animals were at their hungriest.

The trick was to make a frozen ball of fat that the animal could just swallow in one gulp, and to leave it where the animal would find it. Inside the ball of fat was a deadly surprise.

What they would do is take a slender, flexible piece of whalebone, sharpen both ends, compress it into a loop, and tie the loop together with some cordage or a hide thong. The ball of fat would the be formed around the whalebone loop and allowed to freeze overnight. Then, the fat would be cut into with a knife and the cordage binding the whalebone loop would be cut, then more fat would be applied to cover up where the cut was on the fat ball, and allowed to freeze again.

When the hungry animal swallowed the frozen fat ball, it would then thaw out in the creature's stomach and the coiled whalebone would open up like a spring and the sharpened ends would then hopefully puncture the animal's stomach, causing it to die, though rather slowly.

It was a bit rough on the wolf, but safer and easier for the hunter.

 

[Mungo]

Sounds like Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

Yes! That was it! I should read that again sometime... oh that brings back memories...

Mungo

 

[fred gordon]

Poaching is illegal.
It is stealing
Would you take a fiver from someones wallet?
Just because you can't see the person when you're doing it to doesn't make it any less wrong - it's still stealing.
All this rubbish about 'it doesn't hurt' anyone is just that - rubbish.


This may be the Law but it is a bit harsh and not the whole story by any means. There is a long tradition in Scotland of local people in the country taking 'one for the pot'. Quite often the gamekeeper would be fully aware of who was doing the poaching but would turn a blind eye if the catch was for the family and not on a regular basis or on a large scale. For example my grandfather was never averse to lifting the odd salmon out of the river that ran past his house. Even the landowner was aware but it was seen as a tradition and certainly not 'hurting' anyone in that sense. Nearer larger settlements, or when it got out of hand, things were different. It also depended on the attitude of both the landowner and the gamekeeper.