What if?

[Andy Macfarlane]

Read into it what you will. I don't think I have to explain myself to you or anybody.

[corydoras]

For an apparently educated person you really appear to be a racist but you certainly are ignorant, insensitive and an idiot.

 

Don't be upset by this post the words above are merely accurate descriptions and therefore cannot possibly be offensive.

 

Rich

A racist is someone who considers members of one particular race (normally their own) intrinsically superior to members of other races. I don't think this description applies to Andy.

[zedhead]

Firstly, before we get to my answer, can i just say, as hypothetical as this is, I feel it wrong for others to comment on the issues of fox hunting etc with regards to this topic, the two are unrelated and have no relevance to any situations we as angler may face.

 

Personally Budgie, I would like to see any government ban fishing, it will never happen on the basis of sheer participation numbers and the positive role such interactions have within society.

I would disregard any such legislation and basically break the law: tigger, a rod licence is a valid 'tax' in that it pays for a service (however big or small) and having gone fishing without a rod licence years ago, I know I enjoy fishing legally alot more than worrying about getting caught.

The point is, although we like to concern ourselves with the what ifs scenarios, presumably by looking at genuinely cruel blood sports (fox hunting) we feel the same could happen to us, but as previously mentioned, we cannot use such activities as a proxy to our sport.

Some things deserve to be banned, but angling runs deep and a ban would affect far to many people in a negative way, hence there will never be a ban.

As for taking home for the pot, yeah if a copper is standing bext to you, you might knock a 3oz roach on the head, otherwise......what do you think?

[Andy Macfarlane]

Zed, I tend to agree with that idea but we've seen some quite unrealistic laws pass through the system. A few years ago, I'd have agreed with you 100% but now I'm not so sure. It seems that the Government will do almost anything on a whim without proper consultation or any obvious thought. I sincerely hope you/we are right.

[Emma two]

Firstly, before we get to my answer, can i just say, as hypothetical as this is, I feel it wrong for others to comment on the issues of fox hunting etc with regards to this topic, the two are unrelated and have no relevance to any situations we as angler may face.

 

The use of the example of hunting (In UK country parlance there is no need for the prefix 'fox') is a valid one in that it was a field sport which was banned by law. This thread is about an albeit hypethetical situation where another field sport is (angling) is banned. It was dissapointing that some coarse anglers divorced themselves from other country sports when they came under threat, because the threat came from the same people who would happily do away with fishing too.

 

You might consider hunting as 'a genuinely cruel blood sport' , I would be really interested in what makes you arrive at that notion. In any case the world can be a tough place. Does your salary vary widley dependant upon how much of your stock a fox decides it should have? 'cos if you are a hill shepherd it does, and tough enough life it is. As i pointed out earlier, the ban has done nothing to improve the lot of the fox, despite what you think.

 

There were lots of people within hunting who thought that it was too deeply entrenched into our culture and that the financial implications of a ban would ensure that it would stay, and they were wrong. Do not be decieved by the public face of even the supposedly mainstream/moderate politicians, during a 'head to head' at a labour party conference (I was working for the BFSS) Morley snarled that if he had his way I would go to jail after admitting I was a 'rabbiter', and followed up with his wish to see the whole lot of us stopped, including anglers.

 

First they came... Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

 

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

 

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

 

When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I wasn't a Jew.

 

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.

Edited September 30, 2008 by Emma two

[Guest tigger]

tigger, a rod licence is a valid 'tax' in that it pays for a service (however big or small) and having gone fishing without a rod licence years ago, I know I enjoy fishing legally alot more than worrying about getting caught.

 

 

Zedhead I don't think the rod licence is a valid tax at all, infact I think it's just another stealth tax on the man in the street. By the way I aint worried about being caught, I have been caught in past by a group of three of them but I carried on fishing and they left me alone.

[Vagabond]

First they came... Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

Emma, you might find previous reactions to that quote interesting

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/nigh-li....html&st=30

[Anderoo]

I'm with Zedhead - whenever I see angling mentioned in the same context as hunting or shooting, it really makes me cringe. They couldn't be more different in my opinion. They are completely separate, let's keep it that way.

[Steve Walker]

People have never learnt that lesson, unfortunately. Divide and rely on "I'm all right Jack" is still a core strategy of government when it comes to imposing iniquitous laws or taxes. If the events of the 1940's weren't enough to permanently inocculate humanity against that way of thinking, I doubt the lesson will ever be learnt. It's human nature.

[SPSwallow]

The use of the example of hunting (In UK country parlance there is no need for the prefix 'fox') is a valid one in that it was a field sport which was banned by law. This thread is about an albeit hypethetical situation where another field sport is (angling) is banned. It was dissapointing that some coarse anglers divorced themselves from other country sports when they came under threat, because the threat came from the same people who would happily do away with fishing too.

 

You might consider hunting as 'a genuinely cruel blood sport' , I would be really interested in what makes you arrive at that notion. In any case the world can be a tough place. Does your salary vary widley dependant upon how much of your stock a fox decides it should have? 'cos if you are a hill shepherd it does, and tough enough life it is. As i pointed out earlier, the ban has done nothing to improve the lot of the fox, despite what you think.

 

There were lots of people within hunting who thought that it was too deeply entrenched into our culture and that the financial implications of a ban would ensure that it would stay, and they were wrong. Do not be decieved by the public face of even the supposedly mainstream/moderate politicians, during a 'head to head' at a labour party conference (I was working for the BFSS) Morley snarled that if he had his way I would go to jail after admitting I was a 'rabbiter', and followed up with his wish to see the whole lot of us stopped, including anglers.

 

First they came... Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

 

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

 

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

 

When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I wasn't a Jew.

 

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.

 

 

 

I am totally against fox hunting. But I realise they have to be culled. It seems that people use the culling as an excuse to jump on a hrse and chase the poor thing to death. Barbaric. Ok you've raised the issue that shooting is also not very efficient, but it has got to be a lot better than chasing the poor thing to death were it can be ripped apart by dogs in the name of fun disguised as a serious attempt to cull. If the problem with foxes mainly effects the farmers then they have the only right to do the culling. I find it so hard to believe that people can say the love the environment and wildlife but the main experience of it that they enjoy is the destruction of it.

 

And you were talking about shotguns...here's a thought, use a high powered air rifle with a sight, there would be no problem hitting the head then and they are easily powerful enough. I had no problem killing rabbits outright with mine

Edited October 1, 2008 by SPSwallow