When I resurrected Wildfowling Magazine
as an online publication and started the Wildfowling Discussion
Forum to complement the magazine, I anticipated that the Forum might
attract the attention of some rabid antis and, in consequence, get a
few abusive postings. "OK," I thought, "I'll just have to be
vigilant and quickly delete any unsavoury contributions."
In the event, there have been very, very
few posts from antis. The vast majority of the contributors to the
Forum have been serious wildfowlers from around the world (our poll
showed that 56% come from UK, 9% from Ireland, 28% from North
America and 7% from elsewhere). There have been many highly
informative threads, lots of pertinent questions and a good dose of
humour.
Sadly, the few abusive postings that
did appear came from within the fowling community itself and
virtually all were from British goose guides. In fact, I re-titled
one thread "Goose Guide Wars" because a perfectly genuine enquiry
from a potential client resulted in three guides slagging each other
off in the most perverse terms. Quite how they imagined their
immoderate language would endear them to potential customers I fail
to appreciate. On a couple of other occasions I had to delete
threads for the same reason.
What such public displays of spleen
do, of course, is risk soiling the good name of wildfowling. They
also give a plentiful supply of ammunition to the traditional
fowlers who would like to see all guides banished from the face of
the Earth.
I have only first-hand experience of
three professional guides in the UK. Over the years a enjoyed a few
flights with Willie (whose second name, I am ashamed to admit, I
have forgotten), who worked out of the Lomond Hotel near Loch Leven
in the early 1980s, with his successor, Mal Kempson, who has moved
several times between the Lomond and the Well Inn along the road,
and with Gavin Hunt who guides "real" wildfowlers on the merse of
the Solway.
My only other experience of
"professionals" is in Canada where I have hunted ducks and geese
with Tom Kennedy in Nova Scotia and Gary Carriere in Saskatchewan.
As in the UK, most of my waterfowling in North America has been
"freelance" - scouting an area, knocking at farmhouse doors and
seeking permission to hunt.
What those experiences did do was
bring me into contact with a large number of sportsmen who use
guides or outfitters. It is very easy to conclude that guides have
spoiled things for local fowlers or that money has corrupted
sporting ethics but the other side of that coin is that they have
opened up the sport to many visitors who, otherwise, would have
found it difficult to get get under the ducks and geese. I think
that it is fair to say that for every client who complains about
being "ripped off", there is another who talks in glowing terms
about his experiences with a guide.
My advice to anyone considering using
a guide in the UK is quite clear - don't even consider a guide who
is not BASC registered unless you can get genuine personal
recommendations; don't consider any guide who makes exaggerated
claims of success - it is too easy to mention the week when a party
shot 50 geese and ignore all the other blank flights; and, finally,
do not go with unrealistic expectations - an average of one goose
per man per day is more than enough. The guide who promises more and
the client who expects more are a combination courting disaster and
disappointment. |