Peter, is there an equivalent ID test for quail shooters?
I was surprised to learn last year that there is still a (Stubble) Quail
season in Victoria. And I was stunned to read a Victorian government report
which said that in the last quail shooting season they estimate that 678,000
quail were killed. I wouldn't have believed there were this many quail in
the entire state but the report claims fairly rigorous methods based on
surveys of what hunters have said they shot. (And extrapolated out, taking
into account all the licence holders who said they didn't go shooting.)
What concerns me most, is how the hell do these quail shooters identify
their prey? I know even after thirty years' birding I struggle to identify a
quail as it whirrs up from below my feet. In that split second that a bird
bursts from cover I still regularly momentarily mistake a pipit, skylark or
songlark for a quail, let alone nailing an ID of which quail (button-quail
or Plains Wanderer) it is.
Is there any ID test for quail shooters, and if so, do they get the
extraordinary luxury of 20 seconds to make their choice as we have learnt
prospective duck hunters have in their ID tests? In my experience, most
quail encounters are over in about 5 seconds or less.
I wonder how many of the estimated 678,000 birds killed were actually
Stubble Quail? How many Little Button-quail, Red-chested Button-quail or
Plains Wanderer? We know that Plains Wanderer still exist near Melbourne as
one was "brought in" by a hunting dog a couple of years ago. How many others
got blasted that we never hear about, particularly as the majority of quail
hunting takes place on private land, away fom prying eyes.
Sean
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Peter Shute
Sent: Tuesday, 7 February 2012 7:36 AM
To: Peter Shute; 'Dave Torr'; 'Dimitris Bertzeletos'
Cc: 'Birding Australia'
Subject: Duck shooting season- There'san identification
test?
Part of the training DVD can be viewed here, at the bottom of the page:
http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/game-hunting/game/australian-water-fowl
Peter Shute
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> On Behalf Of Peter
> Shute
> Sent: Tuesday, 7 February 2012 7:24 AM
> To: 'Dave Torr'; 'Dimitris Bertzeletos'
> Cc: 'Birding Australia'
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Duck shooting season- There's an
> identification test?
>
> When the test first came in, people I know who had been duck shooting
> for years had to buy the training video in order to be good enough to
> pass the test. I would imagine therefore that they're a lot better at
> id in flight than they were before, which is a good thing.
>
> The video is called "Ducks in Sight". I've got a vague memory of
> seeing it for sale at the BOCA shop, so I get the impression it's
> useful for learning id.
>
> I don't think they're required to ever sit the test again, so just
> like a drivers' licence, there's nothing stopping people who've
> forgotten everything they learned from shooting/driving regardless.
> But the tests do stop those who can't be bothered learning id from
> ever getting a licence, so I imagine there are far less illegal
> species shot by mistake than there were before.
>
> How many are shot anyway, I don't know. Those collected by volunteers
> are probably a small percentage of the total, given how many shooters
> use private wetlands. I'm guessing enforcement is the problem now, not
> id skills.
>
> Peter Shute
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:
> > On Behalf Of Dave
> > Torr
> > Sent: Tuesday, 7 February 2012 6:34 AM
> > To: Dimitris Bertzeletos
> > Cc: Birding Australia
> > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Duck shooting season- There's an
> > identification test?
> >
> > Anyone who wants to drive a car has to pass a test, but the evidence
> > is that it doesn't help some people drive safely. I assume the duck
> > shooting test is likely to be even less of a success!
> >
> > On 7 February 2012 02:35, Dimitris Bertzeletos
> > <
> > > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Hello all,
> > >
> > > I've just learned that there's an identification test that
> > waterfowlers
> > > need to pass before they can shoot in the field. Anyone
> > have any idea how
> > > stringent this is? Evidence suggests not stringent enough...
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > >
> > > D.
> > >
> > >
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