Anyone ever been Mink hunting ?

[MC Bodge]

I am amazed by the hysteria about hunting (with or without dogs) on here and elsewhere.

I don't choose to do it, but have no objection to it.

I can't understand why so many people are so passionately against it. It often seems like a "class" thing.

[Piers_K]

drfrank said:

Ignorance is bliss (I guess).
They decimate the rivers' eco-systems, taking eggs from native birds, fish from the rivers and preventing colonisation of our own wildlife.
Keeping the mink population down is good for the rivers of this country but then I guess not many on here would recognise this. I'm a keen fly fisherman and protecting the rivers of this country is something I am passionate about, be the threat mink, pollution or cray fish !!!

I'm an angler, and also actively involved in fishery management of both lakes and rivers.
I'd disagree with a number of your points, but seeing as you live in Ireland and I'm In England we aren't exactly seeing the same situation.
Surface to say, there have been mink on my local waters for at least 25 years and they cause very little problems. A local stretch of the Kennet has a thriving water vole population, despite there also being mink resident in the area.
You want to hope a bunch of do gooders with little to no regulation don't start spreading otters all over the place, you'll long to have only mink to worry about....



Back to the OP... I've not been on a hunt but I've seen a number of them. We heard them coming from miles away, people shouting, dogs barking... It's Darwin in motion.. Any animal that gets caught deserves it for being stupid

[egor110]

There not really stupid though when the hunt spotters in radio contact directing the hunt when they loose the Fox/stag.

[Piers_K]

The OP was about a mink hunt, as was my comment...

[Tonsko]

Hadn't occurred to me to use dogs to trap a mink. Just use, er, a trap.

[mikeyr]

If it's anything like MILF hunting they use a man disguised as a plumber to locate and entrap one or more of their prey. This is required to thin the herd. I agree it shouldn't be done with dogs though...

[y2blade]

OP You might want to have a look at the ignorance surrounding Fox hunting on here.......before posting about cutey wutey little mink

[zygalski]

Wait until the poor ickle otters start getting culled. Then you'll see an outcry.
I'm also a keen angler & their reintroduction is an absolute disaster. Unless you're an otter.

[Pothole]

zygalski said:

Wait until the poor ickle otters start getting culled. Then you'll see an outcry.
I'm also a keen angler & their reintroduction is an absolute disaster. Unless you're an otter.

"an absolute disaster"

Bold claim. Do expand.

[Halb]

egor110 said:

Why would anyone go along to spectate any hunting?

I totally understand if your a farmer and you have a pest you need to get rid of, but why would anyone treat destroying a animal as something to do on a day out?

Because people like to see other animals kill other animals?