Hunting and Grouse shooting exempt from rule of six- what a surprise..

[Tellmetruth4]

So if poor people want to meet their extended families could they just club together to hire some land and claim they are chasing foxes followed by a nice pub lunch after? Would they be fined?

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/14/hunting-in-england-exempt-from-rule-of-six-covid-19-restrictions

No tennis ? Given that it's one of the most socially distanced sports that's ridiculous
How often does tennis involve more than six people? The list is of the activities exempt from the rule of six, tennis doesn't need to be exempt.

My brother runs an outdoor activity club that’s not cancelled, neither is our local scouts.

@Tellmetruth4

Hunting and shooting animals are not sports. I don’t care if the arseholes who enjoy killing things are rich and powerful enough to lobby for their sickness to be classified as a sport. They aren’t sports.

A big chunk of the reason why people take part in these ‘sports’ is for the socialisation which follows. There is no way they will shoot Grouse then all get in their cars and go home. They will all go to have lunch on the estate or a local country pub. That’s a massive part of the day. There will be far more than 6 of them too.

Some hunts have up to 200 people attending. They will not all stand 1 metre apart and go straight home. Many enjoy the hunt for the ‘partying’ according to this article in Tatler.

www.tatler.com/gallery/british-hunting-life-uk

Festival owners should lobby for dancing to music over 120BPM to be classified as a sport. It would make more sense than shooting birds out of the sky for fun so you can drink ale and sloe gin with your mates after.

Most rugby clubs have a bar in the club house. Golf likewise. Socialising is a part of most sports. You're clutching at straws now.

Why isn't hiking on there?
There are plenty of walking groups out there.

Our walking groups can only do up to 6 people

I’m not clutching at straws at all. Rugby is a sport. The motivation for getting together is to take part in a sport and yes there is socialising after. However, the main motivator of hunters isn’t to engage in a sport it’s to gather in a large elitist group. Sport is not the motivation, it’s tradition, being seen and socialising.

Oh it's a sport like any other is it? Can someone post the latest league table please? Who's the current world champion grouse shooter? What are the rules, do you need to shoot a certain amount during each grouse shooting match?

Of course they’re sports. You just don’t like them so don’t want them to be, but it doesn’t change the fact that they are.

Calm yourself down and stop trying to turn this into something it’s not.

@chomalungma

Why isn't hiking on there? There are plenty of walking groups out there.

Our walking groups can only do up to 6 people

The Ramblers have said that organised walks are exempt from the rule of 6.

Although that I expect that many organised walks include pub or café stops but it would probably be OK because you'd be limited to tables of 6, but you'd have to watch with the mingling, and maybe that part should be treated differently to the walk?

Of course they’re sports. You just don’t like them so don’t want them to be, but it doesn’t change the fact that they are

I would say it's an outdoor activity.
With guns.

I think our government are a bunch of immoral, incompetent fools (and that's me being generous). However, its clear that this is an outdoor sport given dispensation alongside other outdoor sports. There are real issues to focus on, this isnt one of them.

Deer populations need to be kept in check.

So how come, @VeniVidiWeeWee, they are kept in check in my local park without being hunted? Could it be that the authorities there have found a way to cull them that doesn't involve a load of idiots going out and killing them for fun?

I am delighted that my children can continue with their weekend football which is pretty much saving their mental health - but that doesn’t quite fit your narrative does it OP.

Have you looked up the definition of what is a sport? Shooting is a huge skill so it is a sport you cannot argue they even if you don’t like it as a sport.
Even with these rules lots of shoots I know are splitting guns into groups of 6 which is easily done so they can shoot in their group and socialize afterwards in the same group of 6 and the same for the beaters. However beaters are often paid so it is their workplace so for them different rules apply for while they are working.
You have obviously never been around a shoot, there are people from all walks of life, it isn’t as elitist as you think. Yes going on a grouse shoot is expensive but there is all sorts of shooting. Many go pigeon shooting or duck shooting for free if you know a farmer. Pheasant shooting also doesn’t need to be hugely expensive if you choose a small shoot and help out or a walk one stand one day.

@Pobblebonk I hate to break it to you but deer in parks are regularly shot to keep the populations in check otherwise they would cause over grazing and eventually some would starve. www.frp.org.uk/deer-cull-royal-parks-advice/

@ameliajoan

Yes hunting is a sport. A cruel one that is more about socialising and men and women trying to prove how macho they are by killing innocent, defenceless animals. They try and they fail. They just make themselves look like the weak, pathetic cowards that they are. People who kill animals for pleasure scare me. It is how some of the world's worst serial killers started out.

As I said. Hunting to eat = fine. The people I know who kill purely for food don't take pleasure in it. Culling to stop over population has to be done at the moment. Although in the future, the return of a natural predator would be better.

Definition of sport:

sport
noun
1.
an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Are the hunts competing against one another? Who is currently the worlds top hunt or hunter?

Ahh another thread trying to create a them vs us narrative out of a spurious story. If you hate hunting OP, why not try a more honest post: 'I hate hunting AIBU?'

Supporters are claiming hunting is a sport because they want it be. However, it doesn’t meet the textbook definition of sport.

Dp is very happy about this, he shoots and their first day is planned for end of next month.

If it helps OP, I ALMOST started a similar AIBU - but then I read a bit more and saw it was all outdoor sports and activities.

So I didn't.

It's not a sport though.
It's an outdoor activity

I hope they don't socialise afterwards in groups larger than 6.

The ethical debate surrounding hunting is a separate issue to its classification as a sport and its inclusion in the list of 'rule of 6' exemptions, and indeed to what you think of having 'rule of 6' exemptions for sports at all.

Much as I personally dislike bloodsports and think that exempting sports, I acknowledge that shooting is a sport and is no more likely than rugby to lead to covid transmission (in fact is say it's less likely), so under the rules as they are, there's no reason for rugby to be exempt but not shooting.

Awful clickbait title on that article.

[quote Florin]@Pobblebonk I hate to break it to you but deer in parks are regularly shot to keep the populations in check otherwise they would cause over grazing and eventually some would starve. www.frp.org.uk/deer-cull-royal-parks-advice/[/quote]
I hate to break it to you, @Florin, but if you had bothered to read my post you would have discovered that I know that. The clue's in the word "cull".

Please tell me you didn't seriously imagine I thought they got left to die of old age?

It's a sport and very low risk - exh has been playing golf similarly. A lot lower risk than busy pubs. (I hate hunting but it's legal)

Hahaha good old guardian whipping up class wars.

Wankers.

@Florin

Outside of hunting for food/culling, shooting animals is awful. And the kind of sport hunting being talked about is the kind where people go to prove how 'strong' they are. They go to have a laugh. They go to try to kill more than everyone else. Being able to shoot an animal dead is not something to be proud of or show off about. It is not brave, it is not strong, it is not admirable. It is disgusting. Hunting, when done for the sake of it, does not help the environment. Like when Prince Harry and some mates went sport hunting grouse. What they were really doing was illegally shooting endangered hen harriers. I say all of this as a conservationist. At uni, the lecturers made us study both sides of the argument, so I have done research on this.