Prince William goes 'deer culling' in Balmoral

[vera99]

What's wrong with these people? I can maybe understand the need for occasional culling (though it is most often for the human agency not a concern for the animal) but to go out and enjoy stalking these magnificent creatures get them in the sights of your guns and kill them - that's just sick.

PS. King Charles was a big fan of fox hunting

AIBU? - Yes this is actual nature conservation activity and William is showing concern and leadership in participating in the shooting.

YANBU? - No this is a sick perverted hobby of the super-rich who glory in the pleasure killing of defenceless animals.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11300807/Prince-Wales-visits-Balmoral-goes-deer-stalking-Scotland-trip-Queens-funeral.html

"Deer stalking is the act of culling ageing stags that would otherwise die in the winter, with William shooting his first when he was 14 years old, something that is said to have left him delighted at the time.
The activity, which has been a shared passion among generations of the Royal Family, was encouraged by William's father King Charles III, while Princess Diana used to jokingly call him 'my killer Wales'.
William is not thought to have been joined in Scotland by his wife Catherine, who is herself a keen markswoman, and their children. A spokesman for Kensington Palace declined to comment."

An ethical viewpoint

Providing some balance while we're sharing links.....foxes are not 'cute', they're wild predators and the population is out of control, particularly in urban areas.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/10251349 (Mother's 'nightmare' after baby twins 'mauled' by fox)

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21399709 (Fox attacked baby boy in own home, police say)

news.sky.com/story/fox-could-have-ripped-baby-to-pieces-in-attack-at-familys-home-11250657

metro.co.uk/2018/02/15/killer-urban-fox-attacks-baby-bouncer-sneaking-family-home-7314171/

www.her.ie/life/horror-as-fox-attacks-one-month-old-baby-in-cot-at-home-27129

I'm not advocating fox hunting, which has been illegal for years by the way - people drag hunt now, including the Royals, which involves following a scent. However, it is our responsibility to manage populations when it is our presence that has caused numbers to soar, when they wouldn't have done so naturally (building cities, which mean foxes have easy access to food, removing the larger predators etc. With the deer, deforestation, which means they're not as spread out.)

They don’t shoot them from moving vehicles but they know where they are and chase them to places so they are sure the paying hunters actually shoot something . I hate it

If you don't cull deer, there will be no trees. Many other species will suffer from habitat loss.

The most humane way to cull is to shoot, and that takes immense skill and patience and hard work. A good hunter will kill a deer instantly, with one shot.

The posters on this thread are a good reason for independence They're showing they have no understanding of the countryside; the eco system in Scotland; the role of gamekeepers; the purposes of culling, etc.
It's odd that social media makes information more accessible and yet certain people seem to have become more insular and ignorant about the rest of the UK. Sadly that lack of knowledge doesn't stop them having opinions on topics they don't understand.

This!
All these people claiming it is not rich people hunting obviously do not live anywhere where there are deer hunts.

@Plantstrees As I am sure you know, you can hunt stag until the 20th of October. Please stop trying to mislead people.
scotsportuk.com/hunting-seasons/

Lots of different issues being tangled up here and argued about in confusion.

Wildlife culling is sometimes necessary - deer, mink, grey squirrel, ruddy duck, hedgehogs, rats, badgers, foxes...
Culling is not the same as sport/trophy hunting but the two are often conflated to make the moral arguments less clear cut, although in the global conservation sector there still is fierce disagreement over whether trophy hunting contributes positively to conservation efforts.
The Royal Family - on the surface are in support of conservation, but also clearly enjoy the 'sporting' aspect of blood sports, and perhaps their estate managers are not always abiding by the letter of the law (possible illegal killing of raptors etc)
So are we debating the ethics and objectives of wildlife culls, or the morals/hypocrisy of the Royal Family?

As a vegan I agree with the contraception option op.
Surely most people even if they’re not vegan would see the benefit in this more humane method.

Time for these doors to go

I wonder if a petition was set up how many would sign it.

I honestly can't stand them.

When will people understand that the royal Family will do what they want, when they want. They control what is put out in the press as much as they can and don't give a toss what people think as long as the money keeps flowing.

The facts are that culling is necessary but this way of doing it is not the most humane. It may take longer to stun and kill but surely, if you actually cared and weren't just going for the thrill of the kill, you Wouk's do it the longer way. Not like they can't afford it.

Has anyone read The Most Dangerous Game...? I have an idea 😈

Doors 😂 dopes

Fair play to him, it’s a job that needs doing. Know a few lads that go deer stalking (all working class), the carcass is stripped and the meat is sold.

It is a “sport” at the end of the day, though one with a tangible output (food) and an added bonus of population control.

Deer need culled. They are pests.
At the same time, it is disgusting so much land in Scotland is owned by the rich and that this activity is a playground for the privileged.
I have no problem with workers/crofters/locals killing deer, as I imagine the meat is eaten and does not go to waste.

People saying this is wrong are speaking from sheer ignorance on the need to cull the animals which cause damage to the environment, will grow in numbers to the point they starve because the environment can not sustain them. Deer will double their numbers each year so even the more ignorant can see the numbers aren't sustainable You need a special licence and training to cull deer, and they must be killed with a clean killing shot. With no natural predators like wolves and bears there is no alternative.

Exactly this, apart from being a lifelong vegetarian.
I was a veggie for a long time until I stopped for a variety of reasons, but I always supported country activities, including the usual practices like culling, sports, trapping, etc.
None of these are as cruel as some of the practices within the meat industry.

Wild animals need to be controlled in our increasingly shrinking countryside.
Pests need to be controlled or destroyed.
Farmed animals need to be husbanded economically. What else do they do with all the surplus males, eating their heads off?

Without shooting and conservation, farmers and landowners wouldn't be able to afford to maintain the woodlands and spinneys, wouldn't bother maintaining thick hedgerows, etc that provide habitats and cover. Only the very rich ones, probably.
i don't want to see a countryside like a prairie, with huge fields and no hedgerows, growing monoculture crops that go into factories to be made into vegetarian meat substitutes.

I live in Scotland. Like some other people on this thread I see what stag hunters do. It is because we see it we know what really happens and do not believe the twittering on social media from hunters defending it.
I see them going out to feed deer in winter to keep the numbers high so they can hunt them more easily in nicer weather.
It like fox hunting. A professional marksman going out and a quick shoot of the weakest and oldest fine - alongside an enforced ban on feeding of wild deer.
Versus rich people shooting healthy magnificent stags for fun, often after chasing them for hours.

If they wouldn't survive the winter, why the need to cull them? We wouldn't do that with any other animal - we'd let nature take its course.

That's a rhetorical question by the way. I know deer populations are too high and need reducing. I also know full well than an overpopulation is maintained by many big estates because it makes them profit. That's why they feed the deer over winter. People enjoy shooting.

For many of us, we accept that because of humans messing up the balance of nature, culling may be necessary. William and others like him are not the best people for the job, they’re not ‘rural workers’, that’s my objection. Turning this into a jolly day out for them and treating it like an entertaining sport, something for them to have a go at.

Not an ignorant city dweller, I’ve seen people hunting and live in the countryside. My family were/are farmers and I’m vegan.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Head of the World Wildlife Fund. And big game hunting enthusiast, Google pics of him with his kills. Utter hypocrisy down the generations, this is just the latest iteration.

I am just about to go out with a local litter picking group as our forests are seeing unusually high levels atm. Why doesn’t William do something like this rather than murder the wildlife?

We are tying to prevent wildlife being damaged or hurt in our area with litter whilst he is busy wrecking havoc and killing the wildlife in another. It is sickening to me.

I wonder if we'll eventually get 'zombie deer disease' / chronic wasting over here. Do NOT look this up on Youtube unless you have a strong stomach. Put me right off eating venison, that did.

All culled deer will be sold for meat.

And what you want is trained markspeople/gamekeepers shooting the deer, not any random with a shotgun. Skill is way more important than income level or job title.

I made the Scottish countryside point in my earlier post.
But there's been a daily thread criticising William and Kate about nonsense since they became PoW. It's all bullshit and obviously orchestrated. It makes MN look like Tattle.
Hopefully MN will start putting the threads in the Royal section and take them out of trending. It would be even better if they deleted them as they do for threads about more litigious RF members but I'm not holding my breath on that. fwiw I'm not a royalist but I hate the misinformation and nastiness these threads trade in.

Do people realise that William (and Harry) trained as Army officers are a both probably quite good at firing guns?