Don't stand in the firing line

Rural crime is on the increase but don’t be tempted to take on the culprits yourself — get wildlife police involved, urges Liam Bell

- Liam Bell

As sure as day follows night, hare coursing and the poaching of game birds and deer become more prevalent after harvest. The seasonal increase in poaching and rural crime generally isn’t for any noble reason or observation of a season of any sort, it is simply due to the fact that until the corn is cut most things have somewhere to hide and are relatively safe. People who poach things have no respect for property nor the law, never mind the breeding and growing seasons of what they kill.

My first bit of advice when dealing with these people is to make sure you stay safe. We have all heard stories of keepers single-handedly taking on gangs of poachers and not only getting away with it, but putting the fear of God into them, but I do wonder how many times it has happened.

Approaching a single lamper in the middle of a field is one thing; trying to take on a car or multiple cars full of hare coursers who have travelled an unknown distance and who are riding around your fields in an unregistered vehicle is quite another.

If the latter, taking notes, following them and calling the police are not only the right things to do, they are also the safe things to do. No deer, no hare or pheasant is worth your getting hurt. No matter how hard it is to hold back, no matter how difficult you find it to keep a distance, it is the right thing to do if you are outnumbered.

Confrontation

Get close enough to identify them, and their vehicle and their dogs, and to find out whether or not they are armed, but try to avoid any direct physical confrontation if you can.

Talking to them and telling them to clear offmight be your instinct, but trying to enforce it if they become aggressive is another matter entirely.