The following conversation took place on a Facebook page called ‘Gamekeeper chat’ on 12 February 2017. They were discussing buzzards:
Not very bright, is he?
Shall we just remind ourselves what Dr Colin Sheddon (BASC) said in his recent evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Environment Committee? He told MSPs that a licensing scheme to regulate gamebird hunting in Scotland wasn’t necessary as all those who shoot game are already regulated via their shotgun certificates and that “shotgun certificate holders are among the most law-abiding sector of society and any hint of illegal activity can lead to the right to hold a certificate, and the ability to shoot, being withdrawn“.
Raptor Persecution UK 
What a numpty!
this exchange has confirmed what I already believed. Having seen the work of gamekeepers I find it repulsive to read his words about protecting wildlife. I would say that gamekeepers are , along with shooters and Hunts, the killers in our community, of all our wildlife. They have no respect for t he way that nature works. As you can see , they know that they can get away with shooting, putting snares up and other traps, poisons and how their secrecy allows this. The worst of humans and the enemy of all who cherish all our widlife.
Thanks Marta
Says it all.
“…loose(!) all guns, possibly job and go to prison.” Er – if only!
Apologies for my lapse in concentration, if the raptor police don’t want you there is always the grammar police!
Are you not who you claim to be?
I am a part time game keeper over 650acres of suffolk farmland. I and many other keepers, do a lot of conservation work such as coppicing, hedge laying and generally improving the habitat for all farmland birds, not just game birds. (I have a very healthy barn owl and kestrel population, i dont know if they count as “raptors” because they aren’t emotive enough for you) While I agree with numb nuts that buzzards are a pain in the ass I don’t agree with getting rid of them, if for no other reason than we don’t need the bad publicity!
Start persecuting barn owls and kestrels and, yes it will be ’emotive’ then you and your friends can set up a FB hate page against anyone who dares to speak out and expose the persecution, and pester their employer to sack them! How dare they have concerns, after all.
Alex think you’ll find people who care about wildlife will get ’emotive’ about any species which on top of the usual threats, development, intensive agriculture, pollution and pesticides – is also vilified and persecuted due to its perceived threat to a ‘hobby’ which has actually become an unhealthy obsession when it imposes an social and environmental cost on others. If waders were being shot, pole trapped, poisoned because it was felt they were ‘out of control’ instead then I’m sure this would be wader persecution uk. Stupid idea waders being ‘out of control’…exactly, or culling blue tits to save endangered moth caterpillars for that matter. They have as much legitimately as saying that any animal can increase at the expense of its food supply – the line the SGA, CA etc have been spinning about raptors.
Alex, I am a part time lorry driver and find paying for diesel a pain in the ass but I don’t agree will using red diesel, if for no other reason than we don’t need the bad publicity.
You forgot that all birds of prey are protected in law and by killing them constitutesba criminal offence.
And by the way I don’t beat my children either for the same reason!
Good retort Alex. Now go tell your cronies to leave our raptors in peace there’s a good chap (I might have missed some punctuation).
And will Mark be receiving a visit from those in blue soon to explain his comments?
Well presumably all the gamekeepers on that forum will have reported him to the police because there’s no such thing as a wall of silence…….
I would hope that the SGA and NGO are checking their membership lists…. they will need his address so that they can send him a medal.
If it’s one thing all these hunting and shooting people like to do its brag about what they’ve done. If they had any sense they really would be dangerous.
They wouldn’t be dangerous if their brains were dynamite.
How long would it take an officer in a wildlife crime unit to cross reference the words Brad and Maloney with their shotgun license list? Five mins?
He should be easy to identify, from a ‘selfy’ in 2013 on his Facebook page. If anyone knows how to screenshot this?
And these “masterminds” are managing to outwit our police forces!
Simple facebook search shows Alex Payne as a part time gamekeeper from Newmarket and Mark Maloney appears to be from Wales a place called Hengoed
I am indeed, well done sherlock 😉
How do we know that these are genuine posts, and not a set up by the antis?
Ah yes, the good old anti set-up. Couldn’t have been the antis – they’re too busy setting out poisoned baits and illegal traps to set up an unsuspecting gamekeeper.
Time for you to do some detective work then. Go and see for yourself!
Here’s the group, you don’t have to scroll far:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/gamekeepingchat/
It’s a closed group.
Well, at least Alex Payne is talking sense, whilst Mr Maloney is hanging himself.
This is likely to be standard practice and views for gamekeepers
Well done for highlighting this intellectual discussion, but of course it comes as no surprise. Like everything we know about raptor persecution, this is another tip of the iceberg. Having known (and unfortunately having to work with) a number of gamekeepers during the course of my life, I know that such an attitude is typical, not just the views of “a small minority of idiots.” I’d go as far as to say that judging from the sample of keepers I’ve known, most of them, especially grouse moor “wildlife managers”, have a collective vision of exterminating Hen Harriers. In England they have been particularly successful in almost achieving this ultimate goal. Agitation from defenders of harriers provokes them into upping their efforts regarding that species. I knew and respected Dr Colin Sheddon when he was a student, and it saddens me greatly to see him having joined the ranks of the deniers within the shooting community.
Cannot find a Mark Maloney as a Member of Gamekeeper Chat.
Did he jump or was he pushed?
What happened to Shedden graduating with a zoology degree and then joining the BASC? How does that happen? You’d think a zoology degree would instil a respect for the diversity of nature rather than the monoculture of the uplands…
People are all different. I knew a gamekeeper years ago who was also a keen birder and bird-ringer.
But his employer BASC, GWCT et al will tell you that grouse moors are super-rich havens for biodiversity, thanks to the “enlightened” habitat management carried out by their gamekeepers. Apparently these hot spots are teeming with breeding waders, Ring Ouzels (why do they always mention them?), and some even go as far as to say that breeding Hen Harriers are “thriving” on English grouse moors. These lies and so many more are so easy to disprove, so why do they get away with it so often? By repeating them ad nauseum, politicians and possibly even the general public seem to believe them. Natural England remains surprisingly silent on the most ridiculous of their claims. Paper tigers.
Its a profession that seems to attract and employ a lot of scumbags
They think Chris Packham is a threat to their industry, but comments like this are a far bigger threat than a bloke off the TV!
The real problem is that these morons think that the countryside some how needs them to look after it. “what you got to do to look after wildlife” and ” improving habitat for all farmland birds” ( is that why most farmland birds are in decline?) The countryside managed very well for millions of years before you murdering bunch of bastards came along and will manage for many more after you have f****** off , cant come soon enough for me.
It;s worth noting that the commnet was made on ‘Gamekeeping Chat’ on the 12th Feb, but wasn’t removed and condemned for 9 whole days. It took RPUK’s blog to get it removed and condemned. Seems they’re only quick to make a noise when they’re caught out!