Musings of an old hunter

I have lived in the UK for over 35 years but when I was in Malta I was a hunter. In those days we shot at anything, whenever and for as long as it pleased us. What today is called indiscriminate shooting was the norm.

There were never complaints in the papers or anywhere else, but then nobody was looking for any.

Five-shot repeaters were the order of the day and there were people who had seven-shot repeaters.

During migration times everything was game, the rarer the bird, the better. If migration is underway, the hunter has to be out there, whatever the weather.

The main migratory birds that were eligible to be called "shot for the pot" made their appearance twice a year. On a few good days there might be thousands of them. On many days it was just a trickle. On the rest, nothing.

These are, of course, the quail and the turtle dove.

When some birds are expected to show up, not all those with guns were proper hunters. Some were just shooters and they would shoot at just about anything. These people did not have that something that personifies hunters (and trappers) and were not particularly liked by the hunters.

The so-called "hunters" would be the main ones killing thousands of sea birds or swifts or swallows, but the real hunters did it as well, even if in less frequency, as it was not considered to be bad.

Absenteeism from work in the two migration periods was notoriously high and most people, especially government workers, were off sick for weeks in those two migration periods.

I think that the hunter of 40 years ago should not be criticised by today's standards. The environment in those days was not the same. The education was not the same. The mindset was not the same.

Expecting existing hunters to turn into bird photographers or even bird watchers is expecting something that will never happen. There is just no comparison, in my opinion.

I have no first-hand knowledge about the state of affairs relating to hunters and trappers in Malta throughout the year, except for one day when I was on holiday there.

It was in April 2006 and I had taken my wife to Dingli cliffs, hoping to see some birds there. We could see honey buzzards coming in ones and twos along the lower ridge, from the left hand side if you're facing the sea, being shot at and, if not killed, climbing up to the top ridge and, as soon as they saw the trees at Buskett, they made a bee line to them, flying well within gun range.

Not one made it out of several. They all got shot at and killed on the way there. The place must have been crawling with guns.

My wife was horrified at what she was witnessing. She was very distressed. As for me, what I was seeing then was exactly the same as I would have seen it 40 years ago. No change whatsoever.

I try to convince myself that if I had stayed in Malta I would not have done what all these hunters were doing.

But the nagging in my head says that if I stayed in Malta I would be doing exactly the same as I was witnessing. Even though I knew they were protected and it would be against the law, the namra would make sure it blinkered everything out so that, if a bird flew within range, it would be nearly impossible for me not to pull the trigger.

I was lucky to have made the break all those years ago as I would have suffered the agonies that all the Maltese hunters are going through. Their pastime is being restricted year by year until there is nothing left. They are fighting a losing battle but they cannot give up. Their namra will not rest until they are simply unable to physically fire a gun.

Those who, they see as their enemy, BirdLife and its ilk, will never be able to understand what drives hunters to hunt and they are getting stronger, and I believe that the Maltese people not involved in the battle between the hunter and the bird lover are starting to take notice.

They, too, do not understand what makes the hunter want to hunt, so they will side with the bird lover and eventually they will say enough is enough. Then, the powers that be will have to act and hunting in Malta will eventually disappear completely.

That day is not yet. There is still a lot of pain to go through.

www.vassass.co.uk