Hunting, more than any other outdoor activities provides an understanding and appreciation of wildlife in its natural habitat. Recently, we sat down with two hunters from United Kingdom and Ireland to discuss their thoughts about HUNTING.

Carmel Royce: "KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! Get to know your ground, learn the habits of your quarry, most habitual watch them! Patience is a virtue, as success does not occur overnight but it does occur!"

Shane O Neill: "Hunting is in my DNA, we as humans is helping in any way possible to achieve the correct world balance!"

Continue reading to learn the story by Carmel Royce and Shane O Neil!

Tell Us Who You are

Carmel Royce, 51 years old, comes from the UK region, 41 years of field sports and clay pigeon shooting, 22 years working for Swillington and Blairfettie estate, Head stalker. #Carmel Royce   

Shane O Neill, 32 years of age from kilkenny in Ireland, "I have a very keen interest in conservation and bio diversity, which is why I am passionate about correct vermin control measures and breeding programs to ensure a balance is achieved to the best of our efforts when it comes to field sports and nature. I run a very successful Facebook hunting group called #Hunting Eire , which has nearly 7,000 members. We all share the same passions, field sports, hunting & animals.”

Motivation and Understanding for Hunting

Royce and Shane give some similar feedback. Royce is a traditional hunter who hunts for Nature and Conservation, "I hope more people will take an interest in what we do on estate as it's not just about shooting, it's finding the right balance."

Shane agrees and adds more personal understanding, "When I was a child, my father had me out at an early age hunting and rearing Gamebirds, etc., and it escalated from there. I have a strong passion for Gamebirds and I'm involved in various breeding programs in Ireland, including the native grey partridge project. The Grey partridge is Ireland native Gamebird, but it became extinct in Ireland. The NARGC, the Ireland's leading game council, started up a grey partridge project to reintroduce them back in Ireland. In a sense, it's what got me into hunting."

Shane also added, "For now, hunting is already in my DNA, too much of our food has become excessively processed and intensive; I'd much rather go out and harvest my own meat, knowing exactly where it came from and that it wasn't caged or force-fed. Also, for some animals to survive, there needs to be a balance. When predators are not controlled, you will have an imbalance, every animal has a purpose in biodiversity, but when the predator outbreeds its prey, there will be an imbalance, that's when vermin control comes in. It's no coincidence that the vermin we are allowed to control are not becoming threatened, that's because they are outbreeding their prey, therefore we as humans need to help in any way possible to achieve the correct balance, it is critical for the survival of hundreds of species on this planet." 

Hunting Stories and Tips

As a hunter with over 40 years of experience, Royce was pleased to share his story with us. Normally, his hunting equipment kits including Weather by Rifles, Optics S&B and Swarovski, HIKMICRO ALPEX and FALCON, and JM Custom knife. Royce told us, "We shoot all year round on the estate both hill and lowland but my favorite time is Roebuck season! It's termed stalking for a reason: 50 to 250 meters is the typical shooting distance. Foxes these using all the modern technology probably nothing over 150m but most are shot under 100m. We have 4 species of deer on our estate but I do have access to the other 2."

Sounds simple, but we totally do agree with Royce, Royce continues to sharing more hunting stories, "I have the unique opportunity of been able to test all products as the estate has its own shooting supplies at Swillington and for me HIKMICRO works the best, especially the ALPEX. It has to be the best tool for fox control, it's so simple to set up and use. We had a problem with a fox that wouldn't come to call or bait, so we set up the ALPEX, and with the help of the HIKMICRO FH35 thermal camera, I was able to track him down, stalk him at night, and eventually trap it."

*Before purchasing any thermal or digital day & night vision device, please make sure you adhere to the local ledislation and only use it when it is allowed. Our ambassadors come from various countries and travel a lot, which allows them to test different devices. We do not encourage or support the illegal use of our devices in any events.