|
|
Author |
|
Message | |
|
gardening-girl
Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 6024 Location: Somerset.
|
|
|
|
|
judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
|
|
|
|
|
chez
Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 35935 Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
|
|
|
|
|
gil Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Posts: 18415
|
|
|
|
|
Tooth and Claw
Joined: 21 Feb 2009 Posts: 27 Location: Essex
|
|
|
|
|
Wood child
Joined: 08 Jun 2010 Posts: 45
|
|
|
|
|
sean Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 42219 Location: North Devon
|
|
|
|
|
maryf
Joined: 25 Oct 2009 Posts: 341 Location: suffolk
|
|
|
|
|
RichardW
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 8443 Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales
|
|
|
|
|
woodsprite
Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 2943 Location: North Herefordshire
|
|
|
|
|
Shane
Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 3467 Location: Doha. Is hot.
|
Posted: Wed Jun 09, 10 6:57 am Post subject: |
|
Wood child wrote: |
Hi, I'm new on the forum. Anyways, on the subject of rabbits, will a .22 air rifle kill one? Because I can get permission to shoot them on my allotment, and just wondering if an air rifle is humane? |
A .177 or .22 air rifle will cleanly kill a rabbit (or squirrel for that matter) inside of 35 yards, but it must be a head shot. You need to practice, practice, practice on targets at various ranges and in various weather conditions to ensure a clean kill every time.
As already pointed out, it is illegal to be in possession of an air rifle on public land without a valid reason. If you fire an air rifle on public land, you are committing a firearms offence, regardless of what permission you think you have. You can only shoot an air rifle on private land with the written permission of the land owner - which isn't necessarily the same party as the occupier (thinking of an allotment association here - suspect the land is owned by the council and hence probably classed as public).
Of course, you could trap the rabbits (again, with permission) and shoot them perfectly legally in your back garden (assuming you own rather than rent your house). |
|
|
|
|
SheepShed
Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 332 Location: In the middle of a Welsh forest
|
Posted: Wed Jun 09, 10 2:17 pm Post subject: |
|
Shane wrote: |
As already pointed out, it is illegal to be in possession of an air rifle on public land without a valid reason. If you fire an air rifle on public land, you are committing a firearms offence, regardless of what permission you think you have. You can only shoot an air rifle on private land with the written permission of the land owner - which isn't necessarily the same party as the occupier (thinking of an allotment association here - suspect the land is owned by the council and hence probably classed as public). |
The situation with controlling rabbits is slightly more complicated than that, in that a tenant's right to control rabbits is independent of the ownership of the shooting rights
Quote: |
The Ground Game Act 1880 gives an occupier the right to shoot rabbits on his/her land during the day and to authorise in writing one other person to do so. That person must be a member of the occupier's household or staff, or be employed for reward. |
But if Wood child is talking about a plot on an allotment society, shared by other allotment holders, then the answer is almost certainly a big no. In today's climate particularly, when the public are even more paranoid about guns than usual, it's likely to end up with the arrival of an Armed Response Unit and a lot of shouted instructions about dropping your gun and lying face down on the ground. |
|
|
|
|
Wood child
Joined: 08 Jun 2010 Posts: 45
|
|
|
|
|
SheepShed
Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 332 Location: In the middle of a Welsh forest
|
Posted: Fri Jun 11, 10 3:01 pm Post subject: |
|
Wood child wrote: |
Well, that said, this isn't a public allotment, and it IS legal to carry an air rifle in public, so long as its sleeved. |
If it's not accessible by the public and the person giving you the permission to shoot has the right to do so, then it's probably OK.
Bear in the mind that you need to ensure that none of the pellets will leave the boundary of the land on which you have permission, and that you can't shoot within 50ft of the center of a public highway 'in such a way as to cause alarm etc.' then it should be OK.
You can get a permission slip for the landowner to fill in from the BASC website https://www.basc.org.uk/en/shooting/pest-and-predator-control/pest-control-permission-slip.cfm and it's worth looking at their code of practice for airgunners
Then there's just the little matter of getting close enough and shooting accurately enough, which like Shane said, is practice, practice, practice |
|
|
|
|
RichardW
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 8443 Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales
|
|
|
|
|
|