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Downsizer Forum Index -> Shooting and Trapping for the Pot

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woodsprite

Joined: 20 Mar 2006
Posts: 2943
Location: North Herefordshire

Posted: Tue Jun 08, 10 8:53 pm Post subject:
If it's a nice young un, bunny rissotto with chive pesto is delish. We have it often at this time of year.

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

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 10 6:37 pm Post subject:
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.

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

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 10 3:54 pm Post subject:
And then all it still takes is some busy body to see you & phone the plod & the Armed response unit turns up "guns blazing".

SheepShed

Joined: 08 Nov 2006
Posts: 332
Location: In the middle of a Welsh forest

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 10 4:05 pm Post subject:

RichardW wrote:

And then all it still takes is some busy body to see you & phone the plod & the Armed response unit turns up "guns blazing".

Unfortunately ARU's turn up all the time even when people are shooting in the middle of a 100 acre field, and even if they've done what some police forces request and phone up in advance to tell plod where and when they'll be shooting.
If we didn't shoot anywhere where busybodies might be offended, we may as well give up all together.
If you comply with the law and act responsibly then you are pursuing a legitimate activity and have nothing to afraid of.
Only Wood child can really tell whether it's safe and legal to shoot on the land in question, but shooting an air rifle with permission on private land isn't illegal (subject to the usual provisos) and isn't something we should be frightened off doing because of what people might think.

Wood child

Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 45

Posted: Sat Jun 12, 10 11:30 am Post subject:
Hey richard youre so paranoid.

Wood child

Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 45

Posted: Sat Jun 12, 10 11:30 am Post subject:
Thank you sheepshed, I agree entirely.

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Sat Jun 12, 10 1:04 pm Post subject:

Not quite what I meant. Was more meant to imply, watch you back, make sure you have signed permission on you when shooting, be a good neighbour. If some one makes that call they have to respond as if you are a nutter with a gun.

Also make sure you keep to the area you are allowed to shoot in. Technically entering other land even with an air rifle is Armed Trespass & has a minimum mandatory 5 year jail term. Stupid but true.

Wood child

Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 45

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 10 2:34 pm Post subject:
Anyone here from th US? what are gun laws like over there?

Brownbear

Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 14929
Location: South West

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 10 2:48 pm Post subject:

Wood child wrote:

Anyone here from th US? what are gun laws like over there?

Not from the US but know something of their firearms laws.

They vary from State to State, County to County, City to City. Some States have certain limits on magazine capacity, California for some bizarre Liberal reason banned long arms fitted with a pistol grip. some States permit the carrying of concealed handguns for people with no criminal record, some ban concealed carry but let you carry a pistol on your hip.

If you buy a Federal permit you can own fully automatic weapons that were in private hands before a certain date.

They have some odd laws about shooting seasons - which are far shorter and more tightly controlled than ours - and frequently bowhunters get an early start, followed by (again for no sane reason that I can see), people with black powder rifles, then modern rifles.

Americans have an almost Teutonic passion for odd and restrictive local statutes, and anyone who tells you that it's an armed free-for-all over there is talking through a non-oral opening.

Wood child

Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 45

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 10 3:04 pm Post subject:
Thanks Brown Bear. Hell, what is it with yanks and guns?

Brownbear

Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 14929
Location: South West

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 10 3:13 pm Post subject:

Wood child wrote:

Thanks Brown Bear. Hell, what is it with yanks and guns?

Along with abortion, race, and Christianity, it's one of the great issues by which Americans define themselves and others. To be a liberal, you have to be anti-guns, in favour of 'positive discrimination' for black people (though many white liberals keep a gun at home in case any actual black people should turn up on their doorstep), 'pro-choice' and in favour of a secular state.

To be a Conservative, you have to be pro-guns (whether you actually own one or not), anti-abortion (except when your daughter gets up the duff) and against 'positive discrimination' (for anyone except white Christians) and the secular state (as long as it's your own God in the driving seat).

They have many admirable qualities, and I'm sure we look as mad to them as they look to us.

Wood child

Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 45

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 10 4:26 pm Post subject:
Jeez. Anyway, isn't the definition of liberal: "willing to discard traditional values, and open to new behavior" such as carrying a gun. What a mess. Oh, and I don't know what positive discrimination means in real terms, please explain.

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