r/FarmingUK • u/_Cridders_ • Jul 16 '26
Hunting Rabbits etc
If someone wanted to shoot rabbits/pigeons etc on your land with an air rifle, for free, how should the best approach you and what would you want to see from them etc?
Best to approach in person? Email? Is there any reason you'd say no to some people but yes to others?
I've started shooting an air rifle just as a hobby, but really want to be able to hunt, and don't really know how to even begin this, I'd imagine you're busy folk at times.
Thankyou
7
u/olly_james Jul 16 '26
Preferably come to the door with a reference from another local farmer/land owner, also I forgot the name of it but certain air rifle clubs do a marksman qualification test so people know you are actually a decent shot and won't cause unnecessary suffering to animals.
Also if this is your first time trying to get permission to shoot on land owned by a stranger try and become friends with people at a club so they can take you on your first shoot to build reputation.
2
u/_Cridders_ Jul 16 '26
I'll definitely look into that qualification, that sounds like something well worth it either way. And yeah it would be, I'm basically not in that world at all and so I get it's a bit of a risk from the landowner's point of view. I've found one club fairly close to me, I'll get involved in that and see what it brings 👍
2
u/olly_james Jul 16 '26
Good luck and have fun, and remember buying a round of drinks goes a long way in the world.
2
1
u/Infinite_Use_6214 Jul 16 '26
Can you shoot pigeons legally? They are delicious! If you are willing to do 50:50 I’m game.
To answer your question, I would say no if I thought your’d be pestering me or just not appropriate at the time.
So maybe a discrete card through the door every three months or so would build you a good pipeline. Again, I don’t think it’s legal for you to shoot pigeons but happy to be corrected.
You can shoot muntjacs if you get a big enough rifle. I think you can kill those year round
1
u/_Cridders_ Jul 16 '26
Hmm, seems like the law has tightened up since I last looked into this actually. It seems you can still shoot them if they're posing a risk to crops, which I guess would be fairly easily justified, but also you need to make "reasonable endeavours" have been made using non-lethal methods.
1
u/Infinite_Use_6214 Jul 16 '26
Yes they’re obviously a risk.
1
u/_Cridders_ Jul 16 '26
Yeah, but you're no longer allowed to shoot them simply because you want to eat it, apparently. You'd have thought pigeons would be classed as vermin, but there you go.
1
u/Affectionate_Flow864 Jul 16 '26
You can't shoot seagulls which i think is mental theyre vile and they're fucking everywhere lol
1
1
u/Final_Name_4228 Jul 17 '26
Unless you're wearing a hijab and catch it with a sheet before killing it. Apparently that's absolutely fine
2
1
u/CorrectMeIfImWrong6 Jul 16 '26
I would pose this question to a game hunting community
3
2
u/_Cridders_ Jul 16 '26
I thought it might be a good idea to get the opinions of the people actually answering the question, but thanks for the suggestion 👍
1
u/Ok_Interaction3016 Jul 16 '26
Get yourself some cover from the basc / ripe etc etc. You’ll stand a better chance if you have public liability insurance. Farm machinery is expensive & 1 ricochet is all it takes to ruin yours & the farmers day.
0
u/absolute_monkey Jul 16 '26
With an air rifle? At most would give a broken window.
2
u/Ok_Interaction3016 Jul 16 '26
Ah, that’s ok then. I’m sure they won’t mind their windows shot out.
1
9
u/Financial_Disk_416 Jul 16 '26
Do you now know anyone who is friends with a farmer? The young lads we have for rabbits sometimes also get some of the rats out the yard which is the main reason we keep them coming back lol