do the police actualty walk round the permission?

[clayboster]

hi all, ive been shooting with shotgun on my permission for over 20yrs now and the time has come for me to get a rifle, (.22 or .17 hmr) ifor popping of the rabbits there, as i cannot get quite near enough to take them out with a legal 12ft lb air rifle, my question is , do the police actualy visit the land as i dont want to upset the owner and im unsure if he would like the police "mooching" around his property. ive not yet spoken to him about it but i wanted to know this before i did.

thanks guys.

[robbiep]

The FEO might want to visit the property to see what the lie of the land is, backstops, path locations.

Might want to visit the property with you, to discuss and ascertain that you know what is (and is not !) safe.

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, first get the permission from land owner, and note what robbie mentioned

Edited September 14, 2016 by oldypigeonpopper

[Foxwit]

Agree with the above, your land owner will need to sign a permission slip giving you authority to use firearms on the land. My feo walked most of the permissions I wanted to add that had not previously been cleared

[Konnie]

As all above say first rifle I would think will carry the works by firearms officer.

[bluesj]

I took my feo around on land i had that wasn't already cleared before my certificate was opened

[walshie]

Find out if the land is cleared for a calibre first. A lot of places have been.

[Fisheruk]

Only if the weather is fine!

[Davyo]

Happened to me with a perm that had not been cleard.Met the officer and we walked/drove round.I made a point of taking him to the heighest point so we could look over the perm.I gave him a print off from Google earth which he commented was a great idea. I got it cleared for the calibres required.Good idea to note any areas of concern and advise on your actions,but also that you are also open to advise from him/her.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Davyo

[Redgum]

The FEO came out to a farm to pass land for my first centrefire, he drove around the farm track and asked questions though never got out of his van.

[kody]

Not for me only on a grant 30 odd years ago

[Walker570]

Only had one situation and it was a particularly flat piece of ground with public access in two places. the FEO was invited to come and see where high seats had been placed to give safe angles of fire and it was explained to him that we were fully aware of both footpaths. In addition showed him how the soil at that particular location was soft sand composition with few stones rocks etc. and all shots would be taken from the elevated positions. Passed without a problem and the officer commented that it was the first time he had such a comprehensive appraisal by the potential shooter. So, get very familiar with the ground, access, etc etc., even point out that you are aware of directions which would not be safe and would treat them accordingly. Be very familiar with the cartridge you will be using as well. Certainly with the 17HMR there should not be a problem but in an idiots hands that little 17gr projectile can do lots of damage. After you have all this under your belt and feel confident and have your letter of permission from the landowner, get in first and invite the FEO to come have a look before he/she suggests it. You don't have to go buying expensive metal seats either. Some posts for uprights and half rounds as a frame plus a pallet for the floor can easily be made for next to nothing and elevate you just enough, a) to give you a safe shot, but b) to help you pick bunnies out in the grass easier. A bit of camo or hessian stretched around will give you some cover. Bear in mind that a number of these FEOs don't shoot and have never fired a gun. In the good/bad old days the job was handed to the local village bobby .... but where did they all go ?

[Vince Green]

A lot of FEOs don't really know what they are looking at. Mostly its just a box ticking exercise but they do go usually because its a good day out of the office

[mikee]

you might find that most land has already been cleared, before my ticket was opened I would regularly ring the FEO asking about land and every single time it was cleared historically, nearly always for .243 and a few were for .308, FEO told me that when ever land was first cleared even if only .22rf was asked for it was cleared for the largest caliber suitable for the ground to save going back over it in later years

 

Mikee

[Albert 888]

Yes

[lloydi73]

I have 4 perms....my very first perm the FEO came out and I had to drive him around the land showing footpaths etc....as said above , the other 3 were already cleared so no need. If it's your fist FAC (Which it would appear to be) and the land hasn't been cleared, I would suspect they will want to come out.

 

ATB

Edited September 16, 2016 by lloydi73

[CharlieT]

I suspect they really come out to check you out, not the land.

[fortune]

Over the years I've never had any want to look at land. The last two haven't even wanted to check the weapons or storage. They have just arrived, had a quick chat about the hound and the wind and were gone. They didn't have time to go on a mystery tour of the lumps of land. They haven't even contacted My references one of which was a new one.

[Dave-G]

Now you are armed with the advice, best first ask the landowner if he is comfortable to allow you to progress to more powerful licensed firearms on his land:

 

If so find a nice way of saying the police might want to confirm the permission exists and a visual quick check if the land is suitable for a person new to firearms with regard to boundaries back stops and footpaths etc. Explain its just a formality for guidance and a safety chat before they let just anyone carry a firearm for no good reason.

 

Most farmers will understand the reasoning in that.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Dave-G

[srspower]

When I put two farms down on my first FAC application both had already been inspected in the previous ten years so they just okay'd them. They didn't contact the farmers and I didn't give them a note or anything just contact information.

[Bazooka Joe]

Years ago Durham just looked at the land on a map.....also wouldn't check land again in case they stood on the other FEO's toes.

[JBS]

Have just had land that I gamekeep on checked as the feo had changed and it had been a while since they had checked it, as a side note I also wrote the permission letter for my father in law to shoot firearms over the land even though I am not the land owner, have never heard of this before but the feo said it was absolutely fine