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Shoooting boundary


LeeN
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This has probably been covered many times before but can't seem to find a clear answer on the net, I've got pigeons hammering my permission but they are landing on the far side of the field, the only way to properly shoot them is from the hedge that has a foot path and road on the other side of it, how far from the path/road do I have to be to legally shoot?

I'm in Scotland btw

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In Scotland, no specific law exists against shooting adjacent the highway (or on it if the land ownership is split by the road), if you were charged it would be for 'reckless endangerment' and the procarator fiscal would have to prove you were shooting in a reckless and culpable manner (i.e. not caring where you shot).

 

If you have road to your back and only shooting forward, and have signed the footpath 100 yards either side as warning, it is unlikely that any charge could be brought if they were any complaints.

Edited by Stonepark
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i had a problem similar to yours couple of years back so what i did was phone BASC for some info on the problem,this is what i was told 50 feet from the middle of the road shooting away from the road and if it`s a public footpath i could shoot ON the footpath but not behind or in front of the path and as long as i could see 50 metres both ways

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i had a problem similar to yours couple of years back so what i did was phone BASC for some info on the problem,this is what i was told 50 feet from the middle of the road shooting away from the road and if it`s a public footpath i could shoot ON the footpath but not behind or in front of the path and as long as i could see 50 metres both ways

 

That's as per the Highways Act 1981, which is law in England and Wales.

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Yes the road and footpath would be to my back and all shots would be away from them so no public would be endangered, could there be a complaint by the public for being a nuisance, baring in mind the path is very seldom used for walking, mostly by cyclists, farmer is happy for me to shoot wherever. It as long as it's legal and within the law, just don't want to end up on the wrong side of it

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I would say you are good to go. A small sign either side of your position wouldn't go amiss, covers your back. I was question many years ago by English Nature about a high seat on a cross roads junction in a wood, with a foot path running along one ride. I said for them to check the law as I saw it and they came back and said, no problem. I didn't realise the Scottish situation was different. Learn something on here every day :-)

Edited by Walker570
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i had a problem similar to yours couple of years back so what i did was phone BASC for some info on the problem,this is what i was told 50 feet from the middle of the road shooting away from the road and if it`s a public footpath i could shoot ON the footpath but not behind or in front of the path and as long as i could see 50 metres both ways

 

 

this what i was told by basc years ago.

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In Scotland, no specific law exists against shooting adjacent the highway (or on it if the land ownership is split by the road), if you were charged it would be for 'reckless endangerment' and the procarator fiscal would have to prove you were shooting in a reckless and culpable manner (i.e. not caring where you shot).

 

If you have road to your back and only shooting forward, and have signed the footpath 100 yards either side as warning, it is unlikely that any charge could be brought if they were any complaints.

Interesting to see the difference between the differing systems explained. Thank you.

 

My only observation is that With the OP shooting with his back to a road he runs the risk of any incoming birds he hits falling into the road thereby endangering road users where, for example, cars, cyclists, pedestrians are hit by a falling bird or take evasive action to avoid one. A Wiley prosecutor would point to the need for risk assessment where this risk would be clear to see. So, it is not the shooting itself which causes the problem but if, as a result of doing so, you cause an endagerement.

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Interesting to see the difference between the differing systems explained. Thank you.

 

My only observation is that With the OP shooting with his back to a road he runs the risk of any incoming birds he hits falling into the road thereby endangering road users where, for example, cars, cyclists, pedestrians are hit by a falling bird or take evasive action to avoid one. A Wiley prosecutor would point to the need for risk assessment where this risk would be clear to see. So, it is not the shooting itself which causes the problem but if, as a result of doing so, you cause an endagerement.

a shooter with his back to the road and the right distance from the road he or she`s isn`t breaking any law,as for birds falling into the road i`ve shot pigeons,crows and seen them fly on with lung shots for couple hundred yards before dropping i bet most people on here have had the same thing happen to them to, i`d rather set up as far as possible from a road,houses,farms or footpaths but birds dictate there we shoot from time to time and might have to shoot by a road if that`s the case as long as we/me are not breaking the law.

bobba we all want clean kills but in the real world that`s not happening i guest the chances of a bird falling on the road or someones head are very slim but i agree it could well happen a bird falls into a car windscreen car crashes or hits a person so what next tell people they can`t shoot anymore because your NOT breaking the law or tell drives to stop driving cars,there`ll be thousands and thousands of car crashes or people getting run over before we here about a bird causing a accident.

Edited by cooooper1
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a shooter with his back to the road and the right distance from the road he or she`s isn`t breaking any law,as for birds falling into the road i`ve shot pigeons,crows and seen them fly on with lung shots for couple hundred yards before dropping i bet most people on here have had the same thing happen to them to, i`d rather set up as far as possible from a road,houses,farms or footpaths but birds dictate there we shoot from time to time and might have to shoot by a road if that`s the case as long as we/me are not breaking the law.

bobba we all want clean kills but in the real world that`s not happening i guest the chances of a bird falling on the road or someones head are very slim but i agree it could well happen a bird falls into a car windscreen car crashes or hits a person so what next tell people they can`t shoot anymore because your NOT breaking the law or tell drives to stop driving cars,there`ll be thousands and thousands of car crashes or people getting run over before we here about a bird causing a accident.

Interesting observations. Thanks.

 

It may well be that in the circumstances you describe the OP may not be breaking the law. But that wasn't the point I raised.

 

Some make reference to but do not understand clearly the law in E&W on shooting within 50 ft of the centre of a highway. It is an offence without lawful authority or reasonable excuse to shoot within 50 ft of the centre of a highway AND IN CONSEQUENCE a user is injured, interrupted or endangered. It follows from this that the action of shooting within 50 ft is not in itself an offence but it becomes an offence if any of the stated consequences result from that action.

 

Although the 50 ft law seemingly does not exist in Scotland and so the OP is within the law, my observation was ( and remains the case) that the consequences of the action may in certain circumstances place the OP outside the law by endangering others.

 

Philosophically, as shooters we either consciously or sub- consciously weigh up the risks before placing a shot (or we should do). And dead birds falling on the highway is a risk. It is up to the individual to decide whether it is a risk worth taking.

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Interesting observations. Thanks.

 

It may well be that in the circumstances you describe the OP may not be breaking the law. But that wasn't the point I raised.

 

Some make reference to but do not understand clearly the law in E&W on shooting within 50 ft of the centre of a highway. It is an offence without lawful authority or reasonable excuse to shoot within 50 ft of the centre of a highway AND IN CONSEQUENCE a user is injured, interrupted or endangered. It follows from this that the action of shooting within 50 ft is not in itself an offence but it becomes an offence if any of the stated consequences result from that action.

 

Although the 50 ft law seemingly does not exist in Scotland and so the OP is within the law, my observation was ( and remains the case) that the consequences of the action may in certain circumstances place the OP outside the law by endangering others.

 

Philosophically, as shooters we either consciously or sub- consciously weigh up the risks before placing a shot (or we should do). And dead birds falling on the highway is a risk. It is up to the individual to decide whether it is a risk worth taking.

it`s a hard one this,but i wonder god willing it doesn`t happen IF a bird did cause a fault accident for a road user how would the shooter be under the laws as we`ve said by the law he hasn`t done anything wrong? just wondering

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it`s a hard one this,but i wonder god willing it doesn`t happen IF a bird did cause a fault accident for a road user how would the shooter be under the laws as we`ve said by the law he hasn`t done anything wrong? just wondering

Yes it is a difficult one. Any accident would seemingly be a consequence of a legal act.

 

But, the age in which we live we are almost automatically required to undertake risk assessments; to exercise due diligence (to take reasonable steps to avoid committing an offence); and, to ensure a duty of care to others.

 

Should an accident happen or someone is endangered then I suspect the police and proscurator fiscal would apply all of the above and find a law which could be applied for a prosecution in the circumstances. That said, I have no knowledge of Scottish law to even guess at what that offence would be.

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This is an interesting thread. I have just finished an hour on a little flight line. Ithought I had hit a pigeon but didn't see it go down as I was going for the second bird. driving home the bird I thought I had hit was on the road about 120 yards away from where I hit it. It just shows how far they can travel

that`s the point i was making on a earlier post i`ve hit high pigeons(when i say high i mean two miles up :whistling: )and seen them flying on for hundreds of yards but most probably already dead in the air with a lung shot it happens,so like i said what happens if that bird flys say 120/130 yards across a field and then drops into the road

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............,so like i said what happens if that bird flys say 120/130 yards across a field and then drops into the road

We all run that risk? I once received a piccie on my mobile from the farmer when a shot pigeon dropped in to his yard well away from where I was sitting.

But that is not the point of the discussion which was problems of sitting in a hedge with a road immediately behind that hedge not 100's of yds away.

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If a pigeon flies on for a few hundred yards, it is most certainly not dead in the air.

so you`ve never hit pigeon/crow and watch that bird fly on for a distance before dropping, the word FLIES on doesn`t mean it`s flapping it`s wings it`s taken a lung shot or head shot where the birds dead or die in and just floats on the wing before coming to ground, last summer i shot a pigeon knew i hit him hard and watched him float across a 130 plus yards long field with out flapping his wings one before falling straight into a garden behind me, my point being not all birds drop where shoot

Edited by cooooper1
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