Orkney

[flippermaj]

I hope to be in Orkney in January and was going to take the gun and dog along.   I know that there is no free fore shore shooting (?) as in the rest of Scotland but is there anyway to get some fore shore shooting.

i am a Wildfowler and shoot plenty of geese on the firths around Inverness so I am not really interested in goose guides and decoying.  A few mornings or evenings on the shore after duck would be good though.  Anyone any suggestions?

cheers

[yanto]

It can be a bit hit-and-miss(pardon the pun) shooting the foreshore in Orkney. If you can find a pond beside the shore, and get the right wind direction then there's a good chance of getting some ducks, and geese. Also flightlines on points can pay off. Around, or between Stenness and Harray loch can also be good for flights, but it's not really foreshore, although Stenness runs into the sea and has brackish water. If it's really cold and the ponds freeze up, small sheltered bays can be full of duck, especially wigeon.

Most bays have farm roads leading down to them, and if you ask the farmer he won't mind you using it.

Good areas for shore shooting include Deerness, Toab and Tankerness, also Kirkwall Bay, Rendall and Evie.

Iain

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, yanto said:

It can be a bit hit-and-miss(pardon the pun) shooting the foreshore in Orkney. If you can find a pond beside the shore, and get the right wind direction then there's a good chance of getting some ducks, and geese. Also flightlines on points can pay off. Around, or between Stenness and Harray loch can also be good for flights, but it's not really foreshore, although Stenness runs into the sea and has brackish water. If it's really cold and the ponds freeze up, small sheltered bays can be full of duck, especially wigeon.

Most bays have farm roads leading down to them, and if you ask the farmer he won't mind you using it.

Good areas for shore shooting include Deerness, Toab and Tankerness, also Kirkwall Bay, Rendall and Evie.

Iain

Very interesting yanto , is there any wildfowling clubs in the Orkneys ? and what is the shooting like throughout the Winter for wildfowl ? , or do the geese move South as the weather turn cold ? , THANKS     MM

[grahamch]

Am I right to think there is no public right to shoot on the shore in Orkney as you can in the rest of Scotland?

 

[flippermaj]

Hi Iain,

that’s great information, thank you very much.  I know most of the places you mention as I come up every year for a family holiday and some trout fishing.

with regards to the fore shore, the way I read your post I still need the land owners permission but from what you say most farmers are fairly obliging about permission on the sea shore?

cheers

[yanto]

I believe that any shore below the high water mark is owned by the Crown Estate, so no problem shooting on that. Above that is the landowners, but they generally wouldn't be bothered by someone shooting there. I was pointing out that it was good etiquette to ask farmer if you intend to walk across his land with a gun in order to access the shoreline

12 hours ago, grahamch said:

Am I right to think there is no public right to shoot on the shore in Orkney as you can in the rest of Scotland?

 

Not that I'm aware of

[yanto]

15 hours ago, marsh man said:

Very interesting yanto , is there any wildfowling clubs in the Orkneys ? and what is the shooting like throughout the Winter for wildfowl ? , or do the geese move South as the weather turn cold ? , THANKS     MM

I don't think there's a wildfowling club in Orkney. Shooting can be very good-ducks best early season coming into stubble at night. There's a large feral population of Greylag numbering about 60,000 and that is added to by around two thirds of the Icelandic group , so something like 120-150,000 over winter. There's a few flocks of Pinks as well, but they generally migrate further south to Mainland Scotland. Orkney has a relatively mild winter climate due to the gulf stream so grassland is of good quality and provides excellent feeding for the geese, much to local farmers' chagrain. There has been a cull during close season for the last couple of years and the goosemeat is processed by local butchers into sausages, so it's not going to waste

12 hours ago, flippermaj said:

Hi Iain,

that’s great information, thank you very much.  I know most of the places you mention as I come up every year for a family holiday and some trout fishing.

with regards to the fore shore, the way I read your post I still need the land owners permission but from what you say most farmers are fairly obliging about permission on the sea shore?

cheers

I forgot to say that a few of the northern Orkney islands are very good for shooting, namely Sanday and Stronsay. 1.5 hours by ferry. There will not be the shooting pressure that the "mainland" has either

[aldivalloch]

On 19/10/2020 at 08:49, yanto said:

I believe that any shore below the high water mark is owned by the Crown Estate, so no problem shooting on that. Above that is the landowners, but they generally wouldn't be bothered by someone shooting there. I was pointing out that it was good etiquette to ask farmer if you intend to walk across his land with a gun in order to access the shoreline

Not that I'm aware of

Not the case.

Udal Law pertains in Orkney and Shetland, which means that the adjacent landowner - not the Crown Estate - possesses the land to the low-water mark denoted by the lowest spring tide, plus, I believe, the distance a stone can be thrown, a horse waded or a salmon-net cast.

Hugely archaic but still the legal position. Best to ask as some landowners will already have given right of access to resident or visiting fowlers who obviously won't appreciate strangers on their territory.

Edited October 24, 2020 by aldivalloch

[yanto]

22 hours ago, aldivalloch said:

Not the case.

Udal Law pertains in Orkney and Shetland, which means that the adjacent landowner - not the Crown Estate - possesses the land to the low-water mark denoted by the lowest spring tide, plus, I believe, the distance a stone can be thrown, a horse waded or a salmon-net cast.

Hugely archaic but still the legal position. Best to ask as some landowners will already have given right of access to resident or visiting fowlers who obviously won't appreciate strangers on their territory.

You are of course correct, although I think Udal laws are rarely acted on, and generally it would be a commercial case where money/rent could be made by the landowner. 

As I said before, best to ask the landowner.