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Pigeon control in the back garden


Farmboy75
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Hi there

 

I was just wondering where I stand with the law if I get myself an air rifle and start popping at pigeons in my back garden. The reason being I've just built a 12ft square area of decking and it's already covered in pigeon poo! NOT happy I can tell ya. Verminous little ****!

 

Does the law allow me to shoot the little ******* as soon as I get my pigeon dispatcher or do I have to apply for permission from anywhere first?

 

Hope someone can help

 

FB75 - A complete newbie as you may have guessed. :lol:

Edited by Farmboy75
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I shoot lots of wood pigeons in the back garden and also have permission to shoot in the neighbours back garden too. A few things to be careful of:

Never let a pellet go outside your boundary - remember that a pigeon will not stop a pellet from a 12 ft/lb gun.

Be careful not to wound a pigeon for it to flap accross the fence to your neighbours - this is likely to cause trouble.

Be very careful shooting upwards into trees and make sure you have a solid backstop - I often shoot downwards from an upstairs window (make sure your neighbours either can't see you or are ok with you shooting i.e. don't see a gun and call the fuzz)

I am pretty sure that although it is legal to shoot pigeons on your property, you still need a reason to do it. I.e. they are causing a health hazard / endangering other wildlife so be ready to justify your actions should you need to. You can use the mess that they are making on your deck as a reason (a few pics on your phone might be a good idea in case you have a problem).

 

Happy shooting and remember that wood pigeons are actually quite tasty in a pie! :blink:

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hi guys im all about confused now as what uve been saying goes against what ive read elswere. im not saying eaither is right or wroung but want to ask all the same an i quote this statment an would like to see a reply .

 

it is an offence to fire an airgun within 50 feet of the center of a publick highway,if by doing so you cause any member of the public using that highway to be injured, interupted or endangered. this applies even if you are on private property adjcent the highway. public highways include roads, bridelways and public footpaths.

 

 

so to my thinking even with a adiquate backstop you can still be with in that 50 feet limit an be breacking the law? this has always bee a grey area hasent it guys?

 

thanks guys

Edited by Elliot Brown
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I think the answer is in the "if by doing so you cause any member of the public using that highway to be injured, interupted or endangered" part.

The gardens that I shoot in are more than 50 ft from the road anyway :good:

 

Thats actually really important as I can see a grey area in the "interupted" part.

My garden would be very close to the 50 ft limit given in that law, but "interupted" could mean them stopping to look at what made the noise ect....

Very grey area I think and I have to play it safe being a copper lol.

 

Would be interested to hear other views on this.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm in the same boat here. I have pigeons causing a mess in my garden, by pooing all over my garden furniture and also my door step from where they sit on my room above the back door, and for me atleast, it is a health risk.

 

I about 50-60 feet from the main road and I will be shooting down my garden which is fairly long with a wall at the end as a backstop and a crop field after that.

 

Im curious if the plod were alerted to me, would they get out a tape measure to check the distance? And would they look for pellets that may have left the boundary? What about ricochet? And what constitutes a health risk? All sounds a bit dubious and like one of these new unpoliceable offences to me.

Edited by fillythebish
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  • 2 weeks later...

Your lucky .. my damn neighbour feeds the things and on a bad day there are 30-40 of the bleeders ... Untill i zero the scope in they are safe for moment .

 

On same matter i just bought some pellets ,hoping they will do the job .. they are ..

 

Logun Penetrator 20.5 grammes

Bisley pest control .. ( green tin lid) with hollow flat heads

 

So which would be best ... max range of the blighters is 15 metres

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I think the answer is in the "if by doing so you cause any member of the public using that highway to be injured, interupted or endangered" part.

The gardens that I shoot in are more than 50 ft from the road anyway :good:

 

Thats actually really important as I can see a grey area in the "interupted" part.

My garden would be very close to the 50 ft limit given in that law, but "interupted" could mean them stopping to look at what made the noise ect....

Very grey area I think and I have to play it safe being a copper lol.

 

Would be interested to hear other views on this.

Whilst not disbelieving you, you after all would be the one doing the "nicking", would your description of "interupted", i.e. someone stopping to look really stand up in court? After all, if you just were holding a gun and shouted "OI" the result would be the same?

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