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shooting geese with an air-rifle


billywhiz
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It is quite legal to shoot water birds with a rifle. As I mention earlyer in this thread I checked with the basc legal department as I was asked to shoot canadas on a pond.

They checked my fac and as it did not say "ground game only" (I think that was the bit) it was ok.

Sorry! Still not convinced.

I have written to the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) for clarification.

It could be that the 1954 provisions have been superceded by the 1981 act. but without a statutory permit from someone like DEFRA or the EA, I wouldn't risk it.

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One of the chaps on our shoot has a 70ft/lb air rifle. It strips the edges of normal pelets, so he has to use lead bullets they look just like the top of 22RF rounds. This is a precharged rifle and is still a lot noisier than my RF both have moderators.

Subsonic .22rf ammo is about 90 ft lbs I think. If he uses bullets that are lighter (as inferred) than rf ammo, then they are going to break the sound barrier and cause a 'crack' which is rather pointless.

What is the accuracy like?

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Hi Rjimmer;

I'm not sure of the bulet weight, about 30-35gr by the look of them. They did not crack so must have been subsonic.

I tried to hit a 12g hull at 25 yards with it, but nether he nor I could, this is not a problem with my RF. (he said it may have been due to low pressure in the bottle)

The whole gun made a horrible ringing twang as he shot. My rf just makes a dull click folowed by a slight hiss of the bullet followed by the satisfying thwunk of another bunny making its way to my freezer :(

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Sorry! Still not convinced.

I have written to the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) for clarification.

It could be that the 1954 provisions have been superceded by the 1981 act. but without a statutory permit from someone like DEFRA or the EA, I wouldn't risk it.

This is the reply I got.

 

Not much I can tell them really!!!

 

My original letter to the JNCC is at the bottom of this post.

 

Dear Jim

 

Many thanks for your e-mail. I have passed this straight to the English Nature licensing team for response and follow-up. They will be in touch with you for more information so that they can also follow this up locally.

 

Best wishes,

Helen

 

 

***********************************************

Dr. Helen Baker

Ornithological Advisor

JNCC

Monkstone House

City Road

Peterborough

PE1 1JY

Switchboard: 01733-562626

Direct line: 01733-866816

 

 

"Some people that I have met on a discussion forum on the Internet, say they

have been asked by the local police to shoot geese (Canada Geese, I presume) on certain ponds local to built up areas using their rifles.

I put forward the suggestion that the police were not empowered to do this as I thought it was unlawful to kill any species of wildfowl with a solid projectile under the 1954 Protection of bird act.

Has this been repealed and if so what now is the situation regarding this practice?"

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  • 3 weeks later...

FAC air rifles are amazing tools, especially for smaller shoots. I much prefer to use an FAC airgun if the shoot has surrounding houses. My FAC Rapid MKII knocks down bunnies at 80 yards no problems, with 0 risk of ricochet.

 

Sure out in the big farm I take my rimfire, but don't dismiss FAC air rifles. Nothing beats smacking an 80 yard bunny with an airgun :(

 

As for airguns and foxes, if it's 12ft/lb don't bother. However as a pest controler I get called to fox jobs where rimfire / centrefire is not possible to use. A HIGH POWERED FAC airgun, with correct pellet placement, and short range, will smack a fox down. However I know my rifles, and only do this when larger guns are unavailable.

 

.22* centrefire is the way to go for foxing, maybe .17HMR for shorter range stuff.

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I caught a biggish cub in a Larsen trap once.

A 12 ft,lb spring air rifle pellet in the back of the head did the business, no sweat.  A couple more in the heart to make sure though!!

 

Steve,

Do you think it is advisable to publish pictures of your guns when your address is readily available online?

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