1st permission and newbie to this section after some advice :)

[kingjohn1966 0]

hi all, basicly by chance i called a golf course today asking for permission to get those pesky wabbits and the guy told me they have a very big fox problem with a few rabbits aswel, i went and met the land keeper and he was more than happy for me to go and shoot them needless to say im like a kid on christmas day

 

being my 1st largeish bit of land i have no fac (picked the forms up today) but a freind of a friend is going to come with me and kill the foxes so ill be keeping the golf guy happy until i get my fac and can do it my self, so things i need to know are what sort of setup should i be looking out for, which gun will i want on my fac? and ill need to keep the price as low as possible as i have a baby on the way but what sort of budget will i be looking at?

 

i have a hw100 for the rabbits so only really need something for the foxes whats my best options

 

thanks in advanced guys

 

atb john

[Jesse James 2]

Hi John.

 

Congrats on the permission and hopefuly FAC...

 

I'm sure more will come along shortly, but for me I started with the basic three.... .22 lr / .17HMR & .243. All bolt action rifles and not forgetting to put down Mods / silencers.

 

Mine new cost around £300 for the CZ 452 .22 and £30 for Mod. of course you may need a scope too.

CZ 452 .17HMR new was £345 both brand new, second hand around £200 with scope etc, need to look at the sales section or search mate.

 

Has the land been already cleared and if so for what .... ?

I too have a 500 acre golf course and this was cleared last week for .243 so now looking at deer too for them.

 

the rifles depend really on your permission and also depends on what the FEO police force you come under, as for me i can take Fox with .17HMR but my shooting buddy in sussex can not.....! i have it wrtiten on my cert. not allowed to take fox with .22.

 

But i know many who have.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Jesse James

[stubby 175]

until you apply and chat with your FAO, you'll get different opinions, my ticket states I can take any animal with my .22 rimfire, if in relation to pest control,

apply for a 22 rimfire anyway, it'll do you much better on the rabbits anyway, if the foxes are few and far between when you visit, you dont want to be paying out loads on a rifle/ammo with as you say, family to support,

why not just get someone already with fox experience to occassionally tag along for the foxes, leaving the rabbits to you, with your air rifle for now, and FAC later

make sure you remove any shot foxes rather than dumping in a bush etc, as it's a golf course, players searching for "LOST BALLS" that may come across a dumped fox would certainly complain to the club secretary, as its not stuff they want to see, so dont risk loosing the permission, just bin them on way home

[remi700 99]

If your determined to buy something for fox control id say look for any .22 centerfire. .222, .223, 22-250, would be my choice. For a new gun your probably talkin about £650 upwards depending on make, Then a scope and moderator on top of that. You don't want to scrimp on a scope either so allow the same again. Its not gonna be cheap! As stubby said could make more sense to get someone with a centerfire to tag along with you for a while and get the numbers down. You could of course go down the second hand route abit cheaper. Keep an eye to guntrader.co.uk you wouldn't no what would turn up. Also our laws are different to yours in that we cant shoot any gun above .22 centerfire at night so we cant licence a .243 for example for the purpose of fox control. If you can licence a .243 and have any thoughts of deer shooting in the future then id go .243 and 1 rifle will do both.Atb Mark

[kingjohn1966 0]

hi jesse james,

 

thanks mate

 

seems a whole new kettle of fish here will be doing alot of homework, so should i put down 3 guns straight away when i apply? seems like they are very cheap compared to air rfles which is nice

 

the guy said they used to have someone who killed the foxes with a "high powered rifle" so a firearm of some kind has been allowed previously

 

this is exciting stuff

[easypeasy 4]

Id put in for a .222 as its a golf course, im sure your FAO will be worried about anything bigger ie 223 wizzing around. I got land passed for a .222 on a golf course but there is a lot of empty farmland around it. If i were you id ask for a 22lr for short range vermin ie rabbits and a 17hmr or a .222 for the foxes.

[remi700 99]

.222 or .223, to be honest there's not much difference. I wouldn't wana be hit with either!!

[Fisheruk 1]

I use a .223 ona golf course for fox, but I would be careful before just picking up a .223 and going out to pot a fox on a golf course. If you are only experienced with an AR it is like moving from a Reliant Robin to a Ferrari and you will certainly need some practice. I doubt that the golf course will be happy for you to use their land as a practice ground.