Can i shoot birds in my garden?

[Scuzy 1]

Hi all,

 

Ive just been reading the "pinned" posts at the top of the forum and in one of them it said about shooting birds.

Im confused because i often see a few woodpigeons in my garden and i often shoot 1 or 2 of the dozen or so that come in my garden everyday so i can fry them up to eat (and very nice too i might say !) But ive just read that i can ony shoot them if they are a serious pest to crops etc...

My neighbour also had a pair of Herring Gulls in his chimney last year and he asked me to shoot them beacuse they were so noisey and painted his slate roof white with s**t!

Anyway im abit worried now as ive just read i cant shoot them either unless im "an authorised person"

So please help me as i never knew about this "general license" thingy and i was led to believe i could shoot pest birds anywhere anytime???

 

Regards, Luke

[Guest terrierman94]

i was reading in shooting times ones that it was illegal for someone to shoot woodpigeons for sport and that you could on shoot them if the are a serious problem

[Ratman2 2]

Have a look here.

 

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/conservat...L%20Gen-L05.pdf

 

It's not black and white, lot's of grey areas but I recon so long as you've tried to discourage the problem birds on the list it should be ok to shoot them.

Always shoot within the law and shoot safely, you should be ok.

[Scuzy 1]

Have a look here.

 

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/conservat...L%20Gen-L05.pdf

 

It's not black and white, lot's of grey areas but I recon so long as you've tried to discourage the problem birds on the list it should be ok to shoot them.

Always shoot within the law and shoot safely, you should be ok.

 

You would have been better off sending me a link to a porn website !

Sorry mate it doesent make any sense to me, dull as a brush when it comes to wording like that, first it said it is an offence to kill or injure any bird, then it said an authorized person can?!?!

Thanks for putting it into plain english for me , i did try to discourage the gulls first but not the pigeons, i just shoot them to eat, am i even allowed

to do that?

Sorry but i just need some clearing up.

 

Luke

[Deker 3,478]

Have a look here.

 

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/conservat...L%20Gen-L05.pdf

 

It's not black and white, lot's of grey areas but I recon so long as you've tried to discourage the problem birds on the list it should be ok to shoot them.

Always shoot within the law and shoot safely, you should be ok.

 

You would have been better off sending me a link to a porn website !

Sorry mate it doesent make any sense to me, dull as a brush when it comes to wording like that, first it said it is an offence to kill or injure any bird, then it said an authorized person can?!?!

Thanks for putting it into plain english for me , i did try to discourage the gulls first but not the pigeons, i just shoot them to eat, am i even allowed

to do that?

Sorry but i just need some clearing up.

 

Luke

 

 

 

You cannot legally shoot the pigeon for the sole reason and purpose of making a pie, you have to show the appropriate reason..and then you can make a pie afterwards. That's the way it is, don't ask me to justify it!

[SteveieP 0]

Be aware that your neighbours might not be keen on the idea so have a little care.

Last summer we had a rat visiting the garden in the late evenings.

So when the neighbour had locked up for the night & her little darlings were all tucked up safely in bed I bagged the little sh-t at the bottom of the garden.

Out comes Mrs XXXXX (unlocking he door as she comes) & suggests I'm endangering her precious little brats & that I might carlessly have shot one of them who could have been anywhere in the garden & I might not have known they were there.

I politely suggest

1) Her brats are in bed & she knows it

2) The rat is in MY garden

3)What I have done in killing it is legal

4) The rat has a 1 in 3 chance of carrying salmonella & / or Weills disease & what I'm doing is a public health issue.

5)That unless her brat is dressed in a brown fur suit & dancing the "rat-fandango" at the bottom of MY garden he's only in danger in his bed if I'm using a rocket propelled grenade

"Ah but you shoot birds too" she says "i've heard the gun & seen them fly off"

Well actually, no I don't & If it's not obvious.... dead one's don't fly off!

I've also had it suggested that I shot a pidgeon clean out of the air, by the bloke who lives 3 doors away. Single shot, flying target at a distance of.... wait for it........... 5000 miles...I was on holiday in Cuba at the time & he had to wait till we got back to point the finger. What a shot! I nearly feckin claimed it & asked for a trophy.

Don't expect neighbours to be rational...or is it just the objectionable nutters that live near me?

[scratchbat 0]

Be aware that your neighbours might not be keen on the idea so have a little care.

Last summer we had a rat visiting the garden in the late evenings.

So when the neighbour had locked up for the night & her little darlings were all tucked up safely in bed I bagged the little sh-t at the bottom of the garden.

Out comes Mrs XXXXX (unlocking he door as she comes) & suggests I'm endangering her precious little brats & that I might carlessly have shot one of them who could have been anywhere in the garden & I might not have known they were there.

I politely suggest

1) Her brats are in bed & she knows it

2) The rat is in MY garden

3)What I have done in killing it is legal

4) The rat has a 1 in 3 chance of carrying salmonella & / or Weills disease & what I'm doing is a public health issue.

5)That unless her brat is dressed in a brown fur suit & dancing the "rat-fandango" at the bottom of MY garden he's only in danger in his bed if I'm using a rocket propelled grenade

"Ah but you shoot birds too" she says "i've heard the gun & seen them fly off"

Well actually, no I don't & If it's not obvious.... dead one's don't fly off!

I've also had it suggested that I shot a pidgeon clean out of the air, by the bloke who lives 3 doors away. Single shot, flying target at a distance of.... wait for it........... 5000 miles...I was on holiday in Cuba at the time & he had to wait till we got back to point the finger. What a shot! I nearly feckin claimed it & asked for a trophy.

Don't expect neighbours to be rational...or is it just the objectionable nutters that live near me?

hahahhahah good lad hahah

[Scuzy 1]

well my neighbors dont really mind, ive only got 3 of them !

Most of them keep ferrets and shotguns anyway but if you read my first post my neighbor asked me to shoot seagull s off his roof .

 

 

Luke

Edited April 3, 2008 by Scuzy

[SteveieP 0]

Then you're luckier than me!

All my neighbours are feckin loonies

Mrs XXXX has kept a bottle top with a pellet hole in that accidentally flew over the fence into her garden as "evidence"

Evidence of what?...That I've got & use air rifles...not exactly a secret

Pellet never left the property, just the bottle top

Strange woman

So I exercise a little care & try & time my practice sessions / activities to when she's out....which is easy to tell because her dog howls like an air raid siren the second she leaves the house. LOL

Poor mutt

[ChrisJones 7,975]

As simply as I can explain it an authorised person is anyone with written permission from the land occupier to do the job.

 

A general license can only be used when there is a real threat to public health and safety. Either through attacks (gulls) or through their droppings.

 

Also if you're shooting with an airgun it's an offence for the pellets to leave the property.

 

Any further elaboration would get really legally technical.

[fillythebish 0]

I would leave the pigeons for a few days and then take pictures of the droppings. Typical the licence doesn't say what is actualy considered a health risk. But I think droppings on garden furniture, door step etc (or anywhere it might find its way onto your shoes and then in your house) would do.

[Rolfe 2]

Pigeon droppings in the garden, on seats, on washing.........public health reasons enough to shoot them under the terms of the general licence..........provided you have tried all other means to move them on.

 

The seagulls on the neighbours roof..........no can do............to many reasons to go into but basically your pellet is leaving your property etc. danger to public etc etc etc.

 

Rolfe.

[comanche 2,900]

As for being an "Authorised person".Assuming it's your property or rented to make it effectivly your exclusive property the person who can authorise you to shoot on it (ie give you permission) is the head of your house-hold ( you if it is your home or maybe a parent or such-like if you are a youngster.) . Remember the chap a few years ago who caught London pigeons off the streets for the restaurent trade?Claimed they were vermin and that he could'nt be touched for it.His argument fell flat because he was was'nt "authorised "to do so by the relevent London council department who were responsible for maintaining the streets including making decisions about vermin control.

[Phantom 631]

Hi all,

 

Ive just been reading the "pinned" posts at the top of the forum and in one of them it said about shooting birds.

Im confused because i often see a few woodpigeons in my garden and i often shoot 1 or 2 of the dozen or so that come in my garden everyday so i can fry them up to eat (and very nice too i might say !) But ive just read that i can ony shoot them if they are a serious pest to crops etc...

My neighbour also had a pair of Herring Gulls in his chimney last year and he asked me to shoot them beacuse they were so noisey and painted his slate roof white with s**t!

Anyway im abit worried now as ive just read i cant shoot them either unless im "an authorised person"

So please help me as i never knew about this "general license" thingy and i was led to believe i could shoot pest birds anywhere anytime???

 

Regards, Luke

If you shoot from your property and your next door neighbour has given you permission to shoot into his garden you are legal in where your pellet goes, however if it flew across his land and into someone else's then your illegal!

If the pellet was to fly across his roof and went into a public highway (the street) your illegal "IF you are causing a nusiance or endangering the public" if the street had no one in it and the pellet landed, then you are still legal!

 

Tony (Phantom)

[Muntjac Man 0]

I shoot woodies in our back garden, and I'm surrounded by bird lovers on both sides. They are particularly adamant that now it is the nesting season, the birds must be left alone.

 

However, we do have fruit bushes in the garden, so if anyone asks, I'm shooting them to prevent them damaging our crop of fruit. The fact that they then find their way into a frying pan is not a matter for the law!

 

Do you have anything in youir garden that might similarly need protecting against them damaging?

 

On another note, to minimise the chance of them seeing, and geting upset, I usually shoot at times when it is less likely that the nieghbours will be looking out of their back bedroom windows into our garden (i.e. early morning or evenings when they're cooped up around the telly...). Sometimes avoidance is better than defence!

 

My main objective is to avoid a visit from the police. I have on occasions even spoken to the local firearms licensing team to tell them of my intentions, and demonstrate to them that I was keeping within the law (even though I was only using an air rifle) so that if the local Plod, who probably knows zero about the Annual licences turns up, I could say to him 'Yes, but your Firearms Licensing Team confirmed on the xth of june 2000andy that this is perfectly legal...'.

 

Good luck

 

MM