Air Rifle Hunting help needed!?

Question

I live in scotland and despite being in the country side and having a decent sized garden it can be tricky waiting for animals to appear or finding them. I do not want to fire from my garden across a lane used by cars into other feilds and do not have permission to shoot on the farmers feilds (yet). Is it considered normal to ask to go shooting on farmer's feilds with an air rifle and if not do you still think its worth it? any other ideas of where to shoot animals?

Answer 1

Talk to the local farmers. Unfortunately there's a good chance that most of them will already have an arrangement with someone who shoots their vermin. This is a subject that used to come up relatively often in the UK airgun press, they advised getting to know the farmers so they'd know you were reliable, perhaps even helping out on the farm. You could also try putting an advert in a local shop or looking for other airgunners in the area who already have shooting rights.

I used to shoot on a croft in the north west of Scotland near Arisaig, the farmers were only too pleased to have the rabbits controlled. I have shot hundreds of rabbits, and many crows. A 22 pellet at 650fps will blow the brains right out of a rabbit, aim between the eye and the base of the ear for an instant kill. A neck shot is also pretty immediate, a miss high becomes a brain shot and a miss low becomes a heart/lung shot.

For the ignorant who seem to be policing this group, in the UK you are required by law to control vermin on your land, if you do not the local council can control them and charge the cost to you. That isn't a situation you want to be in.

Answer 2

I am not shure about the laws in Scotland but here are a few that would probably pretain as they do here in Canada and comen sence dictates...
1) you probably need a licence even to shoot a squirl or bird not to mention any furbearing animal (fox,weasel racoon,badger etc,etc)
2) in urban arreas it is illeagle to discharge a firearm(not shure how close to town limits you live or the FPS of your gun)
3) all but the most powerfull air rifles are only capable of cleanly killing small animals(mice,rats,squirls,rabbits,small(chicken sized) birds.and even the most powerfull ones cannot kill deer and such.
4) you must obtain permission before hunting on someone elses land.in writeing is best
The farmers may like the fact you are a scare crow of sorts but they may also not want some one trudgeing through their feilds. It is worth a shot to ask. Can't hurt. but before you go wasteing some nucence animals for your farmer friend you might want to look into the laws concerning hunting in your area. I know here in OntarioCanada that if I have a red squirl eating a hole in my house wall I leagally can not shoot it. Licenced hunter or not. but if it were a black/grey squirl I could. Hope this helps

Answer 3

It is his land and to use it as you would like, you need permission.
I’m in the USA and I would advise you talk to the land owner and be polite and courteous and it most likely will get you access to the land to hunt.
As to is it worth it yes, “always” I have taken a lot of game with an air rifle and it is great sport.
But I am of the mind that my worst day in the field hunting is better then my best day at work .
As to other places I am not sure of the laws in you home land, but I would talk to all the farmers/landholders in your area and see how much land you con get permission to hunt.
Other then that I would look in too any wooded lots and or right of ways here in Oklahoma we have a lot of train tracks that have large wide right of ways, that get quite brushy and grown over.
These make for good sport if it is legal in your area, or old abandoned farms around their out buildings have put many a rabbit in my game bag.
I wish you the best of day a field and hope I was of some help.
From across the Sea.

D58

Answer 4

im in the u.s. and i shoot in my neighbors farm land all the tme just as long as i dont mees up his crop!!!!

Answer 5

good luck