Hunting Fish With An Air Rifle...

[chris u'5]

Ever heard of this;

https://thearmsguide.com/14713/hunti...ventional-fun/

I haven't!

[bighit]

An ex friend used to do it at the weir when the salmon were coming up the river. He would wait for them to jump up the weir and the fish would be in the water flow for a few seconds trying to swim against the flow to get over the weir. He hit a few and recovered them.

He got caught by other fishermen who reported him to the police . He got the rifle taken off him and marched 1/2 a mile to the police station.

I had stopped going fishing with him months before due to his poaching . I bought the relevant permits and he did not. And he tried to use my permit if we were stopped by the water balliffs.
He lost the rifle and got a caution. He had a new rifle days later .he is still a thieving twat to this day. This was 25 years ago.

[piggy589]

Surely the main reason not to would be the risk of ricochets?.

Unless you were shooting them in the proverbial barrel.

[bighit]

Surely the main reason not to would be the risk of ricochets?.

Unless you were shooting them in the proverbial barrel.

Depends on the angle.

[chris u'5]

So the pellet could ricochet off the surface of the water like when skimming stones???

Is it actually illegal here in the UK? The article mentions it is illegal in many places.

[air-tech]

I don't believe it will work. I occasionally spearfish, and believe me, fish are tough. They don't just belly up and die. If a fish comes off the spear, you will never see it again, even if it leaves its guts behind. I think the only time I hit a fish and it just died was when the spear glanced off its head taking out its brain. Other than that every fish that I take off the spear will need restraining, actually will need to have wire looped through it prior to taking off the spear otherwise the chances are high that it will slip from my grasp and disappear. Not forgetting that an air rifle pellet will likely only make it through a few inches of water, even a 9mm (Cartridge calibre not airgun) IIRC won't make it to the bottom of a swimming pool.

[angrybear]

So the pellet could ricochet off the surface of the water like when skimming stones???

Is it actually illegal here in the UK? The article mentions it is illegal in many places.

Yes, it's almost certainly illegal here, both shooting in public & legal fishing methods.