Pheasants

[Spondoodles]

Is it legal to shoot pheasants on my own land or do I need a game license? Is a 12 foot pounds gun enough?

[RichardH]

Yes you need a game licence and the season ends on Feb 1

12ft/ibs is not really enough

Its illegal to shoot at night under any kind of light

Its hardly a sporting shot to shoot one on the ground and would be looked on very badly by any neighboring syndicates - why not buy a shotgun and shoot properly?

If they are causing you some kind of problem (although I cant imagine what), they are not birds belonging to a neighboring syndicate, they are in season, you have the correct licence and a proper gun with sufficient power (think .22LR or a shotgun) then technically it would be within the law.

Richard

[Columba]

Personally I leave pheasants well alone where the air rifle is concerned.

Apart from that, surely a head shot with 12 ft/lbs would do the trick at 35yds or thereabouts. I bet that a rabbit has a stronger skull and a head shot doesn't fail.

For what it's worth....

John

[albrown]

I suggest you do a search on this forum and it should give you an idea of peoples opinions. Its not illigal, but its hardly sporting...

Alex

[BIG MAFOOTA]

I suggest you do a search on this forum and it should give you an idea of peoples opinions. Its not illigal, but its hardly sporting...

Alex

But shooting pigeons , crows and magpies is. Just a thought, not trying to start an insurrection.

[curly]

Pigeons, crows and maggies are classed as vermin whereas pheasant are not. Subject to the restrictions mentioned here by others it isn't illegal although one correction is necessary - it doesn't matter who the pheasants belong to. if they are on your land then they can be taken. Even so, it's a good way of upsetting the local syndicate especially if you are using an air rifle instead of a shot gun. A bit illogical and maybe there is an element of ignorance or bias but thats just the way it is.

Fred

[curly]

(with apologies if this is a double post)

You make a clear distinction between 'sport' shooting and shooting for the pot. Fair enough. If that's your only motivation then who am I to argue.

I respect your point of view so far as shooting for the table goes, but I don't understand why you regard 'sporting' shooters with such contempt. The majority of sporting shooters combine their sport with the benefit of having something tasty to eat afterwards and therefore the two elements are not mutually exclusive. Do you really believe that shooting a high driven pheasant is easy? Easier or at least no more difficult than shooting the same bird on the ground from short range with an air rifle? If your only interest is shooting for the pot then the finer sporting aspects are lost on you and you are the poorer for it.

Your post also suggested a degree of contempt for the game licence. You described it as a "technical" requirement. In fact it is much more than a technicality, it is a legal requirement that you have no right to disregard (I am assuming here that you don't possess a game licence & have no intention in obtaining one any time soon). Plenty of people have been prosecuted for killing game without a licence. Whether the licence is justified or not is an entirely different matter. The fact still remains that you are breaking the law without it.

I am concerned about your sneering reference to magpies and song birds. It is a well established and incontrovertible fact that this particular pest has decimated the song bird population. This obviously doesn't matter to you but it does to me and thousands of other people, shooters and non-shooters alike.

I assume you have permission to shoot on your land. What purpose did you give when seeking that permission? Was it for the purpose of vermin control or was it for the purpose of putting food on the table? If it was for vermin control then that excludes game and includes corvids. If it was for the pot then did you make that clear and that it would include game birds? I am left wondering what your land owner/farmer would make of your views and intended actions.

The general tone of your post represents the views of those who only take & do harm and plays into the hands of those who would like to see all shooting banned irrespective of the motivation of the shooter. Shooting is a broad church with room for all responsible people. If you want to be a part of it then respect the views of all shooters and please do me the honour of respecting my views and refrain from calling me and my fellow sportsmen "idiots".

[bullsmilk]

i think the word vermin is just a tittle put on an animal to make it easyer to shoot some like rats just need killing at every oppotunity.but others like magpies ect dont deserve it just because they feed of f the eggs and chicks of song birds as well as the great job they do in clearing road kill.should we be labled virmin? ime sure we spread more desieses and us humans kill and eat anything that moves.i for one am all for killing for the table and sport butt people shouldent make excuses for killing one animal over the other with the frase not sporting.if an animal is tide down thats not.sporting joe