gaining a new permission

[Sam17H]

Hi all,

I'm hoping some of you can help me here...

I've got a golf course very locally to me, which I've been shooting over for about 5 years now with rimfire and now the 17 Hornet. Trouble is, its only rabbits, and for obvious reasons can only be shot at night. Spring and summer generally provide some good sport with 46 rabbits being taken in one late evening as a personal best, but in the last year the numbers are much reduced and I'd say its been over shot now.

I’d love to get a new permission; ideally a decent sized farm with problem foxes, corvids, pigeons, rabbits etc but having not really had much experience in finding new permissions I am unsure about the best way to go about it. To start, I’ve printed out a few google earth views showing local farms (looking around the surrey / Guildford area) and was intending to visit them in person rather than send letters and ask if they require any vermin control.

If anyone has some experience in this, or can advise me on what to say, or how to go about trying to get a new permission I’d be really appreciative.

Cheers,

Sam

[gunner]

Sam hi , first things first an admin will prob be along to say fill out your profile/ location etc , best thing to do is go out to the farms you would like to shoot , dress smart - not full ghillie etc . Be polite , you will get turned down , make sure your talking to the land owner as iv got mixed up before and knocked on the wrong door ( didn't realize at the time ) and been bluntly turned away ! But did get that permission talking to the right person in the end ! If you visit 10 farms i bet you get 1 of em . Get insurance if you haven't and if you get talking tell them . I bet you will have better sucsess asking on farms withs lots of different crops for decoying but if its rifle shooting its harder to get . Good luck atb tim.

[Akeld]

As gunners says really, I'd start asking at places adjacent to the golf course first "hello farmer, I'm Sam, Ido the pest control for the golf course just over there and wondered if there was anything I could do for you? I'm fully insured and my sisters a nude model blah blah etc etc"

[eldon]

Akeld lol........................ I haven't got a sister; I knew there had to be a reason why some got all the prime spots

[jay666d]

It's funny sometimes how people get their permissions. The advice I got was much the same as mentioned already... Knock on doors and ask! Always easier said than done I alway thought! I know if a random stranger knocked on my door, I'd think twice!

 

But then again, a lot of people have got their permissions that way!

 

Mine have all come about in different ways.

 

My first, approx 80 Acres spread across 3 different plots was from a farmer who I hung some curtains for! (By some curtains, I mean all of his curtain including a bespoke theatrical set on electric track for his cinema!) On this permission I got my FAC.

 

This inspired me to contact a farmer who used to let my Step-Dad shoot on his land, a peice of land where I'd spent many a night as a youth carrying the canvas bag full of rabbits, before I graduated to lamp, then finally the rifle! I was delighted when he said I could take advantage of his 800 Acre plot!

 

A third piece of land, appox 30-40 acres came from using another forum. A Land Rover forum. I had mentioned in one of the for sale threads that I could not afford said item as I'd just sent my rifle away to be customised and that used all the savings I had. Off the back of that I got a PM inviting me to shoot pests from another forum member.

 

Lastly, tonight I sealed the deal on another farm. Before Christmas I got talking to a lovely lady that comes to my shop to buy fabrics... She had mentioned that it would be no problem to come and shoot on her and her husbands land. I'd not heated from her again after giving my number to her... That was until a couple of days ago.

 

I was invited up to take a look at the land in question... I was honestly expecting 50-60 acres max. How wrong I was!

 

I now have access to another 760 acres of land!

 

So I suppose, you could always just casually mention your interests and let random people know that you clear pests from the golf course and you never know... You could just be talking to the right person!

 

Good Luck! It's always nice to get new land!

[Scotch_egg]

Look at it from a land owners perspective. Would you let some random chap on your land with rifle?

 

 

Build on your current permission with recommendation. Land owners often know one another and recommendation doesn't come highly enough.

[Sam17H]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. It is a difficult one for sure, as I know that if I owned a chunk of land and had someone knock on my door asking to shoot over it the answer would be a straight 'no'!

 

On the other hand, I don't know of any other way to do it aside from knocking on doors and meeting people in person. Letters perhaps wonmt be as effective as a face-to-face meet I doubt. Unfortunately, the golf course I shoot isn't surrounded by farmland so I can't really utilise the option of asking for a neighbouring shoot because I 'control rabbits on the local golf course next door' (however I will mention this when I get chatting to landowners and suggest they can call the greenkeeper for a reference if necessary). I have BASC insurance and have been shooting for years.

 

The golf course I shoot (literally across the road from me) was a stroke of luck getting permission on there. I called the greenkeeper, mentioned I was very local and would I be able to assist with any rabbit control. As it turned out, two other guys shot there but only came now and then, and didn't really shoot a great deal of rabbits. they had also had a complaint by a member of the public who was startled by a ricochet which crossed a footpath beside it. Before long, they weren't shooting there at all as another similar complaint came in from what I understand, and I've enjoyed regular shooting there ever since.

 

Fingers crossed for this weekend as I plan to go out and speak to some landowners to see if I can land a patch of land to shoot over. I'll report back with my tales!

 

Sam

[gaz6br]

Don't send letters waste of time

 

Like said dress smart and drive round knocking

 

Gaz

[jay666d]

Don't send letters waste of time

Like said dress smart and drive round knocking

Gaz

Agreed, it's too easy to bin a letter!

[eldon]

Plus of course a letter needs a response and adds to their(landowners) list of jobs to do.

Face to face is the only way but make sure its a convenient time, sometimes easier said than done.

[Boydy47]

You have crossed the first hurdle by getting your first permission, it makes it so much easier to gain new permissiion if you can say you already help out somewhere else. Over 10 years I have built up 5 permissions that all border one another and gaining each one has been easier the more names I could drop.

 

As you have said your golf course is not bordered by farmland so that option is out, but people in the area at least are likely to know the course. How well do you get on with the head green keeper? They tend to move in similar circles so it may be worth asking him if he knows any other courses that might like you to help out and could possibly give you a personal recommendation. He may even know some farmers that golf on the course that might benefit.

 

I would also say joe public, even some farmers, often shy away from live firing guns but are more likely to give permission to someone asking to use an air rifle, you can then build their trust and broach live rifles down the line.

[JB1]

I've picked up some of my bits from the local over a pint. Its about getting known and building trust, word of mouth takes some beating. And once you've got yourself permission use it, or someone else will.

[James8870]

As folk have said in previous posts.. Knock on doors dress smart, not in commando gear.

I got most of mine because I live in a farming community and they like to know who people are. My neighbour has been asked by guns wanting shooting permissions but he's knocked them back everytime.

He's very cleeky about when you go shooting as its a major sheep farm and his good lady keeps horses..

 

I once was given a wee disused quarry to use any time I wanted, but upon a site inspection it was surrounded by bloody horsey farms...

They even complained to me about using a moderated .22LR with subsonics!!!!!! "Its too noisy..... FFS...

I abandoned the site as even an air rifle was too noisy for them.....

I used a shotgun and a .223 to shoot some clays and the foxes in the quarry and it was almost like a linching mob... So Ive left that site to nature and never returned to it. Shame as it was deemed a perfect site for practical shotgun and LBP pistol shooting. Lots of natural high backstops...

[gaz6br]

Agreed, it's too easy to bin a letter!

Most farmers I know they have nothing to do with paper side of things it's all down to the wife to sort that

[Montey]

Because I live on a farm and I'm 5th generation I've seen it from the other side. Don't turn up in camo don't send a letter . Your best bet is get to know local people if your not local born that's tuff some times. Look into joining a local sindercut if funds permit. I've got thousands of acres to shoot fox and rabits but some of it has come through other people not shooting and putting in nights work. Join BASC it gives you insurance and a sticker that's recanised by many. I've got a mate who works on a farm and between us and a couple of others were in demand all the time but it hasn't happened over night. We get other people wanting to join us and if we lett some one come along we won't suffer fools gladly. I've even got a farm down in the new forest for fox control so when everi go stalking down there we finish the evening stalk by going over there and foxing. This hasn't happened by chance its about networking and personnel recommendsion. One othe thing has helped and made me very poplar is a good thermal and night vision.thats got me turning down two local keepers as I'm want a bit back for my time and investment.

[Akeld]

Also just noticed your location Sam, your not far from race horse country, might be a different angle for you (since you don't have a sister ), don't want those expensive nags snapping a leg down a rabbit hole

[Sam17H]

UPDATE FROM THE WEEKEND

 

Thanks for all the replies firstly everyone. Loads of good information there and its interesting to see how many different routes people have gone down to obtain shooting permission over land.

 

I had a free afternoon yesterday so decided to take a drive around armed with a printout of Google Earth images showing local farms. The hardest thing seemed to be finding the farms themselves, as often what was shown on Google was just a derelict machine shed and no-one around. The first area of land I visited was a crop farm, and of course this time of year no-one was around. I asked a local who owned it, and turns out it was part of a huge estate which has it's own keepers etc. I decided to try the next nearby farm, and upon getting nearer there was no access to where the farm was actually shown on the map. Giving up on that one I pulled over and did some more searching on the phone, but within a couple of minutes I clocked an approaching 4x4 covered in mud which clearly was being used locally. I waved the guy down and got chatting to him, explaining I was out looking for some ground to control vermin over locally. Turns out he was a local contracted estate manager and was on his way to visit a nearby large 250-acre estate as part of his rounds. He controls pigeons etc with his shotgun, but gets regular calls to deal with problem rabbits and fixes which aren't really his thing. After a good old chat about my shooting experience, current permissions and general discussion he asked for my number with the intention of referring me onto any landowners looking for control of rabbits or foxes, plus he pointed me in the direction of a fairly local village where he knows has problems with rabbits.

 

"Not a bad start!" I thought. So, off I went to find the suggested village.

 

After flagging down some locals, again struggling to find the actual farm I'd googled, I parked up and walked in to the farm area, but armed with the farmer's name and general location of his house. I got the the farm itself and it was dead as a dodo - not a person in sight other than dog walkers! Decent surrounding land though covered in crows, pigeons, sheep and some horses in the distance. I tried knocking on a couple of doors which I guessed were the farmers until his neighbour kindly first had me try calling his mobile, then she banged on his window having spotted him in the front room! he came to the door and I politely introduced myself and explained I was looking to be of any help whatsoever in controlling any vermin. He was a nice guy and seemed keen on helping, but explained his son shoots stuff with his .22lr and also is on the GB Under 25 target rifle team. We got talking on this as I used to train with the same team a few years back, so a good conversation ensued on that. After a while talking to him he'd asked for my number as a friend who owns a stableyard not far away is inundated with rabbits which have been digging under the stable blocks and causing all sorts of grief for her, but she hasn't as of yet been able to get someone along to control them. He also mentioned of another plot of land of his which needs foxes and rabbits controlled but was leased to some horse owners, and he would try them to see if they needed help.

 

All in all, not a bad day as I had very low expectations from heading out to find some land. Hopefully something will come of it

[jay666d]

That's some good going in one day! I hope they come thru for you...

 

I have a couple of people that I have given my number to and as yet, I've not heard back... Now, even tho I want to, I can't change my mobile number! Ha!