tisme Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 I have crows and magpies stealing eggs from our chickens and ducks. Whats the rules on shooting them please. Any other ways to stop them ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunner Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Rules ? None i think . If in back garden next to residential then air rifle , some can be extemly cautious , but persist and you will get them , or larson trap ? Pellets must stay in your boundry . So however tempting it is to shoot them from a out of boundry tree i wouldn't risk . Thieving little beggars however beautiful maggies look ! have you got an air rifle ? Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin credible Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Rules are very simple.........use whichever caliber you have that causes them to explode in the most dramatic way possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tisme Posted August 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Thanks for the answers. I though I read somewhere, a long time ago, you had to try other methods first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6mill mick Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Hi Tisme Having seen you on several occasions at the range I'm surprised you are even thinking of shooting them, you know as well as I do that you couldn't hit a barn from the inside and certainly any targets within 300 yds are going to be perfectly safe. However if you can set up about 1500 + yds away then I'm sure there won't be a crow or magpie safe in the south of England. Blessings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave thorniley Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 as gunner said Larson trap + cat never fails good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tisme Posted August 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Hi Tisme Having seen you on several occasions at the range I'm surprised you are even thinking of shooting them, you know as well as I do that you couldn't hit a barn from the inside and certainly any targets within 300 yds are going to be perfectly safe. However if you can set up about 1500 + yds away then I'm sure there won't be a crow or magpie safe in the south of England. Blessings I'll use a 22lr at 500 yards ;o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DW58 Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Forget your air rifles, .22-centrefires, night-vision etc. ... ... ... THIS is the answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hancock Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Tisme - you are right. Gunner - FYI ! We - as shooters - have to abide by the rules of the General Licence available from the Natural England website and to have proved to have initially used means, other than shooting to scare away those birds listed (crow, jay, jackdaw, rook, parakeet, feral pigeon, Canada goose, woodpigeon, collared dove, magpie) which has proved impracticable. The GL cover 6 pages of stuff. Well worth reading / to be aware of to ensure your arse is covered. That is my understanding and how I have been advised after a do-gooder stirred the porridge as I was shooting jackdaws. We proved other means of deterrent and proved danger to livestock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tisme Posted August 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Tisme - you are right. Gunner - FYI ! We - as shooters - have to abide by the rules of the General Licence available from the Natural England website and to have proved to have initially used means, other than shooting to scare away those birds listed (crow, jay, jackdaw, rook, parakeet, feral pigeon, Canada goose, woodpigeon, collared dove, magpie) which has proved impracticable. The GL cover 6 pages of stuff. Well worth reading / to be aware of to ensure your arse is covered. That is my understanding and how I have been advised after a do-gooder stirred the porridge as I was shooting jackdaws. We proved other means of deterrent and proved danger to livestock. Thanks for that, I'll try something else first, any sensible ideas? Does make me think about all the videos on you tube of crows etc being shot in fields! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hancock Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 I like DW58's idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snc_2010 Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 We... must have proved to have initially used means, other than shooting to scare away those birds listed Prove it. Post the legislation that says this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin credible Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 OVERVIEW This licence permits landowners, occupiers and other Authorised Persons to carry out a range of otherwise prohibited activities against the species of wild birds listed on the licence. This licence may only be relied upon where the activities are carried out for the purposes specified, and users must comply with licence terms and conditions. These conditions include the requirement that the user must be satisfied that legal (including non-lethal) methods of resolving the problem are ineffective or impracticable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snc_2010 Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 the user must be satisfied that legal (including non-lethal) methods of resolving the problem are ineffective or impracticable. That's a different thing to having to try other things first. Which is correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Jones Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 Had same thing and used Larsen with chicken eggs in it, caught 6 on the first day and a further 14 over the next 10 days. Just ensure they don't watch you emptying it or you may educate them. Even managed to shoot one or two off the top of the trap when both compartments had caught! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hancock Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 SNC - in specific response - I used the word prove and I'm not going to get caught up in a debate about semantics. If I or the landowner has undertaken actions of alternate deterrent - other than shooting - we can thus present evidence and or prove we have undertaken actions to comply with the terms of the General Licence as posted by Justin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbal Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 It's always a good idea to read the relevant legislation etc,and avoid needless quibbling etc. Justin's summary is verbatim from the General Licence regulations,specifically "GL to kill or take certain species of wild birds to prevent serious damage or disease". As it says "the user must be satisfied.....' I can't see "prove" specifically;but David's point is entirely reasonable too-one reasonably clear and defensible 'reason to be satisfied' is showing that other methods have been tried and failed...even though there seems no specific insistence in the regulations that this be done in every single instance. But having done so must put the shooter in a strong position wrt the General Licence (and pedantic/mischievous/conscientious/whatever objectors to such shooting-who will have a difficult time 'proving' otherwise!) gbal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snc_2010 Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/530414/gl05-birds-phs-licence.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/530450/gl04-birds-prevent-damage-disease-licence.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/530445/gl06-birds-conservation-licence.pdf These are the licences. Each contains the following: 'These conditions include the requirement that the user must be satisfied that legal (including non-lethal) methods of resolving the problem are ineffective or impracticable.' There is no need to try anything else first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainman_l Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 Both species are defined as pest/vermin under general licence. That's the good news. However if they are in your garden steeling eggs and you wish to eradicate them the you will be breaking the law as the licence if for application on agricultural land in protection of crops. This is my personal interpretation and happy for others to challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snc_2010 Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 Both species are defined as pest/vermin under general licence. That's the good news. However if they are in your garden steeling eggs and you wish to eradicate them the you will be breaking the law as the licence if for application on agricultural land in protection of crops. This is my personal interpretation and happy for others to challenge. He who asserts must prove. It's legal until it's not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brown dog Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/530414/gl05-birds-phs-licence.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/530450/gl04-birds-prevent-damage-disease-licence.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/530445/gl06-birds-conservation-licence.pdf These are the licences. Each contains the following: 'These conditions include the requirement that the user must be satisfied that legal (including non-lethal) methods of resolving the problem are ineffective or impracticable.' There is no need to try anything else first. Interesting to read the actual licences. I think just about anyone with a need can find a legal reason to reduce pest rooks etc under one of those (ie not just farmland/crops). The wording on semi-autos is suitably complicated. I think it's saying that FAC shotguns are 'good to go' when reducing pests under the licence. Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Dogge Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 Interesting to read the actual licences. I think just about anyone with a need can find a legal reason to reduce pest rooks etc under one of those (ie not just farmland/crops). The wording on semi-autos is suitably complicated. I think it's saying that FAC shotguns are 'good to go' when reducing pests under the licence. Anyone? That is my understanding of the meaning of the semi auto clause, and the rest, e.g. in the case of crop protection, I don't think the crops have to be yours, or present where you are shooting, "crop protection" is a blanket clause. The intention of the license is not to make it difficult to shoot pest birds, it is basically to continue the provisions of the 1988 Wildlife and Countryside Act (which defined a list of pest species which could be shot at all times) while complying with the EU European Birds Directive. You mainly need to be aware of the license to know what to say if challenged, people shooting pest birds in their gardens have been prosecuted when they gave the "wrong answer" when asked why they were shooting them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17 Rem Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 Both species are defined as pest/vermin under general licence. That's the good news. However if they are in your garden steeling eggs and you wish to eradicate them the you will be breaking the law as the licence if for application on agricultural land in protection of crops. This is my personal interpretation and happy for others to challenge. You need to look at the last of the 3 general licences kindly attached to post 18 above. It allows you to kill crows and magpies for the protection of other flora and fauna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tisme Posted August 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 You need to look at the last of the 3 general licences kindly attached to post 18 above. It allows you to kill crows and magpies for the protection of other flora and fauna. I've got a duck called Flora and a goose called Fauna so thats ok then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swarovski1 Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 Larsen trap would be best option if you cant shoot them.you will soon catch them, I would expect its the same few doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.