Shooting on Forestry Commission land

Does anyone know if this is possible?

I trained in survival but the wife doesn't know much about it other than what she sees online, so it's time to get her into claiming her own food for future ventures, we have an abundance of rabbit populations over on a large area of FC land near us ( Haldon Hill ).

I've sent them a letter asking what needs to be done to allow it ( if possible ), but in the mean time i was interested in what laws outside of private land you have to adhere to.

I understand the usual common sense laws regarding carrying & keeping an air rifle etc in the vehicle and outside of it, but what about on FC land ( which is classed as private? )

Do they allow permission? I read, although i may be confused abit here, that rabbits are ' out of season ' for shooting after march 31st until December 11th and hares aren't allowed to be shot on Sundays..

This isn't for sport at all, most of you know i'm against hunting of this kind, but it's an education for someone who will benefit in the future and will allow me to brush up my skills, so any helpful info appreciated

Cheers

havent got a clue but very interesting.......I think its really important. Whats your training

I took a deer into school, having gutted it first and 30 kids helped to remove the organs, skin it, fry up a few cuts and stew the rest over a fire. At the start only 1 kid said he would eat it.....at the end only one didn't.
I my opinion it was an important and valuable lesson for them but fook me did I ever get in trouble.....hauled up in front of the govenors, threatened with suspension....the works. Took a helluva lot of talking for them to even begin to understand my motives.
Final outcome is I can skin rabbits with them so long as they're gutted and pheasant that are plucked

you will need the permission of the land owner
most land owners give permission for rabitting but usually using ferrets
they would not be happy about you using air rifles unless they knew you very well and were sure you were not some crazed lunatic or a professional footballer who didn't realise that air rifles can go off
kspoons

They do allow permission, but it can be a pain to get.

There is no legal season for rabbits at all, or hares. They can be shot all year round. Although personally i wouldnt be going after hares with an air rifle.


atb
mat

You can't shoot people either, its frowned upon apparently!!!

If you go on to private land with an air rifle you, without the landowners permission, you could be charged with armed tresspass, and if found guilty in court you, at best, will be heavily fined and your air rifle destroyed, at worst, fined, gun destroyed, and a custodial sentence. Most landowners will want to see insurance for public liability, damage etc. before they would even consider giving you permission.

Definitely wouldn't go for hares with an air rifle, unless you have a firearms licence and get a much more powerful one.

Be very careful here, without permission, you will be committing armed trespass and liable for prosecution, a criminal record, and likely a visit from a helicopter and armed response team, when somebody reports 'a bloke with a gun in the forest'.

You need to have permission of the land owner, unfortunately FC won't grant this due to their elf n safety policies, unless you are able to lease the shooting rights, then you will need to demonstrate risk assessments, shooting qualifications (DMQ level 1 + 2), insurance (3rd party £10million BASC/BDS/CA etc.

I also echo the comment above about shooting hairs with an air rifle, the gun isnt powerful enough to kill humanely at anything further than a couple of yards.

Another option to you is to ask around local farms/golf courses to see if they want their rabbits/vermin managed.

Good Luck, be safe and shoot straight.

Problem the FC have is that most of their land is available to public access which creates a health and safety nightmare. Have a word with a local farmer most of whom will be only too glad to see a few rabbits being taken away.

You can shoot on FC land but you'll usually (as mentioned) have to provide comprehensive insurance plus pay a substantial fee. Although this is usually for deer-stalking as opposed to vermin control.

Ultimately it's privately-owned land so therefore you require their permission to shoot there. If that permission requires you to provide insurance and / or a fee then that's up to them.

I have read up on the trespass and armed trespass whilst shooting on private land without permission, so i'm aware of that.

The hares was a mention, not something i'm inlcined to do with an airrifle, i found the law rather odd that i read, and i mentioned it only in passing

Even rabbit shooting would be something i'd like to practice alot more before going ahead with it and using live wild animals, but that's all part of the learning curve.

As for the survival part, i did extensive training in the military, we spent 2 weeks in Dartmoor & in Nottingham, but it was some time ago, some stuff you remember well, others i need to practice on. We weren't allowed to shoot food back then though and learnt other ways of controlling food supply, but i'm not inclined to use such methods unless it's absolutely needed.

Anyway, cheers for the info, i do have public liability insurance upto 5million for my job anyway, this may count in my favour, if i find no joy with the FC then i'll look to private land owners around the area.

Ta

PaulWilde said:

Anyway, cheers for the info, i do have public liability insurance upto 5million for my job anyway, this may count in my favour, if i find no joy with the FC then i'll look to private land owners around the area.

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You may want to check up on that - they'll probably run a thousand miles when they see it's shooting related. The CPSA and BASC do good deals and know what they're talking about should there be any issues.

ed.poore said:

You may want to check up on that - they'll probably run a thousand miles when they see it's shooting related. The CPSA and BASC do good deals and know what they're talking about should there be any issues.

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I was browsing the BASC site last night, some very good information there, and i'll get in touch with them regarding insurance etc.

Cheers ed.

Hey Paul, I have just got my BASC insurance, and have been looking to approach land owners around the Torbay/South Devon area for some rabbiting permission!

I will give you a shout if I get any luck. Let me know if you have any luck also.

Thanks - Matt

PaulWilde said:

As for the survival part, i did extensive training in the military, we spent 2 weeks in Dartmoor & in Nottingham

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I've done the odd few days work in Nottingham city centre and I can see why you need the survival training! How come you're allowed to shoot hares - I thought they were a red listed species?

oxides said:

I've done the odd few days work in Nottingham city centre and I can see why you need the survival training! How come you're allowed to shoot hares - I thought they were a red listed species?

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You can shoot them but not run dogs on them. In some places around the country they are a bigger pest than rabbits. I know of one place where an organised shoot takes 3000+ a year and does not even make a dent into the population

Paul ,you could always come up here to Manchester ,people are forever shooting things ,namely coppers and gangsters and you wont need to worry about any health and safety ****e cos they have none ,but think you will need to upgrade from a airgun to maybe a sawnoff shotgun or even a uzi ,just to keeps things in keeping with the local boys !!!!!!!

Hi Paul

I think you will struggle to get permission for shooting in Haldon forest, the FC have a big investment programme for this forest and have an ongoing programme of developing further mountain bike trails and footpaths for the use of the general public. So I can't see them being to accomodating in this respect.

Your best bet is to contact local farmers, who will usually be only too grateful for any assistance with pest control!!

I would guess not, especially considering what DTd5 said. Could pose a major health and safety risk. That said, they do allow people to go there for dogging activities during the weekend, so perhaps it's worth waiting for their response anyway.

I would suggest contacting Clinton Devon Estates. They own many forests in Devon and are one of the largest land holders in Devon too. I used to take my Landy to their forests (with permission) as they have an extensive network of green lanes.

Clinton Devon Estates | Forestry | Overview