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#1
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Air rifles
Hi all, Need to get rid of (permanently!) 2 big, fat, greedy wood pigeons
and a verminous grey squirrel out of my garden. Thinking about buying an air rifle. Do I need a license for one of these nowadays? Clive in Kent |
#2
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On Wed, 11 May 2005 11:04:50 +0000 (UTC), "Clive in Kent"
wrote: Hi all, Need to get rid of (permanently!) 2 big, fat, greedy wood pigeons and a verminous grey squirrel out of my garden. Thinking about buying an air rifle. Do I need a license for one of these nowadays? Clive in Kent You do not need a license for an air rifle with an energy of less that 12 ft lbs, which should be adequate to deal with most small vermin. The rules which might affect you are that you can not use an air rifle within 15m of a public highway and any bullet, shot or pellet from a gun should not fall onto ground which you do not have permission to shoot over. NB those are from memory so don't rely on that. In practice the only considerations are normal gun safety guidelines it is unlikely that anybody will complain if you send an air rifle pellet from your garden into an otherwise empty field and if you are shooting away from a road then you probably need not worry about measuring how close you are. As long as you shoot over open ground or into a hillside / backstop then you are generally OK. Practical points are that pigeons can be suprisingly hard to take down, an air rifle is adequate but on another forum I have read anecdotal evidence that they can survive even glancing shots from a shotgun. Other than that then depending on circumstance an air rifle is in many ways the best solution and has the bonus of providing you with pigeon and squirrel pie. Talking of which does anyone have any suggestions on how best to cook squirrel - I have the same problem with squirrels causing damage in my garden! JB |
#3
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Do I need a license for one of these nowadays?
Not yet but a review of the laws is due by July. The outcome could be a total ban, but that seems very unlikely. More likely, I think, is a licensing system probably less strenous than the current system for firearms. Henry |
#4
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Clive in Kent wrote:
Do I need a license for one of these nowadays? Maybe. You need to provide more information. |
#5
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JB wrote:
Talking of which does anyone have any suggestions on how best to cook squirrel - I have the same problem with squirrels causing damage in my garden! treat like rabbit, but with much tougher skin! |
#6
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"JB" wrote in message ... On Wed, 11 May 2005 11:04:50 +0000 (UTC), "Clive in Kent" wrote: Hi all, Need to get rid of (permanently!) 2 big, fat, greedy wood pigeons and a verminous grey squirrel out of my garden. Thinking about buying an air rifle. Do I need a license for one of these nowadays? Clive in Kent You do not need a license for an air rifle with an energy of less that 12 ft lbs, which should be adequate to deal with most small vermin. The rules which might affect you are that you can not use an air rifle within 15m of a public highway and any bullet, shot or pellet from a gun should not fall onto ground which you do not have permission to shoot over. NB those are from memory so don't rely on that. In practice the only considerations are normal gun safety guidelines it is unlikely that anybody will complain if you send an air rifle pellet from your garden into an otherwise empty field and if you are shooting away from a road then you probably need not worry about measuring how close you are. As long as you shoot over open ground or into a hillside / backstop then you are generally OK. Practical points are that pigeons can be suprisingly hard to take down, an air rifle is adequate but on another forum I have read anecdotal evidence that they can survive even glancing shots from a shotgun. Other than that then depending on circumstance an air rifle is in many ways the best solution and has the bonus of providing you with pigeon and squirrel pie. Talking of which does anyone have any suggestions on how best to cook squirrel - I have the same problem with squirrels causing damage in my garden! Skin 'em and treat 'em like rabbits....same as for cats as well...you may not think that funny but you 'old timers' out there know that in WW2 cats were fair game for ration starved folk.....incidentally, both taste very good'''HW JB |
#7
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Skin 'em and treat 'em like rabbits....same as for cats as well...you may not think that funny but you 'old timers' out there know that in WW2 cats were fair game for ration starved folk.....incidentally, both taste very good' I have been advocating this and the owners of the newsgroup think me disgusting. I was told it by someone in occupied Holland. Mike |
#8
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In article , "Mike" writes: | | Skin 'em and treat 'em like rabbits....same as for cats as well...you may | not think that funny but you 'old timers' out there know that in WW2 cats | were fair game for ration starved folk.....incidentally, both taste very | good' | | I have been advocating this and the owners of the newsgroup think me | disgusting. I was told it by someone in occupied Holland. That's two factual errors in one sentence. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#9
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"Clive in Kent @hotmail.com" cliverholdenremove wrote in message ... Hi all, Need to get rid of (permanently!) 2 big, fat, greedy wood pigeons and a verminous grey squirrel out of my garden. Thinking about buying an air rifle. Do I need a license for one of these nowadays? Not yet. Aim for the head, I borrow a neighbours old .22 air rifle. |
#10
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The message
from JB contains these words: You do not need a license for an air rifle with an energy of less that 12 ft lbs, which should be adequate to deal with most small vermin. The rules which might affect you are that you can not use an air rifle within 15m of a public highway There is no such law. You can fire a gun from the middle of a public highway providing you have good reason, and you do not alarm or injure anyone using it. You may have to have the permission of the controlling authority too, but I'm not sure about that. (But I can find out tonight.) and any bullet, shot or pellet from a gun should not fall onto ground which you do not have permission to shoot over. NB those are from memory so don't rely on that. The bullet, shot or pellet mustn't cross your boundary unless your neighbour permits. In practice the only considerations are normal gun safety guidelines it is unlikely that anybody will complain if you send an air rifle pellet from your garden into an otherwise empty field and if you are shooting away from a road then you probably need not worry about measuring how close you are. As long as you shoot over open ground or into a hillside / backstop then you are generally OK. Practical points are that pigeons can be suprisingly hard to take down, an air rifle is adequate but on another forum I have read anecdotal evidence that they can survive even glancing shots from a shotgun. Other than that then depending on circumstance an air rifle is in many ways the best solution and has the bonus of providing you with pigeon and squirrel pie. The breast feathers of a pigeon can cushion pellets from a shotgun if they hit face-on. Head-shots are favourite, so 'practice makes pigeon'. Talking of which does anyone have any suggestions on how best to cook squirrel - I have the same problem with squirrels causing damage in my garden! Skin, gut and joint your squirrel. Put a couple of tablespoons of plain flour in a big mixing-bowl. Add some sea salt, ground celery seed, ground black pepper, marjoram or oregano and sage, and mix it in well. Put carrots, parsnip, swede &c into a casserole and cover with water (or stock) and bring it to the boil in the oven or in a microwave. Meanwhile, heat some oil in a pan and fry a couple of chopped onions in it, and garlic if you like it. When the onions are cooked, 'seal' the squirrel flesh by putting it into the hot pan and stirring it about until all the surface has turned a greyish white. Tip contents of pan into bowl and mix into the flour. Put squirrel and onions into casserole and if there is any loose oil and flour left, take some of the liquor and mix it into a thin paste, and add to the casserole. Mix it in well, and replace in oven at around 100° C, or in the microwave on defrost. Cook for an hour at least, or until meat comes off the bone. -- Rusty Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar. http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/ |
#11
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The message
from "Harold Walker" contains these words: Skin 'em and treat 'em like rabbits....same as for cats as well...you may not think that funny but you 'old timers' out there know that in WW2 cats were fair game for ration starved folk.....incidentally, both taste very good'''HW We always suspected that was what happend to my cat Rufus - I must have been about six at the time, and I spent days looking in the fields and woods about my house. -- Rusty Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar. http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/ |
#12
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"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message k... The message from "Harold Walker" contains these words: Skin 'em and treat 'em like rabbits....same as for cats as well...you may not think that funny but you 'old timers' out there know that in WW2 cats were fair game for ration starved folk.....incidentally, both taste very good'''HW We always suspected that was what happend to my cat Rufus - I must have been about six at the time, and I spent days looking in the fields and woods about my house. -- Rusty Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar. http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/ And.........I was "off Age" at that time and Winnie called me....yup, am what some consider me to be 'an old geezer'..HW |
#13
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martin wrote:
On 11 May 2005 13:57:25 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote: In article , "Mike" writes: Skin 'em and treat 'em like rabbits....same as for cats as well...you may not think that funny but you 'old timers' out there know that in WW2 cats were fair game for ration starved folk.....incidentally, both taste very good' I have been advocating this and the owners of the newsgroup think me disgusting. I was told it by someone in occupied Holland. That's two factual errors in one sentence. Assuming he meant The Netherlands and not East Anglia? Well, in all fairness, I have to point out that neither Holland has ever been entirely vacant in recent years. I'm sure that's what our hyperbolic friend must have meant. -- Mike. |
#14
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Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message from JB contains these words: You do not need a license for an air rifle with an energy of less that 12 ft lbs, which should be adequate to deal with most small vermin. The rules which might affect you are that you can not use an air rifle within 15m of a public highway There is no such law. You can fire a gun from the middle of a public highway providing you have good reason, and you do not alarm or injure anyone using it. You may have to have the permission of the controlling authority too, but I'm not sure about that. (But I can find out tonight.) [...] I'm not at all sure about this. There certainly did use to a be a rule about not discharging a firearm within n (40? 60?) feet of a public highway. I have a faint suspicion that it may even have been printed on the back of my old from-the-Post-Office gun licence. Anyhow, all this talk is utterly absurd. No inexperienced shot should go to the hassle and expense of buying and learning to use an air rifle to kill two pigeons and a squirrel. You either live with them, taking the usual precautions, or ask a regular shooter to deal with them. -- Mike. |
#15
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On Wed, 11 May 2005 16:59:53 +0200, martin wrote:
On 11 May 2005 13:57:25 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote: In article , "Mike" writes: | | Skin 'em and treat 'em like rabbits....same as for cats as well...you may | not think that funny but you 'old timers' out there know that in WW2 cats | were fair game for ration starved folk.....incidentally, both taste very | good' | | I have been advocating this and the owners of the newsgroup think me | disgusting. I was told it by someone in occupied Holland. That's two factual errors in one sentence. Assuming he meant The Netherlands and not East Anglia? Is Lincolnshire (Lindsey, Kesteven and Holland) in East Anglia? |
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