Hump101

Another question: We have had a few chickens taken by a fox. We can't hunt the fox without a PdC, but according to my ONCFS officer I can trap the fox, then shoot the fox in the trap with an air rifle. However, reading the above it sounds like shooting it, even in a trap, is not allowed. Has anyone any knowledge of this? I only have a telephone conversation about this with the ONCFS officer, nothing in writing, but he explained that, if I try to release the fox away from my property (my first thought), it will likely die due to territorial fighting with other foxes, and in any case the neighbo

Yesterday I brought two air rifles from the UK to France. The procedure was pretty much as described in posts above, but as they are non-FAC in both countries there seemed to be little concern. I booked online with Brittany Ferries, then phoned them to let them know I would be bringing the guns. They told me to send an email to the duty manager in Portsmouth giving rifle types, amount of ammo (zero in my case), and car make and model. They then completed the declaration, which they submitted to UK and French customs. I booked on Wednesday and travelled on Sunday, so they don't need a lot of no

They are specifically stating black rat, can you ask them to confirm that they also accept brown rats in the same category? Edit: they say all species commensales, so that is confirmed.

My son found a site that listed the brown rat, black rat, field mouse, house mouse, cockroaches, and a few other insects. It wasn't a government site so I ignored it, but I'll try and find the link again.

That last photo is what our rats look like, which was why I thought they were brown rats?

I've still left my trap out, baiting it every night, but I've not caught a rat in two weeks. The first week I caught one or two per night, six in total, then nothing, but the bait disappears. Last Friday night I spent an hour just sitting and watching, and we have a large rat who is able to stretch into the first section of the trap, keeping his rear legs and tail outside, then he supports his front legs on the sides of the second section trap door, and eats all the bait. He then, very slowly, extracts himself backwards. Bear in mind that the entrance to the first section is barbed, to pre

This morning I received an email from the ONCFS: Bonjour Monsieur, Quand vous parlez de rat brun (Rattus novegicus), je présume que vous voulez parler du rat noir (Rattus rattus) commun chez nous. Cette espèce est un commensal de l'homme. A ce titre, il ne relève à notre connaissance d'aucune réglementation. Vous pouvez donc le détruire en utilisant une carabine à air comprimé sur votre ferme. Pour votre information d'autres moyens efficaces peuvent être utilisés pour arriver au même résultat (le piégeage, l'emploi de raticide homologué du commerce). Je reste à votre disposition pour tout

Thanks for all the ideas - food for thought on buying in the UK, lots of availability, but how easy is shipping a secondhand gun over to France? I already have 300bar dive bottles, so I'd only need an adaptor. However, I've still not heard back from the ONCFS, so my wife is calling them today to chase them up. Edit: Regarding weight, I have a torn rotator cuff tendon in my shoulder, hence weight is a bit of an issue, but I would support the front of the rifle on a stand when shooting. With my shoulder I had no issues holding the Gamo, but struggled with the Stoeger, hence my comment ab

Thanks for the info. I'm completely new to this so it is appreciated. Other than accuracy, one attraction of a PCP to me is the light weight. At 2.4kg the Benjamin Discovery is even lighter than the vets Gamo, which is so much nicer to handle that the A30 at 3.9kg. Of course, both will be a little heavier with a scope on, but still a kilo or so less. Also, as an engineer, I'm a born fiddler, and the PCP concept appeals to my sensibilities. However, the simplicity of the break-barrel can't be denied, and in the end the cost will probably be the deciding factor, much to my chagrin!

That's a very kind offer that I'll take you up on if the ONCFS give me some words I can stand behind and my wife puts her foot down about the cost of a PCP. I've read of lots of Stoeger scope issues on .22 versions, but was impressed on the .177 that I had, I expect much less kick so the scope can cope. I have small hands and had issues with the size of the pistol grip and reach to the trigger on the A30, so getting the chance to handle an ATAC before I buy would be great. I'm not a good shot so the attraction of the PCP is the easy accuracy, from what I've read, but I've never shot one. I wou

I might well be, if it is below 20J, but the reason for asking was that when this all started I bought a Stoeger A30 S2 suppressor on the recommendation of the armurerie, but I found that the trigger was so heavy and with such a long second stage that I couldn't group at all with it, even after using all the adjustment. The pellets (Stoeger X-hunt 8.64 gr. 0.177) were tumbling, which wasn't helping. I sent it back, as on the advice of my Uncle (30 years in the army) there could have been an issue with the barrel. Very powerful, though, leaving good dents in my backstop (we've set up a range in

Just a note on the above. This document is from 2010, which predates the 2013 changes to weapon classes. The décret du 6 mai 1995 has been almost completely repealed (see Article 186 of the 2013 Decree). The arrêté ministériel du 1er août 1986 modifié is still applicable in its modified form, and the lines: "Sont interdits pour la chasse de tout gibier et pour la destruction des animaux nuisibles : -l'emploi des armes à air ou gaz comprimé dénommées aussi armes à vent;" are still applicable. I've spoken again with my environmental officer, who has reiterated again that the destructio

We're near to Dinan, and its the mornings you need to avoid. They're usually finished by midday. This year the fields are put to pasture, and the hunters usually keep away from the cows, so here's hoping! I notice you have a Stoeger ATAC suppressor in your list. Is it any good as a ratter? I've left a message with my environmental officer, hopefully he'll get back to me soon.

It's actually quite scary to watch them operate. We have to get our animals penned when they are around (normally our animals roam around as they please) so we get to see them hunting. The last dog they shot was last year, when the dog chased the boar out of the corn, right between two hunters, who let fly with all they had, swinging madly around as they did so. They missed the boar, shot the dog, and only by shear luck didn't shoot each other. I was only 50m away, and dived to the ground as they continued to rotate, but they'd stopped shooting before they were pointing over our land. They wep

That made me smile. The land around our farm has a hunt on it for boar and deer. We don't allow them on our land as we have our own animals, and we also like having the wildlife here. They sent their dogs through once and we didn't see anything wild for 6 months. In the 9 years we've lived here we've never seen them kill a wild animal, but they have managed to shoot two of their own dogs.