Educating The Public About Airgunning

[The one 8,402]

For those that know me ive worked in security at a university for sixteen years and had the vermin shooting for 8 years as long as i phoned the police from the control room and got a job number everything was fine , then one day during a fire alarm i asked the principal if he was interested in getting the rabbits controlled in the large grounds of his house and that was a firm Yes we got on fine he even had his own gun but told me he couldnt snipe LOL .

Anyway theres four shifts of six guys and a woman at work and the woman in my shift was a confirmed anti she bought a plastic bag of food a day in for the birds and we soon had rats under the bird feeders so i trapped them for more brownie points .About two years ago i had my left ankle cleaned out due to problems and being a big guy and with the ankle being the lowest point of my body i had numerous problems and was off work a year . one night when the guys where on i went into pay my lottery and ended up doing the rabbits my wife was driving my son who was eighteen was shooting out the passenger window and i was spread over the back seat . next thing i gets a letter saying no shooting while i was on the sick , then i got a letter saying the shooting was suspended , Then i got a letter from hr saying they had scheduled a meeting for me as i had been shooting round staff ?. i said i wasnt prepared to get three buses on my crutches to go to a meeting and they quoted i was quite prepared to come out at night and shoot the rabbits though ?. so i said i would go at night or when my wife was available to drive me . so a date was arranged turns out this lady i work with had by passes our controller and line manager and went straight to the insurance manager of the uni and said pellets where falling all round her .so if i muck up this interview im as good as jobless so i phoned sacs and got a list of question's to ask and if i needed more it would be available , so i get to this room and as i hobble in the hr rep says after this meeting if we can help you let us know i looked up and there six members of the uni sitting opposite me they hadnt a clue .First question do you have permission to shoot here ? how long have you had it ? i take it you come out once a year ? i pulled out my permission and said ive got to have insurance and a risk assessment im out one night a month on here a extra pair of eyes etc and i do the principals garden when im out and hes no wanting me anywhere near his kids if im in the least dangerous they want to photo copy my stuff so i said thats mine see the landscape boss turns out this lady had made it sound like the alamo but i said ive a single shot airgun so thats going to be bloody hard by then i had ,had enough and said when do i get to ask my questions and can i see the complaint in writting and who made it ETC meeting called to a end . Two weeks later i get a letter i had been exonerated but no more rabbits shooting , i was so happy as at least i got to keep my job

A bit later on i gets to know the other guy who did the shooting was back on , so im straight to hr asking if im exonerated i can start back shooting ? Hr No sorry Bob we have a private company doing it now " Bob Pish thats the guy that did it with me thats doing it now.Hr leave it with me i will get back to you . Im straight down the estate office to see the director , hi bob you here to see me about the rabbit shooting if you can tick all the boxes i will have you back tommorrow at least when you did it we hardly saw a rabbit now theres bloody hundreds . I was heading up the road when i gets a radio message to go and see the head of health and safety, never meet the guy before the meeting but he was sound what type of gun you got what pellets you use whats the gun chrono at no shooting within 100mtrs of bldgs i said i would only get to shoot on the sports fields so he changed it to 30 mtrs . Only thing he said was no more shooting out the car window and you wear a fluorescent waist coat im on my sixth differnt letter from him but its great to get so many rabbits from there and i can check where i need to go whilst im at work and i get plenty to keep the ferrets fed during the summer when i cant get too or am resting the other permissions

 

So from nearly getting the bullet everything fine and i spoke to the boss and asked do you still want me at your house after all the bother his reply Bob your alway's welcome

[pianoman 3,586]

Hi Simon

 

In my new place I'm thinking of improving my backstops to show the neighbours, a little more visually, that all saftey concerns are being catered for. I was thinking of building a 2-row wall of staw bails - say 3 bails high and 4 along, with a 5mm plyboard in the middle of the 2 rows, towards the bottom of my garden. Does this sound OK to you? Should be able to buy the straw from farmers and the wood from B&Q?

Sounds fine DrB Plenty enough straw to absorb pellet penetration. You can buy a straw bale for a couple of quid where I live, and build a great and safe target area with it.

 

I'd be careful about the Plyboard though. This stuff can cause .22 pellets to bounce back and fly back at you with almost the same velocity as they were fired. Or off into you neighbour's garden and then, that's trouble! Test it first before using it as a standard. If your ammo buries into it each shot, that's okay and good for zeroing precisely. Group-shots will eventually punch their way through into the straw behind. Best of all is set up a steel pellet catcher card target holder or two and you'll have no worries.

 

Best wishes.

Simon

[Lid 194]

I had the opposite problem with a neighbour's son using an air rifle as if it was a toy in a small garden and the pellets straying into our garden and even hitting the house. I had a chat, lent them a copy of an airgun magazine with a good article about shooting rabbits with sub 12 air rifles and that was all sorted.

[Dr B 186]

Thanks Simon

 

Oh, yes I know pellets bounce off ply, but I thought if it were in between to rows of bails, the straw would prevent that and its really window dressing to keep neighbours happy as they might not thing that straw is enough. Do your straw bail providers supply Birmingham area? I was thinking of coarse straw (not soft hay), tightly packed into a bail.

 

I've been reluctant to use my steel pellet catcher, although the safest thing, it is loud and that's what got me in trouble the first time. I'm thinking of placing targets on the ground some yds infront of the straw bails. Any thoughts? What the neighbours dont hear, they dont know about.

[Dr B 186]

Hey "TheOne"

 

Great story. Getting the permission in writing is the way to go. I'm so pleased it worked out - but its nearly always an 'anti' person trying to push their philosophy that cause the problems.

[Dr B 186]

I had the opposite problem with a neighbour's son using an air rifle as if it was a toy in a small garden and the pellets straying into our garden and even hitting the house. I had a chat, lent them a copy of an airgun magazine with a good article about shooting rabbits with sub 12 air rifles and that was all sorted.

 

Great post and thanks for sharing. Good that you were so reasonable.

[bigmac 97kt 13,746]

Hey "TheOne"

 

Great story. Getting the permission in writing is the way to go. I'm so pleased it worked out - but its nearly always an 'anti' person trying to push their philosophy that cause the problems.

Iv got an anti that lives on one of my perms and one day when i was out taking care of the crows in laming season he approached me yelling to leave the crows alone i went over to him and was polite at FIRST but as SEAN will verify im not the type to stand taking abuse off some one

 

but i did try telling him that in laming season they peck out the eyes of the new born lams but he just stood there with his Doberman thinking he was hard pointing his finger at me this went on for about twenty mins,

 

shouting loads of abuse and threatening to call the police by this time i had no lip to bite lol

 

I told him to call the police and even offered him my phone to do this by now the Doberman was trying to get to me so i put the rifle down and walked over to him and LOST IT BIG TIME

 

The rest ill keep to my self but lets just say when im out now shooting the crows and he see,s me he waves and asks how many iv shot and puts his thumb up

 

But he all ways keeps his distance from me

 

I WONDER WHY

 

atvbmac :thumbs:

[Dr B 186]

Its important not to be intimidated by people threatening us with the law all the time. I'm seriously thinking of printing an A4 copy of the law out on paper, and having it on me when i shoot, to shut these people up. I can only imagine what really did happen......

 

In my OP, that guy could not get past the fact that a '.22' with a 'scope' is NOT a bullet rifle.....it is legal.......providing the rules are being followed.

[Dr B 186]

In addition, both I and my target were more than 50ft from any public highway (so def legal)...but I'm not sure of the wider rules here. I think only the shooter actually needs to be 50ft away from a road. Is this true?

 

So imagine you walk, from a road, 50ft into a field, then turn and shoot at something in the field, but back towards the road.....is that legal? I do know of a case from about 40 years ago (my uncle) where someone did get fined for not being 50ft from the road when shooting, but he was shooting into the field with acres to spare behind his shot / target. Nonetheless, against the law. I have always aired on the side of caution and ensured i dont shoot back in such directions if the 50ft rule cant be honoured....but i do think the law is ambigious. Anyone got a suggestion? The options are;

 

Shooter must be at least 50ft from a road / highway (this is clear)

Target must be at least 50ft from a road (unclear)

Both must be more than 50ft from a road (?)

Edited February 13, 2015 by Dr B

[bigmac 97kt 13,746]

 

 

Hey "TheOne"

 

Great story. Getting the permission in writing is the way to go. I'm so pleased it worked out - but its nearly always an 'anti' person trying to push their philosophy that cause the problems.

Iv got an anti that lives on one of my perms and one day when i was out taking care of the crows in laming season he approached me yelling to leave the crows alone i went over to him and was polite at FIRST but as SEAN will verify im not the type to stand taking abuse off some one

 

but i did try telling him that in laming season they peck out the eyes of the new born lams but he just stood there with his Doberman thinking he was hard pointing his finger at me this went on for about twenty mins,

 

shouting loads of abuse and threatening to call the police by this time i had no lip to bite lol

 

I told him to call the police and even offered him my phone to do this by now the Doberman was trying to get to me so i put the rifle down and walked over to him and LOST IT BIG TIME

 

The rest ill keep to my self but lets just say when im out now shooting the crows and he see,s me he waves and asks how many iv shot and puts his thumb up

 

But he all ways keeps his distance from me

 

I WONDER WHY

 

atvbmac :thumbs:

 

You held him down and farted on his head?

 

Lets just say the dog was not the only one running with his tail between his legs lol

 

atvbmac :thumbs:

[The one 8,402]

She's just.a evil woman who if I wait my time will get what's coming to her , I knew I was going to push real hard to get the permission back after the landscape boss said Bob you will never be shooting back on here LOL , then at the end of the interview I said there's only one thing you can help me with and hr,s going anything what is it ? I replied stop that crazy cow from phoning me when she's pissed saying Bob your. Great guy why do you have to kill things LOL and I never got another phone call

[Dr B 186]

Hi Timmy

 

 

 

Not from the road, the term is carriageway and the distance is from the centre. Only illegal then IF you cause alarm, distress or risk etc to the users of said carriageway.

 

Yes, I agree thats my interpretation. My problem is what if you have an 'anti' claiming it is causing distress etc.....its subjective. I guess they have to make the case and provide some form of evidence. Hence, the burden of proof is with the claimant.....? Would you agree?

 

 

 

Footpaths don't come under the same rule, neither do bridleways and certainly not public footpaths on agricultural land.

What about service routes or access routes to properties? I.e., what if, at the bottom of your garden you have a shared access route (bascially for service providers) do you need to be be 50ft away from them (and your targets).

 

 

 

with a silenced sub 12 just stay out of sight, use a silent backstop and make sure no pellet can ever cross your boundary.

You can quite legally shoot in your garden as long as you are safe and sensible.

 

Agreed, points very well made, I would say a noisy pellet trap, no matter how safe and legal, can be the cause of many nasty encounters....

 

 

 

[pianoman 3,586]

Thanks Simon

 

Oh, yes I know pellets bounce off ply, but I thought if it were in between to rows of bails, the straw would prevent that and its really window dressing to keep neighbours happy as they might not thing that straw is enough. Do your straw bail providers supply Birmingham area? I was thinking of coarse straw (not soft hay), tightly packed into a bail.

 

I've been reluctant to use my steel pellet catcher, although the safest thing, it is loud and that's what got me in trouble the first time. I'm thinking of placing targets on the ground some yds infront of the straw bails. Any thoughts? What the neighbours dont hear, they dont know about.

 

 

Hi Doc!

If your shot is plonking into a steel pellet trap its sound alone should tell the next door lot that there's nothing going out of bounds. But of course, they will not think that way! You could of course, pad the pellet trap with thick cloth and dampen the noise down a bit if not silence it altogether.

 

I can't recommend a supplier of bailed hay in your area but a quick google search will provide you with one.

 

I can't quite picture in my mind how you set up your plywood/hay ball backstop so I cannot comment further. If it proves safe and effective, use it!

 

I use large coarse, rectangular straw bails like you see in the fields. four to six bales in a block makes a great, soundless backstop. Stick a few paving slabs in front and set up your targets and NOBODY can argue the shot will go through that lot!

 

On the subject of "Educating The Public About Air Guns" it's not going to happen. Ever. The world today is divided by those of us who enjoy the outdoors, shoot and hunt and eat what we kill and those who do nothing but buy their food entirely from supermarkets, with no further knowledge of food production than that!.

 

You only have to watch "10,000 BC" on the telly to see how utterly, uselessly ill-equipped most of the participants are for surviving in the wild using only what nature provides them with. There's even a bloody gormless woman veggie among them!

 

How very modern, how very clueless!

 

But they'll be craving proper cooked food and a means to get it effectively and plentifully before too long I think. Show up with an air rifle and a batch of prepared ready to cook bunnies with this lot and they'll kiss your hands!

Edited February 14, 2015 by pianoman

[John Stott 202]

Simon has it right with the bales DrB as do you. I use them to put targets ( paper ) onto. Thats if I want to vary my practice range a bit, overkill in my situation but they are silent. I use pellet traps though, at distance they are the best thing for paper Bisley targets.

I think too many shooters are being intimidated from carrying out a lawful activity. The law is clear, I admit I am luckier than most, however if faced with a constant whiner tell them their moaning constitutes harassment. Also that you will make a complaint against them. I carry an iphone now when shooting, its not happened yet, but any "incident" and I will record the exchange for my own use later.

For too long we have been "put upon" by antis. They have to respect our rights if they want theirs respecting too.

Edited February 14, 2015 by John Stott

[bigmac 97kt 13,746]

Hear you go DR,B take a good fecking rifle to push a pellet through one of these

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

atvbmac :thumbs: