Outside lambing pest control?

[Nithsdale]

Well, sort of!

My townie neighbour put up a building right next to my access without consultation and made false statements on his application for prior approval. He is claiming he needs a 24m x 12m x 6.1m high building to farm his two acres and the council have let him get away with it! (No comment). We had an altercation about that and next thing the cops were at my door. It is a long story but fortunately I have most of it in writing! There could be considerable mileage in that yet! Neighbour has since gone very quiet and is behaving. If he doesn't, he may find he has a web page all to himself!



Guns are something I use rarely but it is comforting to know that I have the means to put an animal down if I have to (the vet is >30 miles away). I usually shoot the rabbits off the quad at night as it is fitted with a gun rest, roll frame, and spot light mounted on the roof.

I'm a great believer in snares too, especially for foxes, and if fitted with a stop and checked promptly are humane enough. But up here we have to have a ticket and I'm not going on a course to be told how to do something I've been doing for the last 50 years!

With the greatest respect, when you said they had been taken before - I felt something was going on either you were unaware of, or were not telling us.

My guess is he told a wee lie about your attitude/actions, which the police must act upon - regardless of where the truth lays.

I'm glad for you the matter is getting resolved. I have been made aware, talking to my RFD the other day, a case where a gun owner has had his certificate renewal denied because of a "clear pattern" in his behaviour... the man has been done twice for drink driving - 30 years apart. He has his license back and can drive, but are still knocking him back for the guns. Hardly a pattern either...

 

[Dry Rot]

With the greatest respect, when you said they had been taken before - I felt something was going on either you were unaware of, or were not telling us.

My guess is he told a wee lie about your attitude/actions, which the police must act upon - regardless of where the truth lays.

I'm glad for you the matter is getting resolved. I have been made aware, talking to my RFD the other day, a case where a gun owner has had his certificate renewal denied because of a "clear pattern" in his behaviour... the man has been done twice for drink driving - 30 years apart. He has his license back and can drive, but are still knocking him back for the guns. Hardly a pattern either...

In case you missed the earlier thread, I am a retired land agent/chartered surveyor (though I generally keep that quiet on here!). I have never been in trouble with the police in my life and have held an open FAC for 59 years! I was also a RFD for a while. One of my guns was inherited from my grandfather, the chief inspector of Liverpool Police.

My guns were taken in October 2015 and returned in February this year after a meeting with the police and my MP. The police have made one cock up after another. Since my experiences have become known, I've had a few contact me and it seems you only have to cough these days to get guns seized. That's fine for those who shoot for sport but not so much fun for farmers and gamekeepers to whom guns are essential 'tools of trade'.

I lodged a formal complaint about the behaviour of the police with the Police Investigations and Reviews Commissioner (in Scot;land) and three out of four of the complaints were upheld. Planning say if the building is used for a non-agricultural pupose, my neighbour will be required to apply for full planning -- which is a bit pointless as the building is up and I doubt they'll make him remove it. Two solicitors, two planning consultants, and a land agent have independently confimed my interpretation of the law.

I accept that the police must act on complaints but they also have a duty to make inquiries to check they are not malicious. Planning applications and the relevant law are published online these days and it doesn't take a genius to work out where the truth lies. I am still angry about this and don't suffer fools gladly as some are now discovering. We still have free speech.

 

[exmoor dave]

Anyone used clam traps for crows?
Any good?

 

[JohnGalway]

Anyone used clam traps for crows?
Any good?

Like a "Larsen mate" ?

Have used one to catch a call bird, once.

 

[JohnGalway]

Have a lamp wary foxy, not shot at, but he was way too close to me one night and saw me before I saw him.

Just finished building this little gizmo

I can "see" hundreds of yards with just the IR on, don't know about eye shine yet, but would hope for 300+ for foxes, fingers crossed

 

[ajcc]

So talk us through it....assuredly a night vision spotter, list the components and costs please....does spot fox size animals at 300 yards in pitch black?

 

[JohnGalway]

So talk us through it....assuredly a night vision spotter, list the components and costs please....does spot fox size animals at 300 yards in pitch black?

I've only just completed the build, had it out on two occasions simply to test that it functions.

The link below is where to get info on all things NV. There are different ways to make them, this is just how I made mine.

http://nightvisionforumuk.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=16498

 

[Nithsdale]

Have a lamp wary foxy, not shot at, but he was way too close to me one night and saw me before I saw him.

Just finished building this little gizmo

I can "see" hundreds of yards with just the IR on, don't know about eye shine yet, but would hope for 300+ for foxes, fingers crossed

So that's a spotter?

Do you have NV on your rifle? Alot of folks seem to be making a scope mounted version of what you have there.

I'm not great with technology, and have stayed away from it but I would like NV on my .22 so I may have to try and learn

 

[JohnGalway]

So that's a spotter?

Do you have NV on your rifle? Alot of folks seem to be making a scope mounted version of what you have there.

I'm not great with technology, and have stayed away from it but I would like NV on my .22 so I may have to try and learn

Yeah it's a spotter. We need permission to attach NV to a rifle here, so I haven't kicked that ant hill over, yet. In fairness the spotter was easily made.

 

[Christoph1945]

I suppose silencer/moderator on an airgun would also present you with a bigger anthill over there?

As a newcomer to air-gunning, I have been quite taken with Chinese CO2 airguns and the ability to tinker, tune, and upgrade them. One can even tune them up to FAC standards. Providing that one is a FAC holder.

Of course, the guns can become problematic in cold weather as they suffer from pressure reduction of the CO2 in our ambient winter temperatures. Presently working on a couple of ideas to try and keep the CO2 system warm on a cold night.

The night vision sites sound like a good idea for seeing vermin on those dark winter nights!

 

[JohnGalway]

I suppose silencer/moderator on an airgun would also present you with a bigger anthill over there?

As a newcomer to air-gunning, I have been quite taken with Chinese CO2 airguns and the ability to tinker, tune, and upgrade them. One can even tune them up to FAC standards. Providing that one is a FAC holder.

Of course, the guns can become problematic in cold weather as they suffer from pressure reduction of the CO2 in our ambient winter temperatures. Presently working on a couple of ideas to try and keep the CO2 system warm on a cold night.

The night vision sites sound like a good idea for seeing vermin on those dark winter nights!

No idea about air rifles, they're relatively uncommon here as they're considered firearms so would have been subject to licensing like .22lr etc, so most people naturally went with 22 or HMR for the extra range and power.

Got moderators for each of my rifles, not a problem and common once you demonstrate good reason.

 

[Christoph1945]

Open sites, or scopes?

 

[JohnGalway]

Open sites, or scopes?

Scopes

 

[joe soapy]

In case you missed the earlier thread, I am a retired land agent/chartered surveyor (though I generally keep that quiet on here!). I have never been in trouble with the police in my life and have held an open FAC for 59 years! I was also a RFD for a while. One of my guns was inherited from my grandfather, the chief inspector of Liverpool Police.

My guns were taken in October 2015 and returned in February this year after a meeting with the police and my MP. The police have made one cock up after another. Since my experiences have become known, I've had a few contact me and it seems you only have to cough these days to get guns seized. That's fine for those who shoot for sport but not so much fun for farmers and gamekeepers to whom guns are essential 'tools of trade'.

I lodged a formal complaint about the behaviour of the police with the Police Investigations and Reviews Commissioner (in Scot;land) and three out of four of the complaints were upheld. Planning say if the building is used for a non-agricultural pupose, my neighbour will be required to apply for full planning -- which is a bit pointless as the building is up and I doubt they'll make him remove it. Two solicitors, two planning consultants, and a land agent have independently confimed my interpretation of the law.

I accept that the police must act on complaints but they also have a duty to make inquiries to check they are not malicious. Planning applications and the relevant law are published online these days and it doesn't take a genius to work out where the truth lies. I am still angry about this and don't suffer fools gladly as some are now discovering. We still have free speech.

Mine are still in jail with no sign of them coming home, could easily get upset over this.
Keeping the vermin under control gives a bit of incentive to remain active in later life.
There are quite large areas of the farm i havent been on since my guns were taken.

Dealing with the police has been a bit of an eye opener, they work funny shift patterns so its always somebody different, some of whom have a very tenous grasp of the law!!, couple of PCSO's have been good.
101 can be brilliant, much much netter than the desk based system they used to have, except, in devon we have 2 call centres and its a bit random which you speak to and they are not always in sync which can lead to interesting conversations sometimes.Biggest problem is lack of feedback, this can be very frustrating waiting days or weeks on end without hearing back

 

[C.J]

Mine are still in jail with no sign of them coming home, could easily get upset over this.
Keeping the vermin under control gives a bit of incentive to remain active in later life.
There are quite large areas of the farm i havent been on since my guns were taken.

Dealing with the police has been a bit of an eye opener, they work funny shift patterns so its always somebody different, some of whom have a very tenous grasp of the law!!, couple of PCSO's have been good.
101 can be brilliant, much much netter than the desk based system they used to have, except, in devon we have 2 call centres and its a bit random which you speak to and they are not always in sync which can lead to interesting conversations sometimes.Biggest problem is lack of feedback, this can be very frustrating waiting days or weeks on end without hearing back

Talking about shooting with a machinery rep a couple of weeks ago - He's very keen to get out again

Twas when he said " the farmer always chooses the HMR " that I guessed where he was going.

 

[Dry Rot]

Mine are still in jail with no sign of them coming home, could easily get upset over this.
Keeping the vermin under control gives a bit of incentive to remain active in later life.
There are quite large areas of the farm i havent been on since my guns were taken.

Dealing with the police has been a bit of an eye opener, they work funny shift patterns so its always somebody different, some of whom have a very tenous grasp of the law!!, couple of PCSO's have been good.
101 can be brilliant, much much netter than the desk based system they used to have, except, in devon we have 2 call centres and its a bit random which you speak to and they are not always in sync which can lead to interesting conversations sometimes.Biggest problem is lack of feedback, this can be very frustrating waiting days or weeks on end without hearing back

Their guidelines state that they must carry out their inquiries expeditiously and keep the gun own informed of progress.

It took them TEN MONTHS to tell me what I was meant to have done. Their excuse for their delay is that they wrote to my GP (I am with a health centre, so no specific GP) and heard nothing back, so waited two months and wrote again. No reply again, so they waited another two months. Still no reply, so they waited another month when they got an acknowledgement within days. The requested report arrived within a few more days (presumably stating that my health is excellent!). We get the service from the police that we are prepared to out up with. To my mind, that is NOT acceptable. We pay their wages and that is something they regularly forget.

I would strongly recommend sending a formal letter of complaint to Professional Standards about the way your case is being handled. (Google police complaints for the address). My solicitor wrote an excellent email stating the guidelines they are meant to follow but in spite of regular reminders and an acknowledgement, they never answered it. That is not acceptable.

 

[Christoph1945]

Soapy,

with your guns still under lock and key; would a half decent air-rifle get you out and about vermin hunting whilst you are waiting for their return?

 

[JohnGalway]

So talk us through it....assuredly a night vision spotter, list the components and costs please....does spot fox size animals at 300 yards in pitch black?

Lots of moisture in the air tonight, which negatively effects NV. I was getting sheep eye shine out past 325 yards. A foxes eyes will be much brighter, but again none spotted.

 

[joe soapy]

Talking about shooting with a machinery rep a couple of weeks ago - He's very keen to get out again

Twas when he said " the farmer always chooses the HMR " that I guessed where he was going.

Ha, he was telling me, have had some great nights with him. We seem to work well together,
even puts up with me being straight to the point sometimes in the heat of battle

 

[joe soapy]

Soapy,

with your guns still under lock and key; would a half decent air-rifle get you out and about vermin hunting whilst you are waiting for their return?

Got a PCP, very frustrating after the HMR