• Home
• News
• Events
• Guns
• Accessories
• Advice
• Gun Dogs
• Go Shooting
• Classifieds
• Videos
• About us

About our feeds

Can only shoot pigeons on the field they damage?

Technically we may only shoot pigeons during the breeding season for pest control purposes.

• 
  Print
• 
  Comment
• 
  Mail
• 
  Feed

Thursday, 14 June 2007

I read that under the general licence you can only shoot pigeons on the field where they're causing damage. Can I shoot the same birds on a flight line away from where they're feeding?

Pigeons
PETER THEOBALD says: As you probably know, the General Licence enables us in the UK to shoot certain species of birds all year round because of the damage they do to farm crops. It is an annual arrangement and is being continually reviewed by DEFRA.

Early last year there was a big kerfuffle in the shooting world when some of the conditions of the licence were altered within the small print. Had it not been for the sharp eyes of, I believe, BASC, the implications would have been disastrous for pigeon shooters.

Basically, we would have had to prove that (a) the pigeons were doing damage, and (b) that every other method of scaring birds off the crop had been tried, before resorting to shooting them.

Luckily, this was quickly resolved, but even so, technically we may only shoot pigeons during the breeding season for pest control purposes and not for sport only. By shooting birds as they flight to a field, you are preventing damage to a crop.


Got a question? Contact: sportinggun@ipcmedia.com or Sporting Gun, PO Box 157, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 9FU