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Hunting when wild camping?
Q. Hi all, me and my friends are considering wild camping and hunting for our food.
Are there any animals we can hunt legally with air rifles?
We have been camping many times on sites and taken canned food, but this time we are looking for a more 'outdoorsman' trip.
We are all in our mid-20's and are sensible people, we don't plan on running around like nutters randomly shooting things.
Daniel Barnes, Coventry
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A. Don't like the sound of this.
Use the air rifles for target practice by all means but don't take them into the wild. Such psuedo-macho behaviour has its place on the target range and not in the countryside.
Believe it or not some of us prefer to be at one with nature and don't see the wildlife as a source of food (unless there is not alternative).
If the weight of food is an issue take dried packet food instead of tin cans.
Hugh Evans, Southport
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In response to Hugh Evans - isn't part of being at 1 with nature the understanding of meat and where it comes from?
People like you don't think twice about eating a fresh steak in a packet from the supermarket, but cringe at the thought that others are ready to kill a beast, not for pleasure, but as a source of food - you don't deserve to eat meat, if you think killing an animal is bad.
Daniel. Get permission from the land owner 1st - usually impossible so try trapping and fishing.
Good luck
Adam Poulston, Manchester
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As an ex-gamekeeping student I would strongly recommend not taking any kind of firearm (even a seemingly harmless air rifle) anywhere that you do not have written permission to use it. Not only can it draw unwanted attention to yourselves (fairly obvious when carrying a gunslip) but in the wrong place can be committing a criminal offence which could carry a 5 year prison sentence. I'm all for hunter-gathering but know very few people that have been able to legally combine their hunting and camping.
Chris Sheppard, North Yorks
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Taking a fire-arm, including an air rifle, onto private land without permission could lead to you being charged with armed trespass. Don't do it!
Mark Jones, Wolverhampton
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I would agree with both answers to be honest. You have to remember that an air rifle will usually not make a clean kill of anything worth eating. If you are looking for a more 'survival' weekend, by all means take fishing basics or snares, but also take rations. Make sure you remember to remove any snares that you lay when you leave, even if they are empty. Or you will be leaving the next animal to be caught in it, a brutal ending that should not be endured by any living thing. I spent many years in the military and do enjoy a good episode of Ray Mears, and we all know that in any survival situation, you are unlikely to have an air rifle in your possession, let alone a fishing hook! If you would like to learn, by all means take a whole rabbit from a butchers, head, fluff and all. Then prepare it on your weekend, it will be just as vivid as an experience as killing it before hand. Or take your tinned beans, cheese and a few hooks and line and see if you could really catch anything.
Torquil Harkness, London
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A. In reply to Mr Harkness statement that an air rifle will not cleanly kill anything worth eating..RUBBISH! Mr Harkness; Daniel; A rabbit (which makes excellent eating) can be cleanly and humanely killed with a UK legal limit (12ft/lbs) air rifle...as can pigeon, squirrel and a host of other creatures. The main disadvantage of this to be considered is range from shooter to target, which is limited to 30 yards, extending to 45 yards if conditions are very favourable. Furthermore, this also must include a head shot. Although rabbits etc can be taken with shots to the fore-end of the body, the natural reactions of a shot coney is to sprint, thus usually causing a rabbit to die hidden and as can be imagined in a great deal of pain. Head shots avoid this. Being on ANY land with an air rifle, loaded or not, without express permission from the landowner or his/her representitive is an offence, and if caught are likely to receive a mandatory prison sentence. Basically, no permission, no shooting. Trapping/snaring is a good method of catching wild game. This also requires a degree of skill. Trapping/snaring can be very productive if carried out properly..making use of game trails, natural fibres, scent masking etc etc I do it regularly and enjoy it thourghly.
Name Withheld, Scotland
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A. problem solved,just grow up or join the army.
Jim Rhodes, Hull
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NB. Wild Camping and The Law in England, Scotland and Wales.
Tents cannot be pitched just anywhere because every piece of Britain is owned by some individual or some organisation and according to the strict letter of the law permission must be obtained prior to pitching tent and camping.
In practice however, this is often impractical and wild camping is usually tolerated in the more remote areas - typically, more than half a day's walk from an official campsite or other accommodation providing you:
- Keep groups small
- Camp as unobtrusively as possible
- Leave camp as you found it
- Remove all litter (even other people's)
- Carry out everything you carried in
- Carry out tampons and sanitary towels (burying them doesn't work as animals dig them up again)
- Choose a dry pitch rather than digging drainage ditches around a tent or moving boulders
- Toilet duties should be performed 30m (100ft) from water and the results buried using a trowel
- At all time, help preserve the environment
- And if you are in any doubt about what you're doing, find out more
In Scotland, the current access legislation (which came into effect in early 2005) is explicit about your right to wild camp on hill land.
There appears to be an exception to this with respect to camping in Dartmoor National Park where the right to wild camping is actually enshrined in the National Parks & Access to the Countryside Act, 1949 amendment Dartmoor Commons Act, 1985 - see Wild Camping in the UK for more details.
For the definitive answer with respect to wild camping in Scotland see the answer supplied by the Scottish Natural Heritage
NB. go4awalk.com cannot offer any advice on suitable locations for wild camping.
Hope this helps
Mike (Editor)
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