Nuneaton area air rifle hunting

[deansherratt]

Hi All,
I'm new to the forum. My main interests are canoeing and diving (scuba and free diving). I've dabbled in wild food gathering, with a bit of spear fishing, underwater foraging and sea angling but I only get to do this occasionally, living, as I do, near the centre of the country. A bit closer to home I've done some fly fishing for rainbow trout and I brew my own country wines. I've thought about doing a bit of air rifle hunting but I'm not sure whether it's worth the expense of investing in a rifle. How easy is it to get shooting permission on farmer's land? Does anyone know of any shooting syndicates in the Nuneaton/Atherstone/Mancetter areas that have air rifle sections? I've never done any shooting before but I'd be willing to give it a go if I thought there was a good chance of getting a shooting permission. There is a rabbit and wood pigeon shooting club near me in Coventry but it's shotgun only and my perception of shotgun shooting is that it is very expensive and the guns and cartridges are way out of my budget range, whereas air rifles and air rifle pellets are much, much cheaper.

Any advice would be really appreciated.
Dean

 

[Dog&Gun]

Hi Dean, as regards obtaining permission from farmers, I have personally had more positive responses than negative. Just be polite and considerate i.e. don't wave him down off the combine mid harvest! They often want pigeons controlled, so a shotgun is definitely a big help in gaining permission. If you want to shoot air rifles only, it is well worth approaching equestrian liveries as they often have problems with rabbits making areas unsafe for horses by digging. Being insured for shooting will be a big help. Also, you could try asking for permission and only buy a gun when you have secured permission. Regarding shotgun shooting, it really isn't expensive (depending how many carts you get through). I learnt to shoot with a single barrel Baikal 12 gauge, and I see them in my local gun shop for about £30-40. Cartridges are cheaper in bulk, and as your shotgun certificate won't specify a max number to be purchased/held (unlike a firearms cert) it makes sense to buy them buy the thousand or more.

Hope any of that helped,

Regards,

Barry.