Hunting and shooting wildlife

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1. Overview

You must follow the rules for hunting and shooting wildlife including:

  • what you can hunt or shoot
  • when you can do it
  • what equipment you can use

You can be fined or jailed for hunting illegally or causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

You must have permission from the land owner.

Firearms and shotgun certificates

You must get a certificate to use a shotgun, rifle or other firearm.

You don鈥檛 need a certificate for:

  • air rifles up to 12ft lb in power
  • air pistols up to 6ft lb in power

You can鈥檛 use:

  • bows or crossbows
  • explosives (other than the legal ammunition for a firearm)

Managing wildlife and controlling pests

There are different rules about what you can do to manage wildlife on your land or control pests on your property.

2. Birds

You can shoot certain species of game birds, quarry birds and waterfowl but only during the .

Sometimes you can only shoot in certain locations, for example you can鈥檛 shoot some waterfowl above the high water line.

You can鈥檛 shoot birds in the closed season.

You must get a falconry licence to hunt birds with a falcon.

Equipment

If you鈥檙e using a shotgun to shoot birds, the internal diameter of the shotgun can鈥檛 be more than 1.75 inches.

You can鈥檛 use:

  • a firearm that can hold more than 2 rounds of ammunition in the magazine (such as an automatic or semi-automatic weapon)
  • artificial lighting
  • a sighting device for night shooting, or a device for lighting up targets

3. Mammals

There are different rules for foxes, deer and other mammals.

Foxes

It鈥檚 illegal to hunt foxes with a pack of dogs. You can use dogs to simulate hunting, for example 鈥榙rag鈥� or 鈥榯rail鈥� hunting.

You can use up to 2 dogs to chase (鈥榝lush鈥� or 鈥榮talk鈥�) foxes out of hiding if the fox is causing damage to your property or the environment.

Your dogs can鈥檛 go underground to find the foxes unless they鈥檙e threatening wild or game birds kept for shooting - only one dog can go underground at any time.

You must:

  • shoot the fox quickly after it鈥檚 been found

  • carry proof you own the land you鈥檙e shooting on or written permission from the landowner

You can be fined, and your dogs or hunting equipment taken away, if you break the law.

There are other ways you can control foxes if they鈥檙e causing damage to your property or the environment.

Deer

You must follow the restrictions on

You need a licence to shoot deer:

  • in the closed season
  • at night (at any time of the year)

You can鈥檛 use a vehicle to chase deer.

Other mammals

You can hunt or shoot some other mammals.

There are