243 application

hi all, I am just after a bit of advice please.
I have asked my local FEO about applying for a 243, to be told that I need a mentor to make sure I am safe?
SAFE???? if I am safe to shoot fox with a 223 or even a rabbit with a 22, surely safe is safe whatever the quarry?
is what I am being told correct
Thanks in advance
Phil
 
Unfortunately(or maybe not in some cases) some authorities are putting this and/or DSC1 conditions on some new applications.
​Seems strange though if you already have access to a c/f rifle
 
I see from you first post you have never been stalking yet so i reckon someone to impart their experience on you would only be a good thing. Don't rush things and have fun learning about your quarry and respect what are beautiful creatures and do not just think of them as targets but as a living breathing asset to harvest humanely and you will learn about the welfare an not just wipe them all out as you do with vermin.
 
If you already have shotgun experience (SGC) and a few years experience with a rimfire rifle (FAC) the route to getting a .243W WITHOUT a mentoring condition is to make sure you are qualified (min. DSC1 or LANTRA Level 2); have done at least 5 Stalks with a professional (Make sure you give names, addresses, dates and times - as they will check); and have written permission of a landowner to shoot deer. At least that worked for me - a 'mentoring condition' is really very awkward and annoying and a situation to try to avoid at all costs.
 
Each police force has its own policy with respect to firearms licencing, i.e. they each have different crteria which they demand that the shooter satisfies before they allow a shooter to acquire certain calibres.

Each FEO say things which may not be the same as force policy, so I would phone the bureau and ask for a written statement of their policy to allow shooters to acquire a 243.

E.g. Avon and Somerset policy WRT to deer cal rifle was ( and proably still is) to satisfy one of the following:
1. Previous CF experience - which you have.
2. DSC1.
3. Mentor.
 
hi all, I am just after a bit of advice please.
I have asked my local FEO about applying for a 243, to be told that I need a mentor to make sure I am safe?
SAFE???? if I am safe to shoot fox with a 223 or even a rabbit with a 22, surely safe is safe whatever the quarry?
is what I am being told correct
Thanks in advance
Phil

If you have had a CF (.223) for some time I do not think they have an argument on imposing a mentor condition. Having let you have one for x years it is not credible to come back and say that, although they consider you safe with a .223, they do not hold the same opinion with a .243.

Offering to do the DSC1 within a reasonable time may resolve the situation if you want to sort it quickly.
 
I see from you first post you have never been stalking yet so i reckon someone to impart their experience on you would only be a good thing. Don't rush things and have fun learning about your quarry and respect what are beautiful creatures and do not just think of them as targets but as a living breathing asset to harvest humanely and you will learn about the welfare an not just wipe them all out as you do with vermin.

And what has any of that got to do with the firearms licensing dept?

Their remit is safety and need, not animal welfare. They don't get anal about rabbits, hares and foxes so why do they take the high ground when it comes to deer? It's not a mythical creature that demands we give it special treatment - and if it is than the same special treatment should be applied across the board. Rabbits (even rats) are entitled to a humane and proper dispatch. After all, they've all got heart's, lungs and brains. They all hop about on 4 legs. They're all beautiful creatures in their own way.

They possibly do what they do and get away with it because we as stalkers encourage it by in turn being elitist (note the highlighted part of Red Dot's post No offence RD, just using it as an example). I'm sure we've all drawn the line between deer and other species at times, so really we're in no position to complain when the police do the same, encouraged by representative bodies that have a vested financial interest to keep it that way.
 
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Oh. You have not only a .17 hmr, a .223 but also a .308! I didn't see that last one in your original post. How can they now say that you need mentoring with a .243? For what purpose I wonder if you have already shown that you are safe for full bore rifles and you already shoot live quarry. What do you already use the .308 for? Yours truly, confused from Cumbria.
 
Like Erik I am in the Cotswolds and have mentoring on my ticket for my recently approved .243 variation. Luckily for me my brother has DSC1 and 2 and is mentoring me, what is annoying though is I that prior to my application I already had a number of stalks under my belt and these didn't count. So with permissions around me locally for rabbiting (the reason I decided to take up stalking was I was asked by a local land owner if I was interested in managing their Deer and their land has already been approved for CF rifles) I now have to drive a 180 mile round trip so I can be mentored and the land that I have permission on is now being shot by a mate! I would like to do my DSC1 course but with the shooting season about to start and the fact that I'd ideally like to do it locally it looks like my mentoring condition will have to stay until they agree to him signing me off as proficient. I get the DSC course, and think its a great idea, but I think it is wrong for the police to use it as a Caveat.
Nick
 
hi NickyA,
like you I have a number of permissions that the land owners would like me to control the deer.
I have looked into doing adsc1 course, but cant justify the cost at the moment, not to be given the variation.
Also I don't have anyone that I know who would mentor me
 
thanks again guys, I have now spoken to the firearms department at BASC and I think I know where I stand?
There advice was to talk to the head of licencing at my local force,but I didn't want to rock the boat for the future by going over my FEO head
 
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