can you shoot deer out of season

wraith

Well-Known Member
can you shoot deer out of season with the farmers land owners permision farmer has fences destroyed and the grass for his sheep cattle nibled to nothing so if you have written permision from the farmer land owner to shoot maroding deer can i do it thanks
 
can you shoot deer out of season with the farmers land owners permision farmer has fences destroyed and the grass for his sheep cattle nibled to nothing so if you have written permision from the farmer land owner to shoot maroding deer can i do it thanks
snh web site has all the info.
 
you can use the farmers defense clause but it is what the term suggests, "a defense"

if someone reports you and the powers that be get involved it will be up to you to prove that shooting out of season was authorised by the land owner and that all other methods of control had been exhausted and that shooting them out of season was a last resort.
You will need the farmer to back you up, so if he turns round and says "I knew nothing about it" you're screwed.
Get it in writing is my advice.

What area are you talking about? flyfifer and widows son are referring to Scotland, the rules may be different there.
 
you can use the farmers defense clause but it is what the term suggests, "a defense"

if someone reports you and the powers that be get involved it will be up to you to prove that shooting out of season was authorised by the land owner and that all other methods of control had been exhausted and that shooting them out of season was a last resort.
You will need the farmer to back you up, so if he turns round and says "I knew nothing about it" you're screwed.
Get it in writing is my advice.

What area are you talking about? flyfifer and widows son are referring to Scotland, the rules may be different there.
scotland bud i have in writing fromfarmer shooting deer in and out of season he dose not shoot i do all the vermin foxes deer on all of his familey farms estates now he just wants rid of them but im triying to do the right thing shoot some in the hope that the others will move on it red dear season in scotland just now the problem is in the closed season i can have up to 30/40 red deer in a padock 300yards by200 if i drive in they will bolt but are back whithin a couple of hours diging up the land and chasing his live stock
 
you can use the farmers defense clause but it is what the term suggests, "a defense"

and that all other methods of control had been exhausted and that shooting them out of season was a last resort.

Si

As a point of correctness, there is no obligation to have tried other methods of "shooing them off". The only requirements are those laid out in the Deer Act.
 
Beat me to it Charlie.

All you need to do to be able to use the defense is set out in S7, subsection 3 of the Deer Act:-

(3)A person to whom this section applies shall not be entitled to rely on the defence provided by subsection (1) or subsection (2) above as respects anything done in relation to any deer on any land unless he shows that—

(a)he had reasonable grounds for believing that deer of the same species were causing, or had caused, damage to crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber or any other form of property on the land;

(b)it was likely that further damage would be so caused and any such damage was likely to be serious; and

(c)his action was necessary for the purpose of preventing any such damage.

Remember to rely on the defence you need to be fall under one of the categories of people named in the act:-

(4)The persons to whom this section applies are—


(a)the occupier of the land on which the action is taken;

(b)any member of the occupier’s household normally resident on the occupier’s land, acting with the written authority of the occupier;

(c)any person in the ordinary service of the occupier on the occupier’s land, acting with the written authority of the occupier; and

(d)any person having the right to take or kill deer on the land on which the action is taken or any person acting with the written authority of a person having that right.
 
I'm sure there was something that said "and after all other methods have been exhausted"

where have I read that then? :confused:
 
Possibly in the general licences covering some of the bird species?

Although even then you only need to have considered the other methods, not actually tried them.
 
See we have the normal "North/South divide" thing going on here. In ENGLAND it is legal under the S7 "farmers" defence. In Scotland there is no such defence.
 
ok thanks to all who posted looks like il just have to hammer them when in season as the shooting out of season looks unworkable
 
What species/sex of deer are out of season now, either side of the Border, that, if you had the authority, you could shoot without risk of leaving dependant young?

I can only think of female fawns, kids or calves or possibly yearling females if you could positively identify them. Hardly seems worth the risk or hassle of shooting out of season for such a small proportion of the population.
 
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