Shooting with a catapult

Rasputin

Well-Known Member
Fairly random question but long story short I have a few bird boxes in the garden and currently they are being bothered by the usual feathered menaces ( Crows/Rooks/Magpies etc). Normally I would just use the air rifle but alas there is a road behind my fence. Any laws regarding shooting them with a catapult that I should be aware off?
 
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I would have thought a catapult would need a bigger/better/stronger back stop than an air rifle.
An air rifle could be aimed more precisely as regarding the back stop whereas a great lump of lead would be more prone to ricochets.
 
I would have thought a catapult would need a bigger/better/stronger back stop than an air rifle.
An air rifle could be aimed more precisely as regarding the back stop whereas a great lump of lead would be more prone to ricochets.


As a kid, I much preferred the frangible glass marbles.:norty:
 
We used to smash up wheel bearings to get the ball bearings out. when I think back to the damage they caused :oops: .
The good old black widow.
 
I would have thought a catapult would need a bigger/better/stronger back stop than an air rifle.
An air rifle could be aimed more precisely as regarding the back stop whereas a great lump of lead would be more prone to ricochets.

Definitely, the size and weight of a BB to kill a crow would be far more likely to go through a fence and damage a car than an air rifle.
 
Chances of getting close enough to accurately kill any canny corvid with a catapult must be fairly slight?
A Larsen trap would be much more effective and without safety issues.
MS
 
Chances of getting close enough to accurately kill any canny corvid with a catapult must be fairly slight?
A Larsen trap would be much more effective and without safety issues.
MS


Nah got plenty of curtains and blinds to shoot out the house from. Will be taking most shots off the 2nd floor window down. They seem to hop onto the garden then climb up the trees to get to the boxes.
 
Legal frame work

General

· Catapults have no legal limit on power, can take almost any form and can be legally bought from any retailer including online stores by persons over 18 years of age.
· There is no law stating that you cannot carry a catapult on your person whether walking through the woods or through a town centre. (See editor’s note below)
· An offense is only committing if you’re intent is to use the catapult as an offensive weapon. This does not mean that you should carry one without a good reason through a city centre.
· Individual circumstances will be subject to interpretation by a police officer in the event of being stopped. Police have the power to judge whether the carrier is acting lawfully or causing an offence under the Prevention of Crime Act 1953


Hunting with Catapults


· In order to hunt legally with a catapult the hunter must be a proficient shot. The catapult must have adequate bands of a sufficient power and appropriate ammunition (no arrows or darts) to dispatch game.
· The law does NOT state that a catapult cannot be used on common land

Editor’s note: double negative here! I can’t find any definitive statement which prohibits the use of catapults on common land. Caution needed though - not only in assuming the legality of use on common land but also the risk of injuring someone which might result in either criminal or civil action. Avoid shooting across footpaths, roads and regularly frequented public areas

· Catapults can be used on private land with the permission of land owner. They can be used to shoot targets and / or take small game for food.
· The Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996 provides police officers with the powers to prosecute those causing unnecessary and unlawful suffering to wild animals such as hedgehogs, squirrels and foxes (this can also include Squirrels, Rabbits and Hares).
· Under the Act, any person who mutilates, kicks, beats, nails or otherwise impales, stabs, burns, stones, crushes, drowns, drags or asphyxiates a wild mammal with intent to inflict unnecessary suffering is guilty of an offence.
· The maximum penalty is a £5,000 fine and/or six months imprisonment for each offence. The Act gives the courts power to confiscate any vehicle or equipment used in the commission of the offence, and can order their disposal or destruction.
· The Act does allow for certain exceptions. An offence is not committed by someone who:
· kills a wild mammal as an act of mercy if it has been so seriously disabled – other than by an unlawful act – that there is no reasonable chance of its recovery
· Kills, in a swift and humane way, a mammal injured in the course of any lawful activity, such as shooting, hunting, coursing or pest control using snares, traps, dogs, birds or poisons.

Game Seasons – http://basc.org.uk/shooting/general-licences/
 
Nah got plenty of curtains and blinds to shoot out the house from. Will be taking most shots off the 2nd floor window down. They seem to hop onto the garden then climb up the trees to get to the boxes.

If you are elevated and they are on the ground, then surely there is a safe backstop for a decent air rifle? A .177 PCP Air Rifle would be my weapon of choice.
Put some carrion down in a safe area and wait. Or - a stuffed cat or fox with a dead corvid drives them nuts and they lose all sense of awareness.
MS
 


If you are elevated and they are on the ground, then surely there is a safe backstop for a decent air rifle? A .177 PCP Air Rifle would be my weapon of choice.
Put some carrion down in a safe area and wait. Or - a stuffed cat or fox with a dead corvid drives them nuts and they lose all sense of awareness.
MS

Road is very close by certainly less than 20ft on one side of the garden. Not to mention some goody two shoes see's a gun poking out of a window. Asking for all kinds of agro.
 
Just put some bread out on the lawn and shoot them when they land any misses will go into the ground.
 
I was doing some hedging a few years back next to the road. A white van pulled up about 30 yds away and the occupants, a couple of travellers, hadn't seen me. An arms came out of the window with a catapult in it and before I know what was going on he fired and hit a 20 yard pheasant cock clean in the back of the head. Now I hate poachers as much as the next guy but it was seriously impressive marksmanship.
 
Well, there's your answer, shoot from BACK inside the room and not with the gun "poking out of the window", isn't it. Sorted!

Yes, the classic sniper technique. Lights off, dark backdrop. Benchrest on a table well inside the room and moderated rifle. Or so I have read.
 
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