Roosting Feral pigeon control with artificial light.

R. Macleod & Son - The Best Hunting Companion
If I remember correctly, it's illegal to shoot any kind of wild bird in the UK using artificial light, or any kind of night sight. But I might have got that wrong.
Might be different for ferals?
 
I have just looked at GL 40/41/42 2004 on line (.gov website) and put in searches for light , night, and artificial. Not one result mentioned of not being legal to shoot birds at night? (England)
 
No it's not as far as I know. The latest GL doesn't mention artificial light and it's outlawed in the 1981 country side act.

From what I could gather reading a similar thread on an airgun forum it was allowed under gl05 which is now revoked.
 
nf-fuse said:
No it's not as far as I know. The latest GL doesn't mention artificial light and it's outlawed in the 1981 country side act.

From what I could gather reading a similar thread on an airgun forum it was allowed under gl05 which is now revoked.
Click to expand...

That's well hidden in the 1981CSA.
 
AFAIK there are no exemptions to this for any bird species.The official advice is unequivocal.
www.gov.uk

Print Hunting and shooting wildlife: Overview - GOV.UK

Open and closed season for hunting, what you can use and the wildlife you can hunt
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

It looks like 'feral' pigeons are now covered by the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 e.g. local authorities need a licence and a qualified firm to control them.

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 | Variations | Wildlife Legislation | Wildlife Law | UK Wildlife | Nature | Biodiversity

Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 Variations to schedules
www.ukwildlife.com www.ukwildlife.com
 
VSS said:
If I remember correctly, it's illegal to shoot any kind of wild bird in the UK using artificial light, or any kind of night sight. But I might have got that wrong.
Might be different for ferals?
Click to expand...
Ferals were always the exception, may have changed but I doubt it.

Edit. Just looked and it’s been removed. Seems daft as it was a good way of humanely culling them.
 
Last edited:
Yeh unfortunately I won’t be stopping
It’s the only way they can be controlled effectively so as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t say it’s illegal and I’ve had no notice of the legality being changed
 
Rake Aboot said:
Yeh unfortunately I won’t be stopping
It’s the only way they can be controlled effectively so as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t say it’s illegal and I’ve had no notice of the legality being changed
Click to expand...

One could potentially argue that GL05 used to actually state that night shooting of birds was forbidden (with the exception of Ferrals) Now the new GL's make no mention of times of shooting or use of illumination etc. It could be taken that it is covered under the GL? Most use the GL's as guidance as to what is allowable without searching through all the other acts / guidance.
 
England, but the below suggests with absence of any other mention of use of artificial light or sighting devices in the GL's (or reference to day / night) that there use is allowed. The GL's just say you can shoot / control them.
 

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It's certainly the best way to shoot pheasants. However, in an article I wrote in which I recommended shooting roosting pheasants by torchlight I had to re-word it to avoid falling foul of the law. Instead, I recommended shooting them when silhouetted against the evening sky.
 
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