HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
in part of this they're shooting driven boar (in this case a roe) over a public road, or what seems like it - is this normal in Europe?
Shooting over roads
- Thread starter HonestJohn
- Start date
in part of this they're shooting driven boar (in this case a roe) over a public road, or what seems like it - is this normal in Europe?
It is not illegal to shoot across a road in the UK, so presumably it's OK in the rest of Europe too.
Public road or private , do we know ? these drives can be crazy and its probably a who knows who thing
Dave Lakes
Well-Known Member
I think, bizarre as it may seem, the only reference in our firearms law to projectiles leaving the boundary relates to air guns.
Think of all the "spent shot" from a driven game shoot, that patters down on surrounding properties.
If you have stalking ground on both sides of a country road, clear view both ways, you're stood on one side and a deer is stood on the other, it's perfectly acceptable for you to shoot it.
Dave Lakes
Well-Known Member
If you alarm, interrupt or endanger another road user, that's when the sh*t can hit the fan. But if you're in the middle of an open moorland, with an unfenced road snaking away into the distance in both directions, then provided that the road is clear, crack on.
In hilly country, your shot may be passing way above the highway anyway, from one side of a valley to the other.
Stalker62
Well-Known Member
In England & Wales it is an offence without lawful authority or reasonable excuse to discharge any firearm within fifty feet of the centre of a highway which consists of or comprises a carriageway, and in consequence a user of the carriageway is injured, interrupted or endangered.
I know it's semantics, but that's how lawyers earn their money...
As long as you wait for a gap in the traffic
Pete1774
Well-Known Member
Also;
For the purposes of Section 161 (2) of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended), a
‘highway’ is restricted to a public right of way for the passage of vehicles and does
not include footpaths, cycle tracks or bridleways. Therefore the fifty feet rule
described above does not apply to rights of ways that cross private lands e.g.
footpaths
Kevgun
Well-Known Member
Within 50 feet, so what if your stood a 100 feet from the Road and the Deer your shooting at is a 100 feet the other side? surely the discharge takes place from where your standing? as you say some fancy lawyer that speaks joined up writing will rip it to shreds.
You can stand as close - or as far - from the road as you like, and still shoot across it, provided that you can do so safely. It only becomes an offence to shoot within 50ft of the centre of the highway if it results in someone being interrupted, endangered or injured.
(And let's be honest, if you fire a shot that injures someone then the chances are you're for the high jump anyway, regardless of whether there's a road in the area).
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
Couple of points.
1) In Belgium and Germany an awful lot of farm roads are tarmac, not the gravel, mud that we are used to. That road being shot across looks like a typical farm road. I have been amazed at the quality of the farms, their infrastructure and that the farmers and the landowners are very happy to invest in good infrastructure. Land prices historically have been much lower than in the UK so there is room for investment in such infrastructure.
2) On any driven hunt each stand will have clearly identified arcs of safe fire. In the video you can see these as markings on trees etc. These are explained to the hunter. At the end of the drive you have to account fir each round you have fired, where the animals were etc. and you mark these with flags - this is to allow the dog handlers to follow up on each and every animal shot at.
It’s not difficult to see where your bullets have gone - bullet tracks into the ground, or on trees. And if there are any marks outside the shooting zones you will have quite a lengthy discussion about why you should retain your hunting licence.
1) In Belgium and Germany an awful lot of farm roads are tarmac, not the gravel, mud that we are used to. That road being shot across looks like a typical farm road. I have been amazed at the quality of the farms, their infrastructure and that the farmers and the landowners are very happy to invest in good infrastructure. Land prices historically have been much lower than in the UK so there is room for investment in such infrastructure.
2) On any driven hunt each stand will have clearly identified arcs of safe fire. In the video you can see these as markings on trees etc. These are explained to the hunter. At the end of the drive you have to account fir each round you have fired, where the animals were etc. and you mark these with flags - this is to allow the dog handlers to follow up on each and every animal shot at.
It’s not difficult to see where your bullets have gone - bullet tracks into the ground, or on trees. And if there are any marks outside the shooting zones you will have quite a lengthy discussion about why you should retain your hunting licence.
For those that suffer from insomnia something to ponder.
Picking up on previous posts:
However it is the common law definition that says ‘A highway is a way over which there exists a public right of passage, that is to say a right for all Her Majesty’s subjects at all seasons of the year freely and at their will to pass and repass without let or hindrance. ‘ (Halsbury’s Laws 21[1]).
“carriageway” means a way constituting or comprised in a highway, being a way (other than a cycle track) over which the public have a right of way for the passage of vehicles;
Legislation is fill of such minefields, legislation written by lawyers for the benefit of lawyers.
Picking up on previous posts:
However it is the common law definition that says ‘A highway is a way over which there exists a public right of passage, that is to say a right for all Her Majesty’s subjects at all seasons of the year freely and at their will to pass and repass without let or hindrance. ‘ (Halsbury’s Laws 21[1]).
“carriageway” means a way constituting or comprised in a highway, being a way (other than a cycle track) over which the public have a right of way for the passage of vehicles;
Legislation is fill of such minefields, legislation written by lawyers for the benefit of lawyers.
Dunwaters
Well-Known Member
Yes, best example I’ve seen is a lean too high seat resting on a bus shelter on a local road in Sweden.
You also regularly see hunters posted up along the roads during the hunting season.
You may need permission to shoot at something that was stood on the road, and you may need permission to stand on the road in order to shoot at something that was on your land, but if your bullet is simply passing over the top - fired from a position where you have authority to shoot, at quarry stood on ground where you have authority to kill it, then I really don't think there's a problem.
In some cases, sporting rights extend across roads anyway, where the rights pre-date the road. I know of one pheasant shoot where there's a drive that has the guns all stood along a country lane.
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