Hunting Forum Charter / Hunting Laws & Season / Annual Renewal of Birds Derogation

Sparks

Hunting Forum Charter

Welcome to the boards.ie shooting forums!
These forums are for the discussion of various topics relating to the shooting sports (ie. the various forms of target shooting events) and to sport shooting (ie. hunting with firearms). There are four forums in total, one for Target Shooting, one for Hunting, a For Sale/Wanted forum, and the main forum which acts as a general forum as well as holding some specific topics, such as "political" threads that people would prefer are kept out of the various sub-forums.

The forum you are in right now is the Hunting forum and it is for the discussion of hunting (meaning hunting, wildfowling, and so on) and related subjects, including techniques and equipment; in particular shooting as it pertains to hunting in Ireland. Discussion of current events is not within the scope of the forum, such discussions are to take place in the Shooting forum; such posts will be moved there without warning or appeal. Discussions regarding ethics and hunting have a specific rule; see below for details. Discussions breaking that rule will be removed and may incur a ban for anyone starting such a discussion.

Rules

There are some. We try to keep them minimal and they exist to allow the forum to flourish rather than to penalise people, but they are enforced.
Boards.ie as a site has some basic guidelines for how to be a better poster as well as some very basic site rules (as well as a few rules regarding your signature -- and while we're on the topic folks, please remember that a disclaimer in your signature doesn't overrule the charter. Break a rule in the charter and it won't matter if your signature says "only kidding"). We recommend that you read them. If you've never posted on a forum before, you might also want to look at this beginner's guide.

There are some basic rules which apply in all the shooting forums (you may notice some overlap with the general site rules here). We've listed them in short form here; we discuss them in more detail in the posts below in case you have a question on any of them.

1. Be Civil to one another.
2. You are not the internet police.
3. Replies should be on-topic.
4. No Spamming, no Shilling, no Random Nonsense.
5. Anonymity is a social construct.
6. There are limits on the discussion of current events and media reportage.
7. RKBA is off-topic.
8. Illegality is... illegal
9. Respect formatting ettiquette.
10. If you don't like the modding, follow procedure.

There are also some rules specific to this forum:

1. Hunting is legal, ethical and morally sound. This is an accepted axiom of this forum and discussions about whether or not hunting itself is an ethical or legal activity are not permissible;
   All such discussions will be deleted without exception. However, discussions on the ethics of specific hunting techniques or practices is permitted, but such discussions will be required to adhere to the rules more strictly than most other discussions.
2. This is a hunting forum so if you're anti-hunting, we recommend that you don't post and don't read any posts;
   you are going to be offended. If you must post, please remember the first rule of the shooting forums - Be Civil to one another - and the above rule regarding discussions about ethics.
3. Posting in Hunting to troll users in Animal Welfare or Animal&Pet Issues is not acceptable; nor are regular posters from Hunting who troll in those forums.
   In both cases, infractions and/or bans may be given by mods in both forums even if the user only posted in one forum.

Please note that looking for loopholes in rulesets is a violation of the first boards.ie guideline of "Don't be a dick"...

And please remember folks, this is a public forum, and the Department of Justice and the Gardai read it, the same way they read shooting magazines and newsletters. Like it or not, you are all public ambassadors for your sports when you post in here or anywhere else in public; so please, take pride in your posts and make us proud, don't make us weep...

A side effect of this public status is that defamation is something we have to keep in mind when moderating. We believe that when there's a problem, a civil disagreement, even a civil argument, is to our community what fibre in the diet is to a person - a preventative for even worse problems. We don't believe in letting things hide under rocks and grow worse for it.

For that reason, genuine posts are all welcome here - regardless of whether they are positive or negative; or of whether they are about
goods or services provided by commercial companies, or about clubs or associations. We believe this is a genuinely good way for those who provide an excellent service to be recognised as such; and that it is one of the best ways for others to find out what they could be doing better.

However, please take note of this - the posts must be genuine. We do not allow people to 'get the boot in' or to use boards.ie ltd as an anonymous platform to unjustly defame others. We never have and we're not interested in starting now.

There are also boards.ie guidelines on defamation that you may want to read.

The rule we use on this is very simple:

• if you're posting the facts about your experience and they're negative, there's nothing wrong with that;
• if you're posting your opinion of the person or people involved, you're in a gray area;
• and if you're just having a bitching session or trying to get the boot in, well, your post is getting edited or deleted
  at a bare minimum.

If you want to err on the side of caution, just report the facts and skip the editorial. Have faith that the rest of us are intelligent enough to draw the same conclusions you did - and take comfort in the fact that when people draw their own conclusions, they have more impact than when those conclusions are drawn for them.

Lastly, a brief word about people having multiple accounts on boards.ie -- it's not allowed, except in certain circumstances such as where someone is posting under a personal account and a verified representative account. In all such circumstances, the mods must be informed of the dual account ahead of time. For those who have multiple accounts, we can and do spot them, and you will be banned for using them.

What if the rules are broken?

In the event that someone breaks one of the rules above, the specific sanction that will be taken will largely depend on the context. There are several kinds of sanction which moderators may use (along with editing or deletion of posts):

1. A private word by PM with the poster to point out the problem and try to resolve it.
2. A public note in the thread itself (often referred to as a Mod Notice or a Mod Warning) pointing out the problem and requiring that it be resolved.
3. A Warning for the poster.
4. An Infraction for the poster.
5. A ban from the forum for the poster, either temporarily or permanently.

It should be noted that in exceptional circumstances, a poster may be banned from the entire site, though happily this happens extremely rarely.

Here are some general questions and answers you may have as a new user, feel free to PM any moderator if you have questions you cannot find an answer to in the Frequently Asked Questions list.

• How do I reply to a post?
• Can I edit or delete my posts?
• How can I create a poll?
• How can I attach an image to my post?

You can find a list of the more important threads in the forum here. We don't generally stick those threads to the top of the forum because it would take up too much room, but we do stick the list to the top of the forum for quick reference.

And lastly, if you have a question about obtaining a firearms certificate or renewing your existing certificate under the new firearms licensing system, please be sure to read this announcement first, it lists all the information we have on that topic in a single place for your convenience.

Sparks

An addendum to clarify a point in the above rules:

NSFW (Not Safe For Work):
Any material deemed NSFW will be immediately removed and the user may face infraction. This includes, but is not limited to, inappropriate/pornographic style pictures, links to inappropriate/pornographic websites, and so forth.

This forum is where a lot of prospective new shooters get pointed to; we'd prefer if we didn't scare off potential new shooters. Sending a prospective Junior here to look at what the sport is like only for their parents to see porn here and decide that they'd prefer their child to take up tennis instead loses us a new shooter. That sort of thing damages our sport in the medium to long term, quite badly (our average age was just shy of 50 the last time someone asked). Exactly the same is true when we send a new lady shooter here and they find people oogling over photos that belong more in FHM than in Ways of the Rifle.

So NSFW material, along with NSFW behaviour (ie. sexism, racism, ageism and other bigotry) is not on and will be deleted. We want to encourage everyone to engage in boards, not just one small demographic while everyone else gets offended by it.

Cass

A link to the thread containing relevant hunting laws and seasons for various game.

Hunting Laws, Acts, and Seasons.

cookimonster

I normally post this every year, mainly for informative purposes, so that individuals know were to look when in doubt as to the legality of wild bird shooting.

Under the terms of the EU Birds Directive, all EU member States, including Ireland, are bound to take measures to protect all wild birds and their habitats. The Directive allows member States to make derogations from its protective measures where certain wild bird species are causing damage to crops, livestock and fauna or represent a threat to public health or safety or to air safety. 

The Minister has signed a State-wide Declaration for the 12 month period from 1st May 2021 to 30th April 2022.   A separate countrywide Declaration was signed in respect of air safety. PDF versions of these Declarations can be downloaded below.


https://www.npws.ie/legislation/irish-law/eu-birds-directive-derogations

This year it is even more relevant due to the debacle happening across the water.