What can you hunt with an air rifle?

johngalway

I know I looked this up before but a lot of water has gone under the bridge since and I forget. So, as per title I did do a bit of looking where it said AR could only be used for target shooting, but as with most things I was left wondering whether that was accurate or up to date.

Been toying with the idea lately.

Would be considering rats, mink, rabbits, magpies, greycrows, that level of animal.

ATB,

John

bazza888

im waiting on a license for a weinrauch .22 underlever,i would be interested if anyone knows the ins and outs of it

Cass

The way i remember it is you cannot shoot game. So anything with a season is out. It used to be for target work only, but recently i think its relaxed and vermin is okay ( i think) but you could be looking at "cruelty" issues if the rifle cannot do the job properly.

Must do a bit more checking.

johngalway

Ezridax wrote: »

The way i remember it is you cannot shoot game. So anything with a season is out. It used to be for target work only, but recently i think its relaxed and vermin is okay ( i think) but you could be looking at "cruelty" issues if the rifle cannot do the job properly.

That would do fine, vermin is my game so far. Anything I'd consider getting in the future, I would make sure would be well fit for the job.

Ezridax wrote: »

Must do a bit more checking.

Same as that :pac:

bazza888

pigeons and rats in sheds will be what mines used for,ill just have to test it to make sure it wont penetrate the shed!

wwwboof

rats, mink, rabbits, magpies, greycrows, squirals and you could use it on rabbits if there was enough power in it and piegons in sheds most farmers will let you in if you ask they would be more than happy:D

beretta686s

bazza888 wrote: »

im waiting on a license for a weinrauch .22 underlever,i would be interested if anyone knows the ins and outs of it

what model u go 4 i have a hw 95 very gud loads of stopping power with the right pellet longest kill so far 60 yard at a magpie had rabbits out to 50:eek:

bazza888

its the hw77 special edition think the guy said it was 16ftlbs or there abouts,its a lovely gun!

beretta686s

i used to have 1 of them 2 a lovely gun shot sum amount of stuff wit it u wont be disappointed with it

bazza888

waiting for the license now,prob be 3-4more weeks before that gets back,its been in just over 2weeks.im really looking forward to it i always wanted one

beretta686s

Where u buy it and how much? if u dont mind me asking ull have some crack with it very cheap plinking fun

bazza888

griffin hawe athy new for 400,igot it as it has iron sights but you can also mount a scope if you like its got a nice feeling aminate stock aswell

beretta686s

i paid the same aswell got it in connollys i had the same but a friend had an old sights and mounts and gave them to me for free so sweet job now what part of the country u in

mallachyrivers

I hunt flys with my rifle, its greatcraic!

beretta686s

mallachyrivers wrote: »

I hunt flys with my rifle, its greatcraic!

is that 1 of them moth rifles....................

mallachyrivers

No i've got a USP .45, savage shot!

Glensman

johngalway wrote: »

I know I looked this up before but a lot of water has gone under the bridge since and I forget. So, as per title I did do a bit of looking where it said AR could only be used for target shooting, but as with most things I was left wondering whether that was accurate or up to date.

Been toying with the idea lately.

Would be considering rats, mink, rabbits, magpies, greycrows, that level of animal.

ATB,

John

My uncle used to have Weireach, he got rid of it for a .22lr. He loved the air rifle though, he was able to adjust the pressure depending on what he was using it for. The more power he wanted, the fewer shots he got from a charge...

Wouldn't be my cup o'T in this country. Too much hassle to licence for all they are (no offence to anyone that has one)

beretta686s

u should try 1

Glensman

beretta686s wrote: »

u should try 1

I have tried them and I'm not fussed. I can see the attraction in Britain where you don't need to licence airguns under 12ft/lbs and the have massive cereal and other harvest crops that attract rats and pigeons to big barns.

We don't have that so much here, especially in the north and west, where I shoot.

beretta686s

Glensman wrote: »

I have tried them and I'm not fussed. I can see the attraction in Britain where you don't need to licence airguns under 12ft/lbs and the have massive cereal and other harvest crops that attract rats and pigeons to big barns.

We don't have that so much here, especially in the north and west, where I shoot.

Agh lots of pigeons in barns down here in the southeast

Vegeta

http://www.npws.ie/media/npws/publications/legaldocs/Declaration%20for%20Connacht%20Sept%202011.pdf

Hey John anything that says rifle in that list is shootable with an air rifle in the dates specified. NARGC confirmed that for me a while back

Then there's the species which the wildlife act offers very little or no protection to. Rabbit, mink, squirrel, rat...

Then there are some which you could shoot but then as Ezridax points out above it becomes ethical and borders cruelty legislation I'd imagine. Fox being the one I am thinking of.

Cant think of any more but they are all legal as far as I know

I couldn't recommend an air rifle enough around a farm yard. Cheap to run, safe, deadly accurate and quiet.

Sika98k

so Section 33[1] [a] of the 1976 Wildlife Act states it is an offence to kill or injure any wild bird with [amongst others] an airgun or any firearm fitted with a silencer.

Has anything changed since then ?

Cass

The key word would be "wild". This is the term used when describing birds that have a season rather than all wild birds. So if i were to say wild animals i would be refering to Hares, Deer, etc, but not to foxes, mink. As vermin they are not mentioned in the wildlife Act and have no pretection.

So it means you cannot shoot pheasant, duck, etc with a rifle.

Birdnuts

Ezridax wrote: »

The key word would be "wild". This is the term used when describing birds that have a season rather than all wild birds. So if i were to say wild animals i would be refering to Hares, Deer, etc, but not to foxes, mink. As vermin they are not mentioned in the wildlife Act and have no pretection.

So it means you cannot shoot pheasant, duck, etc with a rifle.

In relation to birds - all wild birds are protected under the 1986 amendment to the act that adopted the provisions of the EU birds directive. However derogations are signed off every year allowing the shooting/trapping of a handfull of species such as Grey Crows, Pigeons and of course game species in season.

Below is a link to the derogations covering "pest" species.

http://www.npws.ie/legislationandconventions/irishlaw/eubirdsdirectivederogations/

Note that rifles(which presumebly includes air rifles) are allowed for the control of these species under this legal derogation

Heres the one for Connaught but there the same for every province in any case

http://www.npws.ie/media/npws/publications/legaldocs/Declaration%20for%20Connacht%20Sept%202011.pdf

Its simpler in relation to other animals such as mammals,fish, amphibians, insects etc. which are listed in the original and current act as protected eg. bats, badgers, certain butterflies, natterjack toads etc.

Holdover

Hi John,

I have a Weihrauch HW100 PCP .22 cal which is 22ft/lbs energy and a Hornet center fire for foxes etc and was intending to get .22lr at some point but have found that for my needs I can manage quite well without.
After a few years experience with it I think air-rifles are very under-rated by many especially PCPs which I have found to be super accurate due to no recoil.
I follow the NPWS derogations and do a lot around farms sheds etc and the air rifle is whisper quiet and really handy.



Its got plenty of power and if you use hard pellets they would pass through some quarry so a soft pellet is required to dump the energy quickly.
There are scopes designed for air rifle trajectories that have reticule graduations that you can setup for your needs e.g I use a forty yard zero and then I have a line for every 10 yards after that on my Hawke SR12 so you can work at decent ranges even up to 100yds and I use Hawkes Chairgun Pro software as a reference.

I bought from Griffin Hawe, its a super gun and I'm very happy with it but I had to wait ages for Weihrauch to deliver, maybe things have improved now.
I had tried all round but very few dealers had more than one or two in stock, Griffin Hawe had several high end ones in stock to choose from, Air Arms S410, BSA R10, FX Typhoon and others, all super guns and I found the price converted across from £ was reasonable.
Some of the best craic I've had has been shooting rats around silos and sheds, have a look at some of this lady's videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS_jxZTQ5Cg

johngalway

That was certainly a good days shooting Holdover. What sort of groups at what ranges would you be getting?

johngalway

And how much do pellets cost? Come in tins of 500 don't they

Holdover

Here are some group pics, at 40yds which is my zero and at 80,
A tin of pellets (500) is about €12 so its pretty cheap to run, the pellet brand makes a lot of difference though, mine prefers Crosman premier or JSBs.
BTW without the silencer its as loud as an unsilenced .22rimfire so I had to get the magical "S" on the licence although in fairness the Guards I dealt with were decent and quite helpful and seemed to realise that air rifles aren't terrorists weapons of choice.:)

johngalway

cost versus results... Hmm, I'm liking what I'm seeing...