Is it legal to kill wild pigeons?

[Puk]

I have spent many days shooting various forms of flying wildlife in my parents suburban area, just do it. I've also been hired to take out an entire squirrel infestation over at my friends house as they use to eat through everything at their place and neighhbours. Get a .22 and just get on with it. Pests are pests, why pay someone else to deal with it. Red tape in this country is rediculous.

-edit

Having thought about it a little more, this was a few years ago and all my neighbours kids use to use my airguns too and everyone knew i had them, so perhaps a little more thought than just going Rambo style is required

[SuicideNeil]

Originally Posted by Puk

Pests are pests, why pay someone else to deal with it. Red tape in this country is rediculous.

You mean, the law? As in, you aren't too worried if it's illegal to go wondering around shooting at wild animals with no regard for other people's safety & property, and you aren't too bothered about an armed response team turning up and pointing some MP5s at your face for committing armed trespass and poaching & half a dozen other firearms offenses ( airguns are classed as firearms if used illegally ). Great idea.

We've all done silly things in the past, I have too, but when you get past the age of 12 you suddenly realize the wider repercussions of your actions ( ergo, one idiot commits a terrible crime and every pistol in the country is banned for example ); the legality of airgun use has been covered thoroughly enough already cheers...

[Skeese]

Pigeons are vermin!



Sorry, couldn't resist!

[sp4nky]

Originally Posted by mvagusta

Just out of curiosity Sp4nky, how many hours a day on average, do you spend playing FPS games?

None, why?

[mvagusta]

Ahh, that might explain why you want to go postal on these birds

So what did you think of my business proposal?

[Otis1337]

Originally Posted by mvagusta

Just out of curiosity Sp4nky, how many hours a day on average, do you spend playing FPS games?

LOL!

but anyway, this thread is incredibly stupid and immoral. If you have alot of them in your street, someone is feeding them, tell them to stop. They will report you anyway if/when they find out your shooting them.
You never know who your neighbors are, they may take a great disliking to you if you start shooting them.

there are plenty of none harmful ways to deterrent the birds thats alot cheaper than buying a gun and ammo as well.

[Brooxy]

Originally Posted by ChromeX

I'm all for shooting them, not with a rifle or an air gun but with something non-lethal... Airsoft guns! It'll give the little pests a big enough sting that they'll bugger off and leave you alone and it wont kill them or permanently damage them. Works great on those ******* cats that keep shitting in my garden!!!

Might I recommend a particular model?
http://www.geniestuff.co.uk/vsr11-ai...iper-rifle.htm

Or not. While an Airsoft gun can't generally damage a human permanently unless it's an eyeshot or, I'd imagine a birds skin is probably a lot thinner and easier to penetrate. Same for the eyeball.

Also do you really want to give the government more excuse to clamp down on airsofters? The dailymail reading public would go mental if a bystander got hit...

As said before if you're going to shoot the pigeons, it should be as quick and painless as possible. No long painful death and no injuring. If you're going to pop some shots, make sure to kill it outright.

[SuicideNeil]

QFT, some hopped up airsoft rifles are more than capable of penetrating human skin and knocking out teeth at close range ( seen some nasty photos posted at Arnies Airsoft, some guys do silly things to get more power & range )- the VCRA has made life much harder as it is, don't need a total ban or licensing scheme to be introduced too due to some idiot shooting birds with a 'bb gun' ( somebody think of the children!.... ).

A supersoaker one the other hand...

[sp4nky]

Originally Posted by ChromeX

I'm all for shooting them, not with a rifle or an air gun but with something non-lethal... Airsoft guns! It'll give the little pests a big enough sting that they'll bugger off and leave you alone and it wont kill them or permanently damage them. Works great on those ******* cats that keep shitting in my garden!!!

Might I recommend a particular model?
http://www.geniestuff.co.uk/vsr11-ai...iper-rifle.htm

Airsoft guns look pretty damn close to real guns and while nobody who knows about guns would consider the average guy in an average street likely to have a real sniper rifle, the general public may call the police anyway and they would have to respond as though it were real.

Personally I'd like to avoid armed police turning up at my door.

[Booga]

You need one of these.

[boiled_elephant]

It's more or less legal on your own land. The first reply is the same link I was going to post. It's pretty complicated and murky, but basically if it's your land, nobody's going to care, least of all law enforcement. Some neighbours might take exception, if they're PETA nutjobs, but you could always try to explain that (a) they're creating a nuisance and disruption in some way for you on your property and (b) you're eating them anyway, so it's not just wasted. Lie on both points if necessary, nobody will know.

I shoot them occsaionally, always eat them. Pigeon breast is nice if you cook it right (although preparing a bird, any bird, is a total pain in the arse and takes forever). The noise gets seriously ridiculous sometimes, they wake us up some times in the year. That's when I get the rifle out