Makes me sick.

Goodluck with it Helena and well done for getting this far xxx

I asked my OH about who should know when he goes rabbit shooting and he said as long as the right people are informed there should be no prob, it is usually his boss who tells him when the pescy rabbits need culling and gives him authority to go out. He usually goes at 10.30 - 11.00 and sometimes not back until 1.30am-2am depending on the ground they cover and what is about. and they never cover the same area 2 nights in a row.

I think your police friend and you need to check up on your facts. There is NO legal obligation to inform the police of shooting activities. The link that was put up is just a suggested code of conduct.

As for shooting within 50 feet of centre of highway it is only an offence if it endangers or interferes with other road users.

As for keeping an eye out for lamping on stubbles please try and make sure you are sure it is illegal running of hares with dogs going on and not someone legitimately carrying out legal pest control. As you would just be wasting police time!

Well, the police did actually take this further molezak. They told me that whatever shooting activities were going on in this area, they HAD to be informed and it HAD to be logged with them, and because these overnight shoots had not been advised to them, they got on the case. Strangely enough, after visiting somebody for a 2nd time, it suddenly stopped Just like that! No more shooting now, except for the usual, either from 5 am in the morning or up to midnight, but nothing which actually STARTS at midnight or 1.30 or 2.30 am anymore. I strongly suspect it was somebody with firearms having a play and they got windy, that's my take on it!

I met them again in their landrover only last week when they were driving through the village, and she told me that I HAD to ring them if I heard any shooting overnight, saw any lamps on vehicles in the fields opposite me when the stubble was about, so she obviously knows something is going on roundabouts with illegal lamping. Not saying yours isn't, so what's the legalities of it all then seeing as you know so much about this please?

Well done Helena xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Many of us on Dogsey think Helena is ace but by golly, we wouldn't mess with her!!!

Lol! I'm not a rottie, honest, it's just that when something is wrong, I like to get to the bottom of it and stop it if I can that's all! My old mum used to say "watch out, Helen's got a bee in her bonnet again, somebody had better watch out!!!!" I don't like things that disturb my sleep ya see, I need lots of beauty sleep, and feel I'm bladdy well entitled to get it!!!

Which police force are you dealing with? I can assure you there is no legal obligation to inform the police of shooting activities. There may be an "agreement" to inform the local police force. There may however be a condition put on a firearms certificate to inform police of night time shooting (not that I have heard of this) but if you heard lots of loud banging it was likely to have been a shotgun which wouldn't have any such condition placed on its issue.

Unfortunately the ignorance of the law of many police officers has been causing a lot of problems recently and it has gone so far that now shooting organisations are holding seminars organised through ACPO to explain the law to rural police officers.

I suspect what has happened is the police have spoken to the people involved and they have probably decided for the sake of neighbourly relations not to shoot close to your house late at night.

There is no harm in you ringing the police if you believe there is an illegal activity going on but if someone with permission is shooting on the stubble why waste the police time? I would suggest the best course of action would be to have a friendly chat with whoever owns the land/and or carries out the pest control and just ask them to let you know if they are going to be out, i'd be suprised if they don't agree. If you haven't heard from anybody and you see a lamp, ring the police.....

Thanks for getting back on this

I live in a rural little village, and I've lived here for 23 years, we've always had shooting, but NEVER from the hours of midnight or 1.30 or 2.30 am. always from 5 am in the morning or UP to say around 11.30 or midnight. This is what concerned me, and the fact that it was bladdy scary being woken up at those hours by loud gunshots, especially as it all started at the time of those Cumbria shootings, and that is why I contacted the police, just to find out what the legalities of overnight shooting were. This was going on almost EVERY single blooming night for a period of 3 weeks, when was I supposed to catch up on my sleep then???

They didn't know much about it quite honestly, and then we found an abstract from some bygone law stating the the actual landowner CAN shoot overnight on his land, and he can have ONE shooter (but this bloke said he had 5!!!), and even then, when you read the abstract, the way it is worded it stated that it must end one hour after sunset, and could only start one hour BEFORE sunrise, in fact, the police sergeant has actually sent me this abstract in her e-mail which I can copy and paste if you'd like to see it?

I don't think she had much of a clue about all of this either, but one thing she did know was, they had to be informed whenever overnight shooting was taking place, and luckily, when they actually went up into that vicinity a couple of nights later, they stopped a late night dogwalker who confirmed that he had heard it too and was quite concerned because he walks his dogs at that time of night!

I would have made enquiries, in fact, I personally know the farmer she visited a couple of times, (who I strongly suspected was the culprit), but like I told the sergeant, I'd much rather they did it, as HE is the one with the gun remember!!!!

Hiya Helen
Just to add my tuppence worth.

I go lamping and at moment start at dusk until start feeling tired around midnight.Dogs are often used to retrieve shot rabbits (although i dont use Vegas),but the other guy i lamp with has a Lab so we use him.We're not legally obliged to notify the Police beforehand and to be honest-we're breaking no laws,guns are legal,im licenced and am doing something which is activley encouraged to reduce rabbit numbers.The other guy i lamp with is a Police officer himself and a rural one at that so if he dont know the law i dont know who would! Rabbits are a serious pest,they breed like rabbits and need controlling.Nothing goes to waste though because they're either given away or sold.

As for the Badgers.More often than not a car has hit them,the motorist stops and places it by side of road or they've literally been hit with such force that they've been knocked there.It dont necessarily mean they've been shot just because theres no blood.Severe head trauma can kill anything in a split second with no visible injury.

Steve.