Important General Licence

[teabag_46]

Sorry! My previous post was poorly phrased; Mick, you are correct, there is no requirement to try ANY non lethal means. Using my example above, even without using them, I personally, would be satisfied that they were ineffective, and therefore, shooting would be the only alternative.
IMO including the part about non-lethal methods has only been written into the GL in order to satisfy the RSPB/RSPCA and antis.
LOL - I could be wrong though!

As I said in a previous post, I try to take the GL's at face value, they seem to be written in plain English, leaving little or no ambiguity.

[mick 1986]

See, the way I see the GL is like this; it's there as a plain English guide, that requires no rewording, that allows farmers and land owners to protect there crops/livestock by whatever means they see fit, lethal or non-lethal.
If the landowner wants to just go and shoot anything on the licence without trying other means, then that's his/her look out. If they try one or more means and it doesn't work then it's fair game.

[kev1299]

There is no requirement to try ALL non lethal methods.

There is no "requirement" to try ANY non-lethal methods, if you read the wording of the general licence.

You are correct, but the only person that has used the phrase "TRY ANY OTHER METHOD" in this thread is MIck.
The GL clearly states that to kill a GL species other methods have failed, so to prove you are "satified", in court, you will be able to refer to methods used by others in the past and clearly show that they were impracticable and ineffective (and for that reason were not worth trying) That is why it states have failed, not may fail.

Interesting discussion. I also do not see, anywhere in the GL, any statement, or implication of the TIME that the pigeon poses a threat/danger to crops or foodstuffs; so, in reality, any time from fledging (flight) the pigeon can be considered to be a threat/danger, regardless of what it is actually doing at the time it is shot..

Have you read the GL?
"Management of species causing conflict with conservation or human interests

These licences allow species to be managed in certain specific circumstances where there is clear evidence that they are causing problems and non lethal methods have failed."
Does in certain specific circumstances mean that- "any time from fledging (flight) the pigeon can be considered to be a threat/danger, regardless of what it is actually doing at the time it is shot".
And does clear evidence that they are causing problems mean that they can be shot anywhere, even miles from crops?

IMO including the part about non-lethal methods has only been written into the GL in order to satisfy the RSPB/RSPCA and antis.

So what you are actually saying it is only written as a bluff for the RSPB and therefore all bollox There was I thinking it was written to allow people that have genuine problems with a protected species, to deal with that problem without having to apply for a personal licence.

[rossman]

hi guys im new to shooting and ive just seen this general licence stuff and its not very clear what can and cannot be shot and what i have to do before shooting anything.I've also seen that pigeons a few others can be shot all year round just a breif idea on what i can do thanks

rossman

[hun73r666]

I was just on the basc site looking at pigeon shooting and came across the following statement.

"Currently the shooting of woodpigeon is controlled by general licences issued by Natural England for England, Welsh Assembly Government for Wales, Scottish Government for Scotland and in Northern Ireland by the NI Environment Agency (NIEA). No individual application is required for any licence; however in Scotland you are legally obliged to have read and understood the licence relevant to your shooting."

Am I right in saying that this suggests that you are not legally obliged to have read and understood the general licenses before you shoot a wood pigeon in England or Wales?

[hun73r666]

You need to have a read of GL04, 05 and 06. They will tell you what birds you can shoot, what criteria you need to satisfy before you can shoot them and which birds can be shot under lamp at night.

You will find the general licenses for England here.
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/our...llicences.aspx

hi guys im new to shooting and ive just seen this general licence stuff and its not very clear what can and cannot be shot and what i have to do before shooting anything.I've also seen that pigeons a few others can be shot all year round just a breif idea on what i can do thanks

rossman