Gaining permission to shoot

[Reano76]

Hi all I'm looking for some advice on gaining permission to shoot on private land.

[Col]

as are lots of others,,knocking lots of farm doors is usually the way

[dromia]

Col about sums it up.

Have you done a search of F-BUK? This topic has been covered here before.

[safetyfirst]

Also have a search for a shooting syndicate in your area. Even if they don't specialise in your preferred kind of quarry, it's a way to meet and build trust with other shooters and land owners.

[Hornet35]

What are you wanting to shoot? Air rifles are a good starting point as people find them less scary, they're quiet too, you can build trust and add powder burners. Get insurance. Try horse paddocks / stables and golf courses, once you've got one or two permissions word of mouth and being able to name drop helps get more. Then you'll likely get to a point that you can't take any more ground on and it's important to not take more than you can be effective on as that gets shooters in general a bad name.

Good luck

[smoothly]

This will all have been done to death before but as col has said youve got to get out there try different friendly approaches and at least state your case and offer help ive lost count of the numer of gates ive welded up for free,but just my experience is theres not many farms if any that havnt been knocked on and you dont say what your shooting or want to shoot,one of my farms gets asked every week as hes on a busy road and people just call in as passing as they see pigeons everywhere apparantly,but a few years a go another permission i have was the same he was getting knocked a lot but i never saw anyone on there with a gun,so i asked a labourer and he told me that its usually the camo brigade and mob handed that turn up and put him off,so following saturday dressed normal[well ish] in the car not jeep with the mrs and the kid i tried my luck,after a hour chatting he signed my permission letter and gets his bottle of whisky as a thank you every xmas like the rest,you gota get out there,sometimes soul destroying but thats the way.

[Blackstuff]

And another thing is, once you get the permission you MUST keep up the work to maintain it. If you just go there 5-6 times a year when you fancy it you'll not be providing the level of protection most farms/crops require, and its almost guaranteed that you'll get replaced.

[Nrees21]

Seems to be a question that comes up a lot, it seems most farmers already have there land covered by there regulars. i think i must be lucky having 4 farms and quarry to cover. A combination of luck and asking the right people seems to work

[glevum]

As smoothly said, I've found making yourself useful to farmers and other landowners is the way to go.

I am an Engineer, so I give them a hand with stuff they can't do and get shooting in return.

[ovenpaa]

Hehe, reminds me of a farmer that called in one day during the game season to collect his gun from being serviced:

Him: "I bet you get lots of offers to shoot"
Me: "Not really"
Him "OK, I am surprised, well best get on....."

What I will say is once you do have a permission look after it, don't just look on it as a number to tell your mates and then wonder across it once every 6 months. Tell the farmer when you are going out, remember him at Christmas and above all, make sure you have good insurance.