Getting Hunting Permission - Hints & Tips

There are lots of great ideas here and no one idea will work for everyone. I lost my permission recently (there is a thread about it) and was knocked back a bit, however I sent out four letters to farmers in the area I'd like to shoot. over the following two weeks I got three replies, one explaining why they wouldn't give permission and the other two asking to meet with me.
This resulted in over 800 acres of grazing and arable shooting. So the letter approach is worth considering.

My letter has been inspired, stolen in part, and adapted from letters I found on this forum. I hope this might be useful.



Dear (insert farmers name)


Firstly, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

My name is (insert your full name) and I am a 47 year old Foster Carer, for Devon County Council. I also run a small window cleaning business.

I am writing to offer my free assistance with pest control on your property, I can humanely dispatch vermin such as, Collared Dove, Crow, Feral Pigeon, Grey Squirrel, Jackdaw, Jay, Magpie, Rabbit, Rat, Rook, Wood Pigeon etc.

I use an extremely accurate BSA Scorpion air rifle that is also fitted with a sound moderator to keep noise to an absolute minimum, thus eliminating the possibility of causing unnecessary distress to livestock.

I have been a responsible shooter for over thirty years and being a British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) member, am fully insured against accident, injury or damage. I can assure you that I would fully respect the law and any restrictions or conditions you may place on my activities, as well as having total respect for your property and business.

I can also be your “eyes and ears” when I am on your land, watching for fly tipping, trespassing, vandalism, theft, damaged fencing or any other problem and inform you or the police directly.

There is no charge for my services, as this is my hobby. Therefore, my recreational activity benefits both you as the landowner and myself.

Thank you for giving me a little of your time, I do apologise if you in any way object to the hunting of vermin.


If you are interested in my free service and would like to meet in person or ask any questions please call me on 0XXX3 85XXX, or email me, anyperson@mail.com and I will contact you as soon as possible.


Yours Sincerely

 

Wow some fantastic posts here and very inspiring thank you as if next year I will be putting it to action

 

Hi Brian I’m from Chelmsford also, I used to work on churches a lot with my old company so had quite a few churches to shoot at. I don’t suppose you have any leads for me for a small permission do you? Been out of shooting for a couple of years due to work but it’s all calming down now so I will be able to start getting out again.

Thanks
Chris.

 

Great reading. Me n my wife have permission to shoot on a small 9 hole golf course local to us. We went to a garden centre nearby, and as we passed the golf course I couldn't believe the number of rabbits spread over it. There was a banner to advertise about joining the club. I emailed the secretary and just asked if they had anybody that deals with them. The secretary got back to me within days, and asked a few questions etc. I gave my name and details. I then received an email to say they would be more than happy to take up my offer, and included some rules I'd need to stick to. Times I could shoot etc. I agreed, and the secretary sent me a signed hand written letter of permission, and said to just show it to the police or anyone else that possibly might turn up. This was a while ago now, and we haven't as yet been down there, cos of a problem with the wifes hatsan 900x. It was a cheeky stab in the dark.....but it paid off.

 

Great thread

 

That's all we did. We only bought the gun for vermin control as the hedge in our garden borders a big farm. Us and the neighbours had a rat problem. I think it was to do with the amount of bird food put out for the songbirds that caused it. My wifes idea was born from a visit to a garden centre. She couldn't believe the amount of rabbits digging away on the golf course. Neither of us have ever played golf , or know anything about the game. To be honest it was just a giggle to be fair. Sent an email and forgot about it just as quick as it sent. We were shocked to even receive a reply. So this approach is definitely worth a go, I reckon. Best of luck.
Walter

 

Brilliantly written letter!

 

Well a thanks to Issac, I used this template and modified it slightly to suit the landowner. Managed to bag my first permission. Chuffed!

 

Well done buddy,
I'm still shooting the ground that the letter got me and its working out very well.

 

I'm going to send out my first letters this week to find a more local permission(I have 1 but it's an hour's drive away), what else should I include with the letter? Surely a permission slip can be signed later once an agreement has been made, so no need to send with the initial letter?

 

Hi mate. When I asked for permission to shoot a local golf course, it was all done by swapping emails. Me and the wife have never met the secretary of the club in person. After giving over our details, and answering a few questions, she checked us out and sent this letter back via email. She just said to always have it handy on a device incase the police or anyone turned up to see what we were up to. Hope this helps.
Walter and the wife.

 

Firstly. You are much more likely to be given a permission if the person from whom you need it sees you in a good light, before you even meet them. And remember that farmers/landowners are predominantly focused on money. So use that to your advantage.
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Find out the name of the landowner, or estate manager (whichever is appropriate)
Check maps etc to identify public footpaths/rights of way on and around the boundaries of the plots on which you want to shoot. And Identify the crops grown, which animals are grazed on the land, and other details such as pheasant nurseries, or other commercial interests within it.
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Send a polite, well articulated, handwritten letter, addressed to the landowner/manager by name. Giving your full name, address, email address, and phone numbers. Including a landline if possible. Get someone else to write it for your handwriting, or grammar are poor. They’re often well educated businessmen and It’s all about making a good impression.
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Ask for an appointment to meet them personally, to discuss your offer of a regular, unpaid pest control and boundary inspection service, in return for permission to take any legally hunted nuisance species in the process for your own consumption. Stress that you won’t be taking anyone else with you. (You can always get them to include one, or two others in writing, once they trust you.) Again. They’re businessmen. And you’re offering to freely increase their business’ profits by reducing crop damage, Lessening the potential for disease transmission by vermin, and helping to keep their land secure by notifying them of any broken fences, or hedge breaches.
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Give accurate details of the plots you want access to, making sure to include the land use, and emphasising safety and mentioning footpaths, roads Etc. that you will avoid shooting on, across, or toward. This will show that you’ve done your homework and you’re not going to cause problems with insurers, local residents, or police..
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Sometimes they’ll ignore you. Sometimes they’ll phone out of politeness, just to decline your offer. In which case, you have an opportunity to ask if they have any other land on which you can provide the same service. But sometimes, they will agree to meet you. If they do, it’s because they’ve already decided that you’re probably going to be good for business. Just don’t turn up in your hunting gear, or looking scruffy, and take a few targets showing good groupings to prove that you’re not going to shoot a cow in the next field, or possibly, their pet dog.
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Once you have the trust of one landowner, it’s far easier to get permissions from others, by asking if they’ll provide a good reference.
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I hope this helps. It works for me.

 

City centre rooftop!!!! Surely that's not legal?

 

How in the name of Donald [Politics are banned - read the Forum Rules]’s testicles (not political, but personal), do you shoot on a city centre rooftop, without breaking the law, by endangering the public?

The mind truly boggles

 

After sending some letters out as suggested on here I have had my first permission granted tonight, so will be going too have a look ASAP and hopefully get some rabbits off his cabbage and maybe some pigeons

 

I feel a little guilty about reading about the difficulty some people have getting permission. I hadn’t bothered trying to get permission as I live in a rural area and thought there’d be more than enough people with experience already shooting over the farms etc. Sometimes things just fall into your lap. My new(ish) next door neighbour has horses and after reading on here about rabbits making holes in fields where horses are kept I had a conversation something like this. Me: Do the stables have a rabbit problem? Her: Oh . yes! Me: Do you have anyone dealing with them? Her: No. Could you deal with them? Me: I’d like to. Her OK I’ll speak to the landowner. Day after: He’d like to meet you. Is Friday OK? Me: Yes. I met him, told him I have a FAC but I can only shoot at target clubs, I have insurance being a member of BASC so I’ll use my air rifle for rabbiting. His wife showed me where I’m allowed to shoot, it’s about 20 feet wide by 120 yards long and I can only shoot one way. (Away from the house) it's bordered by fields with horses on one side and hedgerow on the other. So far I’ve had 21 rabbits in 6 visits. In daylight.

 

This thread is an absolute gold mine, and many thanks for all the worthwhile contributions. I've just picked up my first permission in years. Briefly, I got it by making a flier on Canva.com, then getting a load printed and putting them through letter boxes of likely looking farms and estates.
After I got a contact I made a permission pack, as per the advice I found in an edition of the BASC magazine. I also did a site risk assessment. Then I gave the risk assessment and permission pack to the land owner.
I'll add a copy of the RA here for those interested.

 

It may seem a daft question i have a farm in the village he has a shoot and a gamekeeper who would you approach first

 

I'd speak with the farmer first and then he would probably tell you to ask the game keeper. After all it is the farmers land.

 

I’m just wondering if anyone who has or is looking for shooting permissions, has bothered having business cards printed to hand out to their local shops, such as butchers or hardware, gunsmiths must already be inundated.
These cards can be easily made up as per Vistaprint, which are about £12 per 100 if they’re only plain.

There is another APP to look at called NEXTDOOR, which you can post messages, sell stuff and advertise for free.
It works on you’re postcode and is set for about 12 neighbourhoods around you.