Specifically allowing birds to be taken 20-30 ft directly above a busy main road.
Watched a few fall on the road as we drove past.
Not sure if a formal shoot.

Any idea of the best people to contact to ensure the correct slap is administered?
Plod as a first step I assume?

Didn’t pick any up as had wife, daughter and granddaughter in the car, would not have gone down well.
🙂

You can shoot 50ft from the centre of a highway full stop. You can shoot right from the edge if on private land and not causing a danger, nuisance or obstruction so that’s probably the distinction between whether an offence was committed.

More of a concern would be not being able to quickly recover shot game.

Odd comment about the fams? Can women not eat meat??

In principle not necessarily illegal but probably contrary to code of conduct that they ought to be adhering to. At least that was the upshot of my googling when we came across a local shoot firing over a bridleway.

Im assuming that because said birds fell with shot in them, it would be covered by the same rules that dictate that you have commited a firearms offence if an air gun pellet ricochets into your neighbours property.

Daughter and wife not fans of game shooting, granddaughter is 4 (but not bothered in the slightest 🙂 ) hence the comment.

Aware of the regs.
It’s a road often used by coaches and HGV’s, so the height is an issue.

Birds were coming from private ground on the left over the road and into woodland.
About a dozen on the road as we passed.

Just bad practice and a stupid and unecessary thing to do.

Don’t litter laws cover it?

Tasty, tasty litter.

🙂

Is this worth grousing about… (…coat)

If the bird was shot over the road it wouldn’t fall onto the road. The birds must have been hit over the private land but fallen into the road. In any case that does seem to be a poor choice of location. Strong wind, unusual direction ? Aren’t Grouse usually shot from butts, ie permanantly contracted ? You’d think that would mean they are placed away from roads. Poaching / tresspassing ?

In England & Wales it is an offence without lawful authority or reasonable excuse to discharge any firearm within fifty feet of the centre of a highway which consists of or comprises a carriageway, and in consequence a user of the carriageway is injured, interrupted or endangered. [Section 161(2) of the Highways Act 1980 as amended]. It is important to remember that the discharge of a firearm is not prohibited in itself. It must also be proved that there was an injury, or that someone’s passage was interrupted or interfered with e.g. they have been forced to make a detour.

Avoiding falling birds would interfere with your passage.

I don’t believe a dead bird in itself would count as an obstruction. I’d also think that pheasant seems more likely than grouse not that it changes the legal situation.

Brain fade, yes pheasants, just driven back from holiday.
🙂

If the bird was shot over the road it wouldn’t fall onto the road. The birds must have been hit over the private land but fallen into the road.

I watched one shot overhead that landed in the woodland to our right.

Strong wind, unusual direction ?

Possibly.

You’d have to be mad (or wanting to be) to eat lead riddled food. Check out the fsa advice.

^^ I haven’t noticed any odd effects, other stw-ers may not see it that way 😉

I watched one shot overhead that landed in the woodland to our right.

That was my point, the bird can fall 50, 100 + yards from the “point” where it was shot. Still shouldn’t be shooting where birds are likely to fall on a road, as you say could definitely cause an accident

Can women not eat meat??

They can but some aren’t keen 🙂

That was my point, the bird can fall 50, 100 + yards from the “point” where it was shot. Still shouldn’t be shooting where birds are likely to fall on a road, as you say could definitely cause an accident

I agree, apologies for not being clear.

I’ve witnessed a local group of tweedies shoot right over a public road, ie the boorish drunken **** on one side, birds flying over the other side.

Pretty sure that’s a bit cheeky.

It’s illegal for airgun pellets to leave the property they were fired on but not for shotgun pellets to do so.

You might think that was political, but I couldn’t possibly comment.

I have a mate who manages an estate with a pheasant shoot, one put a pretty hefty dent into the rear quarter panel of his Toureg when it landed on it from 50 foot.

It’s illegal for airgun pellets to leave the property they were fired on but not for shotgun pellets to do so.

You might think that was political, but I couldn’t possibly comment.

This annoys me, hard.

Working class types should start plinking with shotguns.

you missed out not picking up a couple. id have been all over that. imagine the tweed wearers despair after dropping huge coin on a shoot, then some passer by picking up the spoils , lol.