How to get permission to hunt on private land in the UK

In the UK there are two types of access within the countryside, with the first being public access and the second being access at the discretion of the landowner. Land that has a public access right allows you to walk there no matter how much the farmer doesn’t like it, but access at their discretion can be taken away at any time.

Having the right to access someone’s land does NOT give you the right to hunt there, and when using any kind of firearm including air rifles it is a very serious offense to use them anywhere but your own land. If you walked onto someone’s land with an air rifle to hunt rabbits it would be seen in the eyes of the law as if you’d just jumped over someone’s garden fence and onto their property with a deadly weapon, which can carry a very harsh few years in jail.

Fortunately, there are many farmers who would love to give permission to someone to get rid of those annoying rabbits that keep eating their crops, but the problem is they don’t know you, so you’re forced to establish a reputation to get your foot in the door.

The biggest problem you’ll have is convincing a stranger to allow you to walk about on their property and shoot things, which goes without saying can cause concern for people. Here are a few tips that apply to both pellet and bullet weapons on how to gain permission to shoot on private land.

1) Check Forums

Many hunting forums have sections discussing where you can hunt and even have some landowners on there asking people to do so. The problem is the number of hunters far outweighs the landowners but now and then you can get lucky.

2) Volunteer at a shoot

Finding out where your local bird hunt is taking place and asking to volunteer will get you access to all the people who already hunt, many of which are landowners. If you carry yourself as responsible and friendly then they are much more likely to give you valuable information that gets you closer to gaining permission, it also gives you the chance to ask them if you can tag along when they go hunting. The main objective of doing this is to convince people within the hunting circles that giving you permission to hunt on their land will just help them with their rabbit problem, as opposed to being a danger.

3) Establish a foothold and use it to gain further permission

Your number one choice for a hunting ground may not be the best place to start as generally the better the ground the harder it is to gain permission. Find somewhere easy to get permission on, like waste ground or an abandoned farm field out of the way of animals and buildings. If you can get permission for just one place then you can use that to help you get permission on better land. Going up to a farmer and saying “Can I hunt on your ground please, here’s another farmer who knows I’m responsible and would vouch for me” is much more likely to get you a yes.

4) Maintain and build relationships

When you finish a hunt contact the land owner, offer him a rabbit or two, and let him know things about his land that could help. I have permission to hunt a piece of land in Wales and when I find something the landowner should know about I call him right away. If there’s a dead sheep or piece of broken fence I call him, which is something he must have talked to other farmers about because, after a couple of years, I got permission to hunt more land in the area than I could find. Farmers normally know each other and who owns all the land in the area, and if you get in with a few of them going up to another and saying “This list of people would recommend me” can get you access to the best hunting grounds there are.

5) Don’t annoy other hunters

If you want permission to hunt on land someone else is already hunting on then don’t annoy the people who can talk to the guy that gives you the OK. If you upset a hunter and he finds out you also want to hunt there, he’s going to tell the landowner what an idiot you are so you won’t get permission.

6) Be super nice to people

First impressions count for a lot and wandering up to a farmer in scruffy clothes and speaking like some kind of thug will probably just scare him, never mind convince him to let you on his ground with a gun. Look responsible, be polite, and don’t be pushy as this can just annoy and scare people off. Casually mention references when you approach them so they get a better understanding of what kind of person you are.

When my parents moved to a new area in Wales I had to get permission to hunt all over again, which I did quite successfully. When I went up to a farmer I smiled and said “Hello, sorry to bother you but I was just wondering if you know who owns this field here”. I then go on to introduce myself with my full name and say I’m visiting my parents, and I then give the address. I then ask politely if he would consider letting me remove a few of those pesky rabbits from his land using an air rifle, which I make a point of mentioning the power of.

Being nice like this can really get you somewhere and when one person in the area knows how nice you are and how you let them know about problems on their land and how you give them a rabbit every now and then, they are guaranteed to talk about you to fellow land owners.

7) Getting permission for shotguns and bullet rifles is always harder

Getting shot with an air rifle at 50 meters will just annoy someone, whereas a .22 bolt action rifle could snipe someone through the head at 200 meters. A farmer who knows about guns will feel much better about letting someone with a puny air rifle on their land than a bolt action rifle of many times the power.

There is also the noise issue, as air rifles are very quiet and can be used in the next field over to livestock without scaring them too much, whereas a shotgun cannot. The higher your reputation the higher the chance of getting permission, but don’t be offended if someone says no to a very loud shotgun going off on their property.