Ray Mears

[Paul in the woods]

21 minutes ago, Rich Rule said:

He replied, the .17hmr will take down a fox but it isnt legal.  To which I replied, why are you telling me this?

Well you could read through the 271 pages of guidance...

 

My understanding is that it's legal but not considered good reason on it's own to have. I.e. if you have one for ground game you could use it for fox provided your cert is conditions for all lawful quarry.

 

I don't think this has changed but some forces may interpret the guidance differently.

 

AHPP, Pigeonwatch is still fairly active for a forum.

[Tippin Alaybye]

Really?

 

I was asked by the Fire Arms officer when I lived in London, why do you want a .223 and a .17hmr?  I said pest control, foxes.

 

He replied, the .17hmr will take down a fox but it isnt legal.  To which I replied, why are you telling me this?

 

Have the regs changed in recent years?

I suppose it might vary between forces. 17hmr ok for foxes in Durham but recommend close ranges only

[Tippin Alaybye]

looked this up

 

The most common calibres for fox shooting

• .243: Can be used for both deer and foxes, packs a good punch, and is great for extended ranges. Against this it has a lot of recoil for use with night vision, is loud, and the ammunition is expensive.
• .22-250: A superb foxing calibre – ammo is widely available, it packs a good punch over extended ranges and has little recoil.
• .223: Probably the most popular foxing calibre, with little recoil and good long range performance.
• .222: Known to some as a gentleman’s calibre, it has almost no recoil and will kill foxes out to 300 yards.
• .204: Having bought this calibre myself for daylight use, I liked it so much that it’s now my rifle of choice for shooting foxes at night. With next to no recoil, precision accuracy and a very flat trajectory, I rarely reach for my 
.22-250. nowadays.

There are, of course, all manner of other possible choices too, from the .17 centrefires up to full-on deer rifles. Although the various rimfire rifles will kill foxes, they are only suitable at short ranges.

If I was, for example, out using a .17 HMR for shooting bunnies and a fox presented a good shot at less than 50 yards, I’d not hesitate to shoot it, but if it was much further out than that I’d leave it alone.

[nepia]

17 hours ago, scbk said:

Does anyone else remember this guy, I always though he was quite good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps I'm showing my age but don't I also remember a series called The Bush Tucker Man?  The guy had his life in a large 4WD and spent it driving back and forth across the Top End, always trying to keep ahead of 'the Wet'

[youngsbury]

2 hours ago, Tippin Alaybye said:

as RM sells gear (with quite a high mark up), whats been the best, most useful bushcraft piece of kit you have made/bought, and the least?

Mora companion in stainless steel. Cheap sharp rust proof use mine for processing game mostly. And the good old axe 👍🏼.zebra billy cans another good buy again cheap and strong. 

[David Cropper]

It used to be .240 and above for deer in England and Wales but any .22 centre fire round in Scotland. The .22 Hornet was very well liked and it was shown to be effective on roe. I used 270 then changed to 243 which I thought was just as good on sika. A well placed, careful shot means a world of difference.

Edited March 25, 2021 by David Cropper

[youngsbury]

Yes hmr is legal for fox in Hertfordshire and I’m sure a kiss behind the ear on a muntjac at close range would sort it out       I will certainly mention those points regarding loadings to the fao when he eventually comes to visit as there so behind at the moment. I’ve only had the hmr a year so might be pushing my luck on the 223 and I like to eat munties and I’ve seen the damage a 233 can do so a 222 would be my choice as it’s the smallest legal calibre i believe 

[Tippin Alaybye]

38 minutes ago, youngsbury said:

Mora companion in stainless steel. Cheap sharp rust proof use mine for processing game mostly. And the good old axe 👍🏼.zebra billy cans another good buy again cheap and strong. 

defo agree about the mora knife, great value

for me it's fire lighting.

good and use a lot 

 

never use

 

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by Tippin Alaybye

[Johnsond]

1 hour ago, David Cropper said:

It used to be .240 and above for deer in England and Wales but any .22 centre fire round in Scotland. The .22 Hornet was very well liked and it was shown to be effective on roe. I used 270 then changed to 243 which I thought was just as good on sika. A well placed, careful shot means a world of difference.

Bullet placement is indeed everything but as for 22 Hornet on roe that would not be anywhere near enough to do the job effectively and humanely every time, short range yes it will drop one as would 22rf but would you class it’s ethically ok, I know I wouldn’t. 

[Paul in the woods]

58 minutes ago, youngsbury said:

I’ve only had the hmr a year so might be pushing my luck on the 223 and I like to eat munties and I’ve seen the damage a 233 can do so a 222 would be my choice as it’s the smallest legal calibre i believe 

Sorry, I'm still a bit curios about this. A 222 will be using the same bullet as a 223, just pushing it a bit slower. Looking at the 50gr bullets it seems possible that some loads may be under the 1,000 ft/lb deer limit unless you are right on the limit of the load data. It also looks like you could load a 223 to be very similar to a 222 so I would have thought damage would be very similar. I only raise it as a 223 is more common so you'll have a better choice of ammunition and components if you ever home load.