Land usage and ownership in relation to hunting

M.McGinn

Hello all,
My wife and I are moving to Ireland from the U.S. at the beginning of the new year where we will be fixing up a rural property and slowly transforming it into a semi self-sustainable homestead.
In the U.S. I have always hunted deer on public land. From what I can gather, there really isn't any public hunting land in Ireland. So my questions are who owns the land for example around the Cousane Gap or the Wicklow Mountains? Is it all private and if so how does one go about getting permission to hunt on it? Is it legal to hunt in places like the Kilarney National Park? Also, I grew up hunting in Illinois where it is only legal to hunt deer with a shotgun so there was less stalking and more waiting involved. Is deer hunting in Ireland all rifle?
Thanks!

Tommyaya4

All deer hunting in Ireland is with a rifle most lands are private or owned by the state coillte you can either get a lease on coillte lands which will cost or get permission from landowners with lands holding deer

Cass

M.McGinn wrote: »

Hello all,
My wife and I are moving to Ireland from the U.S. at the beginning of the new year where we will be fixing up a rural property and slowly transforming it into a semi self-sustainable homestead.

Hey M.McGinn.

Welcome to the hunting/shooting forum. Sounds like your a man with a plan. Hope it all goes well for you.

There will be more lads along shortly to help you out but for now i thought i'd get the ball rolling.

In the U.S. I have always hunted deer on public land. From what I can gather, there really isn't any public hunting land in Ireland.

Not really.

Any public land is state land. State land either has no hunting or its hunting is done under license from Coillte. Coillte is a state sponsored department responsible for state resources, etc. They issue a lease to successful bidders to hunt on the Forestries and lands they control. You must also do the HCAP (Hunter Competence Assessment Programme). Its a proficiency and safety course all people shooting on Coillte lands must have before they can shoot on said lands.

So my questions are who owns the land for example around the Cousane Gap or the Wicklow Mountains?

No point in bullsh*tting you, i don't know. However the land is either state owned or privately owned or even a combination of both.

If it's state owned then usually there is no hunting or it's done under Coillte. If it's private then you must speak to the land owner and get written permission to shoot on their lands.

Is it all private and if so how does one go about getting permission to hunt on it?

I do all my shooting on private lands. I go around each year and get signatures of the land owners. This is a prerequisite for the deer license you will need to hunt deer in Ireland.

For a person starting out this can be daunting and it's why people turn to leases. You need to get yourself known in the area, and ask individuals for permission to shoot on their land.

People, myself included, are very protective of the lands they have so you might experience some resistance to others bringing you onto their land. However this will quickly change and once you're established in the area you'll find it easier to get permission.

Is it legal to hunt in places like the Kilarney National Park?

No.

The deer are highly protected and there is no season on them, ever, in the county off Kerry.

Also, I grew up hunting in Illinois where it is only legal to hunt deer with a shotgun so there was less stalking and more waiting involved. Is deer hunting in Ireland all rifle?

Stalking deer with a shotgun is illegal in Ireland. It's rifles only.

In Ireland you may only hunt deer with a Rifle calibre deemed suitable. There are three main principles that must be met to make a rifle deer legal. They are:

• Minimum of 22 centrefire calibre
• Producing 1,700 ft/lb of energy at the muzzle
• Bullet must be a minimum of 55 gr.

So in short you are looking at some of the 220 Swift family, 22-250, 243, 6.5, .270, 308, 30-06, 300 WinMag. There are other calibres in between but these are "odd" calibres or more accurately not very prevalent in Ireland and some require reloading which is also not commonly available.

As said above shotguns are a complete "no-no", so to are the smaller, varmint calibres. Such as the 223, 204, 22 hornet and all of the rimfire family of rifles.

I wish you the best of luck in your move.

barnaman

To confuse matters OP here in Ireland we have "sporting rights" which can be separate to land ownership. Those rights entitle you to fish and hunt on the land. When alot of estates were broken up landlords retained those sporting rights or the State got them through the Land Commission. Friend of my father had sporting rights over 6,500 acres of Wicklow Mountains up until the late 80s. He was a Anglo Irish lad who spent his entire life shooting never worked a day in his life, used to shoot for Ireland internationally, all I can remember from a conversation with him nearly 20 years ago was that poaching broke his heart so he sold the rights and bought a Georgian house that came with 400 acres of sporting rights down the country.