Author Topic: Wild Camping Woodland  (Read 633 times)

Cherelle

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Wild Camping Woodland
« on: 11:45:53, 05/03/20 »
Hi, this is the only forum I could find which has chatted about wild camping.
Having watched many videos for tips and leave no trace, start late leave early etc I want to try it out using very minimal kit including bivvi bag instead of tent.


The land around me has no hills. Woodland is sparse but the main worry for me is not being moved on but that I may get shot accidentally by a land owner, game keeper (or even poacher) who doesn’t know I’m there.
Any thoughts on being bullet proof?? 😂
Sounds ludicrous I know but genuine concern!
X

ninthace

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #1 on: 12:08:38, 05/03/20 »
You will not get shot - it is illegal and creates too much paperwork.  With the exception of parts of Dartmoor wild camping is not allowed in England (and Wales?)  However it is tolerated in some areas, such as above the intake wall in the Lake District.  If asked by the landowner to move you really do not have any choice, so arrive late, camp discretely and leave early.
Alternatively, you could ask for permission from the landowner.
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Owen

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #2 on: 12:10:54, 05/03/20 »
The only people out shooting at night will be lamping. i.e using powerful torches to spotlight their targets. You'll know about it if their around and can "make like a shepherd". Get the flock out of it.

Pitboot

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #3 on: 12:22:21, 05/03/20 »
As one who has been on both "sides" of your question I can say that the chances of being accidentally shot are tiny, and deliberately shot, nil.
 I used to manage some woodland in Somerset, 1200 acres, and was a part time deer stalker at a 5000 acre estate in Wiltshire, for ten years.
If walkers passed through the area we would allow them to pass unmolested and without contact, whenever possible, which was 99% of the time.If contact was unavoidable we would always be polite and helpful.
I did hear of a man who was out after dark, badger watching, and using some sort of night vision device when a hunter out for foxes (legally ) mistook the reflection off his device for the eyes of a fox and badly wounded him.
Although the watcher was trespassing the hunter was in the wrong for not positively identifying his target, and was rightly prosecuted for wounding, lost his liberty for some years and lost his firearms license for ever.
(Doubtless others on here will have many stories as to how awful the shooting fraternity is, I bow to their knowledge and experience. I will just say that to many in the countryside total strangers appearing to disrupt one's legal activities is seen as annoying and sometimes threatening.)


As a rule, people who shoot need written permission to shoot on a specific piece of land and therefore have the permission and trust of the land owner.


I have camped in various places but I always made sure that there was no evidence of shooting activity around before setting up camp, and never tried to camouflage anything, or wear camouflage clothing, or act furtively. In the Lake District where I live I either use a remote camp site or wild camp at a high elevation.


My advice to you is, if possible get permission to camp. If you hear or suspect shooting is going on make your presence known. Sure signs of shooting activity are pheasant pens, deer fencing, high seats against trees, empty cartridge cases on the ground. Wear "normal" outdoor clothing and don't pretend you are in the SAS. Treat other land users with respect, but do not be intimidated by a person carrying a gun, the law of the land applies to him too.

fernman

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #4 on: 12:39:54, 05/03/20 »
Well, what can I say? I was in my tent in the hills to the north of Blaenau Ffestiniog once when a shotgun was fired very close to me at about 2 a.m, and it frit the life out of me. That was the sole incident in many years of wild camping.
I've encountered pheasant shoots a few times during my day walks in the Chilterns, and so far I've avoided being on the receiving end of any lead shot. Occasions I recall were when a line of guns in a field were shooting away from the footpath I was on, once I changed my route to other footpaths when shooting was taking place in the wood I had intended to walk through, and once a gamekeeper saw me and very politely suggested a different way around a wood.

Wear "normal" outdoor clothing and don't pretend you are in the SAS

Thanks, that has cheered me up no end, as all of my walking clothing is olive, green, brown or camo. However I have often felt unhappy that my tent (and its predecessor) is a colour of green that doesn't blend in with the landscape. Perhaps that could prove to be a good thing.

ninthace

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #5 on: 13:04:05, 05/03/20 »
The only time I have been shot at in woodland was while landing at an airfield which involved an approach over a wood.  I heard the shot patter off my wings.  My aircraft was white with a 15m wingspan so it looked nothing like a pheasant - should have gone to Specsavers.  .  Proves that the effective range of a shotgun is relatively short though as I had no holes in the wings.
The chances of being shot by accident are therefore vanishingly small unless you are an active part of the shoot where you may be victim of a negligent discharge.
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Pitboot

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #6 on: 13:27:34, 05/03/20 »
I was once showered with shot from a high angle as I walked my dog along the public road next to my house, I was already aware of the shoot as it was an annual event there. I could see someone walking in the bracken on the other side of the wall so I told him what I thought of the shoot management. He replied that he would report my comments to the Chief Constable of Cumbria who was a gun in the line a short distance away. I emphasised my displeasure with some more pithy criticism of his shoot, went home, and wrote a terse letter to the the above mentioned officer.
In short order I got a reply from the Bill saying that my comments had been "noted."


As for NDs, I always tried to avoid officers with loaded weapons. My foot was narrowly missed on a rifle range, the bullet having been discharged by the new 2nd Loui next to me as we prepared to advance down the range to engage pop up targets. And I was in an Int cell when our beloved and admirable leader put a 9mm round through the office radiator, the round then bounced round the walls  as we dropped to the rapidly flooding floor. The Professionals!

vghikers

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #7 on: 13:30:06, 05/03/20 »
It is a valid concern, especially in lowland areas where wild camping isn't a widely recognized thing and wouldn't be expected.

The shooters, like any other group, are very varied in attitude. The ones we have (very rarely) passed on an active shoot have been the textbook English gentlemen, greeting us in perfect Queen's, doffing their tweed hats and lowering their weapons until we had passed.
The real concern is at dusk or at night. When I camped in a small wooded glade just off the Hadrian's Wall path, at dusk there were several gunshots (I assume) quite nearby spread over about an hour, that was disconcerting. Also in Glen Kinglass, again around dusk, someone was shooting at nearby pheasants for a while, we were convinced one of the daft birds would hide behind our tent and get us shot!.

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My advice to you is, if possible get permission to camp.

As I've said before, that's pretty much a non-starter. In general, you've no idea who to ask and they probably wouldn't give it anyway. Why would they?. For all they know, you might do some damage and certainly won't do any good.

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If you hear or suspect shooting is going on make your presence known.

Good advice for not ending up with a backside full of buckshot, but it probably nukes your plan for a wild pitch there!.

Pitboot

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #8 on: 13:30:23, 05/03/20 »


Thanks, that has cheered me up no end, as all of my walking clothing is olive, green, brown or camo. However I have often felt unhappy that my tent (and its predecessor) is a colour of green that doesn't blend in with the landscape. Perhaps that could prove to be a good thing.



I think that common sense is generally more important than the colour of one's clothes or the tent. No criticism of you or anyone on here was meant by my comments.

ninthace

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #9 on: 13:42:30, 05/03/20 »
As for NDs, I always tried to avoid officers with loaded weapons. My foot was narrowly missed on a rifle range, the bullet having been discharged by the new 2nd Loui next to me as we prepared to advance down the range to engage pop up targets. And I was in an Int cell when our beloved and admirable leader put a 9mm round through the office radiator, the round then bounced round the walls  as we dropped to the rapidly flooding floor. The Professionals!
  I always regarded to officer corps of the Army as a triumph of inbreeding over common sense.  My view was if I was reduced to using my personal weapon, the war was already lost.  There was a tale from NI of a Rupert who discovered popping a diary pencil down the barrel of his pistol and firing the action would cause the pencil to come flying out of the end with a satisfying ping.  His colleague tried it and found out it came out much faster when pushed by a live round.
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Pitboot

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #10 on: 13:46:42, 05/03/20 »
 ;D No surprise!!! ;D The last place we wanted Ruperts was on the streets with us.

SteamyTea

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #11 on: 15:55:53, 05/03/20 »
I have never heard of someone wild camping being shot.
And I went to the same school as Tony Martin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Martin_(farmer)
I don't use emojis, irony is better, you decide

ninthace

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Re: Wild Camping Woodland
« Reply #12 on: 16:17:01, 05/03/20 »
;D No surprise!!! ;D The last place we wanted Ruperts was on the streets with us.
War story:  On exercise, been sent to guard something important belonging to HM.  Yours truly - Flt Lt, plus one Chf Tech, assorted corporals and 120 erks under training.
Me:" Do you think we should check the sentries?"
Chf Tech: "Good idea sir.  Corporal!"
Cpl: Yes Chief"
Chf Tech: "Go and check the sentries!  Take the orfficer with you - and look after him because I've signed for him!"
Cpl: Yes Chief!"
Chf Tech: "And you sir, do as the Corporal tells you!"
Me: "Yes Chief!"

 
I used to tell young officers coming out of training they had been issued with unlimited "Yes Chief"s, 10 "No Chief!s and 3 "I hear you Chief but..."s.  These had to last their entire career.
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