Illegal deer lamping a dangerous practice

The National Parks and Wildlife Service has issued a warning to landowners following reports of illegal deer lamping across an area spanning from Broadford to South Galway.
A public meeting was held recently in East Clare to raise awareness of deer lamping where district conservation officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Seamus Hassett outlined the dangers associated with this illegal activity.
Lamping involves the shooting of deer and other animals such as foxes at night and is done by shining spotlights to stop the animal before killing it.
In the case of foxes and other vermin, farmers can get a licence to lamp these animals and with the appropriate licence is legal, however, lamping for deer at any time of year is illegal.
The activity involves the use of battery pack spotlights, which stun the animals causing them to stop in their tracks and stare at it. This gives an opportunity to shoot the animal without having to give chase. 
David Lyons of Clare’s National Parks and Wildlife Service said they have received reports of people hearing shots at night and added that lamping is an ongoing issue for the service in Clare as well as for the gardaí.
“They are shooting at night on lands that they have no permission to shoot on. This type of activity is prevalent in Clare particularly in East Clare and in the Sliabh Aughties,” he said.
However, he explained that more resources are needed to catch these poachers and they have appealed for the assistance of landowners. The service asks that people report any unusual vehicles at night on their lands to the gardaí immediately and where possible to take a note of the registrations of the vehicles. 
“It is extremely dangerous because you’re shooting at night. Lamping basically causes the deer to stop and stare at the lamp, there is no stalking involved and they are able to fire at the deer from the car. It takes the effort out of hunting and makes it easy for them to get at the meat, which is what they want. In a case last year we had a horse that was shot at night. Someone had shot at the animal not knowing it was a horse. It was an accident but it shows that this is very serious,” he explained.
It is open season now to hunt male and female deer as and from November 1 and landowners with legally held firearms who have issues with deer can contact the National Parks and Wildlife service to apply for a license to cull these animals.
“Some farmers welcome deer lamping, even though it is illegal, but the majority are scared of it, and are scared to confront the individuals carrying it out,” Mr Lyons concluded.
Gardaí in East Clare have said deer lamping is an ongoing issue in the area, particularly at this time of year.
A spokesperson for the gardaí in East Clare said that those who observe people firing from a public road should contact the gardaí.
“Deer are being shot illegally and there is evidence of this activity, with strange vehicles being seen on lands at night from Broadford to South Galway. We held a public meeting recently to create awareness of gun security and to inform license firearm holders of the dangers associated with lamping,” the garda said.
Adrian King of the Irish Farmers Association, who represents the organisation nationally on a firearms consultative panel, explained that not only is the lamping of deer illegal but it “is highly unsafe”.
“Firing at night time is just unsafe and is illegal and should not be tolerated,” he said.
He said there is a distinction between the lamping of foxes, which is legal with the correct licence to lamping of deer, which is illegal.
“The lamping of foxes by sheep farmers for instance would not be an illegal activity once an individual has a legally held firearm and has permission from the landowner you can shoot and dispatch of foxes humanely. Also a lot of it is done with a shotgun, which is over a low distance where you’re talking about 80 to 100 yards. As a shotgun wouldn’t be appropriate for deer, you need a heavy calibre weapon but a heavy calibre deer rifle has three miles of a trajectory so if you fire a bullet across countryside you have three miles of potential damage to animal or human so it is just not safe,” Mr King said.
He added that the IFA are aware of people that enter land without any type of permission and shoot deer, known commonly as hedgehoppers.
“This is what is probably more prevalent in the last few years particularly now that people have more time to do this, so there could be an issue with people shooting deer for sale or for use. Where you have out of area hit and run hedgehoppers driving around and shooting where they want without local knowledge it is extremely dangerous. This activity is not being done with legally held firearms it is being done with illegally held firearms and that is the concern the gardaí would have,” Mr King said. 
He added that while most farmers allow reasonable access to people to their lands they should only allow people that have a reasonable code of practice on their land. “If they are caught in an illegal act they are not insurable. If there is an issue there with deer, farmers can get permission from the Parks and Wildlife Service if it’s on public land and if it’s on their own land they can deal with the deer menace correctly and humanely that’s our advice,” he explained.
“From an IFA point of view it is extremely dangerous to engage in deer lamping. Whatever about a legitimate local shooter who knows the lie of the land, if you have people shooting from vehicles or shooting from the road at night they pose extreme danger to livestock and to individuals, not knowing where houses are across a valley. And firing with high powered rifles is extremely dangerous. Our advice to farmers is to be very careful in allowing this activity on their land,” he concluded.