Moving to the UK and hunting/"Outdoorsing" options in Europe?

[bbell]

only if it is for a very specific purpose ie competition shooting. Home defense pistols aren’t a thing here.

 

[Minute_of_Antelope]

Having spent the first 35 years of my life in that absolute effing void of a place, i can tell you first hand:

Guns? No. It's going to take you 2-4 years to actually buy a centerfire IF you become a citizen. You could get a .22 inside of 8 months IF you're a member of a target club & are prepared to store your rifle AT the club. Hunting permission on farmland? Not a cat in hell's chance. If by some miracle you DO pull that off, the police FAO will need to come & check the land to approve it for rifle hunting. Then come check your house to make sure you have the approved storage safes (1 for ammo, 1 for your firearm. Both bolted to at least 3 solid brick or concrete surfaces) with keyed entry & that nobody in your household has access to your keys but you.) Get a speeding ticket? You lost your guns. Post the wrong thing on social media? Lose your guns.
I cannot adequately describe just HOW anti-firearm the UK is. It honestly makes California, Chicago & NYC look outrageously conservative. Shit, most gun shops won't let you through the door without your firearms license & no, I'm not kidding.

Hunting? Not without extensive training, licensing & a rifle. Also, a red deer stalk in the Highlands is going to cost a fortune. And you don't get the meat. I mean, you can BUY the antlers back, if you want.....

European hunting: Easier than hunting the UK, but insanely prohibitive for non-gun owners.

You get the point.
You can move there, or you can hunt. Pick one.

Like, I know all of this intellectually, but I seriously cannot fathom this way of life.

 

[MuleDeerMike]

Thank God for the Declaration of Independence...

 

[WMag338]

only if it is for a very specific purpose ie competition shooting. Home defense pistols aren’t a thing here.

Bizarre!

 

[sconnieVLP]

I’ve done two overseas assignments now, one to Turkey and one to Germany. 100% of the hunting I did happened when I took leave to visit my parents in WI.

I thought about hunting in Germany, but the hunter’s safety course and process alone was more time than I had available to commit. When you add in the cost of the course, the cost of associated licensing, cost to pay to hunt somewhere, and then pay if you kill something didn’t seem worth it.

Met a German paratrooper who was a hardcore hunter who asked me how much it cost when I killed something hunting in the States. I didn’t understand his question and thought he was asking about processing. He explained further that he owed a price per pound when he killed something and it blew his mind when I told him I paid $24 for a deer license in WI and came with 3-4 tags on that license without having to pay more fees if I was successful.

 

[Idaboy]

There's always fishing.......