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Hi guys and gals. Recently I put in for a variation to remove my need for a mentor, That
has been sorted and now I`m judged to be safe on my lonesome. I have noticed on another forum,(stalking directory) the variation called AOLQ. Any other lawfull quarry.What are the legal implications of this variation, I did question my FEO vaguely on the subject tho I didnt know I would have this variation on my FAC as it seems some forces give it some dont. What He said to me was I can now shoot foxes with my .308. I didnt push it at the time but does this mean I can go foxing with a .308 at night,knowing I must not shoot deer after dark. Could the carrying of a .308 at night be misconstrued and therefoe being acused of stalking after dark. Or could it mean that if stalking during the correct
hours and an opportunity arises and I shoot a fox it would be quit in order to do so.
I think different areas have different interpretations and I think this should be cleared up.
Any of you have anyexperience of this.

From BASC

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Marsh of the Firearms and Explosives Licensing Working Group (FELWG) or The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has re-issued advice of his predecessor that supports Chapter 13.14 & 13.22 of the Home Office guidance. It advised police forces to allow larger calibre rifles to be used to take “any lawful quarry”.

In November 2012 ACPO FELWG again advised forces of a new condition that can be used in place of the standard condition in Appendix 3 of the Home Office guidance.
- The (rifle/sound moderator/firearms/ammunition) shall be used for shooting (Named Principal Quarry Species) and any other lawful quarry, on land deemed suitable by the chief officer of police for the area where the land is situated, and for zeroing on ranges, over which the holder has lawful authority to shoot.


This identifies the primary reason for use e.g. deer/fox control, then allows “other lawful quarry”.
Certificate holders are invited to apply for this condition from their local licensing departments. If you experience any objection over this condition or feel that the police are not applying conditions fairly to cater for your individual requirements please contact BASC’s firearms team using the following contact details. We need to know which forces are objecting to sensible, tested advice and the reasons for their objections.

Cheers mate. It does clear things up to me, but Im not sure whether the police will se it that way. Last week I read somewhere of a shooter caught in the early hours with a 308, he says he was out foxing, his ticket stated deer and AOLQ but this was not accepted by the police. Unfortunately for him they have taken his guns away and his case is pending. As we all are aware deer must not be shot at those hours,its difficult to prove that foxes were the target.

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think the reasoning behind the AOLQ condition was to enable shooters to take secondary quarry while after their primary prey - i.e. while out deer stalking you see a fox - you can then dispatch the fox with your deer rifle.

I don't think is is tended to allow you to take your 'deer' rifle out foxing for example.

Going by the the minutes of the FELWG meeting, I get the impression that some Forces aren't abiding by this change - however, this is just my view, as its not clear what conditions they are talking about.

Col wrote:Cheers mate. It does clear things up to me, but Im not sure whether the police will se it that way. Last week I read somewhere of a shooter caught in the early hours with a 308, he says he was out foxing, his ticket stated deer and AOLQ but this was not accepted by the police. Unfortunately for him they have taken his guns away and his case is pending. As we all are aware deer must not be shot at those hours,its difficult to prove that foxes were the target.

Have you got a link for that - I would like to have a read as I am very concerned?

That's absolute BS! The AOLQ condition is very simple - it means what it says. There is no offence committed - I cannot believe that guy has a case pending - it should be dismissed in about 5 minutes unless there is substantiated evidence that an offence has been committed. In your point, it's not up to the shooter to prove he was out for foxes, it's up to the Police to prove he was out for deer. Unless I missed something, we still work on Innocent Until Proved Guilty.

I have the AOLQ condition for 223, and I used to have it on .308. (Northants doesn't do it, so my 243, licensed solely by Northants is specifically deer and fox - I kept AOLQ on all the Reading-issued firearms when I moved from Reading)

AOLQ means what it says - the firearm is issued for the Good Reason of shooting the named species, but it may be used on anything for which it is legal. So if I have a .308 which I have Good Reason for deer, nothing whatsoever stops me using it on Charlie. No condition exists regarding time of day etc as a general rule, although I have seen them and it does complicate matters for sure.

In your example, if the guy has simply been stopped by Police for the usual 'man with a gun' crap, and he's said I'm out foxing, then that's the end of it. Period. There is simply no offence here - not a grey area, not negotiable, not anything.

If, on the other hand, he's been stopped at night next to a dead, warm deer, and he's said "Nothing to do with me, I'm out foxing", then that's rather different.