Another OT Question

[Blakesdad]

I have a substantial garden in my backyard. 75' by 50'. Twenty tomato plants, ten peppers cukes, squash, zucchini, okra and three hundred sunflowers. Its more of a hobby, and I share my harvest with friends. Its been fenced in , 8' high all around, more for my deer problems than anything.

This year I have a rabbit and ground hog invasion. My garden has become their buffet. I've humanely caught three hogs, and transferred them to the banks of the Potomac. The rabbits refuse to be caught, but continue to dine on my hard work.

I "know" my back neighbors but are not on a first name basis. I was scoping my new air rifle today, and I got " the look".. I have plenty of land between them and I. BUT.......

Am I okay just shooting rabbits and groundhogs without repercussions ? I've never been a hunter, but I know safety first. But not sure about the legality issues.

I'll " hurt" a neighbors feelings by shooting a rabbit any day. But if they call in the fuzz, am I okay ??

[Chessie27]

Not sure about the rules and regs for an air rifle, but just tried the deer/rabbit repellent from Critter-be-gone and it seem to really be working. We have SEVERAL acres of flooded impoundments that we duck hunt. Running around the perimeter of the impoundments with a Gator spraying "Hinder" has really cut back the deer damage. Not sure about rabbits, but if it work on them the way it does on deer, its worth the couple of bucks per gallon investment. For a garden, a hand sprayer would work fine; AND the neighbors will know nothing about it.