THE GROUND GAME ACT 203 



It is further enacted by this section that : 



' Nothing in this Act shall affect any special right 

 of killing or taking ground game to which any person 

 other than the landlord, lessor, or occupier may have 

 become entitled before the passing of this Act by 

 virtue of any franchise, charter, or Act of Parliament.' 



This is a very important provision, since it defeats 

 the right of an ' occupier ' to kill ground game if the 

 land in his occupation happens to be land over which 

 a right of free warren is claimed. We have already 

 alluded to this contingengy in the chapter on warrens, 

 where we have cited, by way of illustration (pp. 55, 

 56), the typical case of Lord Carnarvon v. Clarkson, 

 which see. 



The sixth section of the Act prohibits the shooting 

 of ground game by night, setting spring traps any- 

 where except in rabbit holes, and employing poison. 



The question has arisen whether this section — 

 particularly the prohibition as to spring traps — applies 

 to owners who are in occupation of their own land. 

 The point was raised and decided in the case of 

 Smith V. Hunt,' which came before the magistrates 

 at Worcester in 1885. It was contended on the part 

 of the prosecution that the Act applied to all persons 

 having the right of killing ground game, including 

 ' 54 Law Times Reports, p. 422. 



