If you shoot the deer with the rifle and mention the name of Allah, and hit the deer, and it dies from that shot, then it is lawful and it is permissible to eat it. If you catch up with it when it is still alive, it is essential that you slaughter it properly.

1- Hunting land game is permissible except for one who is in a state of Ihram for Hajj or `Umrah, or is within the boundaries of the Haram zone even if he is not in Ihram. 2- With regard to fishing and catching other kinds of seafood, it is permissible for the one who is in Ihram and others alike. 3- Whoever hunts permissible animals in order to benefit from them by selling them to earn money, or eating them, giving them as gifts, and so on, there is nothing wrong with that according to scholarly consensus.

It is stipulated that the weapon used for hunting should be sharp so that it creates a wound and has an impact on the flesh by cutting or piercing. The pellets that are shot by an air rifle for hunting cut and penetrate the body, so it is valid to hunt with it.

1. Hunting that is done for fun and recreation only, and when the hunter has killed the prey, he leaves it without making use of it at all; this is not recommended according to some of the scholars, while others rule it prohibited. 2. Hunting birds during the breeding season and nesting season or hunting birds that have small chicks is permissible and there is nothing wrong with it even though it is better not to do that.

There is nothing wrong with hunting in the sacred months; rather the prohibition on hunting is connected to two things: 1- Ihram for Hajj or `Umrah; 2- Hunting within the limits of the Sanctuary, which means Makkah and Madinah.