Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2017 i Shooting Gazette

SPORTING TARGETS in Bedfordshire was the venue for this year’s Golden Pheasant Clay Shoot. Over 130 people attended this prestigious event, with the eventual Consall Valley Estate headkeeper Richard Thompson beating off stiff competition to win the Golden Pheasant award. “It was a very good day with good food and good weather. I shot out of my skin for once,” said Richard. Tony Smith was the victor in the Veterans’ class while Emma Lowrison won the Ladies’ class following a shoot-off with Louise Buckingham. The High Gun and Side-by-Side honours were awarded to James Lacey. Harry Wray won the Under 21s class and Karl Hagan won best supporter. Speaking about the event, Tim Weston, NGO development officer said: “Thank you to everyone who attended the event, which was well-received, and…

It is tempting to predict where we might find ourselves after the forthcoming General Election, but the only certainty is the unsurprising revelation that many of those who would have us elect them to represent us will manage to talk unmitigated rubbish, unsupported by facts. Disengagement from the European Union will continue to have a big bearing on our lives after June 8, and countering the prospect of being held to ransom by the arrogant, un-audited, financial pygmies and bureaucrats in Brussels or independence warriors in Edinburgh will require strength of purpose and clarity of speech, whoever ends up in No.10. Reputations and future prospects of current incumbents of departmental office should also come under scrutiny, including those leading DEFRA, but if history is anything to go by, ability to…

How did you get into game shooting? I was banned from playing with toy guns as a youngster, so that probably influenced my decision to head down to Kibworth Shooting Ground and buy my first shotgun with my first pay cheque after I’d left home. This really opened the doors to a whole new world outside of rugby, and it wasn’t long after that I was invited to my first game day; it was potentially more nerve wracking than the minutes leading up to kick off - the fear of failure was strongly at the front of my mind. What would your ideal shoot day consist of? It’s the people I’m shooting with that make a good game day. I’ve been lucky enough to shoot in some stunning locations with…

Dear Uncle Giles, Despite my best efforts my other half has discovered how much I spent on shooting last season. Is there any advice on how to soften the situation and avoid similar problems in the future? Yours, really quite worried, PRM, by e-mail Uncle Giles writes My first remark would have to be that your best efforts are not up to much, are they? However, the milk is now thoroughly spilled and we must consider what is best to be done about it. I don’t suppose there is any possibility that your partner considers the sum in question to be far too little for a chap committed to his hobbies, pastimes and recreations and that if you are going to take things seriously you should spend some proper money?…

Allen Chalk, gamekeeper at a high-bird, downland shoot in Wiltshire’s Chalke Valley has now clocked up 71 years working for the same family. Allen is 86 years old and is still going as strongly as ever at Chalk Pyt Farm, Broadchalke, after 31 seasons as part-time gamekeeper in addition to being the estate maintenance worker. Allen has known five generations of the Jeans family since he started working for Major T.K. Jeans aged 14 in 1946 as a carter’s lad and then as a general farm worker. One of five brothers, Allen belongs to a wonderful local family who are well-known up and down the picturesque Ebble Valley, a few miles south west of Salisbury. The quality of the sport - mixed partridges and pheasants - that Allen provides in…

Quality over quantity My grandfather, who was a very good game shot, once told me: “After a good day’s shooting you should be able to remember every bird you shot. It’s not the quantity, but the quality of the birds you shot.” I have always followed his advice and enjoy 150-bird days or a maximum of a 250-bird day’s shooting. I think any more than that becomes a ‘massacre’. Above all, it’s the ambience and friendly banter of your fellow guns that makes the day. One of the best day’s shooting I ever had was when I only shot two cartridges. I was one of four guns shooting grouse over pointers in Ardgay, Scotland, when they had the heather beetle infestation. After a long morning’s walk over the hills without…

I am in an extremely fortunate position: I have not worked a single day in almost 11 years. That is to say I feel as though I have not worked a single day in almost 11 years. And it’s all thanks to people like you, our readers. Shooting people. Before joining Shooting Gazette in my mid 20s my experience of the British Isles was limited and I had – it makes me uncomfortable saying this – only ever been outside of my native South Wales to visit friends and relatives in Cheshire, Devon, Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Powys and Kent, and taken odd holidays in Hampshire and Cornwall. I had only been to Scotland once. Then Shooting Gazette came along, and a whole new world opened up in front of me. Suddenly…

DAY 1: Kursat Ekenler, a good Turkish friend of mine, convinced me that heading to Kyrgyzstan to shoot a Mid-Asian ibex was a feasible expedition. After months of preparation and planning we finally started our long-awaited journey to the country’s capital, Bishkek, on a Sunday in mid August. DAY 2: We arrived at Bishkek airport at around 2am and were duly welcomed by Sanjar and his brother Rouslan, our guides for the trip ahead. Quite surprisingly for the first-time visitor, our hotel, the five-star Golden Dragon, had equipped our bedrooms with gasmasks rather than bibles! Late in the morning we climbed aboard our over-laden 20-year-old Land Cruiser and left civilisation behind us. We headed 500 miles towards Osh, the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan, through two mountain passes over 3,000…

When I first looked at this model, it didn’t make much sense; it had obviously been altered and wasn’t of very high quality. My initial reaction was that it wasn't genuine. The Alexander Henry single barrel drop block rifle dating from the 1880s isn't up to the usual Henry standard. Alexander Henry patented his drop block rifle in 1865 and of its type, it was by far the most successful and commonly encountered rifle of the era. Henry offered the rifle in three qualities: best, second and third, with best quality pre-dominating. These Henry rifles are quite magnificent in terms of their quality, engraving and construction, and along with the very high numbers of double rifles built, Alexander Henry of Edinburgh was the pre-eminent rifle maker in the second half…

With the game shooting season well and truly over and August some weeks away yet, we move into what can be a tricky time of year for the sporting shot. Without a regular weekend fix of high-bird shooting, the local clay ground begins to look a very tempting proposition indeed – but many of us know the feeling of being a little under-equipped next to our clay shooting brethren when taking on the high tower with a standard game gun. While I'm not for a moment suggesting buying a gun with a plethora of Allen keys and weights to adjust every aspect of your gun is necessary for consistent success on the clay ground, my years of testing shotguns has proved that one can give oneself certain advantages by choosing…

The Perfectly Gastight from W.T. Hancock of London (1900); the Kynoch Patent from Watson Bros. of London (1900); the Nonsuch Smokeless from C.R Holland of Cirencester (1900); and the Selwood from Jackson & Sons of Frome & Trowbridge (1900). The Eclipse from Rosson of Derby & Norwich (1900); the Pigeon from Morrow & Co. of Halifax & Harrogate (1900); the Deep Brass from Inman Morrow & Co. of Leeds (1900); and the Gastight from C. Fletcher of Leeds (1900). The Reliable Smokeless from Trulock Bros. of Dublin (1910); the Farnford from Tily & Brown Ltd. of Farnham & Guildford (1910); the Pheasant from F. Weeks of Lymington (1926); and the Rabbit from T. Lambert Ltd. of York (1927). SINGLE CHARGE CARTRIDGES APLENTY Here we have a 100-strong box of Superior…

SPECIFICATIONS Toyota Hilux Invincible X D/C 2.4L T + G Auto Price: £35, 265 Top speed: 106 mph 0-62mph: 12.8 Combined: 36.2 mpg CO2 emission: 204 While out shooting, my most frequently asked questions are: “How the hell did you miss that?”, “Where did you get your cartridges from – the RSPB?” and "What should I buy to replace my Defender?”. I have actually been giving some thought to the Defender question in order to be able to reward folk’s politeness for not asking the first two. I have to say I bought one of the last Defenders before they went out of production, and I know a few people who’ve bought a couple and parked the other up in a barn for when the first one dies. But, now…

There appears to be a healthy level of buoyancy in the market for Scottish estates. Indeed, 2016 was the most active 12 months in over a decade with over 20 estates changing hands and some significant sales completing in the early part of 2017. There was a varied mix in terms of country of origin, with both UK and international buyers being prevalent. One might conclude that such buyers are not overly concerned either by the changing political landscape in Scotland, or indeed the UK government’s ongoing discussions around Brexit. In addition the Scottish estates market has also been somewhat protected from the stalling effect that the Scottish Land and Building Transaction Tax (LBTT) has had on the prime residential market since its introduction in Scotland in April 2016. By…

The Golden Retriever Club held a novice breed stake at Teffont Magna by kind permission of Edward Waddington and with the generous invitation of Mr and Mrs Henry Pelham, writes Bruce Ross-Smith. The judges were Colin Pelham, Allan Buckland, Bruce Ross-Smith and Jill Gardner. The weather was not the kindest but gradually improved during the day as did the scent. The guns shot brilliantly, the standard of the dogs was very high and six dogs from the 12 starters went through to the last round. Results 1 Mrs B. Becksteiner with gr.d. Bickler Bell Oktave Benjamin 2 Bill Warnett with gr.d. Pandapaws Brigand CoM Andrew England with gr.b. Dairycott Populus Tremula CoM Fiona Baird with gr.b. Treuniar Drimmie CoM Marion Hanman with gr.b. Haddeo Teyla…

The Kintbury annual open and novice cocker trials were held at their traditional venue, Eling Park estate, Hermitage in Berkshire, writes Adrian Bundy. The venue was kindly donated by Mr C. Spence and ably organised by his headkeeper Steve Vale. The two-day event began with the open cocker stake under judges Steve Russell and Terry Frost. Following tradition, the trial started in a pit through a mix of bramble and nettle. The two dogs that began the trial quickly found and flushed cleanly. The guns, as usual at this event, dropped virtually every bird that flushed, missing precious little. From the pit, the trial continued down a belt of mature trees, interspersed with holly and laurel bushes. When the leg was completed with little problem the dogs were set to…

BASC HAS underlined the importance of the role of shooting in wildlife conservation and recreation in its official response to a Natural Resources Wales (NRW) review of firearms use on land under its management. BASC highlighted figures from the Value of Shooting report which show shooting contributes £75m annually to the Welsh economy and supports the equivalent of 2,400 full-time jobs. It also called on the NRW to preserve ‘shooting lets’ on public land. Ian Danby, BASC’s head of biodiversity projects, said: “BASC’s evidence shows very clearly how shooting is a material and powerful investor for maintaining and enhancing the natural resources of Wales. It provides significant biodiversity, social and economic benefits not just for those who take part but for society as a whole. “NRW has a fantastic opportunity…

Oct 6-7 dates for the third annual Royal Marines Association Clay shoot at Dunkeld Park Estate (Browning). 490 equivalent number of full-time conservation jobs supported by shooting in Wales (BASC). £2,000 amount to be awarded to the 2017 Chudleys Gundog Championship grand final winner at the Midland Game Fair. 25,000 size, in square feet, of Just Cartridges' new premises in Oxfordshire. £275,000 the amount, a record, achieved by Holt’s during its Sealed Bid auction of March 30. £10m amount BASC has helped its members save through its car discount scheme since its launch in 2013.…

1. BOB BRAITHWAITE Olympic gold medallist. I met him when I was 22 years old in Lancashire. He was a farmer’s son who at the age of 42 flew to the Mexico Olympics, not an easy or cheap feat in 1968. He missed the first two clays to come out of the trap in the final and the then sports minister Denis Howell, who was next to him, said, “Well we won’t be going home with the gold then”. Bob turned round and said, “Why not? I’m not going to miss any more!” 2. PAUL ROBERTS The owner of J. Roberts Gunmakers and the former owner of J. Rigby & Co. A truly wonderful man who has shot everything. He has amazing stories about India and the gems that came…

Q If I accidentally hit and wound a deer with my car on a public road am I legally allowed to dispatch it as humanely as possible or do I need to call the police?” A We’ve probably all been surprised by a deer jumping out from the side of the road at some time or other and will certainly have seen their carcases in the road. What should you do though if you are the unfortunate driver that has had a collision with one? Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act deals with your duty to report collisions with animals. It provides a list of animals that you must notify the police about but deer are not included. So there is no obligation to report the collision but it…

Fourteen gamekeepers took to the skies to raise money for the North Yorkshire Moors Moorland Association and cancer research at Skydive St. George in March. Charlie Woof, Tom Hinton, Murray Wilson, Tom Scurr and Nathan Thompson represented Bransdale. Mike Wilkinson and Nick Gardner represented Hawnby. Will Watson, Matthew Hacketpain and Ryan Gee represented Rosedale & Westerdale. Jimmy Shuttlewood, James Shuttlewood and Rob Simpson represented Snilesworth. Anthony Dowson represented Thimbleby. At the time of going to press the boys have raised just shy of £5,466.…

I was late coming to dogs. As a serving police officer I knew I could not devote the time and commitment to having one. I barely had time enough to go beating one day a week in the season. Then one day my partner (now wife) said there was an English springer spaniel (pictured right) in need of a home. He had belonged to an elderly couple and following the death of one of them had become homeless. We went to just “have a look” at him. He was big, handsome and very wary of men. He would need to have a lot of time and commitment. I was a serving police officer and my partner (now wife) a nurse. It was surely too much to ask. We looked at…

“Hedgerows hum with insect life in the summer and provide a cage of thorns for birds during winter.” Reading some recent conservation headlines, it is easy to get depressed. Curlews are declining every year, lapwings are not far behind them and wild British game species are really struggling without active support from gamekeepers. Some of our most exciting and beloved wildlife is simply falling off the map, and despite millions donated to the conservation agencies, the future looks pretty bleak. I often rant about the link between wildlife and farming, and this relationship has given me food for thought over the past few years. I’ve been working to protect black and red grouse on my family’s farm for eight years, and it has become clear just how crucial traditional farming…

Alexander Henry offered his drop block rifles in a variety of calibres from the massive .577 big game calibre to the diminutive .360 rook calibre. However out of all the calibres, the .450 3¼” Black Powder Express round was by far the most common suitable for deer stalking at home and sport abroad. At the time of his drop block patent in 1865, the technology did not exist to create solid drawn brass cartridges and the cardboard rifle cartridge was the norm. The Superintendent of The Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, Edward Boxer (1819-1898) solved the problem. In an 1866 patent he created a coiled brass case that could expand upon detonation yet return to its original dimensions to permit extraction. Alexander Henry worked closely with Boxer and designed a new…

“My confidence was restored as doubles crashed to the ground with a puff of feathers.” Fruit and vegetables used to be seasonal but now, whether we’re talking strawberries, asparagus or new potatoes, all are available, from somewhere in the world, throughout the year. The diet of the woodpigeon is strictly seasonal, which brings interest and variety to the pigeon shooter who needs to keep one step ahead and watch potential fields where birds will next focus their dietary preference. So here we are in June and whilst peas on flower are a great attraction, the first fields of winter barley may have gone down after a storm or where excess nitrogen has been applied. Pigeons are quick to exploit the first opportunity of the milky, pre-ripe grains. This was the…

This gun replaces Beretta’s popular old stalwart clay shooting gun, the 682. Internally, the action is as you would expect for a Beretta, with the low profile receiver we have come to expect of the Italian maker. It is, however, a little wider and features slightly more heavyweight construction to offer greater control in the hand. The barrels also have a long 360mm forcing cone, which Beretta claim helps make shot patterns more accurate and consistent and help reduce felt recoil and muzzle flip. Everything about this gun is certainly big, as it has been designed to be! If you are looking for a relatively straightforward clay gun, this really is where you should be looking as it will suit everyone from a club shooter right through to a more…

Q Ribless game guns are becoming increasingly popular. I can see all the advantages of shooting game with a ribless gun but are there any pitfalls? A Bosses are the most famous ribless guns, but in recent years there have been several newer ribless models released. This kind of gun has no top rib or sometimes no side ribs. For the purpose of this article I am going to be talking about the former. The main reason for removing ribs is to reduce barrel weight and, as a result, improve speed of handling or reduce the overall weight of the gun. Some would say removing the top rib also makes the gun more elegant. There are, however, several drawbacks that need to be considered first before venturing down this route……

As my kids are both about to start boarding school, I’ve been giving some thought to what car will transport them and their trunks up and down the country. When I started prep school in 1980, the most common parent-mobile was the Merc 230TE estate but today’s will surely be 4x4s of one kind or another. The latest spy shots have indicated that the perfect piece of kit may be coming out just in time for the start of term. The Jaguar XF Sportbrake, which is the estate version of my favourite big saloon, may be on the shopping list this summer. Although I may need a van if the kids insist on taking up the harp and double bass, as they are currently threatening to……

Q Which part of my dog’s training should I concentrate the most effort on? A That's a difficult one as each dog progresses at a different pace and each dog is different. As are the owners and we all struggle with varying things! Some dogs are natural at one aspect of training and others are not and you will soon see where they are. Wherever you are on the training journey, the basic nonnegotiable areas such as recall, staying, steadiness, sitting and heelwork should be worked on until they are pretty bombproof and it will pay dividends if you put in that early effort. The temptation for everyone is to think one aspect of training is nailed so they move on to the next stage. My usual approach (and the…

Finn is eight years old now but it's difficult to remember life before him. I was told that they could be independent dogs – I’d had a fairly wilful springer before and thought I’d be able to cope with a flatcoat with a mind of its own. It was much, much harder than I ever could have believed possible. Every old adage turned out to be true. The one about labradors starting out half-trained and spaniels finishing half-trained, well, flatcoats learn what it is that you want them to do quickly enough. Whether they will do what you want them to do when you want them to do it is another matter entirely. When he is good he is very, very good indeed – he won a number of scurries…

THE BRITISH Deer Society (BDS) is requesting DNA samples taken from dead farmed and captive deer to aid research being conducted into Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD was mainly found in North America but five cases were discovered in Norway in 2016 leading to a pan-European surveillance system to monitor deer populations for further cases. There were no new cases found during the 2016/17 hunting season in Scandinavia. The emergence of CWD in Norway has led to the BDS instigating a UK research project. This is being carried out by the Roslin Institute, part of Edinburgh University, and aims to determine, amongst other findings, a likely prognosis should the UK’s deer population become infected. Anyone interested in contributing to the institute’s research should email scottishoffice@bds.org.uk for more information. Respondents will…

Q Should shotgun training be made compulsory? It's a question that always stirs plenty of debate. Here’s what you said… Ben Skipper wrote: “Absolutely. Not only for the safety of others, but the safety of yourself. The danger is also poor peg/butt discipline and all that implies. Given today’s litigious society it also makes sense to cover all your bases. I can’t image the training being arduous nor expensive and given the rise in the interest in shooting, regardless of discipline, it makes sense that people are safe.” James Clare wrote: “Why do people get so obsessed with compulsory testing? Firearms law is pretty strict already in the UK. Someone with a lot of experience mentored me before I was allowed out on my own and on our shoot we…

Chargrilled roe, charred sweetcorn & celeriac cream SERVES FOUR PEOPLE Ingredients • 2kg venison loin (roe)• 4 corn on the cobs• 12 rosemary sticks• 1 small celeriac• 600ml double cream• Cornish sea salt• Milled black pepper Method Peel and dice the celeriac and bring to the boil in the cream, simmer until soft then puree and season. Cook the corn in boiling salted water and drain, then barbecue or chargrill to blacken and season well. Cut the roe loin in equal pieces and skewer onto the rosemary sticks. Cook over a chargrill or barbecue for three or four minutes. Alternatively, season the venison and sear in a hot pan for two minutes each side. Place into a hot oven and roast for two minutes at 220°C. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for five minutes.…

Pictured are the team of guns from a truly memorable day at our estate in Matarrubia, Spain, writes Ashley Butler of Butler Del Prado Sporting Tours. Pictured, from left, are: Nick Anley, Zac Ludgrove, David Walters, Will Buchanan, Rollo Chrichton-Stuart, Edward ‘Woody’ Rowell, Nick Green, Hugo Legh & Curtis Hayles. Pictured are the guns from the Buckhurst Estate Shoot, which is featured on pages 18-27 of this issue. The guns were Bob Ruthvern, Robin Marten, Bill Hunter, Mark Blackden, Neil Molloy, Sir Tim Chessells, Dickie Whitaker, Robin Carroll, Dan Elson & Ray Carroll. Pictured is young Berty Brabin on his first day’s shooting and with ‘his’ first woodcock shot by his grandfather Michael Brabin at the Medland shoot in Devon.…

“The sun spread light over the landscape and my Scottish ancestry burned bright in my chest.” The Ardnamurchan peninsular juts out from Scotland’s west coast just north of the Isle of Mull. So, that’s approximately halfway up on the left – doesn’t sound far does it? But I can tell you it’s a far cry from my south Lincolnshire homeland, both in terms of physical miles and sheer majesty. Anyone who has deviated from the main trunk roads in the more distant parts of Scotland will know that 10 miles can easily equate to half an hour in the car, so usual rules about mileage and timing don’t apply in these parts. To get to the Kilchoan Hotel, in the fishing village and ferry port of the same name on…

“Deer are our biggest wild animal and deserve the best method of dispatch if mortally wounded.” A secret pleasure of mine upon rising at around 5.30am every morning is to open the bedroom door onto the balcony and count the roe in the field next door using a hand-held thermal imager. The numbers this year range from between two and six every day. But as soon as daylight occurs, these ‘faeries of the woods’ as I think of them, disappear until their next nocturnal excursion. Living in leafy Surrey as I do, close to the border with Sussex, it is far from unusual to see deer. They are mainly roe, but there is the odd muntjac. Fallow are seldom seen around this area of the slopes on the North Downs…

The Dundee Courier regularly wrote graphic accounts of the sealing expeditions and in an 1874 report gave a detailed account of the voyage of the SS Artic that departed Dundee on February 28, 1874, bound for Greenland. When she returned two months later she had 9,500 seals on board, yielding 100 tons of oil. The poor seals had been killed on the ice with Henry rifles, an exceptionally hazardous occupation. The men frequently fell through the ice and, in an era when health and safety was non-existent, it was reported that 20-30 men fell through the ice each day. As one report said... “Many of the men were found to be almost stiff with cold and their clothes frozen. In order to recover them from exhaustion, it was…

“All involved in shooting must realise action is needed and needed now.” That many of us find hunting enjoyable should not be viewed as anything other than perfectly natural. As an activity, it has not always been just an exciting sport but was essential for mankind’s very existence. Hunting was a requirement for the survival of the species, right up there in importance with procreation. Rather like any other ‘essential’, it is always an advantage if a necessary activity is enjoyable. I doubt that we would have today’s population explosion were sex some rather unpleasant birth like procedure. Hunting is also one of the activities that has – and in some cultures still does - ensured that mankind survived. Today’s hunters pursue quarry with few of the motivational necessities of…

This gun proved something of a surprise to shoot for both me and seasoned shooting instructor Bruce Marks, being an entirely pleasurable experience without being our most successful session on some varied targets at Grange Farm. It was a very satisfying and easy gun to shoot, mounting with a remarkable consistency and moving in a fluid, linear fashion but still feeling surprisingly lively. Crossing targets were particularly satisfying thanks to the consistency of swing one was able to produce, doubtless thanks to the heft and balance of the gun. Trigger pulls were excellent and felt recoil was very well controlled, with little hint of muzzle flip. The gun was very positive indeed and felt much closer to a game gun than other sporting guns we have tested. However, it must…

The Kennel Club has announced the winners of three prestigious annual field trial awards: the Routledge-Rank Retriever Perpetual Challenge Cup, the Hanlye Trophy and the Gavosie Gundog Trophy. Field trials competitors were encouraged to submit points gained through wins at Kennel Club licenced field trials throughout the 2016/17 season for the chance to win these awards. For the Routledge-Rank Retriever Perpetual Challenge Cup, competitors could claim points for first, second or third places at field trial championships and one-day or two-day stakes. The Routledge-Rank Retriever Perpetual Challenge Cup, for the owner of the retriever who gained the most field trial awards from the preceding season, was won by Clare Baker with labrador retriever FTCh Windoogpack Coral. The Hanlye Trophy, for the breeder of the dog which is awarded the Routledge-Rank…

Why do you participate in field trialing? To make your dog into a champion? To qualify for the IGL Retriever Championship? To become a judge? To have a well trained dog? Is your dog a walked-up trial dog or a driven trial dog? What sort of training do you have access to? Who do you train with? These are all questions which help to focus why we trial and how trialing is shaped. It always makes me chuckle when I see the mind games people play on social media by showing who they are training with and where. I have heard people say they feel inadequate when they see some of the stuff on Facebook, feeling they must be missing out on vital training on some mystical ground only accessible…