Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2017 i Shooting Gazette

It takes a mind of great flexibility to embrace Bishop Gregory of Tours, Harold Macmillan, Theresa May and Michael Gove in the same sentence. Soon after the General Election, I enjoyed a restorative ale with a neighbour, a man who farms well in a modest way, reads widely, shoots like a god and has a wife and bright children who could all feature as models in Vogue. He is blessed in every regard, yet I found him in contemplative mood and he was not long in telling me why. “In the 6th century, Bishop Gregory began writing his history of the world with the words that many things keep happening, some good, some bad. In the 20th century, when asked what was most likely to blow governments off course, prime…

SERVES FOUR PEOPLE Ingredients • 8 grouse breasts • 8 pieces of cornbread • 4 large gem lettuce • Olive oil • Cornish sea salt • Milled black pepper Method Season the grouse and cook over a hot wood-fired barbecue for approximately two minutes each side. Remove from the barbecue and allow to rest for a further two minutes. Split the lettuce in half lengthways and place into a hot pan until a little charred. Lastly, barbecue or bar-mark the cornbread. Place the grouse, charred lettuce and cornbread on the plate, drizzle over a little oil and serve.…

Q Accidents on moors, whether shooting related or not, are thankfully rare, but what does the law state about liability should someone injure themselves or cause injury to another? A As the organiser of any commercial shoot which employs staff, you have a legal obligation to organise and manage the shoot in such a way as to ensure ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’ the health and safety of those within your employ and to those who might be affected by the activities you are carrying out. The legal obligation is to assess relevant risks and put in place measures either to remove the risk altogether (where possible) or else to ensure that the operation is conducted in such a way as to reduce the risk to the lowest possible…

In regard to the article from the July issue, How Would You Stop This Happening Again? I would make the following comments: What is a smack? When is it corrective? When is it a punishment? When does correction become punishment? For a correction to be effective it has to upset the dog to some degree and it has to work in a way to diminish the likelihood of a repeat behaviour. Problems arise because some dogs are harder than others. Whilst you might be able to upset a pointer or retriever with a cross word, other dogs might appear to remain indifferent. How are you going to correct a dog that finds being growled at or even a scruff shake amusing? You can see how correction, even with the best…

“I learned two things from that day: I wasn’t very fit and you need to be hard as nails to beat on a grouse moor.” I don’t think I’ll ever forget the first time I set foot on a grouse moor. It was in August 2009 for an article published the following year entitled “Falling off the edge of the world”, which described my six-hour shift as a beater on Martin Vallance’s Arkleside shoot in North Yorkshire. The article remains one of my favourites and features a picture of me in full waterproofs, an orange flag in my left hand and a worried look on my face, vaulting over a ditch. I’m soaking wet and the pink/brown clouds in the background are seen regrouping for yet another assault on beaters…

“It’s unlikely to be a vintage year, but in an era of constantly broken records, this is a chance to take stock.” It’s still hard to say how the grouse season looks. All eyes are usually on the hatch of young grouse which takes place in Galloway in the last week of May. This can be a useful reminder for me, since the peak hatch often takes place around the time of my wife’s birthday, and the emergence of young birds is often a helpful hint. Bad weather around the hatch date can play havoc with tiny chicks, but I wonder if a period of cold, dry weather earlier in the year will prove to play a role in the success of the season. Hen grouse often reach peak breeding…

I have often remarked how obvious certain makers guns are, distinguishable at a glance and instantly recognisable; think of a Dickson round action, the Woodward with its umbrella fences, the Grant with its fluted fences, the Martin with its ribless barrels and so on. To these distinctive designs can be added the Boss and Purdey guns. Under the leadership of John Robertson, who acquired Boss & Co. in 1891, the firm designed a distinctive style of sidelock ejector so graceful it is usually referred to as the racehorse of best guns. In conjunction with the beautiful scroll engraving of the Sumner family, the Boss gun is consequently instantly identifiable. So too is the Purdey sidelock ejector; again a distinctive design of extremely elegant proportions with fine rose and scroll engraving…

Whenever a customer like Edward Banbury went to Boss and asked for a self-opening gun, Boss had no option but to seek such an action elsewhere as they had no self-opener of their own. Self-opening guns were regarded as the prerogative of Purdey but then in 1922 along came Holland & Holland’s self-opener. As one of the Big Three, Boss couldn’t be seen without a self-opener and had to catch up. In the 1930s it introduced its own self-opening gun but for some reason it was never patented. A simple V-shaped spring that acted upon the cocking lever was fitted within the action, the spring forcing the rear end of the cocking lever upward. The rocking motion of this lever meant the front end was forced downwards to exert leverage…

“The holding and farming of deer dates back thousands of years, particularly fallow - they are even mentioned in The Bible.” As July turns to August, those of us who wear two hats will be giving a thought to our fallow management, especially if a deer park is part of the equation. Towards the end of the month the older bucks will start to clean their antlers, this will progress through September with different age cohorts until all velvet has been shed in readiness for the rut. Though fallow are claimed to be an introduced species, a more accurate description would be that of a reintroduced species. Fossil remains in both Clacton and London indicate that fallow were present prior to the last Ice Age and either died out or…

…

A wet and miserable Bank Holiday Monday failed to daunt the large crowd that attended the Sherborne Country Fair in late May, writes Maurice Stanbury. Katie Bradley, the show secretary, said that she was “delighted to have had such a tremendous attendance from their very loyal supporters”. The fair is run entirely by volunteers and last year it raised an amazing £90,000 which was donated to West Country children’s charities. The popular gundog events were among the many attractions. The competitions for both retrievers and spaniels were sponsored by BASC, Chudleys and Hi Lost. Eight three-dog teams competed in the working tests with entries drawn from across Southern England and Wales. The retriever competition was judged by Barry and Liz Taylor, Vickie Pritchard and Colin Pelham whilst Graham West, Nick…

If a major objective of field trials are for the betterment of the breed then why are dogs who are unfit to breed from therefore winning trials? I find having a litter of puppies very stressful and worry about everything; the anxiety is endless. I would happily never have a litter again. Nevertheless, when you have a special dog with outstanding qualities one hopes to replicate it through a detailed breeding plan. Nothing is more thrilling than winning with home grown stock. Knowing exactly what you would like the end product to be – which sometimes happens and sometimes doesn’t – the perfect dog; is what all the blood sweat and tears are for. Breeding is not an exact science and just when you think you have covered all the…

The Hants & South West United Retriever Club held an open working test at Mount Farm, Lockerley, by kind permission of Lindsay Marshall, writes Wendy Bardsley. The judges were Peter Castleman, Di Stevens and Robert Worrall. The competitors enjoyed a first-class day which was organised by Sarah Winter and run by Judy Venables. Twenty-seven dogs entered on the day and the ground enabled four tests to be set up which gave the dogs a challenge in a variety of ways. Test one included a long mark retrieve alongside a wood of approximately 120 metres. On the return the dog was sent for a blind which was at a right angle into the wood, over a ditch, approximately 40 metres. Test two offered a double mark retrieve which was set in…

Chefs hail grouse as demand for local ingredients soars The Gift of Grouse campaign has joined forces with leading Scottish chefs to encourage local hotels and restaurants to include grouse on their menus as the demand for locally sourced food continues to grow. Prior to the recent Scottish Game Fair at Scone Palace in Perthshire, chefs including Andrew Fairlie, Carina Contini, Martin Wishart and Mark Greenaway signed a letter underlining their passion for grouse and its “hill to plate” credentials. The letter states: “We are proud to be leading the call for more grouse to be used in Scottish restaurants. Today’s consumers want to know the provenance of their meat and they want to eat locally sourced food. Grouse is unique – a locally reared, free-range meat offering traceability from…

Further to the news of Commons speaker John Bercow suggesting that MPs didn’t need to wear ties while in the House, we wondered if you could foresee a time when there were no ties on shoot day. Here’s what you said… Graham Allison wrote: “Yes, if you want more youngsters in the sport. They don’t have the same traditions and requirements these days and to some it will be alien. Move with the times and we may get more participation to keep our sport going.” Peter Cresswell wrote: “I guess it depends on the day’s shooting – on a driven day stood at a peg, yes. Shooting over the spaniels up on the fells, no.” James Clare wrote: “At the Farmers Club in London they have a selection of ties…

We would be shooting Pitts Farm, near Sherborne. I’d have to put my Dad, Charles Wilson, at the top of the list. We would probably argue about something to do with the day but it’s part of the tradition. Ahmed Al Maktoum, the 2004 Double Trap Olympic Gold Medallist, is essential, as he is not only one of the world’s greatest shots but I owe him so much. He loves to shoot pigeon so they will be in great danger. Another person I owe is David ‘Rosso’ Ross for many things but especially for throwing buckets of cold water on my wonderful crazy ideas. No team would be complete without Henry ‘Smithers’ Smith. A crack shot who sells pedalloes in Monaco. He blagged his way into the Pre Olympic Shooting…

Pictured are the guns, beaters and pickers-up from the Dorback shoot day that is featured on pages 22 – 28 of this issue. GLOUCESTERSHIRE SIMULATED GAME DAY Chris Hill sent us this image of the guns that enjoyed a simulated game day he’d organised at Bangrove Farm, Bangrove, Teddington, Gloucestershire, in June in aid of Prostate Cancer UK. “A substantial sum was raised for Prostate Cancer research via a voluntary, retiring collection,” Chris told Shooting Gazette. “The day was superb, weather was kind and the hospitality was, as always at Bangrove, first class. The majority of guns were from the Witcombe Shoot in Gloucestershire, accompanied by generous friends. Back row, from left: John Bushell (the Witcombe shoot gamekeeper), Adam Pullen, Mathew Pugh, Phil Blakeway, Chris Hill & Nick Townsend. Front…

TRAVEL Dorback is easy to reach by road. From Nethy Bridge, heading north on the B970, take the right-hand turn before the Nethy Bridge Hotel and continue up the hill until you reach a crossroads. Go straight ahead at the crossroads and continue out into the countryside for several miles until you find a right-hand turn signed Dorback. Take this road and continue along it until the tarred surface ends and you meet a dirt track. Shortly after the beginning of the unsurfaced section, you’ll find the game larder and beater’s bothy – this is where all shoot days start. STAY Some parties have thoroughly enjoyed staying at Tulchan Lodge, which is fully catered and with butler service (tulchan.com). Aultmore Lodge in Nethy Bridge offers a similar level of comfort…

“A stick is very personal, which is why it’s a good idea to choose and cut the wood yourself.” Last January, whilst out and about on our little shoot here in Hampshire, I slipped over. It wasn’t especially dramatic. One moment I was edging along a particularly steep section of one of our hangers and then I wasn’t; I was sliding rapidly downhill through the leaf litter. After a rather frantic couple of seconds I managed to catch hold of a piece of elder, which as usual in this situation snapped off but then a rather more substantial growth of hazel arrested my progress. I lay for a few moments running through a checklist of possible injuries but came to the conclusion the only things damaged were my dignity and…

It’s an addiction this collecting business. There are so many accoutrements to accompany guns and rifles and I know, that I for one, seem to have amassed a large collection of such items bought for no particular reason. The Holt’s Sealed Bid sale in July was full of such items at very reasonable prices. Most of us in the collecting world can turn our hand to a bit of restoration and one item I particularly liked was a 19th century gunmaker’s leg vice in Lot 4363, which sold for £61. Such a vice would be ideal for the workshop. How can you resist Lot 2237? Three jam jars of muzzle-loading spares. Just the description is enough to make you reach for your bid paddle, certainly evoking childhood memories of tadpoles…

Clear skies and quick game make a lighter gun a sensible option in the field at this time of year, where the sun is still making its presence felt and shirt-sleeve order is certainly still in force. Many of us admit to finding lugging a gun around the field something of a chore even at the best of times, and those lucky enough to enjoy a spot of grouse shooting are unlikely to want to spend their days following pointers with the equivalent of a small child slung over the crook of their elbows. However, having the word ‘light’ added to a name or stamped on a gun can be a little off-putting, carrying connotations of bruising handling and a rather alarming sense of fragility. But is one still compromising…

Q As a lady shooter, should I be buying a ladies' gun? A It has been fantastic to see the steady increase of ladies coming into shooting over the last 10 years. It is now commonplace to see ladies on both clay grounds and in the field. Indeed, it is a sore point in the Calvert household that Mrs C now shoots more days than I do; for the record, she shoots a Browning 425 12 bore with Hull Imperial game 28gram No.6s, moving to No.4s later in the season. With the increase in ladies taking up shooting, the gun industry has responded with several so-called “ladies’” guns. Many guns are said to be specifically designed for ladies. My experience of these guns is mixed, with some working and some…

The results of our seventh Shoot Benchmarking Survey run in conjunction with the GWCT, this time covering the 2016/17 season, have now been published and show a continuing trend of performance stabilisation for the shoots who took part. Total variable costs were just over £8 per bird, slightly down on the season before. Average total fixed costs again were on a par with the 2015/16 season, at just under £5 per bird. The differences may be small but can have a marked effect on the bottom line in terms of costs per bird shot (this time averaging £34) as we find around 15 per cent of shoots are within £1 per bird of breakeven. Total costs averaged £12.55 per bird, which is nine per cent below a peak in the…

The URC Bucks Area held its open qualifier working test at Hall Barn, Beaconsfield by kind permission of The Hon. Mrs Farncombe, writes Lorne Kentish. The judges for the day were Alan Buckland, Martin Bagg and Paula Graystone and the tests were again generously sponsored by Skinner’s. Results 1 Heather Walton with lab.b. Wendearose Dazzle 2 Steve Richardson with lab.d. Birdsgreen Cluedo of Wedgnock 3 Steve Richardson with lab.d. Sothebys Choice of Wedgnock 4 Doug Leake with lab.b Smithsteads Viola CoM Rob Willatts with fcr.d. Hunterssheim Black Bart CoM Helen Burnie with golden.d. Abbottshall Hawkeye of Copperburn…

Congratulations to Ben Webb from Sutton Coldfield for this great picture of Llanie, his working cocker from Wales, taken in Sutton Park. HOW TO WIN For your chance to win a Ridgeline Bushmaster Smock, email your high-resolution pictures to: katemaxim@outlook.com. Please put “Gundog Picture of the Month” in the subject line. The winner will be chosen by the Shooting Gazette judging panel. Good luck! The prize will only be posted to winners with a fixed UK postal address.…

86 (for) – 29 (against) The votes cast in the Scottish Parliament to now permit tail docking for spaniel and HPR puppies used for shooting. £7,000 The amount raised during the recent Levens Team Challenge in Kendal, Cumbria, in aid of the GWCT. £9,000 The value of the prize fund on offer through Southdown Gun Club’s second Talent Pool competition. £25,000 The amount BASC will donate to a University of York study on management of upland ecosystems over the next five years. £57,000 The amount raised during a recent charity dinner and auction at North Lodge Farm, Widmerpool, Nottingham, in aid of the GWCT. 60,000 The number of school children who’ll be taught to prepare pheasant by 2020 through a new Taste of Game initiative.…

“The light in people’s eyes is fantastic when they discover something they love doing.” How did you first get involved in game shooting? It was due to my father’s great enthusiasm and patience. He was a doctor (now retired) whose free time was mostly spent fishing in the summer and shooting in the winter. If you wanted to catch up with Dad, you went fishing or shooting. With two children who are now keen on country sports, I am getting a real appreciation for the frustrations but also the great triumphs he hopefully enjoyed when teaching me. How did you end up as a sporting agent? I qualified as a chartered surveyor (then called a land agent) and still do some shoot and estate management work now. However, Mark Osborne…

Dear Uncle Giles, Is it ever acceptable to give your loader their day’s tip after the last drive while we are still within the grouse butt, or should I wait until guns are away, all the birds are collected, beaters are accounted for and we’re back at the lodge? HPF, by email Uncle Giles writes I wonder, if I am honest, whether what we give our loaders on such a day can still be characterised as a tip? When I am issued with a loader these days I am never left in any doubt by my host as to what is expected from me come the end of the day. I think therefore I am inclined to see the loader’s remuneration less as a tip and more as a per…

For its 2017 charity clay shoot, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) returned to Sir Edward Dashwood’s West Wycombe Park on June 9. The 19 teams of four enjoyed five diverse flushes set up by Rob Fenwick and his E.J. Churchill team. At one of the stands 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist Peter Wilson was on hand and that proved to be the canny time to play your joker and boost your score. The Ham Farm Lions shot well to finish at the top of the leader board. With the splendid lunch out of the way, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award ambassador and Gold Award holder Emma Sammes gave a vivid account of how her life had been metamorphosed by taking part in the DofE. Such effect did her words have that…

How much lead would you give a mobile phone? Regarding your deputy editor’s ticking off for having a mobile on the table at El Despeñadero, on my shoot a number of years ago a fellow gun who had the hide of a rhino was constantly on his mobile, either during the shoot or afterwards when the guns and beaters would come back into my cottage for drinks at the end of the day. Twice I tried to take the mobile off him and he would behave like a child losing his toy. Everyone got fed up with his behaviour and, on our annual clay shoot, we fired a spared mobile phone over him instead of a clay. Unfortunately he thought it was a piece of wood, ducked and the effort…

“The red grouse should be Britain’s national bird and as such also be the emblem of the RSPB.” The first obvious extreme is sad but understandable: grouse shooting is extremely expensive both for moor owners and consequently for guns. Over the years I have been very fortunate to have enjoyed more than my share of shooting, mainly as a guest of generous friends. Looking back on so many happy memories they are full of such a variety of experiences, more so than of any other game bird. The British upland climate and heather moorland habitat create a unique ecology which results in the fact the grouse exists nowhere else in the world. It should be Britain’s national bird and as such also be the emblem of the RSPB, but we…

The Kill–Sure from Harrod’s of London (1900); the Referee from A.W. Gamage of London (1900); the Pheasant from T.M. Gardiner of London (1927); and the Eclipse from Hunter & Son of Belfast (1910). The Killer from Richardson & Glinglen of Enniskillen (1927); the Ranger from Cogswell & Harrison of London (1900); the Moonraker from Tilke & Smith of Melsham (1900); and the Defiance from Whiteman Bros. of Worcester (1900). The Beacon from Shuffrey of Walsall (1900); the Rabbit from C.M. Hesford & Co. of Ormskirk (1900); the Curtiss Harvey Smokeless from C.F. Perrins & Co. of Pretoria (1910); and the 3 Inch Special from Manton of London and Calcutta (1910). FANTASTIC FOUR IN A BOX Here we have a Kynoch Ammunition display box of four cartridges that dates after 1900.…

The rise and rise of Skoda has been an extraordinary thing. From Warsaw Pact Estelles in my childhood to one of the most successful ranges of family cars on the market now I’ve got a family feels like it has taken about 10 minutes. Though I grudgingly accept it may have taken a little while longer. This, the Kodiaq, is the Czech brand’s first attempt at a seven-seat SUV. On first appearance, it looks vast, every bit the Discovery competitor, but looks are deceptive and it’s actually not so different to a Discovery Sport, although very clever packaging means that inside it’s closer to the former. Despite not being too big to fit in normal parking spaces, it has seven seats, the third row of which is big enough to…

Q I understand all about dogs and cars in hot weather but I have two cockers who I am training separately and need to leave each one in the car for a short period. Is there a safe way of overcoming this? A The caveat of course is never leave your dog in a car in hot weather. The difference between the outside temperature and the inside can be enormous in a very short time. In saying this, there are times when we need to have our dogs with us instead of leaving them at home. The solution I use is a brilliantly simple device called a Ventlock Tailgate Lock (ventlock.com) and there are other similar locks on the market. These allow you to have your tailgate open whilst keeping…