Innholdsfortegnelse for Apr-2018 i Shooting Gazette

Years ago, I was advised not to reject anything edible until I had eaten it once, wise words that have encouraged me to try everything that flaps, flies, waddles, gallops, swims and wriggles, though I have drawn the line at ortolan and dog. Meat, including game, plays a big role on my plate, but worryingly for carnivores and manna from heaven for the militant vegan collective, past months have not been an unalloyed success for the meat production industry. Food Standards Agency (FSA) inspection figures for 2014-2017 show there were an average of 16 major meat processing plant safety infractions every week and of 597 failings of compliance in the period, maintaining legal temperature controls, minimising the risk of cross-contamination, incorrect identification of animal by-products and failed traceability all figured.…

Be aware of different tastes: Our style and technique are inspired by both the British and Italian traditions of gunmaking. However, it is also true that the Italian and British market for shotguns have their own peculiarities. At Zoli, we always take this into account with our designs. We are in constant contact with a series of opinion leaders in both countries and thanks to their input are kept up to date with what the current market is looking for when it comes to shotgun design and build. Have people everywhere: We are lucky to have a network of highly specialised and exclusive distributors. We feel very strongly that having an exclusive relationship with a distributor in each country allows us to provide the distributors with opportunities that would otherwise…

TRAVEL Gatten Estate lies some eight miles south west from Shrewsbury on the edge of the large village of Pontesbury. A 4x4 will be necessary around the shoot but Ivor would be able to drive guns if necessary. The shoot is about an hour’s drive from Birmingham up the M54 to Shrewsbury. From Shrewsbury head south west down the A488 for eight miles where you will see signs for Pontesbury. STAY Whitton Hall in Westbury can accommodate up to 16 people, or nine single guns, and offers dinner, bed and breakfast. The Georgian house, a private family home, is the perfect place to stay when shooting locally. Host Kate Boscawen specialises in shooting parties, so is not phased by dirty wellies and dogs. She allocates the guns a reception room…

Eight years have passed since I began work on a hill shoot in Galloway. A great deal has changed over that time, and the project has changed beyond all recognition since those early days. Spring is a good time to look back on old decisions and make plans for what comes next, and my eye has been repeatedly drawn to an early investment as the cold hill starts to come to life again. When I first started to look at our ground, I was struck by a lack of decent cover for game. We had several small spruce plantations which acted as windbreaks for the sheep, but these were mostly too tall to provide much value for wildlife. They were dark and draughty, and my first priority was to clear…

James Purdey the Elder (1784-1863) was the founder of James Purdey and had sired four daughters before his son James Purdey the Younger was born in 1828. His second daughter Eliza had been born in 1811 and at around the tender age of 16 she met the London gunmaker Joseph Lang. Joseph Lang had established his business at 7 Haymarket in 1821 and in the early days was primarily a gun dealer. Not only did he sell second-hand guns, he also bought in new guns from established makers at a trade discount. James Purdey was one of the established makers who used Lang’s retail outlet as a means of boosting sales. The Purdey sales ledgers from the 1820s show that new guns were being sold to Joseph Lang at discounted…

Perhaps the most pertinent question we’re asking this month is how can we be better fieldsportspeople off the peg? Much is made of the way we should all conduct ourselves when in the field, but given how visible shooters are, is there a code we should be following to make sure we’re the best ambassadors we can be? David Egan shares his thoughts and we’d love to hear yours. Beyond the peg 46 Game books don’t just tell us the story of a shoot day, they tell us the story of a moment in the history of game shooting. Our sport has undergone some huge changes over the past 100 years, from the number of birds bagged and the type of shotguns used to clothing and how we’re transported from…

A charity clay shoot is being held at Thirlestane Castle in Lauder on May 26 to raise funds for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which was set up by Scottish rugby star Doddie Weir to aid research into the causes of motor neurone disease and seek a potential cure. Last year, Mr Weir revealed that he suffers from the disease. The money will also go to help the purpose-built Murray House dementia unit at Queen’s House in Kelso. The shoot is a 500-bird team flush over five stands, with all members of the team shooting at 100 clays on each stand. A maximum of 50 teams will participate. The entry cost per team is £2,000. For more information and to book, email: wilsonyoung@eskdaleshooting.com.…

I’ll admit this first part is deeply biased – I would shoot at Vaynor Park at the end of October or early November. The partridge are as good as you’ll find anywhere, and the pheasants have gathered great strength and provide excellent sport. Not to mention the colours starting to change on the trees, making one of the prettiest corners of the UK. David Olds is my best friend’s late father, a man who was taken too soon and one of the greatest inspirations in my shooting life. We shot together a few times but it was too few. He was a very elegant shot and lover of best guns. A man after my own heart! A bit of a wild card is Arabella Daborn, my one-year-old goddaughter. I have…

For your chance to win a bottle of Taittinger Champagne for Picture of the Month, send us a team photograph or a picture of something unusual from your shoot. Send high-resolution images or prints with captions to Shooting Gazette Gallery, Time Inc. (UK) Ltd., Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF or email: martin.puddifer@timeinc.com. PICTURE OF THE MONTH Have you ever wondered where a missing copy of Shooting Gazette has gone? Peter Woolmer had the same problem when his November issue suddenly disappeared over Christmas. It turns out that his daughter, Ruth, had very quietly taken it back home with her after the festive period… to Singapore! Ruth has told her dad to “come and get it!” There’s a challenge! Hopefully a bottle of bubbly will soften the blow…

SHARE YOUR VIEWS Email: martin.puddifer@timeinc.com Time for flexibility in the licensing system I’d like to put forward a few of my thoughts regarding the granting and renewal of shotgun and firearms certificates. Firstly, they could change the system of grants and renewals from a set day in a month to just a given month. Therefore, instead of the police working to 365 expiry dates, they would then be only working to 12 dates in a given year. There would have to be periods in any given year where monthly demand is higher or lower. I know there has been mention of a 10-year licence, and I could suggest an example that might work. As it’s the beginning of 2018, all grants and renewals this year stay at five years.…

TRAVEL Maesmawr Hall sits to the north of Welshpool in the village of Guilsfield on the B4392, which links to the A458 and the M54 at Shrewsbury and beyond. The shoot is just under four hours and 190 miles from London, 81 from Birmingham and 76 from Manchester. Taking the train to nearby Welshpool and being collected by the Bettws Hall team is an option which is growing in popularity. STAY Bettws Hall’s portfolio also includes some impressive luxury accommodation options for parties medium and large (bettwshall.com). Shooting Gazette stayed overnight at The Nag’s Head Inn at Garthmyl, only few miles from Bettws Hall HQ and its resplendent lodges (nagsheadgarthmyl.co.uk). Another option is the Bull & Heifer, in the heart of the village Bettws Cedewain which is a cracking B&B…

When David Egan first pitched his article about how to be a better fieldsportsperson to me, I told him I was keen to avoid the platitudes occasionally rolled out in this kind of article. Yes, shotgun safety, respect for quarry and the sport’s traditions are all vitally important, but the debate has to move on eventually and address other issues, too, including those that harm the sport from within. Back when I was in secondary education, our fearsome headmistress gave us a piece of advice during a morning assembly. If my memory serves, her exact words were: “For as long as you are wearing your uniform, wherever you are and whatever the time of day, be in no doubt that you are ambassadors for the school and are expected to…

The popularity of shooting in the late 19th century was so closely allied to the constant innovation in gunmaking that Purdey sales in this period were actually quite staggering. James Purdey the Younger was making an enormous profit, to the extent that his business was valued at £90,000 in his will dated 1903 – a considerable sum of money at the time. Around 300 new sporting guns and rifles were built annually – an incredible number bearing in mind that they were all top quality. The late 19th century was also the period when Purdey bought in and finished second quality firearms, and again hundreds of such guns and rifles were sold. All these sales were primarily by reputation and word of mouth, as advertising and sales drives were very…

A.C. and I arrived at a late drilled field of beans in mid-April where a good number of birds had been seen feeding the previous afternoon. It is odd to say this but there were too many pigeons, so they had cleared any beans from the surface. Therefore it didn’t look promising as we both scoured the field without finding any food at all. Suddenly A.C. spotted one – the only solitary bean that appeared to be on the field. Over the years several disappointing days have been experienced when I have shot a field one day late on spring drilling, when birds had cleared any grains of seed. You really do need to see some food on the ground for the birds to come to feed. A.C. and I…

Spanish firm AYA has been manufacturing shotguns since 1915 when the firm was founded by Miguel Aguirre and Nicholas Aranzabal. By 1938 AYA was producing shotguns in various forms but predominantly side-by-sides. At the time they were classed as entry-level and middle-market guns. In the mid 1950s the King brothers were holidaying in Spain and visited gun shops in Barcelona. Recognising a great business opportunity, the brothers discussed with AYA the development of the guns for the UK market. The meeting resulted in the founding of ASI by the Kings to import and distribute AYAs in the UK. The close working relationship that began in 1958 between AYA and ASI has now been extended to include Sportarm Ltd, based in Dorchester, Dorset, who, with the full co-operation of AYA and…

QI occasionally do not shoot quite as well when I have my dog sat on the peg with me. Why could this be? A This is something which is very close to my heart. As many of you know, I enjoy working my cocker spaniel on shoot days – I hate being without a dog! However, I think there are two types of distractions which in turn lead to poor performance when it comes to dogs: 1. The dog itself. I am blessed with a bulletproof dog that I basically forget about on the peg (thanks to Ricky Ross Moloney, I take no credit for this). However, I appreciate that not everybody is this lucky. If the dog is spoiling your day, or worse, causing you to be dangerous because…

The 2017/2018 Shoot Benchmarking Survey, run in association with the GWCT, is now open. The survey, now in its eighth season, attracted a record number of shoots last year with 155 participants, and we hope this number will be exceeded. We know popularity and demand for shooting is clearly on the up, but profitability remains a challenge. Costs, both fixed and variable, are increasing year-on-year and competition puts a ceiling on prices which shoots can charge. All participants of the survey will receive a bespoke report from which it will be possible to clearly identify areas of strength and similarly aspects of the shooting business which need tightening up. This will include costs per bird, gamekeepers’ salaries and prices charged per bird. The survey also highlights the strong environmental contributions…

QI have been given a couple of pheasants and thought this might be a good time to introduce my dog to retrieving. Which approach should I take? A It is a good time of year to introduce a young dog to game, as we all have a freezer of birds to chomp through. The usual wisdom is to introduce the smell and feel of the bird, putting the wings on a dummy with some rubber bands, then cold game (or frozen) in a bag. However, you may be able to shortcut this depending on the dog. I had this situation recently when introducing Razza and Angus, two fabulous cocker brothers, to their first game. The birds had been frozen and thawed and introduced during dummy training. Plenty of excitement and…

Raw dog food manufacturer Wolf Tucker has developed a new Primal recipe suitable for both puppies and adult dogs, and has the goodness of the brand’s chicken meal with the tasty addition of tripe, heart and liver. Their recipes combine the right balance of raw ingredients, vitamins and minerals to maintain the health of any dog, including healthy skin and joints. Wolf Tucker only use proteins from natural sources and DEFRA-approved farms, along with fresh fruit, vegetables, flax oil and kelp. There are no grains, additives or preservatives in any of their recipes. It should be fed two to three times a week, and the gastric juices and enzymes not only aid the animal in digestion, but also help to efficiently utilise the dog’s food. They're available in a wide…

The Kennel Club field trial secretaries’ seminar, which will focus on providing essential knowledge and understanding for the management, organisation and stewarding of field trials and gundog working tests, is to be held on April 21 at the Littlebury Hotel, Bicester, Oxfordshire. The seminar is designed for those who are newly appointed field trial or gundog working test secretaries. However, other interested parties are also welcome to attend. The day consists of presentations and breakout sessions which are designed around real-world issues which a secretary is likely to encounter. Each delegate will receive a comprehensive information pack including copies of the presentations, examples of the various certificates, a copy of the J Regulations and a USB stick containing template forms which can be tailored for individual use. The cost of…

On November 10, 2017, the gun trade lost one of its most tireless champions and defenders, Colin Greenwood, writes Edward King. His enthusiasm for shooting sports of all kinds was boundless and his firm belief in people’s right to take part in these activities was unshakeable. Colin was born late in 1931 in Cornholme, West Yorkshire, and, having attended local schools, left to work in the mills at the age of 14. At the age of 18, he followed his elder brother Kenneth to the Coldstream Guards, where he served for six years. On leaving the Army, Colin joined the West Riding Constabulary, and it was there he met Pauline, whom he married in 1955. During his time in the police force he became a research fellow at Cambridge University,…

What’s the biggest challenge you face when developing new products at Skinner's? Skinner’s has almost 50 years’ experience of developing dry dog food. Our Field & Trial range currently offers 18 different varieties of dry dog food to support the various life stages and needs of the working dog. As with human nutrition, diet is becoming more critical, as research not only raises questions, but answers them also. That is why, when we look to develop any new product to complement our range, we work very closely with our consulting nutritionist who works at the very forefront of dog nutrition in Europe. What does it mean to Skinner's to be at the heart of the field trial community and how does this benefit its range? As a brand, we will…

Dear Uncle Giles, I’m hopelessly smitten with a lady who picks-up on our shoot, and the word in the gunbus is that my feelings are reciprocated. Given it’s now the close season I’m stumped as to how to break the ice – could a pre-season training session between our respective dogs be the solution? BSG, by email Uncle Giles writes It comes as no surprise to me that you have fallen for a picker-up. There is something about rosy-cheeked girls well togged out in fur and leggings with a brace or more of well-trained dogs at foot and a knack for the brisk dispatch of occasional runners that would turn any chap’s head. But enough about me. I hope that your reliance on the conversation in the gunbus is sound?…

In response to the editor’s letter Where is game shooting going? I write to offer some thoughts on what might change for the better. Even if they could afford it, most inexperienced guns would find it very daunting to join an expensive formal day at which most of the guns shoot well, already know each other and are likely to be old enough to be their grandparents. The sport needs to attract younger people who can make a start on more informal, affordable shoots at which they can cut their teeth, hone their skills, learn the ways of their new sport and come to understand and appreciate all that goes into a day’s driven shooting. Shoots should be encouraged to provide entry-level affordable days for beginners, and shoots could do…

It is certainly not very commonplace to receive a brand new Purdey shotgun as a gift, but what if the year was 1883 and you are about to marry James Purdey’s daughter? What better wedding present could you have than a Purdey best gun, gifted to you by your future father-in-law, James Purdey the Younger? James Purdey the Younger was given full control of the business on January 1, 1858, by his father James Purdey the Elder. James the Younger was just 29 years old at the time but it was deemed a sensible arrangement to secure the future of the firm. It would be James Purdey the Younger who, in 1863, would patent one of the most famous patents of all time: the Purdey bolt, the standard closing mechanism…

To test the gun I took it out onto the school with the home team including Alan Rose, who has been teaching longer than most of us have been alive. We started on the 40ft tower shooting all the angles, the gun was a delight to shoot and perfect with the longer barrels. We were surprised how controllable the gun was, the straight hand stock was perfect to let the hand slide back for the second trigger. The ejectors, as for all AYAs, shot the cartridges out and were perfectly timed. As with most AYAs, if you miss the bird in front with both barrels you have a fair chance of hitting it with one of the ejected cartridges as it flies behind. We moved onto the medium tower at…

A gundog is for picking game that can’t be picked by hand. We compete in field trials to find the “best dog on the day from a natural game finding point of view”. A dog with natural game finding ability can be defined by saying that it can pick game that couldn’t be picked by hand. To judge if a dog possesses this essential quality you need to pick wounded game and game falling into cover. Why then, when we’re testing for nose, is it the norm to send dogs for game that can be picked by hand at a trial? A shooting man doesn’t need a dog that can go in a straight line for 200 yards to pick a dead bird that can clearly be picked by hand.…