Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Shooting Gazette

LETTER OF THE MONTH Cartridge velocities: the ‘elephant in the room’ There are only three parameters that really matter in a shotgun cartridge: • The size of the pellet, and we discuss endlessly whether we should be shooting No 5, 6 or 7 shot. • The load in the cartridge. • The velocity of the pellets coming out from the gun. Strangely, the velocity of the pellets is usually described rather vaguely in manufacturers’ literature. Most advertisers talk about ‘high power’, ‘ultimate power’ and ‘high velocity’. Occasionally one sees some guidance figures, such as those shown by Just Cartridges on its website. However, Dr AC Jones, on page 74 of his brilliant book Sporting Shotgun Performance, wrote: “Unfortunately, in many cases claimed velocities were very optimistic”. He also noted velocities…

Coronation pheasant SERVES 4 PEOPLE PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes COOK TIME: 5-10 minutes Ideal for using up leftover pheasant after a roast or, alternatively, a delicious summer dish that can be put in wraps, sandwiches or used as a salad. Ingredients • 6 tbsp mayonnaise• 2-3 tsp mild curry powder, to taste• ½ tsp ground cinnamon• 2 tbsp mango chutney• 1-3 tbsp sultanas (optional)• 500g shredded, cooked pheasant or raw pheasant breast• Salt and black pepper Method 1. If using leftover pheasant, shred it and put to one side,. If cooking, then toss the pheasant breasts with 1 tsp curry powder and 1 tbsp of oil. Heat a large, non-stick pan and cook the pheasant for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through, then cut into strips.2.…

Easily one of the most versatile items of clothing you’ll own and perfect for allyear-round wear, every country wardrobe needs a fleece gilet. Great for warmer days over a shirt or ideal as an extra layer when the temperature dips. Alan Paine’s Aylsham gilet features a robust zipper, two handy zipped pockets and an adjustable draw cord waist for a snug, comfortable fit. The contrast faux suede piping is a stylish addition and it’s machine washable to boot. The winner will be given the chance to choose between the Men’s Aylsham gilet (£84.95) and the Ladies’ Aylsham gilet (£79.95) To win, find the 11 words listed and send the completed entry form to: Wordsearch, Shooting Gazette, Future PLC, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, GU14 7BF. Entries to arrive no later…

Game shooting and the countryside rely heavily on a constant stream of enthusiastic and disciplined gamekeepers who are hungry to learn and set themselves the highest standards. We spoke to some of the most experienced gamekeepers in the business about how those new to the profession can thrive and survive. “Concentrate solely and wholly on the job for the first couple of years. There will be plenty of opportunities to party when you are settled and have a handle on what is expected of you. I have seen so many promising young keepers throw away the chance of a lifetime by getting drunk, misbehaving and letting standards slip while being convinced they are irreplaceable. Someone is always watching you and the gamekeeping world is a small one. Work hard and…

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As a child growing up in the Cambridgeshire countryside in the 1940s and 1950s I enjoyed great freedom to roam the fields, rivers and woods around my home village. Without realising it I was attuning myself to the relationship between the birds and animals and the world in which they thrived. The word ‘habitat’ was not in my vocabulary but, 50 years later, by observing wildlife, I’m still learning about the relationship between all living things. Alongside these boyhood experiences, as I looked for birds’ nests, butterflies, frogs, minnows or hedgerow fruits, was the developing heart of the hunter that is in our genes. The genuine hunter develops a deep and fundamental love and respect for his quarry, whether he hunts for food or sport. The cave paintings by prehistoric…

“Three boys in trouble at Hendon” read the headline in the Hendon & Finchley Times of 12 June 1914 — with the subtitle “Warning to others”. The London Sporting Park belonging to WW Watts at Hendon was a big area. Surrounded by fields it looked a pretty exciting place for young lads, with the large tower propelling high pheasants, the constant explosions and the heaps of used cartridges all around. The ground was closed on Sundays and a trio of 15-year-old boys from Regents Park decided to go on a lark, pay the grounds a visit and break in. When he opened up on Monday morning, Watts found 15 plate glass windows broken and over 1,000 clay pigeons smashed, having been thrown from the high tower. Watts guessed they would…

QAs an older Gun I sometimes struggle with my eyesight. I shoot off my right shoulder but my left eye is strong and my right eye is getting weaker. I have always shot with both eyes open but I am wondering whether I should start to close one eye – or is there a way to keep both eyes open and still be accurate with my shooting? AI am a massive believer that if you can’t see it then you definitely can’t shoot it. The number of clients I see who will happily put their glasses on to drive but then remove them to shoot amazes me. My first recommendation would be to go and see a good optician. If you are particularly worried about your shooting, then I strongly…

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, Future PLC, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 7BF, or email: martin.puddifer@futurenet.com. PICTURE OF THE MONTH Talk about starting them young in game shooting! Catrin and Lowri Jones sent us this utterly adorable photograph, taken during a day's sport in North Wales, along with the following description: “This is a photograph showing Matilda Philby on her first shoot day at the Penmaen Estate, Pwllheli, last December. She joined her mother, Hope, grandmother, Hayley, and grandfather, Paul, during her first outing and fell asleep in a gunslip.”…

Dear Uncle Giles, I am a single-handed gamekeeper on a mediumsized shoot that hosts a home syndicate, offering a handful of let days to offset some of the fixed costs. My boss has suggested that I give a presentation to the syndicate Guns on how things work on the shoot through the year – both during the shooting season as well as before and after. Do you have any suggestions as to when this might best be done and what topics to cover? NFY, by email Uncle Giles writes: I think that the ‘when’ is perhaps easier to address rather than the ‘what’. It occurs to me that a tour of the shoot on a summer afternoon would be an attractive proposition to your Guns. Take them around the principal…

Adversity is revealing: None of us have fundraised through anything quite like this and we have been humbled by the generosity of our supporters at all levels. Any number of them will have had their own financial concerns, but have supported us more strongly than ever. Voluntary income is exactly that, people have to want to give it to you and despite everything, people have more than ever. Output is king: In the four years I have been with the GWCT, our output has never matched that of the past six months – my colleagues in research, policy, advisory and communications have been in overdrive, and supporters have noticed. Our input to Defra on the Wild Justice EU sites challenge was crucial and more people seem to be realising how…

IT’S THE EVENING BEFORE A soothing malt beckons. She perceives his intention. “Now don’t you have any more if you’re driving first thing, and I’m not going to bed and leaving you watching television,” she says. “You’ll only go to sleep in the chair and wake me up later, and don’t forget we’re up early.” “What time does it start again? We’ll have to leave here a good 90 minutes before, and you’ll have to get yourself ready and you know how long that takes, and you’ll need to take the dog out first thing.” He assures her he knows. He always knows. “I don’t suppose you’ve put all your shooting stuff out ready?” she responds. He has. He always has. “What, everything? Absolutely everything?” she persists. He nods. They…

During the Christmas break, I decided it was time to sort through the organised chaos that I call my study. Despite its haphazard appearance, I pride myself on my ability to find things in an instant. However, hidden away in one corner draw I discovered something I thought I had lost, something I have been meaning to share with readers for years. In a large brown envelope was a 75-page document dated November 1981 that laid out the draft proposals the district council had for my home town. A section of the document identified an urgent need for housing, with two sites on the western edge of town put forward for potential development consisting of 1,300 dwellings, a shopping complex and a relief road right on our doorstep. Accompanying the…

William Webster Watts was born into a farming family in 1853 at Wolston in Warwick. However, Webster — as he appears to have been known — didn’t appear to be interested in farming, he was more of an entrepreneur. In the 1871 Census, aged 18, while still living at home, he described himself as a ribbon manufacturer. In 1881 he married a woman from London and, obviously attracted by the metropolis, gave up farming and moved to the capital to set up a new life as a businessman. Having lived on the farm, he had been involved in shooting since a young age and found himself to be a natural Shot. He realised that there was a market in London for him to impart his shooting skills and, with plenty…

On test the Viscount did everything asked of it using a variety of cartridges from 21g to 30g – the latter probably being the maximum load that I would put through a side-by-side. The balance of the gun meant that it was very comfortable to shoot and a pleasure to handle. Trigger-pulls were excellent and the ejectors timed to perfection. I tested the Viscount on everything from a partridge-style target to some testing clays from the high towers. The patterns were excellent and the shooting experience first class. Despite the 3in chambers this is probably not a gun for the highest pheasants in the Exmoor valleys, but it’s a gun to enjoy on testing birds which can be killed cleanly with a 30g No 5 cartridge.…

LITCHFIELD TWEED FIELD COAT IN GREEN COVERT BY FARLOWS £695 farlows.co.uk A ‘high twist, compact fabric’ makes this coat extremely practical while the cut, aided by an action back, allows for seamless freedom of movement. The ‘waterproof, breathable barrier lining’ will keep the wearer dry. Just a shirt and tie underneath will be fine on a still winter’s day when temperatures are just about in double figures. QUIET EAR PLUG BY LOOP £14 loopearplugs.com With the ability to block out up to 30 decibels of noise, these washable and reusable silicone plugs could be a fitting alternative to those who can’t get on with muffs. The easy-to-use product comes complete with six earplugs, a keychain case and is available in a choice of six colours. ABERLOUR 12 YEAR OLD SCOTCH…

Mhelped me get permission to walkup a couple of hundred acres on her neighbour’s farm. An unarmed recce revealed that it had lots of small fields bounded by deep ditches and stout hedges. There were also very wide field margins and the land itself was covered with a forest of maize 7ft tall – it looked like wild pheasant heaven and I felt very lucky. Cecil and I were pining for our lost days’ picking-up, so being able to go for a ramble together would be a safe and legal relief from the Covidian gloom of our shoot’s shutdown. But going rough would bring both canine and human challenges because Cecil is a picking-up dog. That’s all he has ever done other than a brief experiment last season when I…

Twenty-twenty struggled to its close bringing bad news and good news. Bad, in that the turning of the year brought less traditional joie de vivre, over-indulgence, fireworks and men in skirts firstfooting as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to bring many countries to a virtual halt. Good, in that after more than four years of posturing and negotiation, a deal had finally been reached giving a framework for Britain’s exit from and future relationship with the EU. Inevitably, the French had a say in both, wreaking havoc for travellers, hauliers and businesses as Christmas approached and making irrational claims over British seas and fish stocks, threatening to derail the process of agreement. It was ever thus. Abbot Suger, chum of Louis VI, aka Louis The Fat, suggested in all seriousness that…

You could be forgiven for thinking that conservation work in the fieldsports community is the sole preserve of gamekeepers and shooting estates. Take a look around Lady’s Wood Shooting School near Bristol, however, and you’ll realise its stunning grounds, rich in both colour and wildlife, don’t happen by accident. Shooting ground manager Chris Hanks, a former gamekeeper himself, is perfectly placed to oversee the conservation work that takes place at Lady’s Wood, and to get his hands dirty while he’s at it. The team has certainly been busy since last March, despite the restrictions placed upon it. A woodland regeneration programme has seen hazel and ash trees coppiced to allow a pond which had previously been under a thick canopy to be brought back to life. Elsewhere, around 1,000 trees…

The first days of spring provide a good opportunity to take stock. When the season ends, it’s helpful to look around the farm and identify projects for the year ahead. I do a great deal of conservation work for wading birds on hills around my home, particularly since curlew, lapwings and oystercatchers have undergone tremendous declines over the past few decades. The last successful nesting attempt by our local lapwings was almost 10 years ago and their efforts are becoming steadily more intermittent as the years go by. The earliest lapwings used to begin their breeding displays in February, but now that date has been postponed after several consecutive failures. They don’t begin to display until April and flights that used to be gaudy and bold have steadily grown cautious…

I was at a Holts valuation last year when a client walked in with a gun in a slip. Valuation days are always exciting as you never know what is going to surface; sometimes fairly humdrum guns but at other times absolute gems appear out of the woodwork. The client said it was a 12-bore sidelock ejector by Watts. I had never heard of a maker by that name so I assumed it was a bogstandard sidelock retailed by an ironmonger or a gunsmith named Watts. I wasn’t terribly excited but when he pulled the gun out of the slip and laid it on the table, I was bowled over. It was a superb quality sidelock ejector and engraved on the locks was the wording “The Watts Gun”. This was…

At a time when all the talk is about electric cars, Porsche has announced a rather extraordinary initiative in the creation of synthetic fuels. It is investing millions, as is the German government and the Siemens conglomerate, in a plant to produce synthetic petrol in southern Chile. It will use electricity produced from wind power to create green hydrogen from water, then use it and CO2 filtered from the air to create methanol, from which incredibly pure petrol is a simple further step. Perhaps a snarling petrol engine isn’t dead quite yet……

Engineering: The attention to detail on the build is of the highest standard, matched with the lines and elegance of a fine gun. Looks and finishing: This is a great looking gun; the engraving is elegant and in keeping with the fine lines. The wood is exceptional to the extent that I am not sure how much better the exhibition-grade option would be. The wood-to-metal fit is first class, as is the finish on the chequering. Handling: An absolute pleasure to shoot; the weight is between the hands, which gives a very smooth movement through the bird. Value: At just over twice the price of the Sovereign, is the Viscount worth the money? It depends on what you intend to use it for. If you want a side-by-side to sit…

The IGL Retriever Championship 2020 was originally due to be held at Ampton in Suffolk between 30 November and 2 December, writes editor Martin Puddifer. While the COVID-19 pandemic foiled the committee’s efforts to reschedule the iconic event, we were determined to feature something about the Championship in place of what would have been, I am sure, another fantastic report from Wendy Bardsley. Consequently, Wendy has caught up with three former winners of the Championship and finds out what they sacrificed to reach the event, the challenges they faced when they competed and if lifting the trophy changed them or the way they were perceived by the gundog world at large. What they have to say may surprise you. DAVID LISETT IGL Retriever Champion 2017 with FTCh Buccleuch Xena (Daisy) owned…

When I was a teenager, one of the older Guns on our regular shoot, having been a regular feature of the line for decades, took to picking-up, flagging, beating and helping the keepers between shoots. To a young’un, who’d just got his first 12-bore, this was incomprehensible. To a 48-year-old who dreams of spending more time outside, for whom all the other bits of shooting has exerted more and more of a fascination as the years have gone by, the old boy’s actions are entirely understandable. They say youth is wasted upon the young — so is our sport on those who are only interested in pulling a trigger. I have got to know many of the men and women who do countless jobs behind the scenes, and what they…