Innholdsfortegnelse for 3-Feb-2016 i Shooting Times & Country

IT IS INCREASINGLY clear that the only hope for our wildlife is shooting. The latest figures show that, in my lifetime, the number of breeding farm and woodland birds has halved. This frightening trend shows no sign of abating, with farmland birds dropping by 11 per cent since 2008 (seep.4). It is ironic that, during this time, the popularity of programmes such as Springwatch and Countryfile has continued to rise. It shows the huge disconnect between the public perception and the situation on the ground. As long as Springwatch keeps using RSPB reserves to represent British wildlife, it will put across a distorted picture. Such programmes fail to make the link between the cheapness of our food and resulting pressures on farmers to intensify production at the expense of wildlife.…

“We want the RSPCA to change its direction and become worthy once more of Royal support” The RSPCA is in danger of losing the support of the Royal Family due to its continued political campaigning, it has been claimed. A source told the Daily Telegraph last month that HRH the Prince of Wales has “fundamental disagreements” over many of the RSPCA’s key policies and has “privately voiced concerns” about the charity. HM the Queen is the current RSPCA patron, but she and the Duke of Edinburgh have begun to hand down their patronages to younger members of the Royal Family in recent years. It is speculated that Prince Charles could refuse to take on her role if offered. The snub would mean that the RSPCA might have to drop “Royal”…

Essex man wins ST competition Richard Daws from Fordham in Essex has received an AYA Centenary shotgun after winning the competition in the 4 November issue of Shooting Times. Richard (pictured right) was presented with the gun by Edward King (left), managing director of ASI, just before Christmas. Richard said: “The gun is stunning both cosmetically and from an engineering perspective. The pictures don’t do it justice.” GWCT ID day a “success” The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust said that the first Big Farmland Bird Count identification day of the year was a “great success”. The first of 17 planned ID days took place at Zeals in Wiltshire last week. Twenty-two people attended the sold-out event, which was held to help those who wish to participate in the count in…

What does a typical week involve for you? Most of my work focuses on the Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales, looking at policy, consultations, promoting our campaigns, dealing with media and PR. It may also involve a trip up North, as far as Anglesey or across to Mold. Whatever the week presents me with it usually involves a challenge and a few hundred miles in the car. What would you say is the greatest issue in shooting and conservation at the moment? The animal rights movements and vocal minority who choose to ignore the considerable benefits of shooting to conservation in order to push their own agendas on issues such as lead shot. I am also concerned about the potential of open access here in Wales and…

This is a photograph of my 18-month-old cocker, Fern, on her first retrieve in the field. She’s the first gundog that I’ve trained myself, so I couldn’t have been more proud when she appeared with the pheasant. L. Birtle, by email This is Paddy, nine years old, on a local shoot, bringing his fifth retrieve of the day back. He has picked-up at least three days a week with his gang of Labradors and spaniels for the past six seasons. He is the star of the show. Angie Knowles, by email This is my one-and-a-half-year-old sprocker, Mocha, with the first pheasant that she retrieved for me. It was also the first ever pheasant I shot. We were at East Moneylaws Farm in Northumberland. D. Kelly, by email…

The ground is a mixture of around 200 acres of grassland with the remaining 800 under the plough. There are about eight acres of covercrop, which is canary grass. Simon plants this in 36in rows so that it doesn’t provide too much cover for the foxes, which Jim keeps on top of by regular lamping. The woodland, which is mainly oak, is well on the way to becoming re-established and provides plenty of cover for the birds. Jim said that it can be difficult to hold birds, as the shoot is more or less an “island” — there is only one other small shoot nearby — and is right next to a 3,000-acre nature reserve, which has large blocks of oak woodland. This year has proved particularly problematic, because there…

BEING A BEAST by Charles Foster Getting into the “mindset” of a badger by living as one for six weeks may not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but Charles Foster did just that to write this book, which explores what it is like to “be a beast”. He also delves into the mindset of an otter, a deer, a fox and a swift in order to understand their lives. It’s eccentric — and at times strangely anthropomorphic — but his writing is superbly entertaining, often witty and full of intimate details about his own life and the life of the animals that intrigue him. £14.99 (hardback); ISBN: 9781781255346; www.profilebooks.com FIELD NOTES FROM THE EDGE: JOURNEYS THROUGH BRITAIN’S SECRET WILDERNESS by Paul Evans The edges of land…

Is this drinking habit harmful? VETERINARY CARE Q My springer frequently drinks from puddles when we are out shooting or exercising. Is it okay to let him do this? A There is no reason in principle why a dog should not drink fresh, uncontaminated rainwater and I’ve never known a dog to come to any harm as a result. The problem in practice, however, is knowing whether water collecting in puddles is fresh and uncontaminated, and for this reason I would never recommend letting a dog drink it. Water collecting in puddles can become contaminated from many potential sources. Bacteria can build up in water if there is any decaying vegetation present. There may be chemical contamination if the water has run-off from agricultural land and certainly there is a…

MAGPIE The magpie is one of our earliest nesters, having advanced egg laying by four weeks since 1970. Nest building may have already started, with members of each pair collecting sticks, which are woven together to make a large, usually domed structure. It’s a process that may take several weeks and can bring the male and female into conflict with the local pair of carrion crows. Both species like similar nest sites and materials, which can lead to protracted, noisy territorial battles over half-built nests, as well as to fights over individual sticks. Magpies are very much at home in towns and villages, where the highest breeding densities are now found. Results from the British Trust for Ornithology/ Joint Nature Conservation Committee/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey indicate that numbers peaked in…

“I would hazard a guess that mass rambling does far more damage to the environment than deer extraction” The sight of 86 shot stags left to rot on the Knoydart Peninsula, Scotland, is something that might have been expected to arouse the synthetic ire of tabloid newspapers. But not when it was the handiwork of a conservation charity, it seems (News, 20 January). Yet this isn’t the only seemingly contradictory signal sent out by the Knoydart deer massacre. Indeed, that sad event is itself just a microcosm of the larger argument about Scottish land reform. On the one hand, we have gamekeepers and stalkers bemoaning the slaughter, waste and allegedly inhumane treatment of wild animals. Meanwhile, the urban-based greenies want ever more deer killed and don’t give a damn whether…

BOOK BASC and the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust are holding a “Shooting for the Future” course at the Allerton Project Visitor Centre in Loddington, Leicestershire, on 6-7 May. The event gives people the chance to improve both their shooting and shoot management skills. The two-day course is £150, which includes the cost of clays, cartridges, lunch and refreshments. A single day costs £85. For more information and to book, visit www.gwct.org.uk or tel 01425 651013. GO FISHING The Scottish salmon fishing season is upon us again — though not in every river system. While many areas will have to wait, those in districts such as Thurso, Dee and Kyle of Sutherland can cast their rods. Visit www.fishing-uk-scotland.com/htm/ scotland-fishing-seasons for full details of where and when you can fish. BUY…

Time is running out to enter your product or service for this year’s Time Inc. Shooting Industry Awards. Now in its 21st year, the awards celebrate the very best of shooting innovation from the past 12 months. Categories range from Best New Rifle to Best Shooting Club. There is also a category for Best UK Gun Shop, in which shops are nominated by readers — visit http://po.st/ho7yC1 for details of how to vote. Every reader who takes part will be entered into our free prize draw and this year we are giving you the chance to win a Seeland Classic Eton Smock, winner of last year’s New Clothing category. Shooting Times Editor Joe Dimbleby said: “The Trade Awards are a great opportunity for people to nominate their local gunshop or…

BASC’s Taste of Game and the Wild Meat Company last month published A simple guide to cooking game, which can be downloaded for free by visiting http://po.st/AGq6JM. Moray landowner Mark Tennant has gifted 100-acres of land and buildings close to Lossiemouth to help charity Outfit Moray create a centre for outdoor learning. Dog owners have been warned by the British Veterinary Association that throwing sticks for their dogs to pick up can lead to “horrific injuries” such as cuts to their mouths and tongues, or the stick getting lodged in their throat. Further milk price reductions are likely to force farmers out of business. The National Farmers’ Union Rob Harrison said: “With no sign of a market upturn in coming months we will inevitably see a large number of dairy…

WHAT A TONIC Following an operation to repair a hernia I have been house-bound for a week, which has meant missing a day’s shooting already and the distinct possibility of missing the next day, which will be the last of the season. I am understandably under the weather. However, my lovely wife-to-be popped to the shops before work to get something for my breakfast and a little surprise to cheer me up. A copy of Shooting Timeswas waiting for me when I came down to make a brew! If I can’t be out shooting, at least I can read great articles about other people enjoying the sport. And I know I’m doing the right thing by marrying my very thoughtful fiancée this summer. Keep up the good work. M. Flanagan,…

“Paddy was a magnificent-looking chap in his youth, but there was no way I could let him pass on his bad genes as a stud dog” It was a sad day when I decided it was time to bid farewell to my old fox-red Labrador, Paddy. In his early years, it became apparent that Paddy had a problem with his left eye. I had noticed that it was becoming opaque; it didn’t reflect torchlight as well as his right eye and, when handling him out to a long retrieve, he’d have difficulty focusing on me to receive instruction. If he were beyond about 100 yards, he’d slowly move his head from side to side and would only spot me if I waved my arms at him. A veterinary eye specialist…

Liam Bell is headkeeper on a traditional family-owned estate in South Shropshire “If the UK Government bans poultry imports from France, that ban will include pheasant and partridge chicks” The end of the season brings the long-awaited keepers’ days. Traditionally, it was the day that the estate owner gave to his keeper to invite his friends along to shoot. It has changed over the years and is now more often referred to as the beaters’ day. I still invite a few friends but the bulk of our Guns are our beaters. It is an important day for everyone and, for many of our beaters, it is the only time they ever get to shoot at pheasants. They are good, fun days but, my word, they take some organising. We run…

“The truth was that my pheasants had gone on holiday and I was far from certain that the ungrateful creatures would ever return” If you want good shooting, the best way to get hold of some is to catch moles. At least this is the thought that always strikes me when I spend time in the company of Reginald Metcalfe, countryman, retired postman and shoot captain. Reg — he sometimes allows this familiar form of his name — is a mole-catcher by appointment, not as it happens to Her Majesty, but to half the farmers in the neighbourhood of Kirkby Stephen. I have been told that as a mole-catcher he stands alone and this is doubtless the reason why his shooting empire extends over large parts of Mallerstang, which is…

WHETHER WE LIKE it or not, most shoots have a distinct social order. It’s Guns first, then loaders (if there are any), pickers-up and finally beaters. It is a natural order, because (if you will excuse the pun) it’s usually the Guns that call the shots. However, it is always refreshing to find shoots where things are run differently, which is why I was delighted to receive an email from Jo Gosling, the field trial secretary of the Norfolk and Suffolk HPR Field Trial Club, who invited me along to the Grove, an Essex shoot now in its third season. “We are a friendly group and not one person is any more important than the next,” said Jo, who organises the picking-up team, while her husband David runs the handlers…

BILL HARRIMAN BASC’s head of firearms and global authority on guns MAT MANNING Airgunner and journalist from the West Country BRUCE POTTS Shooting Timesrifle reviewer and stalker DAVID TOMLINSON Highly regarded writer and ornithologist LIAM BELL Shropshire gamekeeper and keen wildfowler GRAHAM DOWNING Shooting consultant and sporting author PAUL RAWLINGS Gundog expert and A-panel spaniel judge CHRIS DE CANI Riverkeeper, with specialist knowledge of chalkstreams TONY BUCKWELL Veterinary surgeon with a special interest in gundogs TONY JACKSON A game Shot, keen stalker and former editor of Shooting Times TOM PAYNE Professional shooting instructor and avid pigeon shooter SIMON WHITEHEAD Author, professional ferreter and rabbit controller IAIN WATSON Keen stalker and senior CIC international trophy judge Contact the team Email: stanswers@timeinc.com By post: Shooting Times, Blue Fin Building,…

There are few finer sights in late winter than a freshly cut-and-laid hedge, though the skill needed to carry out such an operation is much rarer today than it was a century ago. Most modern farm management is done from the cab of a tractor. Using a mechanical flail to trim a hedge is much faster and considerably more cost-effective in the short-term. Cut-and-laid hedges not only look good, they are also stock-proof. Sheep tend to push through the bottom of poorly maintained hedges, while cattle will lean on a hedge, eventually making gaps. Hedge-laying, unlike mechanical flailing, encourages growth from the bottom, and this is what helps keep a hedge stockproof. Hedge-laying may be expensive initially, but it pays for itself in the long run, as a laid hedge…

4 FEB RUARY THERMAL IMAGERY AND NIGHT VISION OPEN EVENING John Bradshaw’s Gun Shop, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire Tel 01832 226376 1 2-14 FEB RUARY THE BRITISH SHOOTING SHOW Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire Tel 01258 857700 2 1 FEB RUARY SAVILLS COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE POINT-TO-POINT Badbury Rings, Dorset Tel 01752 830430 3 M A RCH GWCT RACE DAY Taunton Racecourse, Somerset Tel 07850 616181 1 2 MARCH BASC 2016 WILDFOWLING CONFERENCE Ramada Hotel, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands Tel 01244 573007 1 3 APRIL GAVIN GARDINER MODERN AND VINTAGE SPORTING GUN AUCTION Sotheby’s, London Tel 01798 875300…

Eduardo Gonçalves was last month appointed as the new chief executive for the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS). Mr Gonçalves is the former international communications director for NGO The Climate Group and the founder of SOS Lynx, a charity dedicated to saving the Iberian Lynx. His appointment comes shortly after the former LACS president John Cooper was fired for standing up for bullied staff (News, 23 December). Richard Ali, chief executive of BASC, commented: “This is an opportunity for Mr Gonçalves to turn around the League and ensure that its arguments are based on sound evidence and robust science, and that LACS observes Charity Commission guidance such as making assessments of public harms before acting — however, I’m not holding my breath. “The League against Cruel Sports has a reputation…

“Hamish Upton was shooting a Webley & Scott 20-bore side-by-side that had belonged to his grandfather” People may think they know all there is to know about Essex because of how it is portrayed on television. They might also have preconceived ideas of the people who live in the county, but there is so much more to the area than that. Essex is full of history. It has the oldest known timber-framed barn in the world at Cressing Temple near Braintree and the oldest wooden church near Chipping Ongar. Some authorities even claim that Robert the Bruce was born at Montpeliers Farm in Writtle, which is a few miles from the Coptfold Hall shoot that lies just off the A12. The shoot has been in the Upton family for more…

Once birds have been successfully shot and picked-up, they must be treated with respect; they are a food source and should be handled as such. Different times of year call for different measures when trying to get the birds successfully off the field into the chiller without spoiling. It is wrong to shoot a good number of pigeon if they are going to be dumped at the end of a day’s shooting. Woodpigeon is fantastic to eat and there is huge demand for it, so there is no excuse for not finding shot birds a home, even if you just give them away to friends and family. You might not receive a lot of money for your efforts, but every little helps and it will go towards the cost of…

“It’s a no-win situation; rabbits may move out, but without cutting down vegetation we wouldn’t stand a chance of clearing an area of them anyway” Our climate is changing. Whether it is down to periodic weather cycles or the results of climate change, our ferreting season has been affected. In the east, we have a plague mantling every hedgerow. Alexanders, the troublesome weed, has cemented itself as a part of our countryside. At 2ft high and resistant to all but the heaviest of frosts, it’s a real pain. With this and nettles, we have lots of green vegetation during the winter, whereas a decade ago we would have frosts and snow to curtail their existence. Those of us who work by a calendar have to adapt, improvise and overcome these…

“I dislike working my dogs for people with thick wallets but no knowledge” When I first started shooting there was no such thing as a shooting industry. You couldn’t buy a day’s shooting even if you wanted to. Today anyone with enough cash can purchase as much shooting as they can afford. Whether this is a good thing is debatable: I dislike working my dogs for people who might have thick wallets, but who have little or no knowledge of the shooting field, its tradition and etiquette, let alone the quarry they are pursuing. This explains why I found my visit to the Grove so refreshing. Though it has five regular Guns, shoot captain Miles Malone ensures that it is a relaxed, friendly affair, and about as far from a…

Most of us understand the word “wetland” to mean land consisting of marshes and swamps, but there are a host of regional names associated with saturated land that may be less familiar. For instance, according to Robert MacFarlane’s book Landmarks, a piece of land nearly surrounded by water is known as an “allan” in Cumbria, while in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire a flat meadow close to a stream is called a “warth”. In the fenlands, a river island or land formerly covered with water is a “holm”, and in the Midlands an island in a pool is called a “haft”. In Old English, a spur of land between two rivers is called a “halth”; in Gaelic, an “amod” is a green plain almost encircled by the bend of a river; in…

1 BARREL Only available in .177 calibre and with a barrel length of 18.5in, optional two sleeve weights of 14oz and 2lb. 2 SIGHTS Tunnel foresight with six differing elements and micro-adjustable aperture rearsight as standard. 3 ACTION Spring piston but semi-recoilless, which is silky smooth, producing target level velocities of 6ft/lb to 7ft/lb dependent on pellet. 4 STOCK The Tyrolean has a superb walnut alpine style checkpiece that is a perfect fit for the aperture sights and is great looking to boot. To me, Weihrauch are the epitome of classic quality air rifle manufacture and the standard that most other airguns are judged by. All Weihrauch air rifles are made the old-fashioned way with well-engineered metal parts and good-quality stocks that are designed to last a lifetime. Over-engineered in…