Innholdsfortegnelse for 21 December 2016 i Shooting Times & Country

Christmas is a time when, aside from the often crass commerciality that surrounds it, there is a chink of light through the window of humanity and people often display better manners than throughout the rest of the year. They are more likely to say “hello” to a passing stranger, perhaps a chap may open a door for a lady or help a pensioner with their shopping. Good manners make an all-too-brief return and that got me thinking about the vast majority of country people for whom this behaviour is not just a brief festive fling but simply what they do all year round. For the fieldsports community, Christmas sits in the middle of our shooting calendar, a time when keepers and their teams up and down the country, full- and…

LOOKING UP This is Liam Mulcrow with his six-year-old son Alfie and his 17-month-old dog called Arna (Cowarnecourt Keisha). It was taken on the Ivy Farm shoot based near Sandbach in Cheshire. N. Kirby, by email GPS AND LICENSING With reference to items about doctors’ roles in firearm licensing (News, 23 November, 10 August and 20 August), I have a great deal of sympathy with them over this task. I’m sure I’m not the only one who goes decades, never mind years, without seeing my doctor. My present doctor took over from his predecessor 20 years ago. I’ve seen him once in that time, about 10 years ago. He wouldn’t know me from Adam. GPs, we are told, are constantly overworked and for them to have to waste their time…

“Most of the debate on hunting revolved around rich people on horses, not the real issues surrounding it” Lindsay Waddell is a former chairman of the NGO and a retired gamekeeper As the debate — or debacle, whichever way you view it — on driven grouse shooting fades into memory with more pressing things like Christmas ahead, we should not lose sight of what the opposition achieved. The whole episode highlights just how a few motivated, if misguided, individuals can sway quite a number of people to believe the misinformation pumped out to them. That concept should not come as any surprise given Brexit, as well as the result of the US election. If someone of note tells enough people the same thing enough times, they will believe it. A…

Date: 6 to 8 December Venue: Ampton, Suffolk By kind permission of: the Turner family and the invitation of Peter Rushbrook Sponsors: Skinner’s, BASC, Countrywide stores, Field Trial Management System, Darlington Vets, Paul French International, Gundog Gear, Hy-Fly Hatcheries, The Kennel Club, Isuzu GB, Pernice Press, Steve Petch and Susan Rose China Judges: Phil Allen, Robert Atkinson, Kevin Doughty and Billy Steel Chief steward: Gilly Nickols Steward of the beat: Alan Hammond Guns on the first day: John Keegan, Tom Lowe, Peter Tidey, Nigel Reed, Peter Rushbrook, Charlie Rushbrook, Vic Vermeiren and Roger Wade Entries: 54 Weather over the three days: Cold, breezy, still, overcast, fog and some sunshine Terrain: Flat and rolling fields, stubble, mustard, fodder beet, woodlands, reeds, white grass and marsh Game: Pheasants, red-legged partridges, woodpigeon, hares,…

Love them or loathe them, there is no doubt that peregrines are efficient predators. The UK is the winter home to our own birds and Scandinavian visitors, with many birds focused in areas with a ready supply of waders and duck. There are 50 records of ringed birds from Finland, Norway and Sweden in the British Trust for Ornithology’s ringing database, giving a clue to the strong links to Scandinavia, in particular. By collecting wings of birds discarded at plucking posts in Bristol, Bath and Exeter, ornithologists were able to reveal a varied diet, from goldcrests to mallard. The most common winter prey items were feral pigeon, with a number of collared doves, teal and thrush-sized birds, such as blackbird, redwing and starling. Bristol and Exeter birds will have had…

We want your Boxing Day shoot pictures Don’t forget to send us a picture of your Boxing Day shoot and we’ll put it in Shooting Times. The Boxing Day shoot is a great annual event and we want to show shoots up and down the country in an early January issue. You can send images, with captions of who is in the pictures, by email to STeditorial@timeinc.com. Festive “have a go” offer at shooting school Honesberie Shooting School in Warwickshire is offering a festive “have a go” promotion. Based in the Warwickshire countryside, the school was founded by former GB and England Shot Nick Hollick (pictured), who hopes to introduce more people to shooting. Promotion prices start from £40 per person, which includes tuition and gun hire. Visit www.honesberieshooting.co.uk or…

I thoroughly enjoyed your article on terriers (Reining in the born anarchist, 30 November) and it was extremely accurate. I have been a terrier owner for almost 20 years; you don’t get into the type for its ease of training, but if you get it right there is no better companion to work with. Soft dogs they most certainly are not, but try treating them hard and see what you get. All too often people react to the obstinate nature of a terrier by losing their rag or, worse, by getting aggressive. Being aggressive to control the born fighter that a terrier is is much like trying to persuade Mike Tyson to lend you a tenner by smacking him in the mouth. There will only be one winner. The quality…

“The drives produced pheasants that would have held their own on any of the finest shoots in the UK” Situated on the extremities of the vast Salisbury Plain, the Downlands Church Farm is the epitome of a traditional small syndicate shoot that is being run in conjunction with a successful farm in harmony with wildlife management. The owner of the land, Victor Sidford, is as passionate about wildlife as he is about his farming, which is a mix of livestock and arable. Victor’s son Glen, a full-time gardener, had kindly invited us to see “Father’s day”, for which Victor had invited friends for a day’s shooting. A few let days Victor is from a farming family, having previously farmed at Broadchalke and Tisbury. He bought Downlands Church Farm, overlooking the…

“I reject any puppy where the same dogs appear on both the sire’s and the dam’s side of the pedigree” I’VE JUST READ AN intriguing article about how the companionship of a dog can be good for your health, something I’m sure is true. The article went on to quote Caroline Kisko, secretary of the Kennel Club (KC), with advice on choosing a dog. Her first tip is to “choose a pedigree”. Why? Because “the recognised breeds have predictable characteristics”. There is no mention of the fact that many of the breeds of pedigree dogs suffer from poor health, having been inbred for many generations. However, the KC depends almost entirely on the registrations of pedigree dogs to provide its income, so in the slightly misquoted words of Mandy Rice-Davies,…

Origin of spaniel breeds GUNDOGS Q Can you tell me why it is that the different breeds of working spaniels are not obviously different like the show ones are? I have been shooting all my life and on one shoot the keeper had a liver-and-white dog that was mated to several of the beaters’ bitches over its lifetime. All the puppies were liver-and-white but smaller than normal springers. I found out later the keeper’s dog was a registered cocker spaniel. A Sporting spaniels became divided by geographical location, colour and by weight. In sporting books of the 1800s you will find references to English water spaniels, Norfolk spaniels, Welsh and Devon cockers, Sussex and various other variations. The liver-and-white Norfolk spaniel is probably the main source of the bloodlines that…

In the past 50 years beagles have been popular as pets, and even in laboratories where they have been used for animal testing. But this was an animal that was originally bred exclusively for hunting. Standing no more than 16in at the shoulder, the beagle looks a little like a scaled-down foxhound and should have similar attributes. These include great scenting ability, steadiness, stamina and biddability. The voice is also important — it tells the huntsman that his hounds are hunting a hare, the beagle’s traditional quarry. Today there are 62 registered packs of beagles in the UK, all of which are hunted on foot. Since the 2004 Hunting Act, they hunt trails or rabbits. The popularity of the beagle as a hunting hound extends to the Continent, and in…

JANUARY Storm Desmond Shooting estates faced dangerous conditions and cancellations following the sustained rainfall and heavy flooding caused by Storm Desmond at the start of the year. The north of England was hit particularly hard and Cumbria was one of the most affected regions, with a stand on one shoot described as being “like a graveyard for trees that have washed down the river”. Grouse shoot licensing Scottish environment minister Dr Aileen McLeod asked Scottish Natural Heritage to look into the possibility of introducing grouse shoot licensing following an RSPB Scotland report that claimed 779 birds of prey had been killed in the country between 1994 and 2014. Shooting groups questioned the claims made in the report as well as its intentions. Hen Harrier Joint Action Plan The long-awaited Hen…

“The sight of her master in shooting gear is sufficient to bounce her out of her basket in a frenzy” The old saw tempus fugit — time flies — is so true where dogs, and particularly gundogs, are concerned. The brief span from a 10-week-old puppy, as yet a blank sheet, to the wisdom and intelligence of a well-trained dog passes so swiftly. I am minded of this all-too-brief working companionship by my yellow Labrador bitch, now approaching her 13th year and, sadly, beginning to display the signs of advancing years. Joints are perhaps not so supple as they once were, a slight limp has developed and, suddenly, she is finding it difficult to jump into the boot of the car. All this is, of course, inevitable and merely mirrors…

Mark Jones, who fits in keepering on the farm with a full-time job, said: “I love this job, being out in the open air and all aspects of it. I enjoy looking after the birds and sometimes find wild broods of pheasants. Occasionally I have seen some grey partridges — I think the seed mixes we grow here are an attraction for them.” He puts out 1,000 ex-layer hens and cocks and 250 redlegs from Broadoak Game Farm on the farm’s 1,000 acres, which provides eight to 10 drives. “A lot of the ground is Higher Level Stewardship and we have about four to five hectares of wild bird mix gamecover and about five hectares of unharvested margin,” continued Mark. “This is drilled in the spring with triticale and weeds…

1 Buy the best-quality magnet that your budget will allow. Once it is up and working, you won’t want it suddenly breaking down and making the pigeon flare away. 2 Set your magnet up as close to the crop as possible. This will help reduce the outline. Disguise it by brashing-up, using part of the crop if you can do so without causing any damage. 3 Use a magnet with long, thin arms and use matt tape to stop them glinting in the sun. 4 Speed is very important. If the arms move too slowly, arriving pigeon will work out that their friends are stuck to something — the faster they move, the better. 5 Place your magnet in an upwind situation but don’t be frightened of trying something different.…

For more years than I care to remember my Boxing Days have been devoted to either shooting or hunting. I shot my first pheasant on Boxing Day at the age of 17, and my first woodcock exactly a year later in the same wood at almost the same spot. The pheasant was a runner and fell in thick brambles: I didn’t have a dog, so I dropped my gun and ran after the bird with the speed of a determined spaniel. After a short hunt I successfully rugby tackled it — I did go to a rugby-playing school — and my prize was in my hands. This was the first time in my fledgling shooting career that I appreciated the importance of shooting with a dog, but it was to…

BILL HARRIMAN BASC’s head of firearms and global authority on guns MAT MANNING Airgunner and journalist from the West Country BRUCE POTTS Shooting Times rifl e reviewer and stalker DAVID TOMLINSON Highly regarded writer and ornithologist LIAM BELL NGO chairman, 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…

“People who give money to charities believe that they are handing over their cash to further good work” Idon’t like wind farms. I have nothing against small wind turbines that provide electricity for purpose for off-grid dwellings. But those huge, supposedly “commercial” wind farms are another thing altogether. Quite how the green movement manages to reconcile its worthy objectives with inflicting serried ranks of gigantic egg-beaters on the countryside is beyond parody. The RSPB addressed the conflict by issuing pious statements to the effect that in certain places wind turbines were perfectly acceptable, and that well-sited turbines contributed towards mitigating the bigger overall problem of global warming. Thus the RSPB objects to wind farms in certain localities, but supports them in others. Yet the RSPB caused a bit of a…