Innholdsfortegnelse for August 5, 2015 i Shooting Times & Country

THERE WAS a fantastic atmosphere at this year’s CLA Game Fair. Harewood House is a stunning setting and in spite of the typical British weather, which went from baking heat to torrential downpour in the space of hours, visitors were clearly enjoying the magical experience. As ever, there was no shortage of controversy in the Game Fair theatre. I’m not sure of the point of giving a platform to former RSPB director Mark Avery, who is campaigning for grouse shooting to be banned and seemed mostly to be promoting his new book. His incoherent arguments for a ban came against the background of the RSPB’s depressingly predictable annual pre-season attack on shooting. BASC’s Richard Ali hit back with a robust counter-statement, pointing out some of the facts conveniently left out…

British Shooting’s men’s double trap team won gold at the European Championships held in Slovenia late last month. The trio of Matt Coward-Holley, Steve Scott and Tim Kneale (pictured) took top spot over close rivals Russia, which received silver, and Italy, which took bronze. There was more success for British shooters, with the women’s skeet team — comprising Amber Hill, Elena Allen and Sian Bruce — taking a bronze medal, and 23-year-old Hannah Pugsley winning the individual silver medal in the 300m prone rifle event.…

GOOD TIMES The water vole is getting help from BASC, which has begun a series of surveys to measure the species’ population in North Wales. The E.J. Churchill shooting ground will host the CPSA World English Sporting Championship when it returns to English soil in 2016, it was announced last week. BAD TIMES Upland species such as curlew, cuckoos, mosses and liverworts will be put at risk by rising temperatures caused by climate change, according to a report by Natural England. The Woodland Trust says five 60-year-old protected beech trees have been deliberately poisoned in its Laund Clough woods, near Accrington in Lancashire.…

While primarily a wildfowling club, the WWA also runs a driven game syndicate, and an inland roughshoot. It also hosts four inland duck flighting syndicates and has a trout fishing syndicate on one of its owned assets. Founded in March 1950 by a group of 30 conservation-minded men, it has grown to more than 100 members, from juniors through to seniors and honorary members, some of whom have been associated with the WWA for more than 50 years. It strives to “put something back” by focusing on six key areas: Working with stakeholders and regulators Creating new wetland habitat Tackling disturbance and creating wildlife sanctuaries Improving wild stocks with artificial nests Diversifying by purchasing land Actively promoting wildfowling and conservation…

As a young man, I pored over books containing pictures of birds the like of which I thought I would never see, such as the powerful gyrfalcon, the impressive great northern diver, and many more. About a year ago, my neighbouring headkeeper, Peter, asked if I fancied going to Iceland to test our skills against a variety of the fish found there. It would be a long story to tell it all but, in the end, following advice from various sources, we found ourselves at some ungodly hour at Manchester airport ready to board a flight to Keflavik. It did not seem long over icy seas before we were trundling to a halt at the terminal, to be greeted by our guide for the week, Gudmundur, who turned out to…

When it comes to choosing a pickup truck suitable for life off-road, there has never been so much choice. Pickup manufacturers have listened carefully to what the shooting community really wants from a vehicle, so there’s now a whole host of clever accessories available to make your pickup even more handy for day-to-day work and recreational use. Deer carcase winch Save straining your back when gralloching deer carcases by fitting a tow bar-mounted hoist. Designed by Derby-based Donington Deer Management, the handy hoist allows for suspended grallochs by lone deerstalkers. £155 www.doningtondeermanagement.co.uk EZDown tailgate damper If you hate the tailgate slamming down and shaking the truck, consider installing a tailgate damper. Its hydraulic ram safely lowers the tailgate at a slow and steady speed to reduce wear and tear. Plus…

HUMMINGBIRD HAWKMOTH: No moth is better named than the hummingbird hawk, for this spectacular day-flying moth not only looks like a hummingbird, but behaves like one, too. Such similarity is hardly surprising, for this handsome insect has evolved to feed in exactly the same way as a hummingbird, hovering in front of flowers and sipping the nectar with its long proboscis. Its wings appear as no more than a blur as the moth, a master of high-speed manoeuvrability, darts from one flower to the next. Like painted lady butterflies, hummingbird hawkmoths are migrants from southern Europe, reaching our shores in variable numbers each year. In a good season — and indications suggest that 2015 is one — these moths can be quite common, with some individuals reaching as far north…

ASK THE VET TONY BUCKWELL is a retired veterinary surgeon, who now acts as an advisor on animal welfare, breeding and husbandry. If you are concerned about your dog’s health, always seek veterinary advice. Prolonged season My six-year-old bitch is coming into season more often and her last season lasted longer than usual. Would you advise that we have her spayed? H. Hillingdon, by email TONY BUCKWELL SAYS: The signs you describe are most commonly seen in bitches with ovarian cysts, which are fluid-filled structures in the ovary. Though many ovarian cysts cause no problem, some affected bitches can go on to develop pyometra, a womb infection that can be much more serious. Unless it’s a young bitch intended for breeding, the best treatment is removal of the affected ovary,…

Kestrels have nested in one of my barn-owl boxes. To be honest, I would have preferred barn owls. However, a bird ringer tells me that a kestrel nest with easy access is, in ringing terms, a useful thing. He is delighted. In some cases, ringing or tagging raptor chicks can be a somewhat fraught process. It seems to be easy enough with barn owls, from what I have seen on my own farm over recent years, but things get more complicated with other raptor species. There is always the possibility that the act of ringing, tagging or monitoring will cause undue disturbance — or desertion, even. In 2010, I filed a Freedom of Information request with Natural England (NE) aimed at trying to work out whether there was any evidence…

Eleven gamekeepers and three riverkeepers were presented with Long Service Awards at The CLA Game Fair last week. The gamekeepers — Shooting Times contributor Lindsay Waddell, David Barnes, Mike Scott, Eric Cross, Robert Smallman, Roger Curtis, Barry Smith, Howard Brittain, Billie Webb, Brian King and Stephen Clay — had completed 40 years of continuous service on not more than five estates, while the riverkeepers — Gavin Brown, Billy Jack and William Murray — had completed at least 25 years service on the river Tweed.…

Food production is going to be one of the biggest challenges facing Britain in the next 30 years. That was the view of DEFRA’s former secretary of state Owen Paterson MP speaking at The CLA Game Fair’s Big Debate on Friday afternoon, which pitted him against former RSPB director of conservation Mark Avery (pictured), Philip Merricks, owner of Elmley nature reserve, and Ian Coghill, chairman of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. Mr Paterson said: “The biggest challenge facing the next generation is feeding the population — we need to grow more food on less land, and technology will play a strong role in helping us to achieve that.” The debate, which focused on whether conservation was at odds with modern agriculture and land management, turned out to be a…

The Government has agreed to temporarily lift the ban on neonicotinoid pesticides to help protect oilseed rape crops following a second emergency application by the National Farmers’ Union. The EU ban was put in place when it was found the pesticide harmed bees. But it will now be allowed in areas for 120 days where cabbage stem flea beetle have inflicted the most damage to rape. Environmental groups said the decision was “scandalous”.…

The Countryside Alliance’s current director of campaigns has been named as the next chief executive of the lobbying organisation. Tim Bonner will take on the role when Sir Barney White-Spunner steps down as chief executive after the AGM next month. Countryside Alliance chairman Lord Mancroft described Tim as an “exceptional internal candidate who will provide continuity whilst pushing forward the evolution of the Alliance and its campaigns”. He added: “Barney has brought much needed stability to the organisation and wrestled with some of the most intractable issues facing the British countryside. He leaves hunting in good heart — if a bit frustrated by the vagaries of the SNP — shooting in a much better place than he found it and a Government far more engaged on a range of rural…

Ladies’ shooting vests — a gap in the market I would like a shooting vest. I’m not looking for a specific brand, just something that I can wear for clayshooting that doesn’t cost a fortune. I’ve visited numerous gun/shooting shops in the southwest but have been unable to find anything. They all have a large range of vests — for men. That’s where my problem starts. I am not a man; I am a woman with curves. The last shop I visited had two women’s vests in stock — two items, not two styles — one was size 8 and the other size 16. It had racks of men’s styles in a wide range of sizes from XXS to XXXL. Only one shop has tried to obtain a vest directly…

1 Reconnaissance, as always, is important. Work out the number of possible birds, to maximise your timings and outings for the day. 2 Pay careful attention four days after swathing. The drier the crop, the more activity. 3 Birds will feed all over the crop. Shoot on a good wind and, if the farmer gives you his permission, try to get a hide in the thick of it. 4 Always ask permission if you wish to use the greener crop to brash up the hide. 5 Decoy showing movement and lots of activity. Space magnets out and decoy carefully on top of the swathes. Pigeon buzz around swathed rape. Show them what they want to see. 6 Try to shoot those birds that can be picked-up easily. Picking-up can be…

How many times have you been out in the woods early in the morning to catch that elusive roe deer — only to be totally outwitted and return home empty-handed? Many times I have gone home having not seen a single beast, but that’s the frustration — and the fun — of roe stalking, and it’s why I love it. The trouble is, we as stalkers always think from our own blinkered viewpoint rather than that of the animal’s. That’s a mistake because no matter how accurate your rifle nor how good your scope, they count for absolutely nothing if you see no deer at which to take aim. Roe have an arsenal of tactics that they use to elude us. Stalking is 95 per cent mind game and five…

Pigeon shooting Standing or flailed? We had a lot of pigeon earlier in the year. They showed great interest in the standing maize, but would it have been better to wait until the crop was flailed before we shot them? B. Tolley, by email TOM PAYNE SAYS: The decision on whether to shoot the standing crop or the flailed crop relies on two things. How much food was still in the cobs of the standing maize, and what else was showing interest in feeding on the crop? If deer and a large rook population are showing interest in the crop then the food won’t last long. This means that when the crop is flailed there will be limited food left, so little interest will be shown by your pigeon population.…

Every now and again I like a little carp fishing. It can be a laid-back way of spending a few days on the bank, talking nonsense with your mates. As you can see, in the picture below I am holding a double-figure carp. My wife said I should publish this picture because it is the only time I’ve ever dropped my default mad-axeman stare for the camera and smiled. For others, carp fishing is a more intense and furtive experience. Many weeks or months will be attributed to targeting a single specimen fish, paying great detail to every aspect of tackle, presentation, bait and feeding. Almost five years ago to the day, the UK’s largest ever carp, a male called Two Tone, died of natural causes in Conningbrook Lake, in…

A government study has confirmed that gamebird welfare and egg production is better in raised laying systems than in traditional floor pens. The research, published by DEFRA last week after a three-year delay (News, 1July), supports the DEFRA Code for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes. It has been welcomed by the Countryside Alliance and BASC, which say it confirms the code is fit for purpose. To view the research, visit http://po.st/rearing.…

“Driven grouse is a worthless, pointless so-called sport which could be tolerated if only it weren’t so environmentally damaging.” Former RSPB conservation director Mark Avery calls for driven grouse shooting to be banned.” “I always get goosebumps whenever I hold it — and, believe me, I’ve held it countless times.” Mark Newton, from John Rigby & Co, holds up Jim Corbett’s legendary .275 rifle to show excited onlookers visiting the firm’s stand at The CLA Game Fair last Friday.”…

Coastal salmon netting looks set to be banned in Scotland under new proposals unveiled by the Scottish Government last week. Under the 2003 Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidated) (Scotland) Act, the Government wants to introduce a licensing system for the killing of wild salmon in Scotland and to prohibit “the taking of salmon outwith inland waters”. The news follows a public consultation on the killing of wild salmon except under licence, which generated more than 600 responses. Scotland’s Salmon and Trout Association has welcomed the proposal, branding it as “trailblazing” and “the most significant change to the regulations on the exploitation of salmon in the past 200 years”. Chairman Hughie Campbell Adamson said: “It represents a recognition that salmon numbers have declined markedly in recent decades and an acknowledgement that…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH Kenzie and his extraordinary calling skills I thoroughly enjoyed Guy N. Smith’s article on Kenzie Thorpe (The greatest guide on the Wash, 22 July). As a young boy, I met Kenzie at The CLA Game Fair when it came to Scotland. He was alone on the smallest stand you could imagine, called “Kenzie the Wild Goose Man”, dwarfed by the other commercial stands and tents, but he commanded a huge crowd of people around him who were mesmerised by his skills in calling duck, geese, waders and hares. I managed to squeeze my way to the front and eventually had to be dragged away by my parents, who wondered what all the fuss was about. I never tire of his stories. My favourite was his meeting with…

I have been stalking for some 30 years now but I am still not an expert — it’s the roe that are the experts! I never cease to be amazed by how incredibly clever and, occasionally, devious they can be. With roe I am always learning things, often at my own expense. I have had some strange experiences over the years. For example, there have been times when I have not been able to fathom how a certain buck disappeared after I’d been stalking it in plain view for an hour. There are other times when a buck has just magically appeared in a woodland clearing as if it had been beamed down from the Starship Enterprise. It makes for a frustrating stalk at the time, but it is this…

When is a ladybird not a ladybird? When you live in North America — in that part of the world these beetles are known as ladybugs. But in places across the UK they also have rather intriguing — and now mostly disused — regional names. For example, in Suffolk they are known as lady-cows, may-bugs, goldenknops and golden-bugs. In Norfolk, they’re called barnabee, burnabee, the bishop-that-burneth and bishy-bishy-barnabee, all of which are variations on Bishop Barnaby. There are several theories as to how the ladybirds got these names. One posits that it derives from St Barnabas’s feast in June, when the insect appears. Another suggests that it comes from the idea that the beetles’ brightly coloured wings look like a burning bishop. “ONE THEORY FOR THESE NAMES IS THAT THE…

I have no idea why, but for some reason I’ve never had a problem with fleas infesting my dogs. Though fleas might not be a concern, ticks certainly are, and I think the only two months when the spaniels don’t pick these up are December and January. So tick protection is not only essential, but something dogs need throughout the year. For many years, I used one of the leading Spot-On treatments. It certainly worked effectively until recently, but I’ve been finding an increasing number of apparently healthy ticks on my dogs this summer. I discussed the problem with the vet during a recent visit when the dogs were in for their annual check-up. He told me that I wasn’t alone in finding the Spot-On treatment less effective than was…

I have just consumed a bottle of inspiration for this week’s diary. A delicious, strong, old English-type porter, brewed in Wiveliscombe, Somerset, by the Golden Hill Brewery, this outstanding tipple is calculated to kick-start an article but, I would suggest, should only be drunk at home. Alarmingly named Exmoor Beast, the bottle depicts, on its striking label, a snarling black panther — doubtless a reference to the alleged sightings of big cats in the West Country that have captured local headlines during the past two or three decades. Not only in the far west, of course, but countrywide there have been, since the 1960s and 1970s, hundreds of alleged sightings of big cats, usually in the form of a black or tan-coloured animal and often described as being the size…