Innholdsfortegnelse for February 10, 2016 i Shooting Times & Country

AS SHOOTING TIMES reported last year (News, 25 November), the EU has focused its attention on firearms legislation in the wake of terrorist attacks on the Continent. It is right to review security but there is a danger of Government yet again taking the easy option of restricting legal gun ownership, which clearly played no part in the terrible events. Banning the kind of semi-auto rimfire I used to use for rabbiting won’t stop the next Islamic State atrocity. I hope the powers that be in Brussels see sense on this (see p.6) To continue the EU theme, though there has been much good environmental legislation to come out of Europe, the fate of our wildlife post-exit would, of course, depend on the policies of the newly independent UK Government.…

BASC launches new clay competition BASC is organising a new Inter-University Clay Shooting Cup, which will be held in its inaugural year by Durham University. The event will take place at Oak Lodge in Hartlepool on Saturday, 12 March. It will include a raffle and be followed by a black tie game dinner at Rockcliffe Hall. Reader wins Chapuis shotgun Roger Benson has received a Chapuis C35 shotgun after winning the competition in the 7 October issue of Shooting Times. Roger (pictured), from Orwell in Cambridgeshire, picked up the round body 12-bore, worth £2,200, last month. Hunt saboteur family fined A family of masked saboteurs was last month convicted of causing “fear or alarm” to members of a hunt. Colin and Beverly Milne and daughter Amy Lilburn, all from Blairgowrie,…

I have been following the John Muir Trust’s (JMT) culling of 86 red deer stags, and leaving the carcases on the hill, keenly since the story broke (News, 20 January). The JMT has been doing this for years and it seems that it has been continuing this bizarre deer management policy across the country. Most stalking guests who visit the Highlands understand how important the deer are to the economy and how overwhelming the experience of hunting them, especially on the high hills, can be. If the JMT is not taken to task, I fear for the future of deer management. There are issues with deer numbers in Scotland, though I would contest a lot of the wild claims made. But that is not the issue here. Abandoning 86 deer…

Jamie Osborne keepers on a 2,000-acre Bedfordshire pheasant shoot with a mix of family and syndicate days. His passion is wild grey partridge conservation The New Year begins for me in February. With the gameshooting season at an end, it’s the time to take stock, turn things over in my mind and weigh up how the season went. It is also the perfect time to dig out a notepad and plan for next autumn. But before confining my 2015-16 season to history, I must report that a trinity of wet, windy and extraordinarily balmy weather conspired to make keepering over the past few months somewhat challenging, to say the least. What saved my bacon during the shirtsleeved days of this winter, when the birds were wandering in the mild conditions,…

The emblem of the airborne forces is Bellerophon mounted on the winged horse Pegasus. The first instance of an airborne warrior, his exploits are recounted in Greek mythology, in which he is famous for slaying the fire-breathing monster Chimaera. The emblem (left) was chosen by the British airborne forces by Lieutenant General Sir Frederick (“Boy”) Browning GCVO, KBE, CB, DSO, DL when he was appointed to raise Airborne Forces in 1941. The Gurkhas are part of 16 Air Assault Brigade and wear the maroon beret of airborne forces.…

If the lower echelons of Victorian Britain had had a more rural existence, and a need to obtain their sustenance from the land, their chosen breed of dog would have more closely resembled those in Europe: an all-rounder rather than a specialist. If I lived then, as I do now, in the North of England, I would be hunting over primarily heather and white-grass moorland. According to my social status, I might only be able to afford one dog, so it would have to be able to work wide enough to locate well-spread game but at a distance that allowed me to reach it in adequate time to obtain a shot. I would not need a close hunting dog or, for that matter, would I need a super-charged dog that…

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With spring just around the corner, February can bring bright days and clear skies, but winter hasn’t finished with us yet and we still hanker after lovely, comforting food. This rich duck recipe is simple to make and, once you have done the initial preparation, needs little else in the way of attention until you are ready to serve, so it’s perfect if you have guests or just want something warming for a simple supper. This serves two people, but quantities are easily doubled (or even trebled). Farmed duck can be fatty but the fat works in this recipe with the tart orange juice. You can mix in a little cornflour at the end to make a silky sauce or add gravy browning. Part of the beauty of the dish…

“The drive paused as Ella disappeared through a hedge in the far distance” Some time ago, I wrote about reader Andrew Moorely’s springer spaniel, Ella, having a disastrous day while working as a peg dog on a large and rather smart shoot. I was delighted to hear from Andrew that Ella distinguished herself on her last shoot of the season, and because it’s a good story I will repeat it here: “It was our beaters’ day, so I took my 12-year-old daughter, Meghan, with her .410 and, of course, Ella. It was a traditional beat-one stand-one beaters’ day. Meghan shot two pheasants before lunch and Ella picked one, so it was a good morning. “Meghan decided to go home at lunch; the keeper insisted I took the .410 as a…

When water flows upstream against the natural flow of a river’s current, it can cause the incoming tide to form a wave, or a series of waves. This phenomenon is known as a tidal bore, or tidal surge. Around the world, there are around 60 rivers with tidal bores, 15 of them here in the UK. These are the rivers Dee, Eden, Esk, Great Ouse, Kent, Lune, Mersey, Nith, Ouse, Parret, Ribble, Severn, Trent, Yealm and Welland. One of these bores is known as the “Wiggenhall Wave”. It attains a height of around 1m and occurs on the Great Ouse. It occasionally runs eight miles inland from its mouth at King’s Lynn in Norfolk to the village of Wiggenhall. The tidal bore on the river Severn is the second-highest in…

“This is a battle between scientific evidence and the ignorant, glad-handing, politicians who don’t give a flying fig about bass” I hate politics with a passion. I am possibly the least political animal ever to draw breath; I am about as politically active as a boiled prawn and find the subject as interesting as athlete’s foot. One of the reasons that I love fishing is that it’s an escape, a way of detaching from the stuff of modern life and media, social media, politics and personalities. Out at sea on my boat I am untouchable and unreachable. I can be alone, or in the company of friends or anglers with whom I’ve chosen to be. I’m at sea, adrift in a beautiful space of uninhabited liquid bliss. Yet politics is…

WATCH Oddball and the Penguinsis a family-friendly Australian film based on the true story (News, 8 July) of a mischievous Maremma dog named Oddball, who is trained by a farmer to stop foxes predating upon an endangered colony of little penguins on an island off South Australia. The film will be in UK cinemas from Friday, 12 February SHOOT It’s Valentine’s Day on Sunday, so why not treat your loved one (or get them to treat you) to E.J. Churchill’s Cupid Clay Package. For £125, you will receive a one-hour shooting lesson for two at the award-winning shooting ground at High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. It will be followed by a glass of champagne and a “delicate range” of smoked salmon from Caviar House & Prunier. For further information or to…

COUNTRYSIDE IGNORANCE I read with interest about the decline of various species of birds (How shoots can save our farmland birds, 27 January), yet little is said of the massive amount of disturbance caused by the public. It seems to be a requirement now of anyone moving into the country that they must own at least one dog, even though they leave for work before dawn and return after dark during winter, often leaving the dog locked in the house for hours at a time. When they do walk them, they have no regard for the countryside and trespass on private land, disturbing any wildlife. I have been using trailcams for the past few years on our shoot and, since the floods at Christmas, they have captured nearly as many…

“We still hold a substantial number of birds at the season’s end and will be feeding until April” Beaters’ day, and what a startling contrast as we gathered in the farmyard at 9am on the last Saturday of the shooting season. The syndicate Guns were now armed with sticks and staves, over-trousers had replaced breeches and stout walking boots were the order of the day. The beaters, young and old, eager for the fray, were determined to “show them how it’s done” — and show them they did. At the end of the season the birds were fit, strong and had a fairly shrewd idea of what lay ahead when they heard the first shots. These birds were calculated to make even the most experienced Shot blanch. I was picking-up…

1 YOU NEED A NEW SHOTGUN Whether you’re a gameshooter, a wildfowler or a clayshooter, this is the place to come. It’s essentially a buyer’s paradise, with thousands of new and used shotguns to choose from at prices to suit every budget, including some terrific “show only” offers. And you can talk directly with manufacturers — from Boxall & Edmiston to Westley Richards — and the main distributors to help you make a decision on your next purchase. 2 YOU NEED A NEW RIFLE Again, there are thousands of new and used rifles for sale — simply look for the “Rifle Focus” signs on the stands at the show. These range from out-of-the-box and custom-built rifles, in an extensive range of calibres and for every kind of sport, whether it…

Robert Brown (left) started as keeper on neighbouring Hargham estate in 1980, having biked over to beat on the estate for the first time at the age of 11. He works closely with Quidenham’s farming tenants to ensure the optimum positioning of his covercrops: “I plan the location of covercrops two years ahead. There are outdoor pigs on the estate and they have to move after two years, so we need to know where they’re moving to so that we can plan the new drives.” He avoids the big maize blocks that are grown for feedstock: “If the birds get into it, they’ll get lost. It’s not so bad if the maize is clean and the birds can run ahead of the machinery when they harvest it. With a lot…

There are two aspects of trophy roe from Scotland that remain consistent. The first is the overall numbers that are presented for evaluation; the second the locations whence they come. Last year proved to be no exception, with the eastern side of the country producing the pick of the trophies, and in particular the highest-scoring heads. Having said that, there was a spread of heads from all parts of the country in 2015, from Caithness in the far north, down to the border and out to the southwest, in Wigtownshire. Weather patterns may change and, while we endlessly speculate as to how they will impact on our deer, the outcome as far as roe are concerned seems to be more of the same. However, the tables show that the numbers…

Despite the excesses of the Victorian and Edwardian sporting community, when some predators were erased from the British Isles and others pushed to the brink of extinction, there were a couple of predators that were simply too wily for gamekeepers — and have remained so ever since. The humble weasel and its larger cousin the stoat are still thriving to this day. It would appear that their only constraining factor is the food supply. I am often asked what is the difference between the two species. It is quite simple really: if it has a black tip to its tail, it’s a stoat. That said, I have caught the odd stoat that has lost that vital piece of identification, so it is not completely foolproof, but this applies to perhaps…

USE THE WEATHER: Shoot smart. Target the days when the weather is in your favour, forcing birds low, covering the sound of your shots, blowing them to your shooting spot, or giving you the shelter the birds want. BE MOBILE: Having a portable hide, float tube or boat to supplement your fixed hides means you can shoot where the birds actually are, not where you want them to be. ON OPEN WATER, OPEN THE SPREAD: When possible, set your decoy spread so that the direction of approach (into the wind) keeps the birds focused on the decoys and open water, not on your hide, which should be offset to the wind and the spread. PICK YOUR SHOTS: Multiple birds down, in different directions, means your dog will struggle to find…

TREE SPARROW Tree sparrows are the country cousins of house sparrows, with chocolate-coloured caps and black cheek spots. Once very common, their numbers have dropped by an alarming 95 per cent in the past 50 years. If you are lucky enough to have tree sparrows in your gamecover strips, they may stay around to breed if provided with suitable homes. They take readily to the wooden boxes that are designed for tits, as long as the entrance hole is 28mm in diameter. Tree sparrows live semi-colonially, so it’s a good idea to put up several boxes. Focus on natural areas with diverse habitats, particularly woodland edges that are close to water, as these are good places to find insect food to feed chicks. National Nest Box Week starts on 14…

COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE PROJECT TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC The Countryside Alliance (CA) has launched a new initiative that will spread the word about the contributions that the shooting community makes. The organisation says that its new Shooters of the UK project aims to bring to light all the benefits that shooting provides. There will be a particular focus on bringing its good work to the attention of the general public, who do not often get to hear about such work or “remain sceptical that it goes on at all”. CA head of shooting campaigns Liam Stokes said: “Those who go shooting know about all the great stuff we do for wildlife and for our communities, and there is some solid evidence out there to back us up. What we have to…

1 2-14 FEBRUARY THE BRITISH SHOOTING SHOW Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire Tel 01258 857700 15 FEBRUARY BTO BIRD ID AND THE BREEDING BIRD SURVEY How Hill Trust, Ludham, Norfolk Tel 01786 466560 21 FEBRUARY SAVILLS COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE POINT-TO-POINT Badbury Rings, Dorset Tel 01752 830430 3 MARCH GWCT RACE DAY Taunton Racecourse, Somerset Tel 07850 616181 12 MARCH BASC 2016 WILDFOWLING CONFERENCE Ramada Hotel, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands Tel 01244 573007 13 APRIL GAVIN GARDINER MODERN AND VINTAGE SPORTING GUN AUCTION Sotheby’s, London Tel 01798 875300…

RSPB Scotland and supermarket chain Aldi have joined forces to help children across Scotland learn more about nature. Under the partnership money from the sales of Aldi carrier bags in Scotland will be donated to the conservation charity to support its work in getting youngsters engaged with the natural environment. It will run for three years, having already run in England and Wales. Starting from April, a new RSPB schools outreach programme in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen will bring outdoor learning to inner-city schools. It will get children and their families involved in nature-based activities in green spaces across these cities. Giles Hurley, managing director of corporate buying at Aldi, said: “Our partnership will leave a long-lasting legacy: a generation of children who are connected to nature, benefit from it,…

On Saturday, 30 January, 15-year-old Francesca Hadley shot her first pheasant at the Newbold Pacey Hall shoot beaters’ day in Warwickshire. It was 30 years after her father, Rob, shot his own first pheasant on the same shoot, again on a beaters’ day. He was supervising while elsewhere his father John was in the Gunline, mother Pauline and younger sister Amelia were in the beating line, and the family’s German shorthaired pointer, Troy, was on hand for the retrieve. As one of the current keepers on the shoot, I have now seen four generations of the family shooting over the same ground, as Rob’s late grandfather was one of the Guns when I became a beater as a boy. As well as those four generations of the same family, we…

The sky was grey but dry when we left the Achness Hotel, in Rosehall, Sutherland, where the Gurkhas were staying, but as we headed west to the Ledmore larder the rain came down in sheets. It was monsoon-like by the time the Rifle for the day, Corporal Bhupendra, fired at the target. It was halfway through the first week of December last year, and a team of four soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Gurkha Rifles was gearing up for a day on the Ledmore estate with Marcus Munro from the Highland Shooting Centre. Two further teams were making their way to the Duke of Westminster’s Reay Forest and to Dalnessie estate, and a third made up a second party at Ledmore. Marcus explained that, given the atrocious weather,…

I have been lucky enough to be able to breed my own line of Twistmount Labradors and springer spaniels. This allows me to choose the sire and I know what kind of dog I am going to get, but not everyone is able to go down this route. However, once you have made the decision to get a puppy, either a new one to run on with your current dogs or your first dog, there is a wealth of advice on what to get and how to choose it. Before you leap into bloodlines, looking at potential parents and puppies, it is worth giving considerable thought to exactly what you want the dog for and what sort of work you intend doing with it. If you want a quiet, easy…

What can you do quite legally in England which could cost you a fine of up to £5,000 or even six months in jail if you repeated it in Scotland? Celebrate a famous World Cup win? No. Not wear a kilt to a wedding? Wrong again. The answer is docking a puppy’s tail. Tail docking was banned in England on 6 April 2007 and in Wales a few days earlier, but an exemption was made for working dogs. This allowed the legal docking, by a veterinary surgeon, of puppies less than five days old of hunt, point and retrieve (HPR) breeds and spaniels and terriers if evidence was provided that they were likely to be worked in connection with law enforcement, activities of the Armed Forces, emergency rescue, lawful pest…

Guy N. Smith is an author, writer, keen wildfowler and avid collector of cartridges, the more unusual the better I am fortunate in that, unlike many shooters, I have never suffered from “gun headaches”. For a century or more, gunmakers have been attempting to solve this unpleasant problem with different designs. In most cases, it is caused by shotguns that are ill-fitting, and lightweights firing heavier loads than those for which they were regulated. Indeed, the correct cartridge is a major factor in recoil reduction and comfortable shooting. The Pneumatic Cartridge Company carried out much research into this and came up with an innovative system in its products, which was hailed by many as a success. The company started in business in 1906 with premises at 96-98 Albert Street, Edinburgh,…

Benjamin Disraeli described India as “the brightest jewel in the crown”. It was Britain’s largest colonial territory, with valuable natural resources and an inexhaustible pool of cheap labour — and it generated millions in tax revenues. It was also a massive market for British goods and the gateway to trade with other countries. All of this wealth had to be managed for the good of the empire. Thousands of British Army officers, civil servants, district commissioners, engineers, lawyers and merchants governed India and its teeming millions. Being a member of the British administration brought a luxurious lifestyle few could dream of at home, together with unrivalled opportunities for all kinds of sport. “Shikar” (hunting) was a way of life in British India but of the variety on offer, hog-hunting, or…

IF YOU’RE PLANNING to breed from your bitch, selecting a suitable stud dog is the first challenge. Once it was simply a matter of asking the owner of a dog that you’d admired on shoot days if you could use that dog. It’s a system that many people still apply and I’ve done so with success. However, in more than 30 years of owning springers I’ve never had a Kennel Club (KC)-registered bitch, while I’ve always looked for sires that both pleased the eye and performed well, rather than worrying about pedigrees. For my last mating, I broke with tradition by using a proper stud dog from a show kennel that specialised in working its dogs. Fortunately, the dog’s owner wasn’t concerned that my working bitch wasn’t registered, while the…

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,…

For much of the year it’s easy to overlook the work of that little gentleman in black velvet, the mole, but that’s not the case in late winter. The meadows are grazed down and the flush of new growth has yet to appear, so this is when the mole’s excavations are most obvious. Moles are widespread in Britain, but are absent from Ireland and many of our offshore islands. They occur virtually everywhere else, except where soils are shallow or stony, waterlogged or too acidic for their liking. They are solitary creatures, only meeting up for mating. A female mole will have around 30m or 40m of tunnels, a male 50m. However, with the start of the breeding season in March, he will be extending to about 150m, digging long,…

“The school in rural Botswana had good broadband, whereas the Northumberland school’s was rubbish” I was wrong, I admit it and I take it all back. Sorry, Countryside Alliance, I should never have doubted you. I am talking about the Alliance’s campaign to highlight the plight of rural folk who are deprived of decent broadband. It has been raising a hue and cry over this for a while. Yet I confess I thought it was a fuss about nowt; an unnecessary diversion from the battle to promote and protect country sports and the rural way of life. (I don’t think I ever actually came out and said that — but I certainly thought it.) It was nothing to do with people like me. Or so I thought. What changed my…