Innholdsfortegnelse for November 4, 2015 i Shooting Times & Country

LAST WEEK I joined four friends for a boundary day at Rotherfield in Hampshire. We bid for it in a Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) fund-raiser and were looking forward to shooting on the beautiful estate known for its successful reintroduction of wild grey partridges. It’s always an adventure shooting somewhere new. We were welcomed by legendary GWCT keeper Malcolm Brockless at the pretty hamlet of East Tisted. He explained that we were to walk-up cock pheasants and that hares were fair game. Being from Devon, the lads were a bit unsure, as hares are a rarity down our way, but Hampshire is good hare country and the work that goes into wild conservation creates a harvestable surplus. Seeing all the beetle banks and coverstrips, hearing the skylarks and…

Experts last week concluded that a wasp caught in a chance sweep of a butterfly net at the RSPB’s Broadwater Warren reserve in 2013 was a Lymantrichneumon disparis – a species previously unknown to Britain. The Peter Barney Memorial Shoot, held in Bourne last month, has raised £800 for the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. Gardaí have revealed an increase in deer poaching operations in Co Donegal. Officers have intercepted two suspected gangs from Carlow and Kildare in recent weeks and have launched a campaign to raise awareness about such crimes. Pork products, such as bacon, sausages and ham, could be as carcinogenic as tobacco, according to a new report from the World Health Organisation. “Calling all farmers — take part in the Big Farmland Bird Count — highlight your…

With the last few minutes of sunlight, two shapes came rushing off the dry bracken above me. The first was a jackdaw, squalling and yelling in horrified panic. This flailing black shape was in chaotic contrast to the smooth, controlled rigidity of the pursuer; a hen sparrowhawk was closing the gap with every fractional second. Just when collision seemed inevitable, the jackdaw turned and took a new angle, like a hard-pressed rabbit, screaming all the while and filling the quiet valley with piercing yells. The hawk regrouped and tried again, blurring in like the bolt from a crossbow as the jackdaw vanished into the thickness of a stand of Scots pine trees, falling suddenly silent in the safety of the deep green needles. Not wanting to pursue its prey among…

Lightweight folding seat: I’m impressed with this. It’s well made with a lightweight adjustable metal frame. It has a good padded seat but can become uncomfortable after long periods. You can adjust the height correctly to shoot from, it goes into any ground and stays stable. It will also fit into a kit bag if you have a long walk to the hide. Idleback shotgun chair: These are well made and adjust to a great height to shoot from. The padded bicycle-style seat is comfortable, the swivel chair moves brilliantly and has a comfortable backrest. You can adjust the legs to suit most ground but the chair is heavy so would be a non-starter if you had to walk to the hide. Home-made office chair: Old office chairs can make…

Shoot day preparation has dominated the working day and night for weeks now, since the pheasants arrived, so my annual stalk on the west coast of Scotland felt more welcome than ever. It was also timely food for thought, with an appearance before Scottish ministers at Holyrood, to chew over the often contentious issue of deer management. I made my way up the west, ready to walk up some steep mountains after a stag. The rut was in full swing, beasts roaring in every corrie, and the day was one of the warmest all year in an area not unfamiliar with rain. It was far too warm for climbing hills — but the stalker, Michael McNally, was kind to me, allowing me a breather every half-hour. Spying from down on…

WHAT TO LOOK FOR Barrel: Check it is not bent or damaged at the muzzle, as all Relums had a hard life — I saw one once propping up a feed tray for pigs on a farm! Action: Check the action cocks and trigger engages and is safe, as replacing springs and piston washers or seals may not be worth the value of the gun. Weight: 7lb 5.5oz Length: 45in Features: Not a lot, but it has a nice stock Supplier: Only second-hand Prices: From £30 1 BARREL 19in barrel that is only available in .22 calibre 2 SIGHTS Very basic open sights, but it does have short twin dovetails that you can mount a scope on 3 ACTION Underlever cocking was surprisingly smooth,…

The experts THE ULTIMATE SHOOTING QUIZ TEAM TOM PAYNE Professional shooting instructor and avid pigeon shooter MAT MANNING Airgunner and journalist from the West Country BRUCE POTTS Shooting Timesrifle reviewer and stalker SIMON WHITEHEAD Author, professional ferreter and rabbit controller 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 working gundogs TONY JACKSON A game Shot, keen stalker and former editor of Shooting Times What you’ll learn THE LAW ON SHOOTING FROM A BOAT HOW TO FIND A FERRET THE DISTANCE SHOT WILL CARRY PLUS: LAW / FIELD TRIALS / FISHING Contact the team Email: stanswers@timeinc.com By…

Early November is a good time to listen for tawny owls; this is when they set up their territories for the next breeding season, which could begin as early as February. The male produces the characteristic hooting noise, but both sexes use the “kee-vik” contact call. Females make the most of the long, dark nights of late winter to build up the resources they need to lay up to five eggs. Though small mammals form the major part of the species’ diet, birds, frogs and even worms supplement these, especially in years when vole numbers are low. Short, rounded wings are well suited to manoeuvring in woodland, where hunting owls can pluck roosting birds off branches. To get a daytime view of a tawny owl, listen out for the alarm…

READ Written by Douglas Sutherland, this reprint of The Yellow Earl tells the life story of renowned hunter and womaniser Hugh Lowther, the 5th Earl of Lonsdale, whose actions rocked the Edwardian aristocracy. Published by Merlin Unwin Books with an RRP of £20. START SAVING You will need between £2,000 and £3,000 to get your hands on a revolver once owned by one of the world’s greatest marksmen. That’s the estimated sale price of Waltern Winans’ .450 Model 3 Smith & Wesson revolver (pictured), which goes up for auction at the Bonham sale on 3 December. Winans won gold for the US in the double-shot deer-running event at the 1908 Olympic Games and was able to snuff out a candle with one shot and cut a playing card in half…

ABOUT THE TRAINER Neil Varney is a recognised Kennel Club judge for both spaniels and retrievers, and is the host and spaniel trainer for both the Wiltshire and Dorset Gundog Clubs. He runs his own training group, Twistmount Gundogs in Redlynch, Somerset, and travels the country, giving demonstrations and holding training sessions. Many novice handlers aspire to be part of a picking-up team, but few are fully aware of the responsibility that comes with working your dog in what is a vital part of a gameshoot. The aim of a good picker-up is not to come back to the gamecart laden with dead birds, but to find those elusive runners and pricked birds. A good picker-up and his team of dogs will make every effort to sweep an area, not…

AT THE END of this month the Duke of Buccleuch’s Queensberry estate, in Dumfries and Galloway, hosts the 2015 International Gundog League Retriever Championship. The event starts on Monday, 30 November, with the competition continuing over the following two days. This will be a historic championship, as it’s likely to be the last ever to be held over three days — next year the event reverts to being a two-day affair. The last two-day championship was held in 1995. On that occasion the competition was also staged at Queensberry, and the winner was Sarah Chichester with her black Labrador FTCh Highdunscott Alice of Wiscombe. Sarah beat 37 other dogs to win that championship, but the judges were finding it increasingly difficult to appraise so many dogs in just a couple…

7 NOVEMBER NGO GAME MEAT HYGIENE COURSE The Enniskillen Hotel, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh Tel 01833 660 869 1 3 NOVEMBER CHELTENHAM COUNTRYSIDE RACE DAY Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire Tel 01242 513014 14 NOVEMBER WILD GAME NIGHT The Cuan Restaurant, 6-12 The Square, Strangford, Co Down Tel 028 4488 1222 14 -1 5 NOVEMBER ANGLESEY WINTER SHOW The Anglesey Agricultural Showground, Gwalchmai, Holyhead, Anglesey Tel 01407 720072 17 NOVEMBER TENTH NORTH OF ENGLAND GROUSE SEMINAR Ripley Castle, Harrogate, North Yorkshire Tel 01833 651936 17 NOVEMBER FORESTRY COMMISSION PIE AND PINT EVENT Mercure Kidderminster, Habberley Road, Bewdley, Worcestershire Tel 03000 674190…

Hunting ban vote still coming Environment secretary Elizabeth Truss MP has confirmed that a vote on plans to amend the hunting ban is still on the way. Her comments came during a review of DEFRA’s performance over the past year by members of the environment, food and rural affairs committee, led by MP Neil Parish. Ms Truss said that the vote will go before MPs as soon as “Parliamentary time is available,” though indicated that there is as yet no set date for the debate. British conservation work acknowledged An international conference in Finland last month recognised the contribution that British shooters make towards conservation. More than 100 experts and stakeholders met at the conference, organised by Metsähallitus Parks and Wildlife Finland, where BASC head of diversity, Ian Danby, presented…

Who are you and what do you do? I am the director of the Moorland Association, a members’ association for managers and owners of heather moorland in England and Wales. What does a typical week involve for you? Often you’ll find me in a steering group meeting, joining dots between research, practitioners and policy. It could be a GWCT uplands research group, or with the University of York, looking at the hydrological and ecological impacts of burning and mowing. What would you say is the greatest issue in shooting and conservation at the moment? Demonstrating the overall benefits to conservation of land management for shooting. Those who oppose shooting, or have concerns about single issues or species, do not see the fuller picture or appreciate the consequences that a simplistic…

It’s human nature to simplify difficulties, tackling them with a single-shot miracle cure. Fortunately for the breed, the Working Clumber Spaniel Society (WCSS) has resisted that temptation for more than 30 years. In calmly dealing with the needed improvement of hips, eyes and temperament, the WCSS has shown that properly researched support for its breeders eliminates health problems while retaining working prowess. A few hours spent with a modern working Clumber spaniel tells you that much. Periodically, those who like a good horror story declare the imminent downfall of the breed by some new plague. The current alarm in Clumber spaniels is exercise-induced collapse (EIC) — to the point where EIC itself is far less of a danger than the unreasoned fear of it (see The perils of inbreeding, 14…

PICNIC CHAIR: As the name suggests, this chair is for sitting around with friends on lazy summer afternoons. The only thing going for this type of chair is the drink holder. For shooting purposes, it sits far too low. BUCKET SEAT WITH SWIVEL TOP: There are a few different types of these and most of them are rubbish. The build quality is poor. Yes, you may be able to put empties in them at the end of the day but a plastic bag is just as good. They rarely sit level on any ground and are much too low. CAMO SWIVEL SEAT CHAIR: Again, the build quality is poor on many of the different versions of this type of seat. You may be able to carry kit in the rucksack…

If you’re an aspiring spaniel trialler, getting your dog accustomed to rabbits is essential, but that’s not easy if you live in southern or eastern England. Rabbit pens are the usual answer, though crafty dogs soon work out that they are artificial. They expect to find rabbits at once, and quickly become accustomed to being handled and stopped once the bunny bolts. My first experience of a rabbit pen took place on a spring bank holiday many years ago. A friend had been told of a rabbit pen into which we could take our spaniels. It was a memorably wet day, and I recall that we were already soaked before we even took the dogs into the pen. It was large so “rabbit enclosure” would have been a better description…

Oology is the branch of ornithology that studies birds’ eggs. It comes from the Greek word “oion”, which means egg. Oology also refers to the hobby of collecting wild birds’ eggs, which was made illegal under the 1954 Protection of Birds Act. Interestingly, these two forms of oology are not necessarily complementary. Studying eggs can provide important information on bird breeding habits and nesting, but collecting eggs — a popular pastime in the 19th and 20th centuries — can have negative impacts on bird populations. As the website www.birds.com points out, collectors did not just remove one egg from the nest “but the entire clutch of eggs. The rarer the bird, the more valuable their eggs became, and this endangered them even more.” Today egg collecting, under licence, can be…

When the ban on foxhunting was introduced 10 years ago many thought that it would be the end of the sport. That, of course, isn’t the case, and this coming weekend many of the 174 packs in England and Wales, and the 10 in Scotland, will be holding their opening meets. This marks the start of hunting proper, with a fully entered pack. Autumn hunting, with its early-morning starts, is over, and most packs will now meet at 11am throughout the season. While autumn hunting is low key, this all changes for the opening meet. Those members of the hunt who are entitled to wear red coats will do so, while most mounted followers will wear black coats. Horses are groomed until their coats shine, their manes will be plaited…

I saw a letter in the Daily Telegraph suggesting that the Quantock Hills, in Somerset, should be declared a national park. This comes hard on the Government’s announcement that two existing national parks — the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales — are going to be extended (News, p8). The news was greeted with joy by the sort of campaigners who seem genuinely convinced that the only thing standing between scenic countryside and the vile hand of Man is an official conservation designation — the more onerous the better. This attitude may be rather irksome to those of us who live in the countryside, or make our livelihoods there, or enjoy traditional countryside pursuits. Of course, we all want the most beautiful bits of our countryside “protected”, but from whom,…