Innholdsfortegnelse for 18-Jan-2017 i Shooting Times & Country

The trialling world was rocked to its foundations last week by a report in The Sun about a gundog alleged to be a sprocker being used in cocker spaniel trials (see p.4). Aside from the obvious concerns that arise from the allegations, other questions have surfaced. How can you definitively determine the breed purity of a dog, particularly a breed that has evolved through years of cross-breeding and so contains more than a sprinkling of springer genes? DNA testing is a miracle of modern science and if this were one of those American crime programmes, it would be a simple matter to unearth the truth, but fiction rarely reflects reality. DNA testing can identify the parents, but not breed purity. I also wonder why the Kennel Club has been so…

The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) has issued a seasonal reminder to its members of the importance of following the Code of Best Practice on the use of snares for foxes in England. The new 12-page code was launched in October and is a collaboration between a number of rural organisations (News, 26 October). It is aimed at people who use snares in the English countryside and seeks to improve animal management and conservation in fox control while minimising the risk to other species. An NGO spokesman said: “We urge members, and all others who set snares for foxes in England, to read the code and to abide by it. Please remember that the NGO can provide training in fox snaring best practice.” Visit po.st/snarecode to download a copy of the…

23 JANUARY GWCT FARMLAND BIRD ID DAY Culfargie, Balbeggie, Perth and Kinross Tel 01572 718730 25 JANUARY VENISON BUTCHERY MASTERCLASS AND GAME DINNER Swan at Lavenham Hotel & Spa, Lavenham, Suffolk Tel 01787 247477 28 JANUARY BASC MINK CONTROL TRAINING COURSE Woodland Skills Centre, Bodfari, Denbighshire Tel 01244 573029 31 JAN – 5 FEB JAGD & HUND HUNTING TRADE FAIR Rheinlanddamm, Dortmund, Germany Tel +49 (0)231 12040 5 FEBRUARY SCOTTISH LADIES SHOOTING CLUB EVENT Cluny Clays, Kirkcaldy, Fife Tel 07971 547826 16 FEBRUARY KEEPERS CHOICE GAME & COUNTRYSIDE CONFERENCE Cokethorpe School , Witney, Oxfordshire Tel 01489 780033…

Win shoot day in raffle The Angling Trust and Fish Legal have put a day’s shooting for eight Guns worth £15,000 up for raffle in support of its Save Our Salmon campaign and other conservation initiatives. Entrants have a chance of winning the day out at the Hurdcott/Compton Chamberlayne shoot in Wiltshire, complete with a fine lunch served at Hurdcott House. Tickets cost £100, though are strictly limited to 300 places and must be sold by Friday, 31 March, at the latest. Visit www.shoot.anglingraffle.net for more information and to enter the raffle. New rural funding good for shooting The Rural Development Programme for England Growth Programme has announced that it has made £120million available for rural communities. Rural and farm businesses will be able to apply for the funding, which…

“I hope to continue to take a modest harvest of this wonderful quarry” “You can shoot everything except woodcock.” I have heard those words at pre-shoot briefings with such regularity over the past few years that I have started to wonder who, apart from me, appreciates shooting this hugely challenging and utterly delicious quarry. I accept completely the host’s right to apply whatever rules he chooses on his own shoot, but when I have raised the matter with landowners, I have received some quite curious answers. “They’re such pretty birds,” said one. “They come from so far to get here,” said another. As a wildfowler, used to hunting the most colourful of migratory species that have flown here from Scandinavia or Russia, I find it hard on either count to…

Steward of the beat: Mr T. Barrow Chief steward: Mr J. Dickson Judges: Mr J. Organ, Mr B. Randall, Mr S. Wanstall and Mr G. West 1 Mr D. Ormond’s Byrbwll Dotty 2 Mr L. Cooper’s Breckmarsh Brook 3 & GUNS’ CHOICE Mr J. and Mrs C. Atkinson’s FTCh Dakotagun Arwin, handled by Mr J. Atkinson 4 Mr A. Waterhouse’s Spritedawn Mystic DIPLOMAS OF MERIT Mr I. Openshaw’s Endowood Clowne handled by Mrs W. Openshaw Mr J. Heeley’s Endowood Beatrice handled by Mr I. Openshaw Mr M. Farish’s Baileys Pure Gold Mr J.S. and Mrs R. Reid’s Glenugie’s Nalanihandled by Mr I. Openshaw Mr W. Greig’s Zamyendor Minnie Mr J. Heeley’s FTCh Mallowdale Georgi handled by Mr I. Openshaw Mr W. Clulee’s Jacksheated of Poolgreen Ms J. Menzies’ Fernmoss Gold…

Of all the different variations of hammergun I find those with back-action locks among the most pleasing in lines and style. With a rounded action bar, and particularly if sporting Damascus barrels, they look just right. Even though I have a personal preference for the snap underlever, I can still appreciate that a neatly shaped top-lever adds to, rather than detracts from, the flowing lines of a shotgun like this Charles Smith. It is a good example of its type and, for hammergun enthusiasts, a very practical gun to use and great fun with blackpowder. The maker Charles Smith started business circa 1879 in Newark, Nottinghamshire. In 1890 the company became Charles Smith & Sons and a little later C. Smith & Sons (Newark). However, the address on this gun…

1 BARREL, MUZZLE CROWN: this is one area of the barrel that takes a lot of abuse from the outside and the inside. Whether you fit a sound moderator, muzzle brake or not, any damage, corrosion or imperfection here will cause problems down range. The muzzle is the last part of the rifle to influence the bullet’s flightpath and any damage, wear or obstruction here is detrimental. This is one area that I would get a gunsmith to sort out for you. There are tools that use calibre-specific spigots to locate in the barrel muzzle and re-cut the crown, but you can do more harm than good. It is best to get a barrel professionally re-cut in a lathe. While you are at it, get the gunsmith to radius the…

“The press suggested that the cocker puppy was a pet, but we all know Her Majesty prefers corgis” EARLIER THIS MONTH, I did something I’d never done before: I bought a copy of The Sun. I’d had a tip-off that the paper included a gundog news story, and sure enough, on the cover was the headline Royal exclusive: Queen’s dog in cheat storm — see page 7. I turned to the page to find a picture of HM the Queen with a black cocker puppy under her arm. The puppy had a speech bubble saying “At least I’m not a King Charles”; a reminder that The Sun likes to make its readers smile. The gist was that four-year-old Mallowdale Diamond, given to the Queen in 2013 to celebrate her Diamond…

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 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 Times, Pinehurst…

Seasons can be as much about food availability as about temperature. We might think that it is the middle of winter but crossbills may already be breeding, timing their nesting attempts to match the appearance of conifer seeds. Crossbills are very much associated with the conifers of Scotland and Wales but commercial forests in England have breeding pairs too. A highly mobile species of finch, they move across the whole of Europe. Population explosions, caused by a high crop of seed, can lead to large-scale movements of birds in the summer and the colonisation of new areas, with them crossing the North Sea and invading the UK. As well as common crossbill, the influxes can include parrot crossbill and two-barred crossbill. The Scottish version, now considered a separate species, is…

“Enjoying shooting without being a member of a body is shortsighted and perhaps even selfish” On 20 January, Donald Trump will be installed as President of the US. Say what you like about His Trumpness (and I do) but he has shaken things up. The gratifying thing is that some of the ripples are washing ashore over here — much to the discomfort of the political classes. Whatever else The Donald achieves during his presidency, he has managed to upset certain people. Take his recent appointment of congressman Ryan Zinke to head up the Department of the Interior. This job has a major impact on the US outdoor community. The Interior Department has responsibility for all federal land — including national parks. It also oversees the US Fish and Wildlife…

“We have received reports of an ABS member ‘inventing’ breeds” Afield trial champion gundog owned by HM the Queen has been accused of not being a true cocker spaniel and instead a springer-cocker, or “sprocker”, passed off as a pedigree breed. The Sun recently reported that rival competitors have called for DNA tests to prove the breed of field trial champion bitch Mallowdale Diamond, which was given to the Queen as a present by handler Ian Openshaw in January 2013 to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. Shooting Times previously reported on allegations of sprockers running in field trials last year (Sprocker versus cocker, 7 September). Not only would trialling spaniels with the heritage of the larger and faster springer give the dogs an unfair advantage, it would jeopardise the pedigree —…

ENTER There are just 10 days left to enter the Sunseeker Boodles Cup clayshooting competition, which closes on 28 January. The overall winner will be able to choose one of two top prizes: a seven-day yacht charter in the Cote d’Azur for eight guests courtesy of Sunseeker London or a piece of fine jewellery from Boodles, each worth around £80,000. Entry costs just £50, which includes 50 warm-up birds plus two attempts at the sequence. Competitors can enter as many times as they wish. For more information and to enter, visit rbss.co.uk. IN THE GARDEN If you haven’t taken your Christmas tree down yet it is way past time — and if it is a natural tree you can put it to use in the garden by shredding it for…

Shooting Times and our sister magazines Sporting Gun and Shooting Gazette are sponsoring the 2017 Royal Berkshire Shooting School (RBSS) Handicap Challenge. Now in its 16th year, the competition is renowned for its handicapping system, which allows average club shooters to compete on a par with high-level Shots and have a genuine chance of winning. The magazines will each host their own cup category during the event (see p.26). The competition starts on 2 February and takes place over 11 weeks. For the culmination of the Handicap Challenge, 60 finalists will meet at RBSS for the final on Tuesday, 2 May, where the top 40 Clay Pigeon Shooting Association handicapped scores and the top 20 RBSS handicapped scores will be invited to go head to head over a new 100-target…

THE FULL PACKAGE At the risk of exhausting the subject of terriers I write in reaction to both your article on terriers (Reining in the born anarchist, 30 November) and the subsequent comments from C. Richmond (Letters, 21 December). We have a 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Bobo (right), who is the best gundog we have ever owned. Granted, she learned from her sadly deceased “big brother” (a working cocker), but ultimately she outsmarted him from every angle. She repeatedly puts the other gundogs to shame during organised shoots. Her patience during pigeon shooting is astounding for her breed. She flushes, points, becomes increasingly frustrated with her owner for not “listening” to her signals and thus losing valuable game. Her recall is faultless. Best of all she picks-up at every given…

“My dog made it over the flooded ditch with a dramatic plunge and a daring clamber up the far bank” It’s always fun to shoot somewhere new, and it’s doubly so when you see our sport being done “the old-fashioned way”. Invited for a day’s roughshooting in Wigtownshire, I set off into a dark and wet December morning with the dog packed in the boot and the shotgun across the back seats. After a few introductions, we were quickly off along the banks of the river Bladnoch, a deep, winding torrent that once provided water for Scotland’s most southerly distillery. Duck can occasionally be ambushed from the various reedy corners of the river. After the first drive yielded three brace of pheasants, we split into two groups and began a…

“If a dispute between these territorial birds cannot be settled by threats and calls, fights can be violent” In my youth, I used to catch a lot of birds, especially when I was working hard to complete the training necessary to become a licensed British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ringer. I vividly remember getting up early on cold February mornings to visit a reservoir in Staffordshire to catch duck. If we were lucky we would fire a cannon-net over a flock of wigeon, feeding on bait in front of the net at first light. If we were unlucky, instead of placid, prettily marked duck, we would catch coots. There is not much to a coot; these are scrawny black birds, each with a mean look in the eye, a sharp…

Some of the airgunner’s prime shooting opportunities crop up during the early part of the year, when leafless trees and limited feeding opportunities make it easier to catch up with quarry species. This prime time coincides with some of our coldest weather, but there is no reason to miss out on the action as long as you follow a few basic pointers to stay warm, comfortable and safe. With the right clothing and a few simple accessories, you can enjoy sizzling winter sport even on the chilliest of days. STAY SAFE There are times when the weather is just too bad, or the roads too treacherous, to risk heading out on a shooting trip, so use common sense to make the call on when that is. When you do venture…

If you aren’t interested in the pedigrees of top trialling Labradors, read no farther. If you are, carry on, for I can reveal some extraordinary statistics that you are unlikely to have read anywhere else. Remarkably, all but one of the Labradors that qualified for the 2016 International Gundog League Retriever Championship can trace their ancestry back to just two sires in their male bloodline: FTCh Sendhurst Sweep and FTChGreatford Teal. Of the two, Sendhurst Sweep is most dominant, as no fewer than 35 of the Labradors that competed can claim to be his direct descendants. Greatford Teal can count an impressive 18 dogs carrying his genes. Only Vanessa King’s Zambuck Linnet breaks the mould, for her bitch has neither of these dogs in her male bloodline: the most famous…

Latin name: Flavoparmelia caperata Common name: Greenshield lichen How to spot it and where to find it: A conspicuous medium-to-large lichen with a leaf-like, or “foliose”, appearance, greenshield lichen is pale grey when dry and yellow-green when wet. It has rounded lobes, measuring 3mm to 8mm wide, which have a wrinkled appearance, especially in older specimens. Lichens are slow growing and can be found on bark and rock; consequently old, or ancient, trees and woods offer good continuity of habitat. But lichens can grow almost everywhere, from shady woods to sun-baked rocks and even on toxic wasteground. Orchards can also be good places to seek out unusual lichens whose colours range from bright yellow-orange to the apple-green of common greenshield. Interesting facts: Lichens are two types of organism working in…

Anyone familiar with the somewhat ridiculous basset hounds bred for the show ring has a shock when they see working bassets for the first time, for though short-legged and long-eared, these are sound, athletic hounds that have the endurance to run all day. Bassets have their origins in France, where they were bred by monks for hunting ground game. Several distinctively different types of bassets evolved, from the bleu de Gascogne to the griffon Vendéen, and private basset gun packs remain popular in France for flushing game. In England bassets have always been hunted on foot, so unlike foxhounds they have never been bred for speed. They can be surprisingly quick, though they are generally easier to keep up with than beagles, allowing their followers to see more of the…

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Gamekeepers in Angus and Grampian partnered with three family support charities to provide Christmas dinner for 87 households last month. Game for Giving donated venison and pheasant to vulnerable families in the area. Professional motorcycle racer Ryan Farquhar raised almost £5,000 for the Air Ambulance Northern Ireland service at a charity clayshoot at Rathfriland Clay Pigeon Club last month. The Dungannon-based rider was rescued by the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service following his serious accident at the North West 200last year. A suspected slurry leak on a six-mile stretch of the river Teifi in south-west Wales has killed more than 1,000 fish and potentially other wildlife. Experts have described the incident on this Special Area of Conservation as an “environmental disaster”. BASC’s firearms team received more than 1,100 calls from its…

The photograph of wild boar in a Croatian snowfield (Country Diary, 29 December) brought vividly to mind an unusual encounter on a flight between Amman, Jordan, and Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, in the mid-1970s. I was in one of the two front passenger seats when this immaculately dressed gentleman of mature years sat next to me, and carefully placed a leather roll on the floor at his feet. He proved to be a German with excellent English. Our conversation soon turned to sports and pastimes. He, too, proved to be an enthusiastic fieldsportsman who told me his family had once owned large estates. He asked whether I had ever hunted in Germany, Austria and Poland. It was then that he spoke lyrically of hunting wild boar in crisp snow at night…

“The heather is looking remarkably green, with no biting winds nor hard frosts to brown it” The somewhat dark days of the early part of the year are always rather hard work. Often miserable, sometimes very windy, and all you really want to do is get on with some of the vital jobs. I must admit the grouse keeper’s life is so much different from when I started out all those years ago. No medicated grit then; now it is the first job at the end of the season. We used to give our birds a really good supply of plain Cornish quarts during the summer months, when, on nice days, you also got a good idea just how well, or badly, your stock had done for you. There were…

ROAST PHEASANT WITH PARSNIP CRISPS AND WATERCRESS Ingredients 2 OVEN-READY PHEASANTS 50G BUTTER 2 PARSNIPS SUNFLOWER OIL SEA SALT BLACK PEPPER 50G WATERCRESS TO SERVE THE METHOD Serves 4 PREPARATION TIME: 10 MINUTES COOKING TIME: APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES 1 Bring both birds to room temperature and season, then set aside. Preheat the oven and a roasting tin to 220°C. 2 Melt half the butter in a pan on a medium-high heat. When the butter is foaming, sear the pheasants for two minutes on each side, then add them and the contents of the pan to the tin and roast in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes. 3 Peel the parsnips and trim off both ends then, using the peeler, continue to shave the parsnips to make the crisps. 4…

Scratched-face spaniel VETERINARY CARE Q Now I am retired I have been able to work my spaniels more frequently this season. One has so many cuts around her eyes and over her muzzle from having to retrieve birds from deep cover that it doesn’t take much to make them start bleeding again. Is there anything I can use to stop this happening? A This is something of an occupational hazard for dogs that all too willingly enter dense cover and sustain cuts and abrasions around their face as a result. Abraded wounds have to heal by a process called “granulation” whereby initially new scar tissue comes in to fill the wound. Granulation tissue doesn’t have the strength of normal skin and until it can be replaced naturally by each of…