Innholdsfortegnelse for 24-May-2017 i Shooting Times & Country

There’s something revitalising about rural rain. I love watching the burn at home swell and then burst, muddy water spilling across the fields, creating a paradise for dabbling teal. London rain is rather different: oily puddles bubble up out of blocked drains and floors on muggy buses become stickier than usual. When rain falls on the city, I stay inside. I’ve spent the past week lying on the sofa finishing Adam Nicolson’s new book, The Seabird’s Cry, and rereading Patrick Laurie’s The Black Grouse. As I looked up from an illustration of a fulmar last Wednesday, I noticed one of those television adverts, asking if I “would give just a quid a month for the snow leopard?” I smiled as I imagined a blackcock lekking on the screen and the…

26-28 MAY NRA ARMS FAIR AT THE PHOENIX 2017 National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Surrey Tel 01483 797777 28-29 MAY HIGHCLERE COUNTRY SHOW Highclere Castle, Newbury, Berkshire Tel 01889 563232 31 MAY NGO GAME MEAT HANDLING COURSE The Shoot Room, Ox House Farm, Combrook, Warwickshire Tel 01833 660869 10 JUNE THE KENILWORTH SHOW Stoneleigh Park, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire Website: www.kenilworthshow.co.uk 14 JUNE GWCT FARM WALK AND BARBECUE Corsehope, Heriot, Midlothian Tel 07719 634141 19 JULY THE FESTIVAL OF HUNTING East of England Showground, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire Tel 01733 234451…

Purdey buys back rare shotgun James Purdey & Sons has bought back a rare shotgun at a recent Holts auction. The London gunmaker only ever made 59 of the 12-bore single-barrelled self-opening sidelock ejector trap guns since they were first produced in 1922. Holts historian Donald Dallas commented: “Virtually all of these guns went to America, so it is rare to see one for sale in Britain.” This gun was sold in 1928 with 2 ¾ in chamber, bored three-quarter choke and weighing 7lb 13oz, contained within its original oak and leather case. It was estimated to fetch £4,000-£6,000, but Purdeys paid £8,000 to return the gun to its in-house collection. Narbeth man wins Fantastic Four prize Jamie Lewis of Narbeth, Pembrokeshire, won the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT)…

Spring rape Birds will start feeding on spring rape as it appears but usually only once the plant is showing true leaf. When it has got going, rape grows up very fast, so you must keep a close eye on it. Pigeons will destroy a crop of spring rape incredibly quickly. There is much less spring rape around, which is a great shame for pigeon shooters. Rape seed is expensive to produce and in general it yields so poorly that farmers are tending not to plant it as a spring crop. Peas A crop that in many areas ceased to be grown at one point, peas have made a comeback — much to the delight of many a pigeon shooter. It offers all-round shooting from drill to harvest and around…

RABBIT PIE Ingredients FOR THE PASTRY: 200ML WATER 170G LARD 450G PLAIN FLOUR 1TSP SALT FOR THE FILLING: A LITTLE OIL 1 ONION, SLICED 3 CLOVES OF GARLIC, CRUSHED 500G PORK MINCE 2 LARGE RABBIT THIGHS, SLICED AND BONES REMOVED SMALL HANDFUL OF WALNUTS, CHOPPED PINCH OF THYME 100ML GAME (OR BEEF) STOCK (PLUS EXTRA FOR THE JELLY) A DASH OF BRANDY ALSO: WILD GARLIC LEAVES (OPTIONAL) 1 EGG, BEATEN SHEET OF GELATINE THE METHOD Serves 4 1 Start by making the pastry; put the lard and water into a small pan and heat gently until the lard melts. Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt and make a well in the middle, pour in the lard and water and combine to make a dough. When the mixture…

WHO WANTS TO BREED VEGETARIAN FERRETS? With ferreting finished for the season, my thoughts have already turned towards the next one as important decisions need to be made: which ferrets need replacing, how many do I need and what do I need to do to ensure I can last another year? I am only breeding a couple of jills this time. The majority of kits will be kept here until I have worked them. If last year’s batch are anything to go by I will be more than happy. Breeding ferrets can be a minefield. Just because I have bred my best two working ferrets together doesn’t necessarily mean that their offspring will inherit their skills. In years gone by this has been a cause of concern, but hopefully I…

I often say this, but we could do with some more rain. May has been exceptionally dry here in Shropshire, and while April was wet enough, it too was drier than normal. Dry doesn’t always mean warm though, and we have had some cold, windy days, and nights when we have lit the fire in the evening to take the chill off the house. Not something we normally have to do in May. If the weather is as dry in June, providing it warms up enough for the insects to hatch, it should give the wild stock on our partridge project a much-needed lift. The situation at the moment is rather different, in that there is so little moisture in the ground that I have genuine concerns about establishing the…

The experts THE ULTIMATE SHOOTING QUIZ TEAM 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 rifle 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 Casting about for results FISHING…

Turn the slightly damp cork in the top of a whisky bottle, then leave it half a second and do the same again. That’s the sound of a corncrake, reminding us that its Latin name is Crex crex. These land rails, which spend the winter in Africa, used to breed in unimproved hay fields across the whole of the UK. Mechanisation and grassland mono-cultures do not agree with corncrakes and the decline has continued, especially across Ireland, which was still a stronghold at the time of the 1968-1972 breeding bird atlas. You’ll need to go to the western islands of Scotland or coastal Northern Ireland to have a good chance of hearing the wonderful summer calls of males. A recent attempt was made to reintroduce the species to East Anglia,…

BOOK TICKETS The Great British Shooting Show is just around the corner — a mere nine months away — in February 2018. OK, so you have a little time on this one, but if you like getting organised early then you should know that tickets are now available for the flagship annual shooting event at the NEC in Birmingham, which will feature stands, demonstrations and displays. Visit www.theticketfactory.com/shooting-show/to get yours now. LISTEN Visit BBC iPlayer Radio at po.st/ OnYourFarm for another chance to listen to this 2015 episode of On Your Farm, titled Gamekeepers: The Next Generation. It follows Caz Graham, who heads to Newton Rigg College in Cumbria to meet the next generation of gamekeepers, who are being trained in every aspect of running a shoot. START SAVING For those…

1 Browning B725 Pro Sport £3,560 www.browning.eu The B725 Pro range has been designed for perfect gun fit, whether you are shooting Sporting or Compak, with its Pro Balance system allowing you to redistribute the weight of the stock and barrels to fine-tune the gun’s balance just the way you want it. 2 Fur, Feather and Fin clay vest £45 www.furfeatherandfi n.com A hard-wearing but comfortable heavy cotton and mesh vest, this version includes two front pockets for easy access to cartridges. Available in sizes S-2XL. 3 Primos Polecat rifle rest £129.99 www.bushwear.co.uk This portable rest can be used as both a bipod and tripod and is easily adjustable, making it ideal for long-range hunting and shooting. Its unique design redirects the weight of the rifle close to the ground…

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT The retrieve is one of the gundog’s most important skills. But how do you teach retrieving perfection? WRESTLING WRASSE Once overlooked, the wrasse is a worthy foe and there are plenty of lures to go into battle with. SITTING PRETTY A good high seat is a boon to the hunter — but there are bad ones and some are downright awful. THE BROWN MAGICIAN Brown hares hold a certain mystique, and many Guns won’t shoot them, but what is their appeal? ... AND MUCH MORE!…

Rook pie may be an ancient tradition, but “to make a pie” is not the answer you should give a constable if he asks you why you are shooting branchers. The open general licences that allow us to kill rooks all year round do not include “harvesting as food” among the reasons why we can kill these birds. Rooks are a recognised pest and we can kill them to prevent crop damage and for the conservation of flora and fauna, among other reasons. It is then perfectly legitimate to eat them but not, incidentally, to offer them for sale to others — so no rook pie on restaurant menus, please. My own justification for trimming the rookery on the little Dorset shoot is that rooks are nest predators and I…

1 All the crops mentioned make it sound like you’ll be seeing a feeding bonanza. But the problem is the amount of food available — you have to be on top of your reconnaissance. 2 Don’t discount small numbers of pigeon. The surrounding trees and hedges could be jam-packed with pigeons that are hard to see due to heavy leaf. 3 Birds have split up at this point in the year and will be travelling in small groups, singles and pairs so don’t look for massive numbers on the wing. 4 Weather plays a huge part, especially over crops such as clover. Feeding patterns will change if the weather changes. Warm afternoons will always give you best results. 5 Some shooting is better than no shooting. Don’t shrug off an…

 SPROCKERGATE IS one of those stories that won’t go away and I had an interesting response to my last article on the subject (Gundogs, 15 March) from an American reader, Lisa Brown. She is well informed on the subject and calls herself an “amateur”. But she adds: “I did have the opportunity to train cockers daily alongside a professional handler for many years. I began running cockers in 2007, keeping the pro as my coach. “Perhaps we need a rule that no dog is declared a field trial champion until it has been tested” “My husband Hob and I have had six cocker field trial champions. Cockers and springers compete against each other in Canadian trials, so we are particularly proud of our accomplishments in Canada. I became interested in…

Pre-pubertal neuter — under six months: • Infant brain — needy and underconfident especially if neutered during one of the developmental fear periods. • Difficult to train as low concentration span. • Disliked by dogs for puppy behaviour in adult body. Adolescent neuter — six to 24 months except giant breeds up to four years: • Permanently adolescent behaviour. • Difficult to train as will be challenging boundaries. • Riskofongoing hypersexual behaviour. • Inappropriate behaviour with other dogs; confrontational and persistent. Mature neuter — over two years except giant breeds: • Training already done. • Behaviourmodification straightforward as has co-operative adult brain. • Respected by and respects other dogs. Additional behavioural issues associated with early neutering: • Separation anxiety. • Noise phobia. • Reactivity. • Underconfidence leading to aggression. •…

“The pistol gave two shots in quick succession, simply by cocking the hammer and pulling the trigger” As a boy I had a large collection of toy guns. A favourite was a double-barrelled derringer that fired bits of potato propelled by the old paper cap. I soon found that better ballistics could be obtained by using a plasticine bullet covered with silver foil, using several caps and a tiny pinch of powder from a dismantled banger. The ballistics were so good that the pistol cracked under the pressure. That saddened me but by then I had a Webley Premier air pistol. Nonetheless the double-barrelled derringer caught my imagination and some 50 years later I bought myself a real one, made in about 1890. It was invented by a New York…

“Some years, traps can only be baited with eggs; other years, carrion can be used again” We’ve had a crow’s nest in the Scots pine trees behind the house. I run three or four Larsen traps up on the hill from early April until mid-June, but this nest is close enough to home that I can see it from my desk. I am usually too busy at this time of year to do more than empty the traps, fill up the water bowls and make sure that all the call birds are fit and healthy. In less hectic years when time is on my side, I make a point of sitting back from a trap with a pair of binoculars to see what happens when my back is turned. This…

Latin name: Acer campestre Common name: Field maple Other names: Common elder, common maple, dog oak, hedge maple, whistle-wood How to spot it and where to find it: Britain’s only native maple is an attractive medium-sized tree, quick growing and resilient. It can grow up to 20m high but makes a good hedge plant because it tolerates pruning. It comes into leaf in April and in May produces small, yellowish-green cupped flowers. Paired winged fruits are yellow-green tinged with crimson. The trunk of the field maple tends to be short, supporting a broad crown. Interesting facts: As with all acers, the sap of the British version can be used to make maple syrup. Its leaves are the food plant of caterpillars of the maple pug, mocha, winter, sycamore and small…

As you might expect from an animal that has been domesticated for 5,000 years, donkeys have evolved into a number of different types, depending on the use to which they were put. However, the variety is far less than it is with the donkey’s cousin, the horse. Here in the British Isles it is rare for a donkey to be ascribed to a breed: most are referred to as a standard donkey, which means a height of about 11 hands (44in). We also have miniature donkeys with a maximum height of nine hands. However, the American mammoth donkey and the French Poitou can both go to 16 hands high. Today most donkeys are kept as pets or companion animals, but in the late 19th century as many as 100,000 were…

When I was growing up in rural Buckinghamshire, there was a farmer who used to hang foxes in a prominent tree. Dead foxes, I mean. He used the tree as a monstrous gibbet. It was somewhere near the village of Steeple Claydon, I seem to recall, though my memory may be flawed. We used to ride our bicycles over to visit, hoping to view whatever latest act of vulpicide was being put on public display. Sometimes the number of foxes ran into double figures. This was in the 1970s — an age that is regarded as prehistory by my children. How do you think the notorious “fox tree” would go down with the local populace and the media today? In case you are wondering, the farmer had a grudge against…

“Finding a rookery is not so hard — you can tell if you are under one from the noise” “Four-and-20 blackbirds baked in a pie.” If you believe the pundits, the black birds of the nursery rhyme were rooks, but I have my doubts, as it goes on: “When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing.” Do you think our ancestors thought the raucous cackle of rooks was song? Rook pie was once a significant food item at a hungry time of year. In the modern world of plenty, we forget that by May the grain stores would have been running low, the barrels of salted meat almost empty, the last wrinkly apples rotting and there would still be precious little new growth. Apart from an occasional feast,…

Moles find it difficult to get into my back garden. Frustratingly, they also find it difficult to get out. A single mole gained entry last winter and did its best to wreck my lawn. Rowan the spaniel tried to catch it but it proved far too elusive: it was eventually trapped. Rowan’s failure was disappointing, as mole-hunting is one of her favourite pastimes. Moling, as it is now known, consists of walking very slowly in a bid to locate the mole. Once underground movement is detected, Rowan cocks and turns her head, apparently following the subterranean tunneling. If the gentleman in velvet is deemed close enough to the surface, then furious digging follows, but subsequent captures are quite rare. I now appreciate that she really needs an assistant. Reader and…

When I was about 10 years old and starting to recover from one of the few genuine doses of flu I’ve ever had, I picked up a book that I’d never noticed before. It was Brendon Chase by BB — Shooting Times contributor Denys Watkins-Pitchford MBE — and it turned out to be about three brothers who ran off to live in a forest rather than go back to boarding school, some time around the turn of the 20th century. But the first thing that struck me was the frontispiece. It showed a boy, wearing some sort of kilt — which I later learned was made of rabbit skins — following an animal’s footprints in the snow. Above was a huge arch of trees and winter sky. Perhaps the effects…