Innholdsfortegnelse for 28-Jun-2017 i Shooting Times & Country

The little dog’s bloody bandage had come undone and it was shuffling around on the floor, feebly licking its split, weeping tail. “What’s wrong with it?” asked my younger brother, recoiling from the grim sight. “Animal welfare,” replied the old boy sitting across from us, as he pulled more tape from his pocket. My brother didn’t get the joke, but up and down Scotland that morning hundreds of dogs were enduring similar injuries. The cause, of course, was the tail docking ban introduced by the Scottish Government in 2007. While I fully believe that the likes of poodles and pinschers should be free to pootle around with the entirety of their tail, it is — as any shooting man knows — the painful, bloody reality that working HPRs and spaniels…

30 JUN-2 JUL SCOTTISH GAME FAIR 2017 Scone Palace, Perthshire Tel 0844 776 6777 2 JULY BASC NI GREY SQUIRREL CONTROL COURSE County Antrim Tel 01244 573018 11-13 JULY THE GREAT YORKSHIRE SHOW 2017 Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, North Yorkshire Tel 01423 541222 14 JULY FARLOWS AND OUTSIDE DAYS — ONE-DAY INTRODUCTION TO GAME SHOOTING COURSE Stockbridge, Hampshire Tel 01722 780009 19 JULY FESTIVAL OF HUNTING East of England Showground, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire Tel 01733 234451 28-30 JULY THE GAME FAIR Hatfield House, Hertfordshire Tel 01707 252707…

Olympian Faulds hosts NGO shoot Olympic double-trap gold medallist Richard Faulds hosted the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) Team Flush Clay Shoot at Owls Lodge Shooting School in Hampshire last month. Forty teams of four shooters competed in the 600-bird flush layout over six stands, with Castle Hill 2 led by captain David Sexon (pictured below ) taking the top prize with a score of 569. The event, which is in its second year, raised more than £5,500 for the NGO. GWCT raises £57k Nottinghamshire members of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust have raised £57,000 for the research charity at a gourmet dinner and auction. The evening was hosted by Chris and Julia Butterfield at their home at North Lodge Farm at Widmerpool, with 250 guests enjoying a champagne reception…

A thief caught red-handed and bang to rights: this evening I shot a pigeon over standing barley and had marked the position for later retrieval. Twenty minutes later the fox brought it out for me — two for the price of one (right). J. Hampshire, by email IN ASSOCIATION WITH JACK PYKE OF ENGLAND The winner of Letter of the Week will receive a Jack Pyke Countryman Fleece Gilet. Made from 300g thermal fleece with nubuck piping, it is available in sizes S-XXXL. For more information visit www.jackpyke.co.uk.…

“I spotted a well-grown rabbit perhaps 60 yards away. I set the cross-hairs on its chest and squeezed the trigger” The little .22 CZ rimfire has languished in the gun cabinet, next to its big brother, the.30-06, for several months, untouched, unwanted. Bought from a small gun dealer in Exeter five years ago when we were plagued with rabbits, it proved to be accurate and deadly, made more so by the Hawke scope and the screw-on silencer. The local rabbit population was satisfactorily held in check and cottontails in several guises were on the menu until, some three years ago, there was a dramatic fall in numbers. While you might have seen a dozen or so scurrying white tails in the horse paddock, now the grass was bare and no…

One of our first jobs at Loddington was to carry out baseline surveys of as much wildlife as possible before we started to change things. Gamekeeper Malcolm Brockless spent part of his first year trapping mice, but nothing bigger, then releasing them as part of a small-mammal survey. During that first year there were 14 song thrush pairs. Six years later, that had risen to 48 and in 2001 they peaked at 64. This was attributed almost entirely to Malcolm’s predation control activities, particularly crow and magpie trapping. There is an important wider point to make here too — those who say that all wildlife benefits from keepering are mistaken. While many bird species benefited from the project, some did not. There may not have been any significant declines apart…

“We’d stalked before but wanted to learn more and gain confidence in the stalking field” Living in London, fieldsports provide me with a welcome escape to the countryside. In particular, I find the fieldcraft that is required to stalk a deer as calming as meditation. The relative quiet and solitude appeals, as does the knowledge that I am providing meat for the freezer. I have acquired access to some land a half-hour’s drive from where I live in London, where the owner needs deer control. I’ve been stalking for a few years now and am just about to apply for my firearms certificate, but I’m not as confident with a rifle as I am with my shotgun. Asking advice from someone on a simple subject such as what calibre or…

Shooting over laid crops PIGEON SHOOTING Q What is the best way to shoot over laid barley and is there an unwritten code of conduct? A Shooting over laid crops does bring with it its own difficulties and reasons for shooting or not shooting. Pigeons can destroy laid areas of barley, as they find the milky grain a huge draw and a great food source. To shoot a laid area properly it needs to be a decent size, not because you can’t shoot smaller laid parts, but due to the difficulties of picking-up birds. A dog is a necessity to pick birds on laid crops. It is pointless shooting if you cause more damage to the crop than the pigeons do. You should have one route into the field and…

Nightjars nest on the ground in recently cleared forestry plantations or on heaths, flying at night and catching moths, which helps to explain some of their key features — wonderful camouflage, long wings with white flashes and a big mouth. Adults are pigeon-sized, with a mixture of grey and brown feathers that break up their outline, so that they are hard to see when sitting on a nest or pressed against the branch of a tree. To make themselves more visible, when it is time to display to females or proclaim ownership of territories, the males have obvious white wing and tail spots that flash in the moonlight, and a churring song that floats across forest clearings on a still summer’s evening. The gaping mouth, big eyes and falcon-like wings…

LOBBY YOUR MP The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is asking farmers and growers to explain the vital role that neonicontinoid seed treatments play on their farm to MPs and MEPs, and how a proposed ban would affect UK farming. The European Commission has put forward proposals that would effectively ban all uses of three neonicotinoids — clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam — on all outdoor crops due to a suggested link to bee declines. The NFU says that there is no evidence of this and rejects a blanket ban, claiming there could be as much as a £33.4million loss on oilseed rape production. Farmers and growers are asked to visit po.st/NFUban for more information on how to get involved. JOIN OUR CLUB The Woodcock Club has been taking on new members…

A record 202 members of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) took part in the 2017 Golden Grouse Clay Shoot earlier this month. Roger Ayton, a North York Moors headkeeper, took the trophy with a score of 76 during the competition at East Quarry in County Durham. This was Roger’s third win, having triumphed in the junior class in 2008 and taken home the trophy in 2015. As is tradition for the winner, Roger will host the shoot next year — the second time he will have done so. “Winning is a double-edged sword,” he joked, adding: “This was a very testing layout though, in part due to the wind, so I didn’t think I’d done enough to win.” Roger wasn’t the only winner on the day — though only keepers…

1 Winchester SX4 Field shotgun £725 www.winchesterguns.com New for 2017, the SX4 semi-auto range is a step up from its highly regarded SX3 predecessor. The stock and forearm are built to give a “quick to the shoulder” feel, and combine with a slightly lighter weight and larger bolt handle for easy and fast shooting. 2 Schöffel Sedbergh tweed waistcoat £249.95 www.schoffel.co.uk Available to buy from this weekend (1 July), this Sedbergh waistcoat is designed for extra-comfortable shooting in Windsor (pictured) or Sandringham tweed. It is made from 100 per cent lambswool, with a ribbed tweed back collar. 3 Laksen Balfour tweed breeks £209 www.farlows.co.uk Teflon-coated and made from 100 per cent pure new wool, these shooting breeks are just the thing to keep you comfortable while out in the field.…

Hunting in New Zealand was introduced by early European settlers, with the first hunt, the Auckland Hunt Club, being formed in the 1860s. The Pakuranga, established in 1872, is now the oldest hunt. Governor Sir George Grey introduced the first hounds, beagles, in 1868 and introduced hares as a quarry in Pakuranga. While UK hunt staff jobs run from May to May, the NZ huntsmen (all whippers-in are amateurs) are mostly on a six-month contract, which includes a house and annual fixed-sum financial guarantee. Consequently, most NZ huntsmen have part-time jobs to make it work. Guy Marriner, in his 10th season as huntsman of the Pakuranga, studied rural land management at RAC Cirencester, which has come in useful: “I also do 45 days a year at the races as clerk…

“The picker-up drew her priest and seemed to take an age deciding on the direction and force to apply” The efficient and humane despatch of wounded birds is an essential aspect of the proper conduct of any shoot day. Some years ago on an estate where I led the picking-up team, the regular Guns were complemented by two or three guests. The first drive of the day was from a large pit where a significant number of mallard had been released. The keeper had decided to flush them to give the Guns some instant shooting and had prefaced the drive with a reminder to pick out the good birds as this was the first time they had been lifted from the water. Sure enough, the Guns had plenty to shoot…

“Dogs do have sweat glands but these are mainly in their pads, so their primary way to lose heat is by panting” IN RECENT YEARS it has become accepted practice for owners to dress up their pet dogs in coats in winter. The logic is simple: we feel the cold, so presumably our Westie or cockerpoo does too. However, most dogs already have fur coats, so the last thing they need is an additional one on top — though rugging up a working dog after a day’s shooting is a different matter. Dogs are descended from wolves, a species that ranges as far north as any land mammal and that has adapted to survive in temperatures that can be lower than -40°C. However, though most dogs can cope easily with…

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 Contact the team Email: stanswers@timeinc.com By post: Shooting Times,…

One of the oldest dog breeds, the history of the bloodhound in Britain dates back to at least 1300. It is thought that the breed was developed in France, where the dogs were selectively bred for their ability to follow the trail of a wounded deer or boar. They were once popular with the police, who valued them for their ability to track, but their one disadvantage was their soft temperament, as they were far more likely to lick a suspect than bite him. Today all bloodhounds are black and tan, or red. There are more than a dozen mounted bloodhound packs in the UK, all of which hunt the clean boot (a runner who sets off well before the hounds are put on the trail). Hunting with bloodhounds is…

The UK’s best shotgun shooters will go head to head in a new competition launched by British Shooting. The first British Shooting Shotgun Grand Final will take place at Fauxdegla Shooting Ground in Wrexham, from 6-8 October, pitting the best GB shotgun shooters, including Olympians and world medallists, against one another for the title. It will be broadcast live on the Facebook page of event partner Unilad Sport. Entry for both athletes and spectators is being supplemented by British Shooting, making it free to attend and participate. The competition will bring together the top 18 male and top 12 female Olympic trap shooters in the UK, and the top 12 male and top six female athletes from Olympic skeet. Men and women will compete separately, as well as in an…

Every drive at Bryngwyn is followed by a five-minute breather and a quick drink. Mid gin and tonic, I got chatting with Jim Stewart of Longthorne Gunmakers, who asked me if I wanted to shoot the final drive with a dainty 16-bore he had in the back of his car. Having been ridiculed for much of the day about the shoddy state of my bog-standard Silver Pigeon, I accepted his offer gladly. The gun, a Hesketh Deluxe, was a high-grade sidelock of considerable repute. At £17,500 it is not going to be finding its way into my cabinet any time soon but for an English-made sidelock it nonetheless represents extraordinary value for money. Actually, I shot the final few birds of the day rather well with it, towering targets that…

“I use a whistle from the start so the birds associate it with feeding” The weeks of June always seem to fly by with the last, hurried tinkerings to complete before the poults arrive. We have been putting the finishing touches on a newly built release pen, as the old one had to be relocated because of recent forestry work. Luckily for us, an area of natural regeneration — birch, spruce and large beds of bramble — had sprung up nearby, but it was a mammoth task preparing the ground. It had become a jungle. That said, several days of hugely satisfying work with chainsaws and strimmers transformed this patch into a home fit for a pheasant pen. It will be a key pen for me as the birds will…

“Malcolm Brockless set about working his magic and the wild pheasants responded” It hardly seems possible, but this year the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) celebrates 25 years of owning and running the Loddington estate in Leicestershire. Christened the Allerton Project, after Lord and Lady Allerton, who left it to us in their will, this estate has revolutionised what the GWCT has been able to offer by way of education and advice. It has also had a far-reaching impact in improving conservation practice in the living and working countryside. When it all began in the early 1990s, Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) had driven an agricultural revolution. It had taken us from the real hunger and food shortages of World War II, to a point where there was too…

I am always intrigued to see dogs working, even when the work has nothing to do with shooting or hunting. On recent trips to mountainous areas in Greece and Spain I’ve seen dogs working with cattle and flocks of sheep and goats, but not in the way you might expect. They aren’t shepherding dogs in the conventional sense of the word but they are independent dogs that live all the time with the flocks and herds, with little or no human supervision. The dogs we come across in the UK are so human dependent that it comes as something of a shock to realise that these dogs spend much of their lives with only domestic livestock for company. They are protection dogs and their presence with the herds or flocks…

“The 18mm rimfire looked like a plant-pot holder with a bullet stuck into it” When you say rimfire cartridge to most shooters, they immediately think of the.22 or one of the .17s. Not so 150 years ago; the rimfire abounded as the centrefire, with which we are so familiar, was still in its infancy. Many of the earliest breechloading pistols and revolvers were chambered for rimfire cartridges. The military made significant use of them too, particularly in the US, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Austria-Hungary and Switzerland. The rimfire was patented in 1849 by the French gunsmith Louis Nicolas Flobert, who modified a common percussion cap to make a cartridge for a breechloading saloon pistol, used for indoor target practice. The cap was compressed to form a rim into which the explosive…

Latin name: Gymnadenia conopsea ssp. densiflora Common name: Marsh fragrant-orchid Other names: Fragrant orchid How to spot it and where to find it: There are three kinds of fragrant-orchid, which are so similar that they are difficult to distinguish from one another. However, genetic tests have shown that they are, indeed, separate species, though hybrids may naturally occur. Marsh fragrant-orchid is found on fenland and flowers from late June/early July to August; heath fragrant-orchid prefers, as its name suggests, mildly acidic heathland and sometimes grass pasture; and chalk fragrant-orchid likes chalk or limestone grassland. Interesting facts: The marsh fragrant-orchid and its heathland cousin smell sweet — a similar scent to carnations or of vanilla custard — and give these orchids their name. The scent is strongest in the evening and…

“The Charity Commission is talking about getting a grip on the RSPCA. Yeah, right” I see the Charity Commission is talking about getting a grip on the RSPCA. Yeah, right. The Countryside Alliance has been highlighting the shortcomings of Britain’s richest animal welfare charity for years. The issues have been debated in the House of Commons. Both the Daily Mail and TheSun have exposed questionable antics at the charity. The recent unexplained departure of the RSPCA’s chief executive, Jeremy Cooper, after just 14 months in the post is par for the course. He is the third one through the revolving door in just five years. Mr Cooper’s predecessor was one Gavin Grant. In this column on 17 July 2013, I wrote: “…the current chief executive of the RSPCA is as…