Innholdsfortegnelse for 16-Aug-2017 i Shooting Times & Country

“Hello, yes, I’m well. I’m well. I’m glad you’re well.” I always find being greeted by a glut of pleasantries confirms the premonition you sometimes get when the phone rings — that the person on the other end of the line has called to announce bad news. Last Wednesday my host for the Twelfth confirmed he was “very well” six times before admitting that the “real reason” he was calling was to tell me that the day he had invited me on would now be walked-up instead of driven. This is what you might call a distinctly First-World problem but I can’t pretend I wasn’t a little saddened; driven grouse is not something you do every weekend. But as we spoke, and he explained that the keeper thought there were…

SHOOT The Epicurean Collection has launched new experience packages, including a simulated clay day at the White Horse in Chilgrove, West Sussex. This shooting experience includes a night at the award-winning hotel, with dinner and breakfast included, along with elevenses and a shoot lunch. Prices start from £398 per person. Visit www.epicurean.club/experiences for details. EAT The grouse season is under way, so we’d be remiss if we didn’t share one of our favourite recipes for something to do with the birds once you’ve shot them. For this traditional roast grouse recipe, you will need a brace of the birds, along with bacon, Madeira wine, bread and Cumberland sauces and a few other ingredients.Visit ShootingUK at po.st/ roastgrouse for the full recipe. READ The Code of Good Shooting Practice has been…

24 AUGUST GWCT SCOTLAND YOUNG SHOOTERS DAY Haddington, East Lothian Tel 01738 551511 25-28 AUGUST BASC DEER STALKING CERTIFICATE 1 COURSE Baronscourt estate, Newtonstewart, County Tyrone www.basc.org.uk/events 27-28 AUGUST POWDERHAM COUNTRY SHOW Powderham Castle, Exeter, Devon Tel 01889 563232 www.powderhamcountry show.co.uk 28 AUGUST THE AYLSHAM SHOW Blickling Park, Norfolk Tel 07717 860756 www.theaylsham show.co.uk 28 AUGUST GAVIN GARDINER AUCTION OF MODERN & VINTAGE SPORTING GUNS Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Perthshire Tel 01798 875300 3 SEPTEMBER RIBEYE CLAY SHOOT 2017 Hazel Manor, Miserden, Stroud, Gloucestershire Tel 01380 831068…

Suffolk teen wins Colts challenge Fifteen-year-old Henry Bevan (pictured below with Olympian Steve Scott) from Suffolk was crowned the CPSA’s 2017 Colts Challenge Champion at the Game Fair last month. Henry shot 19 out of 25 to take the title, and was awarded 750 Lyalvale Express cartridges, a Time Inc magazine subscription and cash prize. RBSS takes on and expands gunroom The Royal Berkshire Shooting School (RBSS) is to run its own on-site gunroom for the first time since opening in 1991. The decision comes after the retirement of Simon Freedman, who has managed the existing shop for the past seven years. The gunroom will undergo a £20,000 refurbishment and it is hoped that it will reopen its doors at the beginning of September. Moorland for lease The tenancy and…

“There are people out there looking for examples of bad practice to knock us” August is busy and while the days themselves are most definitely getting shorter, the absence of crops and the darker nights are adding to our hours as we start to get to grips with the foxes that have, to date, been living with relative impunity in the standing corn. There appear to be no more, and certainly no fewer, of them than in previous years. I have read of shortages up and down the country, but quite what constitutes a shortage and why it would bother someone, I don’t know. From a keeper’s perspective, the fewer the better. More so if you run a wild bird shoot, or look after partridges or grouse that spend the…

“High-powered airguns don’t offer a magic solution to someone who is struggling to get results with a sub-12ft/lb version” Of all the many questions I get asked about airguns and airgun shooting, a huge number relate to high-powered airguns. Most people who wish to know more about the subject are relative newcomers to airgun shooting. It is natural to want an advantage to give your results a boost when you are getting to grips with a new challenge, and it seems that many aspiring airgunners believe that more power will put them on the fast-track to shooting success. There is no denying that the increased range and knockdown power of an FAC-rated airgun can help to put more in the bag but there are plenty of disadvantages associated with beefed-up…

Introducing dog to ferrets FERRETING Q I have some new ferrets, but my dog is paying rather a lot of attention to them. How can I get them used to each other? A Unfortunately, you didn’t say in your email what type of dog you have. This has a huge bearing on how easy or hard it will be to get the two used to each other. If you have a Labrador or lurcher then the process is going to be relatively easy. If, on the other hand, you have a feisty terrier, it may be a lesson too far. When I get a new puppy, getting it accustomed to my ferrets is an essential part of its upbringing but one that I allow to develop naturally. From the moment…

Latin name: Rubus fruticosus Common name: Bramble Other names: Blackberry, black heg, blegs How to spot it and where to find it: This vigorous shrub is familiar to most of us as the blackberry bush. It flourishes in a variety of habitats including woodlands, hedgerows, scrubland, cliffs, waste ground, roadside verges and gardens. It has jagged leaves and its thick stems are covered in thorns sharp enough to draw blood. The berries appear in the autumn — at first green, then red, then midnight black. Interesting facts: We’ve probably all gorged ourselves on the bramble’s delicious fruit, and eaten it in jams, jellies, crumbles and pies, often paired with apples. Blackberry wine is deliciously warming and blackberry vinegar can be used in cooking. The leaves can be used to make…

As a group, herons and egrets are doing very well; an expansion of European ranges for little egret, cattle egret and great white egret has meant all of them have “invaded” Britain and Ireland. They are not strongly migratory species so once birds have started to occur in an area in increasing numbers it is not long until the first nest is found. Little egrets first bred in 1996, cattle egrets in 2008 and great white egrets in 2012. The great white egret is easy to identify — it is the size of a grey heron, but white. It can be confused with a little egret if it hunches, like a grey heron does, but the unwinding of its snake-like neck will soon correct any mistaken impression. Breeding adults have…

Five vintage Rigby rifles belonging to the renowned big game hunter H. Frank Wallace have returned to the gunmaker after it won them at the latest Gavin Gardiner auction. Born in 1882, H. Frank Wallace was a well-known naturalist, author and sporting artist who was published in both The Field and Country Life. He was also a keen hunter who was appointed deer control officer for Scotland during World War II. Wallace also indulged his passion for the sport in far-flung locations, including Africa, Japan and India. His collection of guns includes two .275s, one of which is a rare take-down model built in 1925, a .303 built in 1912, a .350 built for Wallace in 1911, and a .450 hammer rifle built in 1905. Marc Newton, managing director of…

1 Benelli Raffaello 50th Anniversary Edition shotgun From £3,000  www.gmk.co.uk This new incarnation of the Powerbore was created to mark Benelli’s 50th anniversary this year and is a beauty to behold, with the action adorned with detailed scroll engraving. Only 1,500 have been built, 1,000 12-bore and 500 20-bore, and each one is individually numbered. 2 Equafleece dog jumper £20  www.equafleece.co.uk Now that the grouse season is upon us, your gundog might appreciate a little protection from the elements while out in the field — especially if we don’t shake off this current patch of wet weather. The jumper is made from super-soft Polartec fleece, which wicks away moisture while retaining body heat. 3 Alan Paine Kexby men’s shooting waistcoat RRP £119.95  www.alanpaine.co.uk This smart waistcoat has a water-repellent cotton…

I’VE JUST HAD an excited email from a friend, Jane, who has been invited to pick-up on a grouse moor. A relative newcomer to working her dogs, she has two golden retrievers. These dogs graduated from working tests to picking-up on a small driven pheasant shoot two seasons ago. Working on a grouse moor will be a new experience for both handler and dogs. Jane has never seen a grouse, so she appreciates that she has a lot to learn, adding that she will be doing two 80-brace days, with a day off in between. Her email ended with a small plea: “Any advice you can give me will be much appreciated.” There is nothing quite like picking-up on a driven grouse day. The quarry is wild and unpredictable, while…

The Countryside Alliance (CA) is alerting shoot managers and game shooters to the risks posed by anti-shooting activists this season following a severe act of vandalism on a small pheasant shoot in Kent. The incident took place in mid-July when “activists” attacked two release pens full of young pheasant poults at Whitehill shoot near Canterbury. Electric fences, water tanks, drinker lines, feed bins and feeders were all damaged, while holes were cut in release pens, pop-holes were ripped out and fence posts were broken in half. The resident birds were scattered and some were trampled by the attackers. The victims of the incident have asked that the name of the animal rights group is not repeated, to avoid giving it publicity, though the CA says that the graffiti makes their…

THE BENEFITS OF BEAVERS P. Kenyon has got the wrong end of the stick regarding beavers (Letters, 2 August). We have three families breeding naturally on our farm. They have immensely improved the habitats and wildlife. Now we have wetlands with plenty of invertebrates and all the species that rely on them. Our numbers of wild ducks have increased, as have many other species of waterfowl. British trees have evolved alongside beavers and if Mr Kenyon takes a photo of the “destroyed” trees again next year he will find that they are by no means destroyed. Willow, aspen and alder, all water-edge species, coppice vigorously. Branches that have fallen in the water soften the edges and provide micro-habitats for invertebrates and fish fry. This results in trout growing faster and…

“Blackgrouse have all gone — their habitat destroyed, their nests and chicks predated” In the darkness of the forestry it is impossible to imagine that this was ever a grouse moor. Rank heather hangs on where the slopes were too steep to plant, but the ground shows no other trace of its former life. No effort of imagination can paint a displaying curlew into the slits of sky nor scribble a line of beaters across the tree-filled horizon. But this was once the “high hill” of the Alton Albany estate. I had become curious about the grouse that had lived in my part of Ayrshire but are now nearly all gone. There is a story that is written in books and on maps, but another story is written on the…

Matt: “When I go fowling in the harbour on my boat I ensure I have flares, a torch, a radio, a compass and a manually inflatable life jacket. Familiarise yourself with landmarks, street lights or traffic sounds on busy roads if there are any. Take some spare warm clothing, food and a hot drink.” Nick: “When fowling from the shore I carry a phone in a waterproof bag, a compass in case of fog, and a knife. If you get stuck you may have to cut yourself out of your waders and if the pattens get stuck you may have to cut those off as well. Always carry a spare rope to re-secure them when you are free. I rub the ropes with sandpaper to roughen them to help the…

“Bringing home a few brace of grouse makes little difference to populations” We can see the northernmost peaks of the Pennines from our hill. When we hold our walked-up days in late August, it is fun to have lunch on the high ground and peer across to the high-octane moors where grouse are serious business. Fifty years ago, people would travel across the country to shoot grouse and blackgame in Galloway, but intensive commercial forestry and overgrazing has reduced us to a quiet backwater of the grouse world. At the same time, few grouse represent a great deal more potential than none at all. Having studied the way that birds move across this landscape over a decade, it is clear that bringing home a few brace in the bag makes…

Though I’ve always claimed my dogs to be genuine workers, it is true to say that if I worked as often as them my finances would not be very healthy. Most of us keep our gundogs because we enjoy their company and they give us a lot of fun and companionship. They also make us laugh, as I have been reminded recently. I am a tennis fan and was enjoying watching Roger Federer on the television as he played in the Wimbledon final. He was one game away from winning his record eighth championship when Rowan the spaniel came in and sat in front of the television. She was carrying a bright yellow Slazenger tennis ball, exactly the same ball that Federer and Cilic were hitting on centre court. Not…

There are moorhens at the bottom of the garden. As we lean down to fill the watering can from the river in the evening, it is not unusual for a moorhen to drop out of one of the trees in which it roosts and to rush across the water to hide in the reeds. It used to surprise me that a waterbird would climb or fly into the lower branches of a tree for the evening but, thinking about it, there is some sense in getting out of the way of the mink that cruise up and down the river in the darkness. Moorhens are omnivorous though they are most likely to be seen feeding on floating vegetation or on seeds and other plant material on the banks of rivers…

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,…

Thanks to its finely chiselled head and dished face, long arching neck and distinctive high tail carriage, the Arabian is not only the most recognisable of all horses but also the most beautiful. It is an ancient breed, and for thousands of years has been bred by the desert tribes of the Arabian peninsula, who value it as much for its looks as its endurance and stamina. Arab blood has been used to improve many other breeds. Three desert-type stallions, known as the Darley Arabian, the Byerly Turk and the Godolphin Arabian, all imported into England in the 1700s, are the ancestors of almost all thoroughbred racehorses today. The modern Arab is little changed from its ancestors, though a little bigger, but few stand much taller than 15 hands high.…

“The inconvenient absence of a Western hunter to demonise detracts from the appeal of the story” A bull elephant with magnificent tusks — rumoured to weigh in excess of 100lb each side — has been illegally killed in or near a national park in Kenya. It is said that fewer than 100 of these grand old “100-pounders” survive on the continent of Africa. It seems he was badly wounded by ivory poachers armed with spears in at least two incidents. He was treated by mobile veterinary services after each attack but didn’t recover the second time. This story has all the ingredients that usually spawn acres of hysterical media coverage; a magnificent animal, one of the last of the fabled big tuskers, illegally attacked by hunters in pursuit of ivory.…