Innholdsfortegnelse for 27-Dec-2017 i Shooting Times & Country

I’ve had plenty of rights in my time and I’ve had a few lefts but, truth be told, I’ve never come close to sealing the deal. I must admit that on many levels, I’d very much like to. Going along to the Shooting Times Woodcock Club dinners just because I’m the Editor feels a bit fraudulent. Last Monday, my keenness to join that merry band of hotshots grew fiercer after one of the team on our sister title Country Life smugly announced he’d managed the feat the previous weekend. In response I sent him a press release about the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s calls for restraint on shooting the little bird (News, p.6). He replied saying it was the first pair he’d ever shot and he had no plans…

BOOK The 2018 Big Farmland Bird Count is on the way and the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is holding a series of farmland bird identification workshops in January and February for anyone interested in taking part in the annual effort to record UK farmland bird numbers. These workshops are held all over the country and run by bird experts alongside a host farmer to help participants recognise what species they are recording. Attendance costs £10 a person, with the price including refreshments. Visit www.gwct.org.uk/BFBCID for the full list of workshop dates and locations and to book a place. FIRST-FOOT Everyone has their own New Year customs, but the tradition of first-foot is popular in many parts of the UK, though perhaps more prevalent in Scotland and northern England. The…

1 Fausti Class RDX shotgun From £4,550 www.stagcountrysports.com An elegant over-and-under shotgun designed with a round-body action, machined from a solid block of forged steel to produce an action profile typical of Best guns, without neglecting strength and reliability. It is available in calibres including .410, 12, 16, 20 and 28, with its select walnut stock featuring a round pistol grip, new chequering and a rubber recoil pad. 2 Sporting Hares shotgun holder £169 www.sportinghares.com This innovative and convenient shotgun holder helps to reduce shooter fatigue and soreness while out in the field. The handmade J-shape design holds all types of shotguns securely by the waist of the user, dispersing the weight across the body through the attached strap. 3 Oliver Brown single leather gunslip £295 www.oliverbrown.org.uk This English-made leather…

It was 8.15pm and I was running late but I wasn’t worried as the Editor, Patrick Galbraith, was joining us. I got to Euston at 8.38pm just in time to sink a pint before getting on the sleeper train with Jamie Tusting and Ben Myrtle. But still no sign of the Editor. The Editor, it turned out, was at King’s Cross. He had 14 minutes to get on board. Twelve minutes passed, still no sign. Then the clock ticked to 9.14pm and he appeared. With a suitcase in his left hand and a gun case in his right, he tore down the platform and leapt on to the train. We were heading north and after 11 hours on the sleeper — and a further three hours of a rough crossing…

I wonder if people appreciate the amount of work and organisation that goes into a day on their local shoot. The day starts way back in the summer when your poults first arrive in the release pens and the feeding regime, which is a seven-days-a-week job, goes on through the autumn in all weathers leading the pheasants up to the woods that you will present your birds from. This period, which runs from July through to October, demands total commitment from the keeper. For young keepers it quickly dispels the myth that they should be walking about with gun under arm and Labrador at heel. Over the season, the keepers will handle, with a bucket, thousands of tons of wheat that will go on the feed rides and is of…

DR MIKE SWAN IS HEAD OF EDUCATION AND THE SOUTHERN REGIONAL ADVISER FOR THE GAME & WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST Some years ago I gave a series of presentations on game management at woodland conservation events around the country. There were several other speakers from the likes of the Woodland Trust and the Forestry Commission, plus a woman from Natural England. She had a phrase that struck a chord with me: “keeper debris” — all that scruffy stuff that some gamekeepers seem to leave about the countryside, that offends everyone else but which they do not seem to notice. Reflecting on this in late December, I propose a New Year’s resolution: let’s all do everything we can to clean up our act. Even amateur part-timers like me can take a professional…

Q At this time of year I always end up with an abundance of game birds that I need to store until quieter periods in the year. How best should I prepare game for freezing so that it will keep as long as possible without developing a “freezery” taint? A When freezing game you should first prepare it to the condition in which you will be taking it to the kitchen. In other words, you should pluck and draw it to an “oven-ready” state for roasting, taking care to remove any damaged or bloody meat. Alternatively, you can bulk pack game bird breasts and legs. I personally like to skin and cut out the whole breasts on the bone, as I think the breast meat keeps better that way. Having…

Q A friend has an old Mauser custom rifle with a nice trapdoor arrangement in the stock for storing his cartridges. It strikes me as being very handy — do you know where I might get one? A Cartridge hinged concealed traps are a nice touch on any rifle. It is a custom feature that is as beautiful as it is practical and adds value and appeal to any rifle. The age-old problem of storing additional rounds, other than in the magazine, has led custom rifle makers to use concealed compartments within the stock to store additional ammunition. These are usually sited in the butt section of the rifle’s stock, with cartridge traps such as Recknagel’s excellent for the white custom parts that allow the gunsmith to drill and mount…

Q While out stalking for roe does and muntjac in late November I saw an animal that I identified as a perruque roebuck. Though it was not in season, should I have shot it to end its suffering or would I have been in the wrong if I had? As it happened, I was unable to get a safe shot as the backstop was a public footpath. I have looked for it since, but not seen it. A The question of shooting out of season to end suffering can be difficult. Often the decision about the degree of suffering has to be made very quickly, without having observed the animal for any length of time. Then there is the view that you as the stalker takes of a perruque head.…

Q One of our dogs has absolutely awful breath. Both dogs are fed the same and the other dog’s breath isn’t half as bad. My wife has tried brushing his teeth, but he doesn’t like it. We have tried dental chews and they have plenty of toys to chew on. Any other suggestions on how to get rid of it? A Bad breath, which is technically termed halitosis, is one of the most common dental problems faced by dog owners. Bad breath can typically be a result of periodontal (gum) disease, tooth decay, the accumulation of food and plaque and the consequential build-up of odour-producing bacteria in the mouth. It can also be caused by digestive system problems. Just because two dogs are fed similar food doesn’t necessarily mean that…

Q We are always told that insects are essential for partridge chick survival, but which insects do they really like, and which do they avoid? A Up to 95 per cent of the food taken by a grey partridge chick in the first week of its life will be insects, falling to 80 per cent during the next two weeks. Thus a plentiful supply of insects is vital for chick survival. Their favoured prey includes small Coleoptera, or beetles, of many species, ranging from weevils to leaf and knotgrass beetles, along with aphids, sawfly, Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) caterpillars and ant pupae or eggs. The species that are avoided include thrips, carabid beetles and parasitic wasps. Adult grey partridges will also consume many insects in the summer, but in the…

“We need to be fully aware of the tide of public opinion on chemicals in food and keep ahead of it” Say what you like about the Guardian (and I do) but it does sometimes report stories that might otherwise be confined to scientific journals. An example was brought to my attention by Johnny Main, a fellow member of Newcastle Wildfowlers Association, who pointed me to a Guardian article about new research showing that the world’s most widely used pesticides, members of the neonicotinoid group, may be damaging songbirds. Neonicotinoids were already in the firing line. Environment secretary Michael Gove recently announced a ban on using neonicotinoids for most applications in the UK after studies showed they were harming bee populations. He made his bold move despite intense pressure from…

11 JANUARY BASC GREY SQUIRREL CONTROL COURSE Denmark Farm Conservation Centre, Betws Bledrws, Ceredigion Tel 01283 810910 14 JANUARY THE BARRIE MURDOCH MEMORIAL TRIAL Wickenby Airfield and Woods, Lincolnshire Tel 07974 234883 17-18 JANUARY LAMMA East of England Showground, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire Tel 01754 890001 23 JANUARY GWCT FARMLAND BIRD ID DAY Fawley Court Farm, Herefordshire Tel 01572 718730 16-18 FEBRUARY THE GREAT BRITISH SHOOTING SHOW National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham Tel 08443 380338 25 FEBRUARY THE SAVILLS COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE POINT-TO-POINT Badbury Rings, Dorset Tel 07974 141933…

MORE FOWLING FOR US PLEASE Shooting Times has been in my family home for many years and is very much enjoyed by my father, my five brothers and me. It still is enjoyed but the lack of wildfowling articles doesn’t make it just as exciting as it used to be. I hope to come across more goose and duck encounters in the near future. Our sport isn’t just about the reared pheasant or the expensive trip to hunt deer abroad. Wildfowling is the heart of shooting and should appear in a shooting magazine that is bought by shooting people. I hope there will be a Shooting Times in our family for generations to come. J. Burns, by email The Editor responds: You are quite right. Wildfowlers are the greatest ambassadors…

People often need a reminder about looking after their guns while travelling. This month, I repeat that message but against an entirely more sinister background. We have seen an alarming rise in home-grown acts of terrorism. You might be forgiven for thinking that terrorists are only interested in military firearms and explosives, but you would be wrong. Some of the people who would destroy our way of life have encouraged those whom they seek to recruit as foot soldiers to obtain and use sporting firearms in their outrages. London’s Borough Market killings in June were bad enough with kitchen knives, but if you imagine the perpetrators with stolen shotguns the horror enters a new dimension. I am not being melodramatic when I say that such an incident would threaten the…

FOR MOST OF us the dream of representing our country in a world championship in any sport, whether it is shooting or show jumping, is just that: a dream. It was for Linsey Whitley, who only started trialling HPRs — German longhaired pointers in her case — last year. However, having lived with professional gundog trainer Howard Kirby for the past three years, she knows how to handle a dog. And a little of Howard’s competitive instinct must have rubbed off, for she achieved remarkable success in the 2017 World Championship for Hunting Dogs ( News , 13 December). Linsey went to the GB team selection to watch the top dogs and handlers in action. As some of the handlers could not be there, she was offered the chance to…

“A lone woodcock sped hearts when it flushed from a patch of artichokes” At the time of writing we’ve enjoyed two days on our rough shoot this season, and things really couldn’t have gone better. On our first day in mid-November, we filled our lungs with crisp Wiltshire air, the sun shone and our birds flew well. To cap it all, after laying out our bag at the end of the day, we realised we’d quite unintentionally pipped our 10-year-old record bag of 39 birds — we shot 40. The first manoeuvre that day worked really well, with four walking Guns pushing a near-continuous stream of pheasants from a kale-based mix towards four standing Guns positioned at the head of the crop. This new strip of extremely useful winter holding…

Q My old springer spaniel is a real headache when he is working on scent. We cannot get him to come back by whistling or shouting, but have to wait until he gets fed up and returns in his own time. I know it is too late to change him, but my wife and I have a new cocker puppy and do not want the same issue to occur. How do we teach a good recall and when should we start? A You need to build a really close relationship with your new puppy right from the moment you get it home. Let it learn that showing you attention and coming close will result in a pleasurable experience every time. Carry a few treats, even when you are in the…

Q Why are carp now appearing on the fish counter in my local supermarket? I thought coarse fishermen always returned carp to the water. A Coarse fishermen do return carp in the UK, but it is farmed for the table around the world. The reason you are seeing it appear in the shops now is that in some countries carp is traditionally eaten at Christmas. Carp have been farmed for the table for thousands of years, with ponds designed and developed for their culture. As a teenager, I frequently fished a classic Dubisch pond that had been built and managed by a band of medieval monks in Cheshire to rear carp and provide a source of protein. Rectangular and about an acre in size, it was 6ft deep, apart from…

Q I have just secured myself what should be some very good rat shooting on a local pig farm. While I can’t wait to get cracking at them with my air rifle, I am aware that these rodents can carry some nasty diseases. Are there any precautions I should be taking to keep myself safe while out after rats? A You are right to be thinking about the risks posed by rats — thankfully they are easily avoided by sticking to a few simple rules. Many of the infections carried by rats are transmitted via their urine and faeces, and can survive outside of their bodies for some time in damp conditions. For this reason it is not wise to take drinks and snacks to tuck into while you are…

Risky bikers cause rural headache A new campaign will spread awareness of the problems created for rural estates by unauthorised mountain-bike trails. Care for the Countryside, an initiative organised by Scottish Land & Estates, is warning of the risks posed by poorly constructed self-built trails. Mountain biking in Scotland has grown in popularity in the past decade, leading to a rise in the number of trails, obstacles and jumps being built by riders on rural estates and farmland. Not only are these constructions potentially dangerous, but landowners can be held liable if an accident occurs. Karen Ramoo, policy officer at Scottish Land & Estates, said: “A landowner could be liable if a trail was discovered and they didn’t apply an appropriate management to the trail, leading to a rider or…

This year has been an unusual one in the Tomlinson household: we have shared it with Just one dog. For the best part of the past 25 years we have had two, always mother and daughter. As we chose not to breed from Rowan, who will soon be 12, there’s no successor to continue our line of springer spaniels we have had for nearly 35 years. There are a number of reasons why we haven’t taken on an additional dog during 2017, but 2018 will have to be the year in which decisions are to be made. The most basic is whether to get a puppy or to take on a more mature animal, possibly a rescue dog. There are lots of dogs that, through no fault of their own,…

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,…

Latin name: Frangula alnus Common name: Alder buckthorn Other names: Black dogwood, glossy buckthorn, columnar buckthorn, breaking buckthorn, European alder, fen buckthorn How to spot it and where to find it: Alder buckthorn is not related to alder (Native Britain, 26 October 2016), which is a member of the birch family. The buckthorn version looks much like the alder and the two are often to be found growing together. Alder buckthorn dislikes extremes — it is rarely found on either waterlogged or drought-stricken sites — but grows well in scrub on peat, at the edges of raised mires, in heaths, valley mires, hedgerows and in woodland. Its bark is dark brown but bright yellow underneath. Light green flowers appear in late spring followed by berries that ripen to black in…

A male goldeneye is a very smart duck and he seems to know it, showing off to what he hopes will be his partner by throwing his head so far back that it hits the base of his tail. Some goldeneye will already be in pairs, but there is still plenty of display taking place on lakes all over the UK and around the coast. In a few weeks, most pairs will head for Scandinavia, Finland GOLDENEYE  or Russia, but there is a small population breeding in Scotland and occasionally a pair will breed in England. Traditionally, goldeneye nest in holes in trees, but they have taken quite readily to nest boxes and this has contributed to the spread of the species. The winter population has fallen by about a…

Though there are a number of different breeds of miniature horse, the best known is the Shetland pony. These tough little ponies are native to Britain’s northernmost isles, where they have been kept since the Bronze Age. Here they were used for general work around the croft. It wasn’t until the industrial revolution that they became known in mainland Britain when they were imported in considerable numbers as pit ponies. Today, Shetlands remain popular as riding ponies for children. However, they are intelligent, feisty and exceptionally strong for their size, so can be quite a handful for young riders to manage. Shetlands come in any colour except spotted, and all share the same stocky body, short legs and small head. They are very long lived, with most reaching 30 years,…