Innholdsfortegnelse for 21-Feb-2018 i Shooting Times & Country

Last week, I went to Suffolk for a hare shoot. In a way, raising my gun to the creatures felt rather strange. Back home in Dumfriesshire, where their numbers are few, many regard shooting hares to be unthinkable. But in East Anglia the animal thrives, and unless numbers are kept in check, crops are decimated, grass is ravished and there is a danger of disease breaking out. Pulling into a motorway station to make a call on my drive home, I looked down to see a text from a friend I have shot with for many years. It read: “Are hare drives necessary? I thought there weren’t that many left.” It is partly human nature, but we must resist thinking that whatever happens in our own back yard is exactly…

Scotland’s red squirrels stabilise Red squirrel numbers have generally stabilised across Scotland, according to the results of the Scotland Red Squirrels 2017 survey. The research recorded a significant boost in numbers around Aberdeen, with indications that they are starting to move into previously abandoned areas, though they are still rarely seen in southern parts of the country. Red squirrels have been struggling to compete for habitat with greys since the 19th century. EE provides new rural 4G solution Network operator EE has launched a new 4G broadband solution that it is believed could connect 580,000 homes across the UK, particularly those in rural areas. The technology has been trialled in Cumbria, where many homes can only receive limited broadband access. Many shoots and farms in remote areas are at a…

I am uneasy about the growing support for the campaign to refrain from shooting woodcock. It is based on two things, one of which is unproven; the other is true but not emphasised enough. First, there is no evidence that shooting is a cause of the decline in resident woodcock numbers, nor that not shooting woodcock will reverse the decline. Secondly, nine out of 10 of the birds shot in the British Isles are winter visitors, whose population has remained more or less stable for at least as long as I’ve been shooting. To “doff your cap” at a pair of woodcock, as the Woodcock Trust is encouraging us to do, is an indulgence easy enough for some (Letters, 7 February). However, for many rough shooters like me, it could…

As the season approaches the latter stage, it will start to become obvious if pigeons have begun to focus on the food bounty because you will see them feeding on the standing game strip. Rooks and crows are usually the first to show interest as they have the strength to feed on the standing cobs, but when the crop becomes flattened pigeons will start to feed. If there is plenty of food in the crop — by this, I mean cobs still full of maize — I would refrain from shooting it until the crop has been flailed. Assess the food content on a regular basis. This will give you an indication on whether the flailed strips will be a big draw and worth shooting. If you have plenty of…

On flailed maize, decoying is very straightforward. Don’t worry about patterns; during your reconnaissance, watch how the birds feed and copy it. You will see birds on flailed maize feeding close to each other, in many cases in quite large numbers. There is a lot of movement because they mill around the crop. Use dead birds and pigeon cradles to give your pattern a bit of height. Cradles work well if you let the wings drop on a few as wind will move the wings and give the impression of busy movement. Magnets and flappers can be equally effective. However, if birds do show concern it will usually be because they have been shot at and educated over winter rape, so don’t be afraid to use static dead birds. Flappers…

“Most commercial hunting was done with bows, but Afrikaners love their rifles” Some people choose a rifle and stick with it. I constantly dither and change my mind. I used to work in a safari camp in South Africa. Most of the commercial hunting was done with bows, but Afrikaners love their rifles and there were always opportunities to shoot. This was a dazzling introduction to South African gun culture and I have still never seen such a high level of marksmanship. Even young boys could ping a metal plate at 400 yards and I recalled tales from the British Empire that testified to the deadly marksmanship of the Boers. This chapter of imperial history lives on in the bushveldt and, despite the passage of more than a century since…

Latin name: Buxus sempervirens Common name: Box Other names: European box, common box, evergreen boxwood How to spot it and where to find it: We have probably all seen box clipped into neat hedges and topiaries. But this slow-growing evergreen shrub — sempervirens means “always green” — also grows wild throughout Europe and particularly in the south of England. It can grow to a height of 12m and is compact, with a smooth grey bark. The leaves, which are formed on short stalks, are oval and a shiny, leathery dark green. Box produces clusters of yellow-green flowers in the spring. Interesting facts: The word buxus is Latin for “box” and is believed to derive from the wood being used to make small carved boxes. But buxus is also Latin for…

“A social media presence can prove to be a double-edged sword” I’m not finished with angry vegans. Since I explored claims that vegans are “humane” and “compassionate” (Sharpshooter, 7 February), the Daily Telegraph has published revelations about one Joey Carbstrong. This chap, as some of you may know, is a self-appointed spokesman for the angry vegan movement. He castigated Jeremy Vine, on BBC Radio 2, for eating a ham sandwich. Later, after a strong public reaction, Mr Carbstrong took to the airwaves to condemn “death threats and name-calling”, claiming that he favoured “peaceful, non-violent advocacy”. Well, he must be a reformed character because, according to the Telegraph, he is on record as once saying dairy farmers were “worse than Nazi Germany”. More recently, he used words like “rape, murder and…

TRADE If you are on the lookout for a new pair of binoculars you should consider picking up a new Leica Noctivid or Leica Ultravid HD Plus. If you trade in your old pair (of any make or model), Leica will knock an extra £200 or £300, respectively, off the participating dealer’s list price. The offer only lasts until 31 March and is subject to stock availability, so don’t wait too long. For more details on the offer and to find your nearest dealer, visit po.st/LeicaOffer. DOG Does your dog have what it takes to become famous? Pet food brand Orijen is looking for a dog to become its new brand ambassador. If you think your dog is in with a chance then bring them to the Orijen stand (Hall…

A woodpigeon doesn’t need much maize to keep it going for the day. The birds will tend to feed in two outings. If the weather is cold and night-time temperatures are low, you will find that they will flight out as one at first light for a quick, easy feed on winter rape to restore energy levels. Then their attention will turn to the maize. They will have an early feed then head back out again from midday onwards. I tend to favour the second feed as the birds will be very keen to get a good meal before another cold night, so will be more committed. I would advise being set up and ready to shoot from 10.30am to 11am, remembering that the hours of daylight are getting longer.…

There is nothing stunning about willow tits and marsh tits. These two very similar birds are about the same size as blue tits but basically brown, with black caps and chins and white cheeks. Both species are in decline but especially the willow tit. According to figures from the British Trust for Ornithology, we have lost 79 per cent of our marsh tits and 91 per cent of our willow tits since 1967. In human terms, the latter decline is like dropping from 55million people to just 5million. Willow tits have already disappeared from large areas of south and east England and could well be heading for extinction. Unlike their ubiquitous cousins, blue and great tits — or the coal tit with a white stripe at the back of its…

“He did not seem to care whether he lived or died. He seemed so unhappy” HAVE YOU EVER heard of Bolo paws? I must admit I hadn’t until a couple of years ago, when Swedish friends came to stay. With them was their black Labrador Dot (Garagill Paris), a handsome and well-proportioned working bitch, otherwise unremarkable except for one thing. Behind each of her paws, both front and back, were distinctive white spots. If you didn’t know they were there you would be unlikely to notice them, but once seen they were quite obvious. I was told that they were called Bolo pads, named after one of the most influential of Labradors, a dog called Banchory Bolo. He lived from 1915 to 1927 and is famous for being the first…

Woodpeckers in Ireland BIRD LIFE Q I’ve lived in Ireland all my life, but had never seen a woodpecker here until last weekend, when a single male great spotted woodpecker made several visits to my garden on the outskirts of Belfast. My bird book states that woodpeckers don’t occur in Ireland — could it have been an escapee? A The answer is almost certainly no, for in recent years great spotted woodpeckers have been slowly colonising the Emerald Isle. The first breeding record in Northern Ireland was in 2006 and in the Republic in 2009. Most of the birds are to be found in the eastern counties, but it is believed that they are expanding slowly but surely westwards. These woodpeckers are regular migrants from Scandinavia to Britain, and they…

The rock pipit is the greyer cousin of the meadow pipit, typically to be seen when you are walking along a beach on our rocky coast. Don’t assume that shoreline pipits are rock pipits though; there are plenty of meadow pipits searching for insects along the tide edge at this time of year. The call is a little bit different and check out the overall colour and the dark, rather than flesh-pink, legs. In the breeding season, rock pipits can be found on almost any beach or headland away from the low-lying counties of eastern England. In the winter, even these areas hold rock pipits, with migrant birds from Finland and Scandinavia filling this “gap” in the summer distribution until it is time to head north again. Our own rock…

27 FEBRUARY GWCT COUNTRYSIDE STEWARDSHIP TRAINING DAY Allerton Project, Loddington, Leicestershire Tel 01572 718730 8-11 MARCH CRUFT 2018 NEC, Birmingham www.crufts.org.uk 17-18 MARCH WEST OF ENGLAND GAME FAIR Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset www.westofenglandgamefair.co.uk 23-24 MARCH THE LONDON WING SHOOTING FAIR The London Business Design Centre, Islington www.thelondonwingshootingfair.co.uk 24-25 MARCH THE 2018 DEERSTALKING FAIR Border Union Showground, Kelso, Scottish Borders deerstalkfair@gmail.com 18 APRIL GAVINGARDINER AUCTION OF FINE MORDEN AND VINTAGE SPORTING GUNS Sotheby’s London Tel 01798 875300…

After three months of winter the ground at Gordonbush was hard. The vegetation was sparse, the soil thin and there was little shelter above the treeline. The wind was blowing a little south of east as it came in off the North Sea, but there was no warmth in it. Forty miles to the west, the snowy sides of Ben More Assynt reflected a cold sunlight and twice as far to the south the frozen bulk of the Cairngorms crowded the horizon. East Sutherland in January is tough. Megan Rowland had known where her deer were likely to be in these conditions and there they were. The shape of a few hinds on the skyline gave away the others dotted down the steep hillside. Megan stood for a while simply…

If possible, do not flail all your game strips in one go. A more gradual approach effectively means that you open up each restaurant in stages. If you are on ground where the shoot has a lot of game cover, by flailing all at once you can create too much choice. If this is the case I would advise shooting as a team and decoying the various strips on the same day, bouncing birds from one to the other. It does work but I consider it to be cheating slightly. “The only pigeon that won’t cause crop damage is a dead pigeon”…

“Pigeons can go absolutely wild for maize, especially if the weather has been hard” Alex Keeble, headkeeper and Shooting Times columnist (Gamekeeper, p.42), told me that he had flailed some early maize strips. With only a couple of weeks left of the season, he was reducing cover so he could condense the main part of his shoot for the last few days. I usually shoot Alex’s maize first for this reason. There had been a lot of interest from his local pigeon population so we pencilled in a couple of dates in early February. Alex’s crops are not the easiest to shoot as game strips go because of their width but we generally put in a good score. On the day there was a nice wind, but we couldn’t get…

“We should all do as much as possible on the land to benefit all wildlife” We start shooting on our estate in the Cotswolds at the beginning of September; consequently by 1 February I am usually grateful that the season has come to a close. Though needing a well-earned rest by now, taking a holiday in February coincides with one of the busiest months of a gamekeeper’s calendar. We call it the “big clean” — it consists of tidying up, washing, fixing and storing all the utensils used during the year. Aesthetically we try to keep the estate in a pristine condition so though washing feeders and drinkers in 3°C isn’t the most enjoyable of tasks, it keeps the estate tidy. We also increase our rat-baiting programme. I carry out…

I’m not a great watcher of television. I’ve never watched Coronation Street nor Eastenders, nor even Gardeners’ World, though I will be looking out for the latter. For I’ve Just read Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs (pictured), written by the Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don. Nigel, I discovered, is Monty Don’s golden retriever that frequently appears in programmes filmed in Long Meadow, his master’s Herefordshire garden. Monty is an entertaining writer and he displays not only his passion for dogs, but also an appreciation and understanding of dog behaviour. This makes it a much more interesting book than I’d anticipated when first opening it. Don isn’t a shooting man but he shows a countryman’s understanding of shooting, noting that “one beneficial side effect of this obsession with game shooting…

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 our oldest breeds, the cavalier King Charles is a surprisingly game little dog and many show an enthusiasm for hunting and even retrieving. Like most of the toy breeds, the King Charles was almost certainly bred from sporting stock. Queen Elizabeth I had a miniature spaniel as a so-called comforter, and Queen Victoria was also an enthusiast for the breed, owning a much-loved cavalier called Dash. Today the King Charles remains one of the most popular of toy dogs, though in the UK numbers of registrations have more than halved in 10 years, declining from a high of 11,000-plus in 2007 to just over 4,000 in 2016. Among the reasons for this drop in popularity are health concerns within the breed, for the King Charles suffers from more…