Innholdsfortegnelse for 14-Mar-2018 i Shooting Times & Country

Like our brilliant columnist Laurence Catlow, I too have seen those videos of talented Guns standing under 70-yard pheasants with a big bag of 46g No.5s at their feet (p.46). In a basic sort of way, these often well-made clips are enjoyable. Not least because the quality of the birds is a remarkable testament to the talents of the keepers involved. The level of skill required to bring down such birds is no doubt also very high. But surely a skilful Shot should take pleasure in the extent to which their shooting results in clean kills as opposed to seeking out taller pheasants season after season? Last weekend, I went to Norfolk to interview David Clark, the outgoing headkeeper at Sandringham. He was very much of the same opinion. The…

Shooting Times contributor and Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) member Richard Negus has raised £2,275 for the charity’s Action for Curlew campaign after completing a 28-mile coastal marathon. Richard joined around 300 other participants to run from Alnwick to Bamburgh in Northumberland last month, crossing the finish line in an impressive five hours and 25 minutes. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve done but have raised a huge amount of money for a vital cause,” said Richard, who entered the marathon to raise funds that he hopes will help halt the curlew’s decline. Every £250 raised will fund a GWCT adviser to visit a farmer or landowner to provide practical support, advice and guidance to help conserve the endangered birds. There are believed to be just 300…

17-18 MARCH WEST OF ENGLAND GAME FAIR Bath & West Showground 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 deerstalkfair@gmail.com 13 APRIL BASC YOUTH DINNER AND AUCTION Gosforth Park Marriott Hotel, Newcastle Tel 01912 727494 18 APRIL GAVIN GARDINER AUCTION OF FINE MODERN & VINTAGE SPORTING GUNS Sotheby’s London Tel 01798 875300 21 APRIL KENNEL CLUB FIELD TRIAL SECRETARIES SEMINAR Littlebury Hotel, Bicester, Oxfordshire gundogs@thekennelclub.org.uk…

GWCT chairman steps down Ian Coghill, chairman of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), is to step down from the role in July. Mr Coghill has spent eight years in the role at the charity and said that the “heart” of what he described as a “wonderful organisation” was “the members and those who believe that the countryside should be run by people who understand it and that policy should be based on sound science not on whim and prejudice”. Ian added that he will miss his GWCT role, but plans to spend more time shooting and fishing. He will be succeeded in the role by Sir James Paice, a former Defra minister and long-standing GWCT trustee. Game project awaits word on funding The work of the Welsh Game…

It seems that the big plans for the soon to be formed British Game Alliance are really a self-promotion exercise for large shoots and sporting agencies. Where small shoots are struggling to balance the books and every penny counts, paying membership fees and a levy on birds shot could be detrimental. Indeed, by not being a part of the scheme, their game sales could dry up entirely while the big boys give themselves a gold star and a pat on the back. I am a great believer in the game meat industry and I would love to be proved wrong, but I fear this may kill it for the little guys. A self-regulating industry is rather like me giving up chocolate for Lent. I tell everyone that I haven’t had…

READING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES The sporting and farming calendar moves on apace. The majority of sporting ferreters have hung up their purse-nets, cleaned their spades and are caring for their charges, breeding or sorting out their seasons. Those of us who are still ferreting for rabbit control have different problems to contend with. A lot of people assume that the ferret isn’t in season until they can clearly see the physical signs, but they couldn’t be more wrong. I notice the difference around January. The jills are starting to bicker among themselves and the hobs’ work ethic fades rapidly, as they appear more concerned about what their hormones are doing to their mind and body. Some have to be separated long before I can see physically that they…

There is a huge amount of crossover between birdwatching and shooting. Those of us who spend time in wild places take a great deal of pleasure from time among birds. Animal rights campaigners imagine that shooting is just a process of evil destruction; the grown-up version of pulling wings off flies. But shooting people are often far more tuned into their surroundings than many would believe. Lots of wildfowlers and rough shooters take as much pleasure from chance encounters with songbirds and waders as they would from a bag full of game. The closest crossover comes with bird ringing. I know a few shooting people who ring breeding birds in the summer. Part of the satisfaction they feel is something like hunting — using a close knowledge of “prey” to…

ACCORDING TO the National Sheep Association, there are more than 33million sheep in the UK, which means that every working gundog is certain to encounter a flock sooner rather than later. From a dog’s point of view, there are few animals that are more inviting to chase. Thoughts of sheep were triggered, first, by the sight of the spring lambs, and secondly by a letter from a reader. “My 15-month-old cocker has chased sheep twice now and I feel I can’t let him off the lead. I have had some success with treat training but a few trainers have said that he needs scaring to stop him chasing the sheep — what do you think?” Of the spaniels I have owned, about half showed an inclination as puppies to chase…

As Mother Nature’s natural clock ticks around into another year, the daylight lengthens both morning and evening, and as most shooting seasons are done and dusted, the anglers in the sporting community start to think of another season, that of the brown trout. Few, if any, sporting quarry have had as many books written about them as the brown trout. Even as long ago as the latter part of the 1800s, some riverkeepers were rearing trout for the chalkstreams of Hampshire, such was the demand and pressure on the numbers of fish, and it is fair to say that demand has not diminished. Indeed, such has been man’s desire to have this fish for company that he has taken it around the globe and in the main it has flourished,…

I am currently obsessed by the weather. Our laying pen was netted earlier than normal this year, as it was last year, to limit the contact between our laying hens and wild birds, as per the Defra rules relating to the avian influenza prevention zone, which was introduced in England on 18 January following outbreaks of avian influenza, or bird flu, in wildfowl earlier in the month. In the past, we have netted the laying pen when we have felt confident that we had seen the last of the snow. My worry with netting it early is that it may still snow and that if it does — and there is enough of it — the added weight could collapse the pen, split the nets and provide the birds with…

Weighing up white camo STALKING Q I am thinking about getting some white camouflage clothing for deer stalking. We seem to get a few days of snow cover each season, so I am weighing up whether it is worthwhile. Can you advise? A White camouflage for snowy conditions is not usually vital to deer stalkers operating outside the Scottish Highlands, but on the rare occasions there is significant low-ground snow cover, it gives the deer stalker — or indeed the wildfowler for that matter — a notable advantage. Wild animals often appear disorientated when, after a fresh snowfall, their environment suddenly looks very different. I have found that wearing white camouflage in these circumstances can sometimes enable you to get much closer to deer than is usually possible. Alternatively, it…

Latin name: Muscari neglectum Common name: Grape hyacinth Other names: Grape flower, starch hyacinth How to spot it and where to find it: This bulbous perennial is found across Europe and as far as Afghanistan but in Great Britain it is often confused with its Armenian cousin, M. Armeniacum, which is more widespread. Britain’s common version is most likely to be seen on free-draining soils, grasslands, hedgerows, pine woods and rough ground. It is instantly recognisable by its charming bell-shaped flowers, of which the upper ones are pale to mid-blue and the lower ones deep violet to almost black. Interesting facts: The flowers give off an enticing scent that has been likened to starch — hence starch hyacinth — or plums. “Muscari” comes from the Greek moschos, meaning musk, a…

The crested tit is about the same size as a blue tit but with a smart crest that gives it a distinctive silhouette. In the UK, you won’t see a crested tit unless you head for the Caledonian and Scots pine forests of Scotland, especially in Strathspey, where it feeds on insects, spiders and seeds. The latest population estimate suggests that there may be up to 2,000 pairs and that birds are spreading into new plantations, but still in the same general area. On the Continent, crested tits are more widely distributed, from the Arctic coast of Russia to the southern tip of Spain. If they were not so sedentary, they could thrive in parts of the UK where there are Scots pine plantations. For now, however, this is a…

NOMINATE The entry deadline for the Eat Game Awards has been extended until 15 June so you have even more time to get involved. The initiative is a partnership between James Purdey & Sons, Boisdale Restaurants and Taste of Game, which aims to reward the champions of British game. Categories include “best restaurant regularly serving game” and “best game butcher”, with nominations made by the general public at www.eatgameawards.co.uk. The individual or business with the most votes will win in each category, with the results announced at the Eat Game Awards dinner at Boisdale Canary Wharf in London on 9 October. BOOK It’s your last chance to book tickets to the 2018 Shooting Times Woodcock Club dinner, which is being held at the Old Palace at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, on…

1 BSA Genesys Hunter 1-4x24 IR rifle scope RRP £168  www.uttings.co.uk Part of the new Genesys Hunter range, this driven and short-range hunting rifle scope features a 30mm tube, with a spectacular field of view and fast focus, as well as an illuminated reticle. 2 Tikka T1X MTR rimfire rifle RRP from £575  www.gmk.co.uk Rimfire designed to handle a wide range of shooting tasks, available with 16in or 20in cold-hammer-forged barrels and a 10-round magazine for .22LR or 17HMR. A stainless-steel bolt offers smooth movement and excellent weather resistance. 3 Gundog Health & Welfare by Tony Buckwell RRP £19.99  www.crowood.com This new book by Shooting Times veterinary expert Tony Buckwell offers guidance for anyone looking to acquire a healthy puppy and explains how gundog owners can keep their dogs well…

The spaniel Lottie is pulling a face like she is sucking a sherbet lemon and it is not the prettiest backdrop (right). However, that short walk recently evoked a decent amount of nostalgia, as I had not been down that picturesque valley in several years. I’ve fished all my life — trout and salmon for the most part — and my love of fieldsports developed into shooting when I was 13 years old. I went rabbiting, bolting them over ferrets with a .410, and was hooked. Seventeen years later I run my own small shoot with my brother, aside from the nine-to-five job. I am lucky enough to take a handful of varied let days a year and continue chasing the increasingly elusive Scottish salmon. The shelves of my freezer…

“You are pitting your wits against possibly the pluckiest survivor of the countryside” Regular readers of Shooting Times probably think of me as Tom Payne the pigeon man but during the season I will be found travelling the country shooting grouse, pheasants and partridges. If I’m not shooting then I will be instructing private clients in the field. But at any given opportunity I will do my utmost to get back to the comfort of my hide. Despite having tried almost every fieldsport in this country and many others abroad, the wily Columba palumbus, as my school Latin master would have called it, will always remain my first love. I’ve shot at many species of game bird in this country and around the world in many different situations, topographies and…

Curiously, though sheep are protected by law under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, many other forms of livestock are not. I doubt if there were any commercial flocks of llamas, alpacas or ostriches in the 1950s, but today they are quite commonly farmed and the act grants them no protection. If a dog gets in with a flock of alpacas and savages or even kills them, there is little the police can do to prosecute the dog’s owner. Similarly, police are powerless to act against irresponsible owners if a dog attacks animals on public land. It is clear that the existing legislation is hopelessly out of date, which explains why there have been recent calls by the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) for the Government to update the…

It was a friend who suggested that, via something called YouTube, I should watch some short films on sport with high pheasants. I was not enthusiastic but, one evening, I found one of these films online and watched it. It interested me but I was not certain what to make of it. More importantly, I wondered what an unprejudiced viewer with no knowledge of shooting would make of it. So over the next two or three days, I watched a few more. I think I can guess the likely reaction of my unprejudiced viewer: he would be unambiguously hostile. The shooters tackling these super-high pheasants (and partridges) were very good at it. They were shooting birds at least 50 yards high and they were killing plenty. I cannot help wondering,…

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,…

I looked at a Supreme Court decision that upheld the property rights of a fisherman and wondered if this had any bearing on Natural England’s attitude to wildfowling (Sharpshooter, 28 February). Property rights can be traced back to 1215, when a gang of obstreperous barons had a word in King John’s shell-like and he signed the Magna Carta. Now consider South Africa, where many Brits go to hunt plains game. There, the first step towards a Zimbabwe-style land grab has just been triggered. Incredibly, just as Zimbabwe starts clambering out of the swamp of destitution caused by Robert Mugabe, its neighbouring nation may be about to repeat the same mistake. Yet South Africa’s farms have been the mainstay of food production and wildlife conservation, hosting game species for ecotourism and…

NOT A GOOD PLAN As a Labour member and activist, I am surprised by Christopher Graffius’s optimistic view of Labour’s Animal Welfare Plan (Have your say, 1 March). The plan marks a very concerning direction of travel for official party policy. The 2016 document Comprehensive Animal Protection Reform did indeed contain some dreadful policies on game shooting, but it wasn’t an official Labour Party consultation; it was a proposal written by the Labour Animal Welfare Society. Since then we’ve had a 2017 Labour manifesto that didn’t mention shooting and it is from that positive starting point that we have moved to this plan, which threatens restrictions on “intensive game rearing” with no definition of what that means. Worse still, genuine rural concerns such as sheep worrying and Chinese lanterns are…