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

At the time of writing, I have just returned from Nuremberg where I was attending Europe’s largest fieldsports expo. The scale of the event is extraordinary. On the first day, my phone ran out of charge and I got lost for hours. Then I met a kindly Taiwanese lady who took pity on me, lent me her charger and showed me her decoys. Such curiosities are commonplace at IWA. Over the weekend I met a woman with a wolf, someone who made armour for dogs in case of attack by wolves, and a large Texan who told anybody who’d listen that he once shot a wolf with a handgun. But what I enjoyed most were quiet moments snatched here and there to write the foreword to Alasdair Mitchell’s new book,…

23-24 MARCH THE LONDON WING SHOOTING FAIR The London Business Design Centre, London www.thelondonwingshootingfair.co.uk 24-25 MARCH THE 2018 DEERSTALKING FAIR Border Union Showground, Kelso, Scottish Borders deerstalkfair@gmail.com 13 APRIL BASC NORTH AND NE 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 gundogs@thekennel club.org.uk 28 APRIL GWCT INTERSHOOT CHALLENGE Chitcombe Estate, Dorset dorset@gwct.org.uk…

Hampshire Game supports air rescue Hampshire Game has pledged £5 to the Air Ambulance for every tonne of its Keeper’s Choice feed sold. The game specialist wants to raise £1,000 for the charity as thanks for its continued service to keepers, farmers and others living in rural areas who need its help when disaster strikes. For every 30 bags of food sold, enough will be raised to help the service purchase a safety strap used to safely carry people away from harm, while just four bags of food can buy a box of mouthpieces to measure lung function. Shotgun necklace causes airport stir A former police officer had her inch-long gun necklace confiscated at Stansted airport after it was claimed by security staff that it could be mistaken for a…

Subscribers and those of you who frequently pick up Shooting Times will be familiar with our shoot reports. The concept is a simple one; we send a writer to cover all the action on a day out in the field. We have a lot of fun writing them and I hope you enjoy reading them but in one sense they fail to get to the heart of things. The first day when the season opens in October is a culmination of countless cold, sleepless nights carrying out pest control, endless dogging-in and meticulous planning. So we thought we’d visit shoots in the close season to learn more about what they do, then go back to do a shoot report once the season is under way. We will then have more…

“We had all had a little fun and in some small way helped if not the red squirrel then the forester and gamekeeper” When the Editor phones and asks you to write a piece on drey poking, with a recipe for squirrel thrown in for good measure, you know you are in for a good time. I have some experience with squirrel, having cooked a banquet at a fundraiser last summer for Red Squirrel South West (RSSW) (www.britishredsquirrel.org)at Escot park. I served a pasta course of “flightless partridge” with great success. But I have jumped ahead as always — let’s start at the beginning. RSSW is determined to reintroduce the indigenous red squirrel to the south-west of England. The grey squirrel — first introduced to liven up a few Victorian…

WE ALL KNOW THAT puppies aren’t easy, but if you want a working spaniel, taking on a puppy is probably your best option, as it is rare to find a trained spaniel for sale. But there is an alternative: adopt a rescue dog. A quick check on the internet will reveal a number of organisations that specialise in springer rescue. I haven’t seen any statistics on which breeds are most often rehomed, but I suspect that springers are near the top. Few puppies are as appealing as a young springer, but many buyers are unaware of what they are taking on. Springer puppies may look cute, but they are among the most energetic of dogs and can be challenging to train. Thus it is hardly surprising that many end up…

The chilly Siberian weather system known as the Beast from the East brought rare and heavy snow to these parts. Large swathes of Britain came to a standstill and so treacherous were travelling conditions that people were advised to stay put unless their journeys were absolutely necessary. But as far as I was concerned, a heavy dump of the white stuff was most welcome because it enabled a valuable opportunity to go snow tracking. A fresh blanket of snow provides a clear insight into the intricate movements of elusive mammals that can otherwise be tricky to detect. I was eager to search for fresh fox tracks on river meadows in the Avon Valley where, for the third year running, I’m catching foxes in snares and fitting them with GPS trackers.…

There is something cheering about the tinkling calls of linnets, flushed on a morning walk from a patch of thistles or weedy open ground. The birds’ flight is light and bouncy, with the white edges of their wing and tail feathers flashing in the sunshine. After 50 years of national declines, the call of a linnet is not a sound that I hear often, and I guess that’s what makes it special. Locally, there are particular spots where I listen out for them, especially a thick, overgrown hedge next to a weedy field that looks as if it were once grazed. The birds usually fly into the top of the trees and occasionally a male takes an opportunity to break into song, especially on a sunny March day. Linnets are…

Latin name: Bellis perennis Common name: Daisy Other names: Bairnwort, bone flower, bruisewort, ewe gowan, goose flower, marguerite, pasquarette, noon flower How to spot it and where to find it: The scourge of the lawn-proud gardener, the perennial daisy is widespread across the UK and is perhaps one of our most recognisable plants. It occurs in virtually all types of grassland, but fares best in those that are quite wet for part of the year. It is seen in parks, roadside verges and pastures, as well as riverbanks, around lakes and upland flushes and sand dunes. Its flowers, with their vivid yellow centre and white petals, are seen from March to October, and its small, hairy, spoon-shaped leaves — which form rosettes at its base — are green throughout the…

Tracking dogs play a major role in the shooting field in Germany, where hunting of driven boar and deer is widely practised. The Hanover hound is a distinctive, sturdily-built animal from northern Germany, descended from the medieval bloodhound. The same height as a working English springer, it is considerably heavier, weighing up to 90lb. Strong jaws and a deep chest are characteristic of the breed, which is expected to be able to hold a wounded boar at bay. The short coat is typically dark reddish brown, and often brindled. Though once worked in packs, these hounds are more often worked either singly or in pairs, and they are reputed to be able to follow a blood trail that might be up to a week old. The modern Bavarian mountain hound,…

“We cannot claim to care for the countryside if we insist on scattering plastic wads over it” I’m talking rubbish again. After my account of wildfowlers organising a litter-picking day at Lindisfarne (Sharpshooter, 7 March), a reader pointed me to an item in the Daily Telegraph. The report starts: “Organisers of marathons and other outdoor events have been urged to do more to clear up the thousands of plastic bottles left behind by competitors. It follows a row over the number of plastic bottles dumped by participants in the Brighton half-marathon which then blew out to sea.” It seems that the event had been sponsored by Lucozade. Many of the runners gratefully snatched a bottle as they sped past, glugged down the contents on the run, then simply chucked the…

WIN Time is running out to enter the Countryside Alliance gun draw and be in with a chance to win a pair of William Evans Connaught Premium shotguns. Entry costs £25 and the closing date is on 29 March, just over a week away, with the draw itself being held on 5 April. The winner will get to choose the specifications of the guns and the prize includes a two-hour fitting session at the Bisley Shooting Ground in Surrey. Visit po.st/CAgundraw to enter. ENTER We have teamed up with Countryman Fairs to give 10 readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to the upcoming Kelmarsh Country Show. Held in the grounds of Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire on 1-2 April, the show will kick off the first round of…

1 Fortis Highland men’s shooting coat £369  www.fortisclothing.co.uk Traditional-looking shooting coat with a practical, durable and waterproof finish. Features built-in cuffs, fleeced collar and fleece-lined hand-warmer pockets. The cartridge pockets have drainage holes, popper closures and tabs to keep the pockets open when shooting, while there are also deep hidden chest pockets. 2 Härkila Lagan trousers £179.99  www.harkila.com Designed for stalkers, these trousers are full-stretch, comfortable and, most importantly, silent. They are also water-repellent and should keep you dry in light rain. Features include zipped pockets and ventilation zips on the thigh and lower leg. 3 Leica Visus 2.5-10x42 i LW rifle scope From £1,320  www.leica-sportoptics.com Slim but robust rifle scope featuring state-of-the-art optics with a 4x zoom, ensuring maximum detail resolution and excellent contrast. Very compact and easy to…

I am a lifelong shooter of all manner of pests and vermin but I have never taken part in an “organised day” on pheasants or partridges other than a beaters’ day many years ago. As much as I enjoy reading Shooting Times each week, there is one aspect of the shoot reports that gives me cause to doubt if I would ever want to be involved with any form of organised day. In the majority of articles from the various shoots your contributors attend, we read with alarming regularity that the morning’s sport was either begun with or halted temporarily while the Guns had “a drop of warming sloe gin” or similar. At what point did the drinking of alcohol and shooting become a good and proper combination? I am…

“The last thing the pigeons are expecting is to see you in the treetops with them” Shooting pigeons from a tower nestling in the tops of a good roosting or flighting wood has to be one of the finest and most exciting forms of pigeon shooting — if not the best. I’m passionate about all forms of pigeon shooting but being in the treetops, with birds coming from all angles in singles, pairs and packs like grouse on a windy afternoon, takes some beating. The shooting is superb with birds whiffling towards you, twisting and turning on the wind, and the last thing they are expecting is to see you up there with them. It is difficult to explain the excitement until you have experienced it. Unlike roosting or flighting…

It surprises me how often people turn up their nose at eating squirrel. Hardened pheasant Guns dismiss them as flying rats — as if eating rat were in some way different to eating rabbit or rook — and though I have seen many shot on rough shoots, they are often left in the bag for me rather than taken home. Meat is very much meat to me, though, and I have to say I find grey squirrel delicious. Younger specimens shot in the autumn can be simply skinned and roasted, but older, tougher individuals need slower cooking to tenderise the meat. Ingredients 1 SMALL ONION, HALF FINELY CHOPPED, HALF SLICED A HANDFUL OF WILD GARLIC 1 SKINNED AND CLEANED GREY SQUIRREL A SPRIG OF THYME A FEW PEPPERCORNS AND A…

Fit for function, fit for life? There is no doubt that the Best in Show at Crufts 2018 was a pretty fit-looking dog. The two-and-a-half-year-old champion whippet called Collooney Tartan Tease didn’t appear to have an ounce of surplus fat on her. She might never have coursed a rabbit in her life, but she looked as if she could give a good account of herself if asked to do so. Perhaps I’m being cynical, but I wouldn’t mind betting that the Judge, Jill Peak, was under strict instruction from the Kennel Club not to choose a dog that could be faulted for its health in any way. Though the whippet originated in 17th-century Britain, descended from greyhounds, you can find representations of dogs that look much like whippets dating back…

How best to carry rabbits? RABBITING Q I have been watching your films on YouTube and am intrigued by the “game carrier” method by which you carry your rabbits. Have you always used these carriers or do you have another favourite method? A I have used the “game carrier” method for the past decade. Before I found such a wonderful tool, I used a variety of carriers that all relied on me hocking my rabbits in order to string them up and carry them in a fit and orderly fashion. The first person that I knew of using these was a fenman called Andy, who used one made out of baling twine. The reason I like the game carriers so much is that I do not have to cut into…

sized siskins. The trouble is that our understanding of genetics, and the choice of expert opinion to be followed, has led to the redefinition of species and subspecies Redpolls are confusing. Let’s start with the easy bit; “red poll” describes the red spot on the top of a male’s head. Add in a black chin and you have ruled out larger linnets and similar-of redpoll on the British List, as maintained by the British Ornithologists’ Union. Last year, “our” redpolls were called lesser redpolls, to differentiate them from continental common redpolls, but as of 1 January this year, they are all common redpolls again. I guess this change won’t be troubling the birds themselves; they’ll still be searching for seeds in the tips of birches and alders or perhaps visiting…

“Maintaining relationships between hunts and shoots allows both to have their sport and support each other” It is snowing heavily, my pheasant feeders are full of wheat and there are still seeds from my quinoa plants in the game covers, which are vital for wildlife in this weather. All our wildlife has been struggling so keeping the feeders topped up helps them pull through this tough patch. I applaud all of those who feed birds in their garden; we too are feeding all types of birds but on a much larger scale. Though we release game on the estate for shooting purposes, I enjoy trying to achieve some wild broods of game and hold on to the birds left over from the previous season. The British countryside has been managed…

Regarding the question about anyone having seen a partridge in a pear tree (Sporting Answers, 13 December), I have on two occasions. They were at the same location, three days apart. The first time was in December 1959 while I was standing under an ancient ivy-clad pear tree with my .410, waiting for the odd pigeon that used to settle in the old tree before going to roost in the big wood higher up the valley. The ground in front of the orchard was a fallow field and suddenly seven grey partridges settled. After a few minutes, two of them fluttered and settled on the lower branches of a smaller pear tree on a new plantation. The rest of the covey remained in the field. As the light was fading…

You will need: 1 Four large telegraph poles or similar: telegraph poles are perfect for the job and are surprisingly easy to source. The majority are around 60ft but they are solid and the wood has been correctly treated to prevent rot. You can buy them online, costing from £2 to £60 each, but the expensive bit will be transporting them to the location. 2 Supporting rails: the size will depend on the size of your tower. Cross-sections and supporting rails can be picked up from any sawmill or timber merchant but again make sure the wood has been treated. 3 Platform sections: the amount of wood you need will again depend on the size of the tower; most towers can comfortably accommodate four people. Chicken wire placed on the…

I see the way you admire her sleek lines. I watch you glance at her from time to time. You hold her to your cheek and the world feels right. With two hands on her, your heartbeat quickens. You want us to be jealous, to ask how much she cost. But at the end of the day, she is just another cold, lifeless shotgun. Once finished with her, you will slide her into a sleeve and throw her over your shoulder. When the day is done you will dump her in the dark steel cabinet and forget her. Your pleasure with her is brief and meaningless. Which is but one of the reasons working a dog is the finest of fieldsports. Since our sport is all about relationships, dogs inevitably…

“It was not long before shots started to ring out. It sounded as if there was a lot of action to my right” Pulling into the farmyard, the scale of the day ahead dawned on us. There were enough armed men here to have a reasonable stab at annexing Essex. Every possible type of shooter was present, from those in Savile Row tweeds to technical camo, carrying London side-by-sides to synthetic semi-autos. In fact, I imagined that organising this collection to walk in vague lines across fields and through woods, in the hope of funneling hares towards a group of standing Guns, would require more military precision than invading the neighbouring county. Andrew Johnson, who is Suffolk born and bred, was the man who had this thankless task and whose…

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,…