Innholdsfortegnelse for 28-Mar-2018 i Shooting Times & Country

Last weekend, after a cold, unsuccessful evening of roost shooting in Suffolk, I drove back to London, changed out of my wellies and traipsed off through the snow to a party. It was 9pm by the time I got there but most guests still hadn’t turned up. I got chatting to a boy about a book we both like. There is a south Indian character in it who works in theatre. My fellow early arriver was a south Indian 20-something who is working on a play in Manchester, so he found the narrative pretty relatable. Then he asked what I did. I fudged it, saying something about a countryside magazine. He seemed intrigued by my evasiveness, so I told him. Standing there on the balcony of an ex-council flat in…

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, Oxfordshire gundogs@thekennel club.org.uk 28 APRIL GWCT INTERSHOOT CHALLENGE Chitcombe estate, Dorset dorset@gwct.org.uk 12 MAY WEST LONDON SHOOTING SCHOOL STALKING COURSE Showell Farm, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire Tel 020 8845 1377 12-13 MAY SPORTFISH READING SHOW Game Fishing Centre, Reading, Berkshire Tel 0118 930 3860…

Wildfowlers clear up the foreshore More than 50 wildfowlers, BASC Young Shots and students from Newton Rigg College teamed up to clear plastic waste from along the foreshore at the National Nature Reserve in Lindisfarne, Northumberland (Sharpshooter, 7 March). The idea was raised by a member of Lindisfarne Wildfowling Management group and quickly gained momentum. Gareth Dockerty, BASC North regional officer, said: “After three hours of plastic picking the volunteers then took part in a Taste of Game lunch… with local pheasant and venison burgers on the menu. It was a perfect opportunity to catch up about the past season for local wildfowlers.” Peregrine numbers rise by 22 per cent A new paper by the British Trust for Ornithology says that there has been a 22 per cent rise in…

As author of the letter to which G. Dunn refers (No right, 7 March), I have to correct an alarming misunderstanding of the statistics of population decline on his part. Populations expand by sometimes very large factors at the end of each breeding season. Various factors then lead to a vast decline until the next breeding season. Shooting is one of them and I’m willing to accept that it might cause a 10 per cent decline in the population of native woodcock that existed at the start of the shooting season, though the ratio of 1:9 of native to migratory woodcock is irrelevant in estimating this figure. But that does not represent a 10 per cent decline in the breeding population — the population that exists a few months later.…

South-west Ireland is not known for fine weather and the forecast at the end of February is scrutinised by one group in particular: the deer stalkers. The season for all species closes on the last day of the month and following yet another wet winter we hoped for a dry spell, allowing cull targets to be reached before rifles were put away until September. I was more nervous than usual this year, having been invited to join J. M. M. Killorglin for a late-season stalk of sika hinds in County Kerry, where John Mangan, founder and director of J. M. M., has been managing deer populations over more than 100,000 acres for in excess of 20 years. We had spoken at length the previous month. He reassured me that February…

Last year nearly 20,000 badgers were killed by shooting and cage trapping in the West Country, Cheshire, Herefordshire and Wiltshire under the Government’s control scheme to try to eliminate tuberculosis in cattle. Whether the scheme is bringing any genuine advance in the control of the disease is debatable and, as is to be expected, opponents stridently denounce its effectiveness, while choosing to ignore the appalling suffering imposed on the farming community. Whatever the eventual outcome, and despite the considerable numbers of badgers destroyed in Somerset, Devon and Dorset, brock continues to put in an appearance, notably as a road casualty. A few days ago I came across two fresh corpses, within half a mile of each other, both apparently road casualties. Recently, sitting in a high seat on a roe…

My explanation of why I wasn’t going to Crufts (Gundogs, 7 March) was picked up by Sue Hamilton, who lives in Connecticut. She has owned and shown Alaskan malamutes and works with Inuit sled dogs, offering homes for retired ones. She tells me that like so many modern gundogs, malamutes are a pale shadow of their working ancestors. “Though my husband’s and my interest in Alaskan malamutes was recreational mushing, we did step into the conformation ring because we believed it was our duty to represent what we were taught by our Alaskan malamute mentors was the true working dog of the polar north. More often than not we lost to professional handlers, dogs with recognisable breeder-owner handlers and Judges who admitted: ‘Your dog is better but that dog is…

Checking on shot outcome STALKING Q I was present at a spring roe doe cull. It was all done from high seats and we were instructed to stay out until told to move by the keeper at the end of the afternoon. As the time wore on, I watched a deer bound through the wood towards me. When she stopped I fired at her and missed. A couple of moments later, the Gun in the seat above me fired and when we chatted about it at the end of the day, we concluded it was my missed deer. However, when the keeper was tidying up the next day his dog found a dead animal about 90m from the seat I had been occupying. I had to face the music from…

The Dartford warbler has been a beneficiary of climate change in the UK. The species is one of just two breeding warblers that don’t migrate to warmer climes in the autumn, the other being Cetti’s warbler. Both have taken advantage of a long series of mild winters to increase in range and number. Traditionally thought of as birds of south-coast heaths, perhaps to be seen singing from the top of a gorse bush, Dartford warblers have now established themselves as far north as Lincolnshire and North Wales. Most of the new sites are coastal but birds have also moved inland, especially to home counties such as Surrey, but more surprisingly into moorland in Staffordshire. A cold winter may well arrest the spread of the species, as birds need to find…

“Seen in the cold, grey light of a police office, the social media posts were deeply disturbing” The news that Police Scotland intends to intensify the monitoring of firearms certificate applicants’ social media should come as no surprise. An examination of an applicant’s online posts is already a widespread practice in other parts of the UK. The only new development, it seems, is that it may become an official requirement, or good practice, in Scotland. The Scottish media seemed to find the prospect newsworthy. On 6 March, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) issued a report on firearms licensing (News, 14 March). It noted that social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are not always checked. HMICS approved of Police Scotland’s view that in future they should…

FUNDRAISE BASC North is hosting an auction and dinner to raise money for its Young Shots, conservation projects and the North East Youth charity. The event, to be held at the Newcastle Marriott Hotel Gosforth Park on 13 April, will feature stalking, wildfowling, fishing and game and clay shooting experiences up for grabs in an auction, while a shooting simulator will give guests the chance to take part in a simulated grouse challenge. Tickets are £40 per person. Tel 01912 727494 to book or for more information. GARDEN  It might not feel like it with the recent freezing weather, but spring is here, hopefully giving you a chance to get into the garden and plan for the months ahead. You can focus on protecting new spring shoots from slugs and…

1 Seeland Woodcock II jacket £179.99  www.seeland.com The popular shooting jacket has received a bit of a makeover with this updated version, but is still water and windproof, with a Setex membrane beneath its traditional outer layer. Hand-warmer pockets are fleece lined, while the spacious cartridge pockets feature drain holes. There is also a special Oxford nylon-lined pocket for carrying game and wet kit. 2 William Evans poly carbine rifle gunslip £48  www.williamevans.com A poly-canvas waterproof 44in slip with a padded fleece lining and stock retainer, it features a large outer pocket and adjustable sling and carry handle. 3 Browning B525 Liberty Light shotgun RRP £2,289  www.browning.eu This new lightweight, 12 Magnum shotgun is designed for smaller shooters, such as women and juniors, or those not satisfied with regular butt-stocks.…

With a score of 175.93, K. Mehl’s Aberdeenshire trophy took top honours for Scotland in 2017, maintaining that county’s place as one of the country’s great roe hunting territories. However, this year it was eclipsed, numerically at least, in the top 10 heads by its principal competitors, Angus, Fife and Perthshire. Overall, the buck season proved an interesting one and though there were no elusive 200-point trophies recorded, stalkers across the country should be satisfied with the total of 254 medal heads out of the 301 roe that were submitted for evaluation. Thirteen Scottish trophies scored in excess of 150 CIC points, long regarded as the benchmark of an international-class trophy, exceeding as it does the gold medal requirement by 20 points. It is always heartening to see that the…

About a year ago I wrote about looming problems with heather burning, saying that it would become a thing of the past on large areas of the northern uplands. It would appear that my worst fears are to be realised. There is not a ban on burning everywhere, but it will be an end to burning on what is classed as “blanket bog”. There is an all-too-familiar feel to this campaign, with far too many comparisons to the recent Bradford Council decision to end grouse shooting on Ilkley Moor (News, 24 January). If you repeat the statement enough times it becomes the truth. That would seem to be the case with burning. The single-issue pressure groups simply repeated that burning was evil and in the end enough of those within…

Having been asked to present the case for hill stalking, I now realise that my article hardly fits in the Most sporting sportsman series. The pursuit of red deer on open ground is so obviously the finest and most noble of all British fieldsports that, after these words are published, I daresay they will close the series and cancel any other subsequent offerings. The case will be proven. Hill stalking stands apart from every other sport in matters of strategy, scale, spectacle and adrenaline. We all know that red deer are the biggest and most impressive British land mammals and they occupy a position of profound significance in our national psyche. Red deer are featured on road signs that warn drivers to be aware of wildlife because the animals are…

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,…

The grey cattle of Hungary, with their magnificent lyre-shaped horns, are among the most ancient of breeds. They were bred as draught or beef animals and a century ago they played a vital part in Hungary’s agriculture, which relied on grain and beef. In the late 19th century there were more than 120,000 grey cattle in Hungary, forming 96 per cent of the country’s total cattle stock. Today the Hungarian grey is a rare breed. Calves are born light brown, not becoming grey until they are several months old. The coat of a mature beast is silvery white, with darker areas around the eyes, nose and feet, complemented by a dark tail switch. For more than 60 years a herd has flourished in the Hortobágy National Park, ensuring the survival…

HIGH PHEASANTS AND HARD FACTS Laurence Catlow raises fascinating points (First impressions going down the tube, 14 March). He says YouTube videos of high pheasant shooting might be distasteful to non-shooters and, to shooters, a kind of voyeuristic porn. He concludes that films about small days showing sport “done properly” should replace them. I am one of the team on a YouTube channel that makes these films, and I would like, briefly, to set out the context for our films and offer a different conclusion. We have developed a set of self-imposed rules — which we have thrashed out with our sponsors from the gun trade — when making not just these films, but films about everything from African big game hunting to ferreting mice with bumblebees. They are: Tell…

“It is a joy to watch the engravers at work, a job they have spent five years training for” There are few things that irritate me quite as much as forgetting something I once knew. It’s an increasingly frequent frustration, so I was pleased to half-remember why alpine rivers shine azure blue while standing on a bridge in Brescia. It’s something to do with the way that light reflects off suspended sediment but quite why the sediment is so plentiful in such rivers, I couldn’t recall. My happy curiosity faded as I remembered being felled by a question on fluvial processes, many years ago, while resitting my geography A level exam for the second time. But then I saw a trout rise through the glimmering water column and my academic…

When the pheasant and partridge season ended, I gave myself a congratulatory pat on the back for having been fairly accurate throughout. And when I was invited to go ferreting with Simon Whitehead and Patrick Galbraith, I thought it would be an excellent chance to keep up the momentum and to challenge myself with a new sport. Little did I know that ferreting was a whole different ball game, requiring more speed, concentration and skill. So the day before the event, I looked up ferreting online to see it in action and immediately felt as unprepared as a warship going into battle without any cannons. We agreed to meet at 9am sharp at a local inn. Simon and I turned up with 15 minutes to spare. I try never to…

IF YOU LIKE BOTH dogs and statistics, the Kennel Club’s annual registration figures always make a fascinating read. Those for 2017 are as intriguing as any. Once again the Labrador was top dog, with 35,068 registrations, an increase of 1,212 over 2016. That might not sound a lot, but it is more than the registrations for English setters, Gordon setters, curly-coated retrievers, Clumber spaniels, field spaniels, Sussex spaniels and Welsh springers combined (1,169). However, in 2016 the Labrador had a 12,002 lead over the second most popular breed, the cocker spaniel (21,854). Cocker registrations were up in 2017 by 1,463; an impressive figure, but it wasn’t enough to enable the cocker to hold on to second place in the popularity stakes. Britain’s second most popular breed by a considerable margin…

“By keeping the pressure up, I will be able to create a largely crow- and magpie-free area for the nesting season” Around the beginning of May, I will start to get the annual crop of Larsen trapping enquiries from suburbia; from those exasperated by magpies taking “their” blackbird and thrush chicks. They will want to know where they can beg, buy or borrow a Larsen trap, complete with a live magpie decoy, because they have heard that this is the solution to their problem. My answer is that by then it is too late, the worst of the damage is done and the key is to be organised next year. The sustainability and humaneness of my keepering is crucial to my approach; I need to be confident that what I…

Latin name: Hypholoma fasciculare Common name: Sulphur tuft Other names: Clustered woodlover How to spot it and where to find it: This wood-rotting species is seen all year round, usually in large clumps of jostling fruiting bodies on a dead tree stump. As the name suggests, the caps and gills are sulphur yellow, as is the curved stem, though it is darker at the base. It is found on fallen trees, decaying stumps and even hollow trunks of living trees. Interesting facts: The sulphur tuft will feed on deciduous hardwoods as well as conifers. However, it favours the former as they have a higher cellulose content and lower lignin content. The mushroom can remain on large stumps for two or three years before the wood is reduced to the hard…

“Its 14in barrel made the prospects of actually hitting anything very unlikely” I like guns with a story. Better still, I like guns whose stories are not immediately apparent and take a bit of digging. I came across a rather unprepossessing gun that looked nothing out of the ordinary but, with a little sleuthing, proved to have had a varied and colourful past. It was a mid-19th-century Austro-Hungarian percussion carbine, the sort of short firearm that was issued to cavalry troops. The cavalry was expected to get stuck in with lances and sabres rather than popping at each other with guns. Those firearms that were issued were principally for personal defence or for such dismounted tasks as guarding the horses when they were at grass. The Austrians issued this particular…