Innholdsfortegnelse for 11-Jul-2018 i Shooting Times & Country

Last Saturday I had a lousy day of pigeon shooting. Due to another Gun setting up in the same field 72 hours previously, the flightline had shifted 100 yards and any birds that did appear turned their beaks up at my magnet like Frenchmen in an English eatery. As the afternoon wore on the temperature rose, and I sat slumped against the net, sipping elderflower cordial. Two hours later I awoke. It was six o’clock. The day certainly won’t make it into my game book but nonetheless it was special. Moments of tranquility snoozing in the shadow of a hedgerow, out of reach of emails and social media, seem increasingly rare in the modern world. Undoubtedly other pastimes are relaxing. I’m sure jogging is pleasant enough and sailing is potentially…

£30million boost for Warwickshire It is known that fieldsports improve the local and national economy. Now figures from the Game Fair claim that this year’s event is set to provide the Warwickshire economy with a £30million boost. Last year, around 116,000 visitors and 1,000 businesses attended the Game Fair when it was held at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. Independent research found that the event generated around £30million for the regional and wider economy, with £2million of that spent on accommodation in the area. This year, the Game Fair is held at Ragley Hall from Friday, 27 July to Sunday, 29 July. Saddleworth Moor At time of press, Saddleworth Moor is still ablaze, with keepers among those working to bring it under control. Commenting on their bravery, National Gamekeepers’ Organisation chairman…

I read with distaste George Monbiot’s “quick note” on the Guardianwebsite implicating grouse moor management in the Saddleworth Moor fire. Mr Monbiot is writing without any knowledge of the causes of this fire or of the dynamics of upland fires. He has also chosen to ignore the possible role of management decisions made by conservation organisations in allowing this fire to become established. Gamekeepers are among those with the most to lose from this fire and doubtless some will now be facing considerable economic hardship as a result of it. Most distasteful of all is Mr Monbiot’s timing; while he sat comfortably at home writing this article, the same gamekeepers he chose to criticise were on the moors risking their lives to fight the fire. IN ASSOCIATION WITH SEELAND The…

It is almost that time of year when I, along with many others, stand proud and promote our way of life at the Game Fair. This event, together with other agricultural and country shows, is usually a good barometer of how we are perceived by the public for what we do. Not everyone who attends such events has the inclination to hunt, shoot, fish or, indeed, ferret. Our individual hunting communities combine to make our country sports world what it is. Whether we like it or not, our world is changing. It is not only the general public’s knowledge and understanding of the natural world, the great outdoors and all its activities that are not what they once were —nor what it should be — but sometimes also that of…

PATTERN SHEET 1 Eley VIP Sporting 28g, No.8 shot, half choke, fibre wad, 30 yards. A high pellet count due to the shot size but good even distribution throughout the pattern would guarantee no clay escaping through this. PATTERN SHEET 2 Eley Superb 28g, No.7 shot, three-quarter choke, plastic wad, 30 yards. A dense pattern for a three-quarter choke. Most of the pellets were actually within a 20in circle with the rest holding close by. This would be a useful ally on a good driven shoot.…

I have to confess that these days I seldom stalk on foot, not through laziness but simply because my stalking ground in West Dorset — which is organised by my old friend Charles Fenn — lends itself ideally to high seats. There is substantial woodland, a mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees harbouring sika and roe with the occasional muntjac, and open areas of grassland that can be surveyed from wooden high seats. I much prefer to survey the stalking ground from a high seat. Not only can you view the ground in front in comfort and secure in the knowledge that your presence is unlikely to be detected, but you are in a position to take a safe and steady shot. There is the added bonus of acting as…

I’ve always liked the dog days of summer — those hot, lazy days when dogs Just sprawl out in the shade because it is too hot to do anything. The dog days are generally reckoned to stretch from 3 July to 11 August, when Sirius the dog star rises at the same time as the sun. This year the dog days, if not Sirius, came early, with those hot cloudless days we experienced in the second half of June. It is easy to forget that dogs wear the same fur coat all year round, and that they are better at coping with cold than heat. Dogs aren’t good at losing heat, as they can only sweat through their paws, but they do lose heat by panting, which is their primary…

Latin name: Melittis melissophyllum Common name: Bastard balm Other names: Baum leaf, honey balm How to spot it and where to find it: Uncommon in the wild, this pretty plant is a wonderful garden perennial, but can still be found in ancient woodland and hedgerows in south-west England, the New Forest and south-west Wales. It likes shade and dappled sunshine so has been lost from areas where coppicing no longer takes place or where the flail has replaced hedge laying. Its flowers resemble creamy-white upturned faces, with pink tongues sticking out, giving them an orchid-like appearance. Its upright stems produce puckered dark green leaves that have a sweet, light scent a little like that of new-mown hay. Interesting facts: Due to the “balm” part of its name, it is perhaps…

Having been head gamekeeper for nine seasons on an estate in the Cotswolds, I decided that I needed a change so applied for another gamekeeping position. I was lucky with my application and have now moved to a family-owned estate that emphasises the link between conservation and game shooting. This is the first article written from my new cottage in the Chilterns. Changing jobs is a daunting task and the thought of having to box everything up to move away was rather unnerving. The support from my friends and family has been huge, with plenty of offers to help ferry my personal belongings back and forth and supply me with new furnishings. As I moved late in the year to this new keepering job, I have been busy trying to…

READ A new book The Knowledge: Every Gun’s Guide to Conservation published by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) tackles some of the most controversial issues affecting shooting today. It is written for seasoned Guns as well as newcomers to shooting, and will also be useful to conservationists and people keen to learn more about how the British countryside is managed. The 200-page book provides a detailed introduction to the principal quarry species, management of habitat and predators and the law relating to shoot days. It includes information on the use of lead shot, medication in game rearing, health and safety, game handling and security. Order now for £15.95 from www.gwct.org.uk/theknowledge. BE ALERT The risk of getting a tick bite is at its highest at this time of year…

1 Weisskirchen bird distress call From £29.50  www.lakesidecalls.co.uk With this call you can imitate a bird in distress to lure in predators. It is suitable for all predators but is a particularly good fox call. Easy to use for both beginners and advanced callers, it is most effective in the early morning or late evening. The call is compelling up to 500m depending on the wind. 2 Midland M48 Plus two-way radios RRP £59.99 (twin pack)  www.twoway-radio.co.uk These two-way radios come with all the accessories you need to get going right away. Whether roosting or decoying, this radio set allows you to keep in touch with progress and movement of birds if you are shooting with a friend in a different location. 3 Primos stretch fit gloves RRP £14.99  www.djdecoys.com…

I have followed the debate around the ethics of high bird shooting with some interest. To pacify high bird experts, I should start by saying that there may well exist an elite group of shooters who with 34in barrels, full chokes and 42g of No.1s can indeed shoot stratospheric pheasants in Devon while standing in Gloucestershire. As an aside, I normally only deploy this sort of equipment at geese. Now to the point: over some years of shooting I have noticed how hard it is to accurately assess the height of a bird when underneath it on open ground. This has been confirmed unscientifically when generally discussing birds at the end of a drive and the variety of responses. You can easily divide birds into too low, sporting and challenging.…

HULL SPECIAL PIGEON 32G NO.6 The Hull Special Pigeon 32g No.6 (£264/1,000) wasn’t particularly comfortable to shoot, but it kills pigeons and kills them well. If you were using a semi-automatic they would be absolutely fine. I would like to have seen them in a No.5. ww.hullcartridge.co.uk ELEY PIGEON HIGH VELOCITY 32G NO.6 The Eley Pigeon High Velocity 32g No.6 (£260/1,000) cartridge was OK. I didn’t like the recoil and would be hesitant to use a light gun with it. It did, however, shoot OK, and killed well. It is very noisy, which, because of the muzzle blast, also gives the impression of increased recoil. www.eley.co.uk CONCLUSION I have tried to approach this test like your average pigeon shooter looking for an all-round cartridge for both the winter and summer…

NIPPING THOSE BAD HABITS IN THE BUD I have had a disastrous ferret breeding season. One of my jills that I had high hopes for lost her litter and the other only produced four. Thankfully, these kits have now been weaned and are quite happily eating the rabbit independently. I start them on fresh rabbit from an early age, so they get used to the smell, texture and taste even before their eyes have opened. I have started to handle them as they are now independent. They are already aware of what my fingers are and what they do and why they should never nip them. The next 10 weeks are the most important in their young lives. As they are physically fully grown around week 16, I must get…

Rangefinding scope benefits OPTICS Q Are laser rangefinding rifle scopes worth the high price tag? A Rifle scopes with a laser rangefinder built in always seem a good idea but their high price is often a limiting factor. I have tested most of the available models over the years, ranging from £1,000 scopes from Bushnell and Burris to high-end models from Zeiss and Swarovski. In fact, Swarovski was the first to offer such a scope. The LRS, as it was called, had a range of 600 yards. Its new model, the DS, costs around £3,250. These scopes give an accurate range to your target, and some show ballistic data and windage adjustment on the reticle for an average wind speed. Personally, I find a set of binoculars with a rangefinder…

LITTLE TERN Little terns are smaller and less raucous than the other terns that nest in the UK. As summer turns to autumn, you may see them feeding in the creeks of estuaries, flying up and down, then hovering, diving and taking small fish. Centuries ago, when the softer edges of our coastline dissipated the tidal energy of our seas, little terns could choose their nesting colonies depending upon where fish supplies were greatest. These days, with beaches being squeezed between hard sea defences and rising sea levels, many youngsters are lost due to inundation on spring tides and in summer storms. Other pressures come from people — and their dogs — and predators. To help nesting pairs, some colonies have 24-hour wardens and electric fences, with diversionary feeding to…

In the recent spell of hot, dry weather, the national park authority posted “extreme fire risk” notices on the unfenced road that crosses part of my farm. I have never seen that before. Another first is the fact that we’ve had to put artificial water sources out in a few of our fields, because a small stream has run dry. This is the only time I have had to do this in the past 16 years. We had an unusually high number of curlew nesting in our meadows this spring and I am beginning to wonder how they will fare. I don’t know why they are so numerous this season but I am concerned that they might find it hard to probe for food if the ground continues to dry…

10 AUGUST PROPERTY GUN & PUNT CLUB SIMULATED GROUSE DAY Holland & Holland Shooting Grounds, Northwood chris@warmanproperties.com Tel 07815 608232 22 AUGUST YOUNG SHOOTERS’ DAY GWCT Demonstration Farm, Auchnerran ijohnston@gwct.org.uk 25 AUGUST CLAY SHOOT Caerhays Castle, St Austell sheila@caerhays.co.uk 31 AUGUST ROYAL GARDENS TOUR, SPORTING DINNER & AUCTION Highgrove House, Tetbury jlanger@gwct.org.uk 9 SEPTEMBER HAMPSHIRE COUNTRY SPORTS DAY www.hampshirecountrysportsday.co.uk/…

A SELFLESS ACT After four days of the destructive fire on Saddleworth Moor (News, 4 July), with the BBC reporting on it from the start, at no time have I heard any mention of the keepering teams from the nine neighbouring estates. Despite this being a very busy time of year, they gathered their specialist firefighting equipment and set out to assist the fire service. A quick look at Chris Packham’s Twitter feed reveals no mention of the fire from our “guardian of the uplands”. The minimum that we could expect from a person so closely connected to nature would be for him to take a little time out from his busy media life to use his tried and tested connection through social media with millions of his devoted followers…

There are few more delightful little waders that visit the uplands to breed than the dunlin, which rather resembles the sandpiper and is sometimes mistaken for one. While the sandpiper is happy on our streams and rivers, the dunlin prefers a far more rarefied atmosphere in which to spend its brief time with us, well up on the high ground. Dull brown in colour on its back, with a lighter underside and a black horseshoe on its chest, it is an interesting bird in its choice of breeding sites, in that in England it prefers to be at least 1,600ft — and up to more than a couple of thousand feet — above sea level. That is where you will find the dunlin in the spring and summer. A confiding…

THERE’S NO FINER sight on a shoot day than a retriever leaping a five-bar gate with a cock pheasant in its mouth, but I have to admit it is not one I’ve seen often. There are two reasons for this. One is the fact that where I live in Suffolk there aren’t many five-bar gates, as arable fields are rarely fenced. The other is that dogs that can leap a gate are few in number. Most dogs will sensibly try to find a way around such an obstacle. Thoughts on jumping dogs were prompted by a recent study published in Vet Record on what happens to a dog’s legs when it jumps from the back of an SUV or 4x4. Researchers analysed the impact leaping from different heights had on…

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@ti-media.com By post: Shooting Times,…

The Rouen is a veritable giant of the duck world. Originating from Rouen, in northern France, it retains the plumage of its mallard forebears, with the drake retaining the iridescent green head. However, it long ago lost the power of flight, for its weight rules out such activity. A mature drake Rouen weighs in at around 5kg (11lb) — five times as much as a wild mallard. The French claim with good reason that the Rouen is the supreme roasting bird thanks to its size and delicious flavour. But it takes from five to six months to mature for market, and a year to reach full size, so is not an economical breed. As a result it is both highly prized and expensive, but is still a familiar sight in…