Innholdsfortegnelse for 08-Aug-2018 i Shooting Times & Country

Grouse shooting, two words that evoke thoughts of lavish lunches, whacking great cigars and bottles of wine that cost as much as a morning with a good goose guide. That might be grouse shooting for some, but it’s not the sport as I know it. Every year, I empty my bank account and buy two back-to-back days over pointers in the Outer Hebrides. The weather is often foul, the accommodation is variable and the packed lunch — admittedly made by me — is reliably dreadful. Last year, on the second day of my trip, I had two and a half brace of grouse then folded a crossing woodcock in a little lochan just as the sun went down. It was probably the best day’s shooting I have ever had. Back…

The Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust (GWT) has launched a new initiative — Raising the Game — that is designed to provide practical support to keepers who are struggling with depression. Greater demands are being put on gamekeepers than ever before, with young keepers fresh out of college being charged with more responsibility yet receiving less day-to-day support than their forebears. The job is pressured and can be lonely. As a sad illustration, earlier this year two gamekeepers took their own lives. The GWT’s Raising the Game strategy has been set up to address these concerns and the problem of depression and mental health issues in the countryside. It provides a confidential telephone service known as Jamie’s Helpline, gamekeeper training and mentoring services. Keepers will also be taught how to cope with…

Pochard uplisted to Vulnerable by IUCN The pochard has been uplisted to Vulnerable, the first of the threatened categories on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listing. All other quarry species are listed as Least Concern, the lowest category. As a result, the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) requires full protection of the pochard from December 2018. Pochard have been reported as showing a persistent decline for the past 20 years, possibly due to problems on the breeding grounds in eastern Europe.…

PLASTIC WASTE While T. Kennedy has a valid point regarding the plastic waste that blights our planet, and in particular the oceans, I’m afraid he appears to be viewing the issue through rose-tinted spectacles (Letter of the week, 25 July). We are unable to turn the clock back to the nostalgic days of paper-cased cartridges for one and all. Like it or not, plastic-cased cartridges are here to stay, as are the plastic wads that are a prerequisite for using steel shot, the most popular and cheapest non-toxic material in use by wildfowlers today. I doubt there is a wildfowling club in the country that doesn’t request — if not demand — that its members retrieve all spent cases, often imposing penalties on any transgressors. Unfortunately, the retrieval of plastic…

PATTERN SHEET 1 Eley Grand Prix High Pheasant 30g, No.5 shot, fibre wad, modified choke at 30 yards. This is quite a dense pattern considering the choke. It did seem that both patterns shot tighter than expected, especially with the Lightning Steel, which was a phenomenal pattern. PATTERN SHEET 2 Eley Pigeon HV 32g, No.6 shot, plastic wad, full choke at 30 yards. This threw a very tight and consistent pattern with the vast majority of pellets within 15in. Proof that you should always pattern your gun/choke/cartridge combination to see what you are actually achieving.…

If you don’t know 100 per cent what something is, don’t eat it — it could kill you. And that doesn’t apply just to fungi, as there are plenty of plants and berries that are poisonous. Don’t just go off foraging wherever you like, either. You could land yourself in hot water with the landowner, keeper or farmer, not to mention potentially the police. Do not trespass and do, ideally, take a course with a professional forager first. Familiarise yourself with the code of good foraging practice, which you can find on the Association of Foragers’ website at www.foragers-association.org.uk/principles-and-practice.…

TIME TO CONSIDER NET WORTH The season is nearly upon us, the harvest is almost done and rabbits abound. My long-nets were looking sorry for themselves, so I decided to have a check and clear out. The handmade nets, carefully and skilfully knitted by the old-before-time hands of Torchie, were the first to get a check over. I don’t have the time nor inclination or skill to do a decent repair job. I give these nets an extremely hard time and, on the whole, they are fantastic but they are starting to age. The running lines, top and bottom, were snapping a lot due to the lack of elasticity in the thinner twine that I had used to fit the grommets on the pole. On a knife edge I also…

Idon’t know what it is about cockers but they seem to be genetically programmed to Jump up. Small puppies that do this can be excused but once they get bigger, dogs that Jump up become an embarrassment. I’m prompted to write this because my sprocker puppy, Emma, is a determined leaper. She may look more like her springer mother but her enthusiasm for Jumping up is characteristic of her cocker sire. It does reflect her friendly and exuberant nature, but it is something I want to stop. It was never a maJor problem with my springer puppies. Like all puppies, they wanted to Jump up initially, but it wasn’t difficult to persuade them not to do so. One effective method is treading lightly on the back paws — the front…

PEST CONTROL Q How do I keep deer out of my garden — is there something non-lethal I could use as a deterrent? I am not opposed to someone shooting them, it is just that I have close neighbours, live near a road and feel that shooting them within sight of the other houses might cause more problems than it solves. A I am afraid the only way to keep deer out of your garden is to fence them out. Shooting them so close to other houses and roads would, as you quite rightly point out, cause you problems and even if you could shoot them, others would soon take their place. The good news is that deer don’t like to feel hemmed in — you might get away with…

GAMEKEEPING Q I have heard some conflicting advice, so would appreciate your opinion. When is it best to start feeding our pheasant poults wheat and should we introduce it to their diet gradually or just make an overnight change? A It is difficult to give an exact age as it will, to a degree, depend on the size and health of the birds. They need to be kept on pellets until they are at least 12 weeks old, but will grow and hold better if they are kept on them for longer. A useful halfway stage between the grower pellets and wheat is a covert or release pellet. They are a bit cheaper than grower pellets and some makers add a holding spice to make them more attractive. When you…

One of the most recognisable of pigs, thanks to its spotted body, the Gloucester Old Spot (GOS) originated in the Berkeley Vale on the southern shore of the Severn. The breed was once known as the orchard pig, for it was traditionally kept in the cider and perry orchards, feeding on windfall fruit. In 2010 it was awarded Traditional Speciality Guaranteed status by the EU Commission, putting meat from this breed on a level with Champagne and Parma ham. According to the Gloucestershire Old Spots Pig Breeders’ Club, “whether as pork, or bacon, or gammons, or sausages, or pies, genuine GOS pork is flavoursome, succulent and delicious”. Few who have sampled it will disagree. The secret of the GOS’s flavour is a distinct layer of back fat and marbling within…

FERRETING Q I’ve been told that it is best to feed ferret kits cooked carcase rather than raw. Is this true? A Feeding your ferret a healthy, nutritious and balanced diet is essential. Ferrets are carnivores and will consume the entire animal (rabbit), including the bones, meat and organs. You can feed your ferret bones — which are a great source of calcium — but make sure they are not cooked. Cooked bones can splinter, which can cause injury. Ferrets also struggle to digest cooked meats, so it is always better to give them raw foods. A ferret will only eat when it needs to, so don’t give them too many bones or you may find some stashed away in hidden places and you might not know about it until…

I have received my pheasant poults in weekly batches instead of all within a few days. Though it is easier filling a pair of pens at a time, it does mean I have birds of various ages on the estate. Getting up at first light to check and feed a couple of pens instead of all six unfortunately tends to make those early mornings drag on for longer than I’d like. I am beginning to find my feet in my new position, though there are plenty of areas of the estate that I have yet to explore. The combine has been rolling and all the crops around the shoot are now off and baled. A bonus is that the estate leaves cultivating many of the stubbles until springtime, which should…

BUY The Wildlife Habitat Trust launched its 2018 conservation stamp at the Game Fair. Painted by wildlife artist Andrew Stock, the £5 stamp is titled Teal at Chichester Harbour and is the 28th in the series. Money raised from the sale of the stamps directly benefits wildfowling and conservation and prints are also available. Both can be bought at po.st/tealstamp. ACCREDITED Do you know the questions you should ask a game shoot before buying days? How a gamekeeper is a working conservationist? Can you carry on an informed conversation about lead shot or antibiotics used in game rearing? Do you know the up-to-date rules and regulations for managing a shoot? Take the GWCT Accredited Game Shot test and find out what you know. Careful study of the GWCT website beforehand…

ALAN ROUNTREE Passionately interested in game, shooting and gundogs, Alan Rountree first trained German shorthaired pointers and began competing in pointer and setter trials. He got his first Labrador in 1973, and made up 11 Labs to field trial champion, with eight of these also achieving international field trial champion. He won the International Gundog League (IGL) Retriever Championship and the Irish Kennel Club Championship five times. He judged the IGL Retriever Championship three times and the Irish Kennel Club Championship twice. He was elected as a member of the Kennel Club in 1990, was on the field trials committee from 1998 to 2012, and appointed chairman from 2000 to 2012. He died peacefully at home on Friday, 27 July, and leaves his wife Deirdre and stepson David. FOLLOW US…

“The eagle owl shares its liking of the uplands with some other rather scarce species, such as the hen harrier” If ever there were a controversial raptor breeding in this country, the Eurasian eagle owl ( Bubo bubo ) is it. This owl has, in one way or another, made the UK its home for a number of years now. However, there are some people, including those from the RSPB, who do not consider the bird to be native, and treat it as an alien species that should be removed. Then there are others, such as owl lovers, who think it should be left well and truly alone. I find it hard to understand why a bird that is so common in mainland Europe had never lived here, and indeed,…

“The greyhen was almost vertical like a meerkat, with her neck stretched high in the air” With the Twelfth just days away, it has been interesting to see how the hot weather has affected grouse and blackgame. Many shoot days have already been cancelled and it seems unlikely that 2018 is going to be a vintage year. After weeks of wildfires, a friend in the Peak District conceded that it might be a good season “as long we don’t burn”. Our grouse stocks looked good in March and April but these have failed to produce good poults for the season ahead. I am slightly encouraged by the fact that many pairs seem to be missing from their usual territories; I hope they are keeping their heads down on account of…

“Cuttlefish, like squid, are the Kurt Cobain of Lyme Bay — they live fast and die young” There is nothing subtle about fishing for conger eel. Big baits, big hooks, big breaking-strain line and big expectations are all mandatory requirements for a day’s boat fishing off Dorset for this snake-like monster of the deep. So, clutching big hopes and big Cornish pasties, photographer Paul Quagliana and I pointed my Offshore 25 in the direction of conger-land one morning. In keeping with their fearsome reputation, conger like it rough. A perfect conger residence is a deep-sea, twisted-metal shipwreck or a craggy, snaggy portion of rocky inshore reef. Very big conger can live in surprisingly shallow water, so long as the bottom offers a broken-up landscape of crevices in which it can…

RABBITING Q On the small meadow where I am allowed to shoot rabbits with my .22, the grass has been almost totally burned out by the dry weather, so stalking them is becoming increasingly difficult. Do you have any tips on how I might get around this? I’m worried the rabbits will start to get out of control if left to their own devices. A High seats are not just for deer. If you can get hold of a portable high seat and erect it at some suitable place overlooking an edge of the meadow that is particularly favoured by rabbits, you have the perfect ambush. You also have the safest possible position to shoot from, with a solid backstop. If you can use a lean-to seat against a tree…

Among the duck species, “tufties” have a reputation for breeding later than any others and, even in August, it is not too late for a brood to suddenly appear. According to the latest BTO/JNCC/ RSPB Breeding Bird Survey results, there are no changes to the number of breeding pairs of tufted duck in the UK, estimated recently at between 16,000 and 19,000 pairs. Wetland Bird Survey counts in Great Britain (BTO/JNCC/ RSPB/WWT) are stable but there was an unexplained drop of 70 per cent in wintering numbers in Northern Ireland between 2000 and 2009. The first migrant tufted ducks will soon be arriving from Iceland in the north-west and from Scandinavia, Europe and Russia. Some will travel thousands of miles, with the furthest birds flying from as far away as…

VETERINARY CARE Q With temperatures soaring this summer, what is the best way to keep my dog cool? A The heat can be dangerous for dogs, because, just like us, they can suffer from both sunburn and heatstroke. The progressive signs of heat stroke in dogs comprise: • Heavy panting, difficulty breathing and increased heart rate; • A bright red appearance to the tongue, lips and gums; • Drooling thick saliva and vomiting; • Becoming progressively unsteady and may pass bloody diarrhoea; • The dog’s rectal temperature rises to 40°C to 41.1°C (104°F to 106°F); • Shock sets in, the lips and mucous membranes turn pale and grey; • Finally, the dog collapses and seizures, coma and death rapidly follow. If you are concerned that your dog might be suffering…

Keeping a gun cabinet secure is one of the shooter’s major responsibilities and essential for keeping on the right side of the law. However, the expression “under lock and key” may soon become outdated. In the future, door locks, gun safes and pistol cases could be controlled and secured by facial, voice or palm-print recognition technology. In addition, the gun-safe owner would be able to track the history of device usage, unlock the door from a distance or video call to let someone in. A preset emergency contact can also be notified — which, of course, could be the local firearms officer. Shooting Times asked BASC for its thoughts on the forthcoming technology and its relevance to firearms certificate owners. Legal expert and director of firearms Bill Harriman said: “Actual…

11-12 AUGUST GLORIOUS TWELFTH CELEBRATION House of Bruar, Perthshire Tel 01796 483236 22 AUGUST GWCT SCOTTISH YOUNG SHOOTERS’ DAY Auchnerran, Logie Coldstone Tel 01738 551511 25 AUGUST CLAY SHOOT Caerhays Castle, Cornwall Email sheila@caerhays.co.uk 31 AUGUST ROYAL GARDENS TOUR, SPORTING DINNER & AUCTION Highgrove House, Gloucestershire Email jlanger@gwct.org.uk 9 SEPTEMBER HAMPSHIRE COUNTRY SPORTS DAY Tichborne Park, Alresford hampshirecountrysportsday.co.uk /…

1 Orton packable overtrousers RRP £119.99  www.harkila.com These hard-wearing trousers are made for walking through tough heather and will keep you warm and dry. The trousers are mesh lined to ensure more freedom of movement and high moisture wicking during intense periods of activity. 2 Woodcock II shooting jacket RRP £179.99  www.seeland.com This multi-purpose shooting jacket is lightweight and rugged and has all the essential features needed for a successful day in the field. Whether you are shooting, dog training or commuting to work, this stylish waterproof jacket will keep you looking your best for every outing. 3 Wheeled gun bag RRP £375  www.chapmanbags.com The perfect solution for transporting all your shooting kit, the Chapman wheeled gun bag allows you to carry all your field essentials easily, including two shotguns.…

Times have changed and, as most of you will be aware, you now need to have been on a course to do most things. This is seeping more and more into the world of loading too, as most loaders need to be qualified to meet the requirements of the shoot-day insurance. There are plenty of courses run throughout the UK to get you up to speed and ensure that you have made an effort to cover yourself. I went on the Lantra loading course run by Ann Litchfield. The course moves around the country throughout the year, which makes it easier for people to find one close to home. I attended a day at Coniston clay shooting ground in Skipton, North Yorkshire, last year. Ann spends the morning running through…

I am never surprised when I hear fellow Guns sharing tales of foraging experiences. While it doesn’t involve a rod, a gun or a rifle, it seems like an activity born out of the same instinct to hunt and to harvest. I still get a massive buzz from stumbling upon a patch of mushrooms, a bullace tree or a crop of crab apples, and in this series I will be sharing with you a few of my seasonal favourites, starting off with the much-prized summer chanterelle. While I am not an “expert”, the unpredictability and wonder of wild mushrooms never ceases to amaze me. I think it is their ability to surprise me, break my heart, frustrate me and thrill me all in the same outing that, coupled with their…

“All I had to do was surround the warrens, chuck in a fistful of ferrets, let the dogs see the rabbits and do a lot of running about” The summer can be frustrating. The show season is in full swing, my ferrets and dogs are recuperating and we are inundated with juvenile rabbits. This might be great for sporting ferreters but for me they are the ultimate headache. The damage a nest of young bunnies can inflict on a well-tended garden is monstrous. Multiply that by dozens of litters and you can imagine the carnage that the teeth of the ever-hungry colonies of growing rabbits cause on a field. I cannot afford to have the “leave it till the season” attitude — I have paying customers; they want action and…

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…

Latin name: Calluna vulgaris Common name: Heather Other names: Ling, basam, bassum, besom, Scotch heather, white heather How to spot it and where to find it: With the Glorious Twelfth soon upon us, the heather that sustains our red grouse will be bursting into bloom with its tiny bell-shaped flowers carpeting the moors. The stems of this slow-growing dwarf shrub are clothed in tiny overlapping evergreen leaves, with spikes of single or double flowers appearing from August until the autumn. Interesting facts: This is the most common type of heather found on the North York Moors, the other two being cross-leaved and bell heather. The Latin calluna means “to sweep” and locals once used heather to make a type of broom called a besom. A kind of mead was brewed…

CARTRIDGES Q I need a magnum rifle for my trip to Africa next year for plains game. What sort of cartridges should I be using? A The obvious choice would be the .300 Winchester Magnum. Introduced in 1963, it was based on the necked-down .338 Winchester to accommodate the .30-calibre bullets. It is a good choice for many reasons. First, there are a lot of rifles manufactured in this cartridge, so you will be free to use a rifle in the style you want. Secondly, due to its popularity, you will have no problem buying ammunition for your rifle abroad should you run out. Thirdly, the .300 Win Mag is capable of handling a wide range of bullet weights. You can use 110-gr varmint loads at 3,750fps or 150-gr deer…

GUNDOG TRAINING Q Though my springer is only two and a half years old, since his first outings last year he has begun to put weight and will not hunt with any speed when we are out for general exercise. How can I keep him fit during the summer? A Keeping a hard-working dog at peak fitness through the off-season is really unnecessary and just about impossible; however your dog’s physical and mental well-being are both equally important. After the season, it is a good idea to have a rest to recharge the batteries and put back some of the weight lost. It is also a good idea to put your dog through a refresher training course to keep it sharp and under control. Visits to a rabbit pen for…

FIREARMS LAW Q What are the regulations for the secure storage of shotgun cartridges? A Provided that you are an ordinary certificate holder and not a dealer who is storing cartridges in bulk, there is no regulation such as that which exists for rifle ammunition. You are not obliged to lock cartridges away or store them in a security cabinet. However, it is common sense to ensure that your ammunition is stored safely, especially if there are children in the household, and to do so would be good practice. At the very least, ensure that your cartridges are kept out of sight in a place that is not subject to damp or excesses of temperature. Make sure that cartridges are not visible to any casual visitor or through a window…

“Local farmers are ready to recondition the bear’s behaviour in a more permanent manner. With a rifle” What is a “problem bear”? I ask, because there are some issues with a bear in the Spanish Pyrenees. By “issues”, I mean that said bruin has taken to killing horses. So far this year, he has been accused of killing six mares, four colts, four sheep and a goat. The livestock owners are not happy. And now the authorities are wondering whether they should officially classify the offending predator as a “problem bear”. The bear in question is called Goiat, meaning “lad” in local dialect. He was relocated to Catalonia from his native Slovenia two years ago as part of an EUfunded predator conservation project. Now that the not-so-gentle giant has settled…