Innholdsfortegnelse for 07-Nov-2018 i Shooting Times & Country

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past few weeks, which admittedly seems an attractive prospect at times, you will be familiar with #goatgate (News, 31 October). It all kicked off when “hardcore huntress” Larysa Switlyk posted a trophy photo on social media with a feral goat. “Perfect 200-yard shot” was the accompanying caption. Calls for the lady to be imprisoned are laughable, the ensuing death threats are grim and the fact remains that feral goats compete with stock for grazing and damage native flora. Nonetheless, Larysa is a plonker of the highest order. There is a place for photos of fieldsports but we need to have the self-awareness to recognise how such images will be received. I am always delighted to see pictures of people of all…

1 Leatherman Skeletool multi-tool RRP £94.95  www.leatherman.co.uk This pocket-sized multi-tool contains seven handy tools with multiple uses. A great piece of kit to have to hand on a day’s shooting or fishing, the multi-tool includes a screwdriver, wire cutters, stainless-steel clip-point knife, large bit driver, wood/metal file and pliers. 2 Meindl Dovre Extreme high boots RRP £279.99  www.bushwear.co.uk These high boots would make a fantastic addition to any sporting wardrobe. Ideal for tackling challenging terrain, the boots are a great height for trudging across boggy ground, rigid yet flexible to give support when needed and totally waterproof. 3 SO4 Bisley gun cleaning kit RRP £33.99  www.farlows.co.uk This cleaning set includes a deluxe two-piece rod, bronze brush, wool mop, jag, duster and oil bottle. Available in 12- and 20-bore, it is…

A low winter sun, not a single cloud in a bright blue sky and no breeze at all… it was a gamekeeper’s nightmare. Despite these unpropitious conditions, our spirits were high as we pulled into the yard of New Farm. My small rough-shooting syndicate, the COT, has been shooting at this particular farm, near Evesham, for the past five years. Despite this, we still had a little bit of trouble finding the location. We were not helped by the fact that I had set the map app on my phone to walking mode, something that my fellow Guns would remind me of more than once. Our host for the day in Worcestershire was Labrador trainer Norman Onens of Kestrelway Gundogs. After a much-needed coffee, we got suited and booted and…

IF YOU ARE GOING TO work your dog on a shoot, there is one thing of which you can be certain: sooner or later you will encounter livestock. In arable East Anglia it may not happen often, but almost anywhere else in the country it is likely to occur on many, if not most, outings. As a responsible gundog owner, the last thing you want is for your dog to show an unhealthy interest in farm animals. Curiously, none of my many gundog training books make much mention of familiarising your dog or dogs with livestock, but it is one of the most important aspects of training. I was reminded of this because, for the past 10 years, I haven’t had to think about livestock; my dogs weren’t interested and…

KEEP WARM With the recent cold snaps and more chilly weather on the way, make sure that your dogs kennelled outside have sufficient appropriate bedding to keep them warm and comfortable. Avoid straw, which is likely to harbour vermin. Bales of shredded paper are probably the best type of loose bedding material as the paper can easily be disposed of when dirty and won’t provide a home for unwanted guests. Vet beds are warm, washable and wick water away from damp dogs. They are also resilient to wear and tear. Remember that dogs can get hypothermia so always towel them off after a wet day’s shooting. A heat lamp is ideal for getting dogs completely dry so they can settle down cosily. Read more on kenneling dogs outside at po.st/WarmDogs.…

Labour’s Edinburgh Southern MSP Daniel Johnson has said it is “wildly inappropriate” for a new gun shop to open near a primary school. Edinburgh Rifles and Sporting Goods has been operating online for the past 18 months and owner Ed Bewsher believes Mr Johnson’s statement is a personal attack on a “legal and legitimate business”. He continued: “Mr Johnson claims to support local businesses but appears to be selective in the sector they work in. The community faces more risk from newsagents selling legal highs than could ever come from a small, registered firearms dealer. “I have three children under the age of 15 and if I thought there would be any risk I wouldn’t be in this industry. Every customer I have is vetted by the police and their…

MAKING THE MOST OF GAME MEAT Game shooting season is getting into its swing and, as inevitably as birds drop out of the sky, the anti-shooting lobby will soon be racking up the protests and the propaganda. The more shooting moves away from being a day out for landowners and friends to becoming a hugely commercialised industry, the more difficult it has become to defend it. We live in a world of crazy economics when shooters spends thousands of pounds on a day to take a handful of birds. Little wonder that, in an age when many families have become regular clients of their local food banks, the antis can hold up shooting as morally unacceptable on so many levels. This needn’t be the case if those who run the…

Have you ever seen a murmuration of avocets? That may not be the ornithologically correct term, but it is the best word I have in my lexicon. Whatever it is called, I was fortunate enough to view this display from a tiny island in the mid-channel of a tidal river. Watching more than 200 of these rare waders lift off the mud, synchronise their wingbeats and roll and plunge as if one solid mass is a sight that will live long in my memory. Akin to aerial-shoaling fish, their semaphore-like flash blinked from white to black and back again. These efforts succeeded in utterly bamboozling the peregrine that had stooped to take one of their number. The falcon was not the only predator on the river Alde that day who…

From 15 to 20 October BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today had a week of programmes featuring interviews with gamekeepers and discussions on gamekeeping. The programme attracts a large, diverse audience and is actually quite influential, despite the early transmission time of 5.45am. It has a 15-minute weekday slot, extended to 30 minutes at the weekend, which is listened to by farmers and those with an interest in all things rural. I opened on the Monday morning and was asked some general shooting and gamekeeping questions. Nothing controversial, nothing difficult. On Tuesday, there was a keeper from a Scottish moor, who did a great job of explaining the economic importance of grouse shooting to upland communities. Passion Wednesday featured a friend of mine from the Peak District talking about moorland management…

The unfortunate Labrador in my photograph (right) hadn’t been shot, as the picture suggests, but had been badly stung by nettles. I took the picture during a day’s shooting almost exactly a year ago. Most of the beating was in fields of sugar beet, which is hard work for both dogs and man, but there were also several small deciduous woods or coverts carpeted with a luxuriant growth of stinging nettles. By this stage of the season you might expect the nettles to have lost their venom but not a bit of it. They might not have been as potent as they would have been in August, but they still packed a noteworthy punch. Stinging nettles are a menace and most thin-skinned dogs, such as spaniels and Labradors, suffer badly…

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 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 JEREMY HUNT Runs Fenway Labradors and a professional gundog trainer TIM MADDAMS Former head chef at River Cottage and runs a shoot in Devon SIMON WHITEHEAD Author, professional ferreter and rabbit controller IAIN WATSON Keen stalker and senior…

Latin name: Sambucus nigra Common name: Elder Other names: Black elder, boon tree, bore tree, elderberry, pipe tree How to spot it and where to find it: Widespread throughout the world, elder can be identified by its distinctive short trunk and greyish-brown, cork-like, furrowed bark. It has feather-like leaves on comparatively few branches. The leaves and the twigs smell unpleasant. By contrast, its creamy flowers smell sweet and each forms a small, sour, purple-black berry, which ripens through autumn. Interesting facts: The name elder is thought to come from the Anglo-Saxon aeld, meaning fire; the tree’s hollow stems were used as bellows to blow air into the centre of a fire. Both flowers and berries of the elder are mildly toxic if consumed raw. The flowers can be used to…

What’s the connection between the Scottish island of Islay, scene of that infamous goat photo (News, 31 October), and the African country of NamibiaI Some of you may know that Namibia is a fine hunting country — a popular destination for British stalkers. But did you also know that earlier this year Namibia proposed a legal ban on the posting of trophy photos on social mediaI This is not because the country’s conservation establishment is anti-hunting. Quite the reverse. The authorities want to protect properly regulated sport hunting, which funds so much wildlife conservation. Nearly four months before our own “goatgate” media storm, Namibian wildlife officials had decided to act on the potentially damaging misuse of unseemly trophy hunting images. Their proposed legislation might seem somewhat clumsy but I understand…

The Ecologist, Britain’s leading environmental magazine — formerly edited by Conservation MP Zac Goldsmith — has been criticised for anti-shooting bias after it refused to publish a GWCT response to a “misleading” article on its website last month. The article quoted directly from the League Against Cruel Sports, saying: “The shooting industry is out of control… Any claim that this industry cares about the birds it raises is patently nonsense.” The GWCT pointed out that its scientific data proves that shooting is also about conservation, with many studies showing that farms with shoots have a higher percentage of farmland birds due to managers providing food, safe nesting habitat and predator control. The Ecologist then asked the GWCT to write an explanatory commentary for publication but on receipt refused it to…

Book some stalking The Assynt Crofters’ Trust has issued a new leaflet on hill stalking. The Trust became the owner of the 21,000-acre North Assynt estate in 1993, when it was bought by local crofters. Guided stalking is available for one or two Rifles, with stags at £400 and up to three hinds for £250. The fee for a blank day is £100. Contact admin@assyntcrofters.co.uk or tel 01571 855298. Rural community raises £16k for those who served in WWI An impressive £16,000 has been raised for the Army Benevolent Fund by a retired gamekeeper, two wildfowlers, a falconer and a hound follower. The five walked 100km across the Western Front as part of the 2018 Frontline Walk to commemorate the centenary of World War I and in memory of fellow…

As one of your older readers, still a stickler for ties and tradition, may I comment on the Editor’s letter (The best of sport, 31 October)I While thrilled you will remember grouse over HPRs, having experienced the same working my Weimaraner on walked-up grouse for two seasons, I find it sad your other memories of shoot days are starting to fade. As someone who has not totally embraced the modern technology, there is an old-fashioned item made of paper called a game book, which when written in with an old-fashioned implement called a pen (preferably ink), records a day in the field to savour for posterity and enjoyed at leisure with a glass of something good in the hand. Perhaps the pen is mightier than the iPadI Sue Knight, Suffolk…

In my line of work, I am often asked what the most difficult part of my job is. There are various assumptions as to what this might be. For example, some assume that dealing with nervous or aggressive dogs might be difficult. This can be hard, particularly knowing that there is a good chance I could be bitten while trying to help the dog and owner. These cases also involve a great deal of investment, both in terms of time and emotion. I have had some suggest that perhaps training a dog for someone else can be hard as I become attached to said dog and find it difficult to let go. They, again, are not wrong, but what makes this part of the job easier is seeing the joy…

Every so often, we are graced with the sight and sound of Canada geese on our Wiltshire rough shoot, which always adds to the excitement of the day. Sometimes we’ll try to manoeuvre for a stalk, or get Guns under a regular flightline. At other times, the geese will simply take us by surprise. If they are on, our regular guests are never shy about having a pop, knowing full well that yours truly is always delighted to take a goose home for the pot. And indeed I am, though there have been several occasions when I’ve ended up with — literally — rather more than I can chew. Like the time when a skein of eight came honking from afar, giving the boys hunkered around our main flightpond plenty…

Only two species of geese have ever been domesticated: the eastern greylag — a subspecies of our familiar grey goose — and the swan goose. Wild swan geese are native to the Far East, breeding in Mongolia and wintering in eastern China. Like their cousin the greylag, they are an Anser goose. Their name comes from their long bill and slender neck, which gives them a swanlike appearance. There are two breeds of domesticated swan goose: the Chinese, which can be grey (fawn) or white, and the African. Like its wild ancestor, the Chinese is an elegant, small-bodied goose and it retains the long swanlike neck. The fawn variety is a prolific layer, producing up to 140 eggs a year, far more than any greylag type. The African is shorter…