Innholdsfortegnelse for 14-Nov-2018 i Shooting Times & Country

Conservation measures carried out by individual farms and shoots have played a major part in increasing numbers of wild grey partridge. Aficionados of our indigenous species will be pleased to learn that the latest Partridge Count Scheme, organised by the GWCT, recorded 5,500 pairs of grey partridges over almost 500 sites across the country. These promising figures are in no small part due to the pioneering work done by the Farmer Cluster initiative run by the GWCT. At the latest Farmer Cluster Conference — held on 1 November in Birmingham — the 250 attendees learned how Cambridge farm manager Sam Topham managed to increase grey partridge numbers from eight spring pairs in 2014 to 48 pairs in 2018. GWCT Partridge Count Scheme co-ordinator Neville Kingdon said: “Numbers did drop drastically…

Stirred by recent mentions of wasted game meat and waning interest in shooting among the young, I took the initiative to contact my local scout group. I was immediately invited to attend a meeting to demonstrate preparing a pheasant and simple cookery. Far from there being a lack of interest, a good crowd hung back for the demonstration and I duly plucked a pheasant, skinned one, handed over a few for the audience to have a go with, then fried some breast fillets for them. This all went down very well and I pass the idea on to the Shooting Times readership. It only takes part of an evening and builds bridges. Who knows, if we all try to do it, it might also increase sales of game and get…

If you head far enough into south-west Scotland, you begin to pick up notes of Ireland. The two countries have been closely linked through this landscape for thousands of years and there is nothing to divide them but 20 miles of salt water. Local accents have an Irish twang and life falls into a rhythm of ferries, tides and the movement of gannets above Loch Ryan. It is a quiet, half-forgotten place with views that stretch from the Isle of Man to Machrihanish and Kintyre. People tend to rush through on their way to and from the ferry terminal, and the heavy convoys of commercial vehicles never look up as they pass through the port at Cairnryan. People think that this place is on the way and it rarely qualifies…

Dickens wrote that Ebenezer Scrooge atoned for his decades of Philip Hammond-like miserliness towards the Cratchit family by gifting them a turkey the size of Tiny Tim. Doubtless, the surviving partner of Scrooge and Marley applauded himself as the epitome of Victorian altruism. I like to imagine, however, that the ever stoic Bob Cratchit secretly felt short-changed. Why, thought the downtrodden bookkeeper, couldn’t his thrice-haunted guv’nor stretch to a decent British goose as his first ever Christmas bonus rather than a dried-up old transatlantic gobbler? To avert a Cratchit Christmas in our respective households, “Deadly” Darren Sizer, Ian “Pinhead” Lange and I set out to get a goose apiece for our Christmas Day tables. Being wildfowlers, we shunned the butcher’s shop. Instead, we met at 5.30am at Aldeburgh’s Town Marsh.…

It was a smoky autumnal morning after a chilly night. As we strode through the water meadows the sky was peppered with fieldfares, a muted sun sifted through the willow blades and, had it not been for the crackle of musket practice from a nearby firing range, it would have been a scene of classic pastoralism. It is hard to believe now, but not so long ago the elegant grayling — Thymallus thymallus, a kissing cousin of the glamorous salmon tribe — was reviled in certain southern quarters, and summarily despatched as vermin. Despite bearing an adipose fin — the badge of the salmonoids — it was classified as a “coarse” species by the High Victorians, since it breeds in springtime, and was thought to gobble spawn of the hallowed…

MOST DOGS HAVE excellent fur coats, so the last thing they need is to be wrapped up when they go out for a walk. However, my observations suggest that a majority of pet dogs now wear coats when they venture out on winter days. Perhaps this makes sense for a cosseted chihuahua living in an over-heated flat, but not for a Labrador or spaniel. Last year, while travelling in northern India, I was astonished to see pet dogs wearing coats. This must have been because their owners liked dressing their dogs up, as the temperature didn’t warrant it. Coats do have their place for dogs in the shooting field. Many years ago my spaniel collapsed while rough shooting on a horribly cold and torrentially wet day. I wrapped her in…

An alliance of countryside and fieldsports groups has launched a bid to overturn the decision by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to ban pheasant shooting on public land (News, 26 September and 17 October). A new poll shows that the Welsh public overwhelmingly supports pheasant shooting. In September, NRW announced that it would not renew shooting leases on public land in Wales. An earlier report by NRW had been supportive of allowing pheasant shooting to continue, listing the sport’s environmental and social benefits. NRW’s decision to ignore its own recommendation followed a letter from Welsh government minister Hannah Blythyn in which she cited “policy and ethical concerns” and asked that NRW “consider not renewing the pheasant shooting lease agreements as they expire”. BASC, the Countryside Alliance and the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation…

RSPB supporters are cancelling their membership after learning of a UK-wide trial cull of foxes and crows. The cull is an attempt to reduce predation of the endangered curlew. Explaining her decision to cancel her membership, former RSPB member Alexandra Williams said: “I cannot support an organisation that is involved in the killing of wildlife, when there are other ways this can be managed that do not involve the death of animals.” Julian Hughes, head of public affairs for RSPB Cymru, said: “We need to conduct this trial to see whether controlling the population is a necessary part of the solution.” GWCT research has shown that curlew numbers have increased by a crucial 14 per cent on moorland where predators are controlled. Andrew Gilruth, director of communications at the GWCT,…

“Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning” was how Peter Pan got to Neverland, J. M. Barrie’s fictional escape from the responsibilities of London and adult life. A place free from the drudgery of commutes and mundanity of work, where Peter could be a boy forever. For me, and my rabble of Lost Boys — land agents, accountants, editors and bankers — Neverland is also an island, nestled in the far north-west corner of the weather map; the Isle of Lewis. It is a truly magical place, where the treeless glens glisten in the sun, the sound of geese fills the sky at dawn and boys of all ages can shoot, fish and dive for scallops to their heart’s content. I was lucky enough this year to…

Gamekeepers can be understandably jittery on early-season days. Birds are inclined to wander out of cover crops and, even if they are holding, don’t always show well in the autumn sunshine. New drives are unproven and new members of beating and shooting teams are equally unknown quantities. So I was impressed and reassured when I arrived at the Old Church shoot near Brightlingsea in Essex to find Liam Fearis relaxed and confident. Liam has recently leased the full sporting rights to the shoot and taken the huge step of becoming a self-employed keeper. As a friend, I was keen to see how he is faring under the pressure and, as I wrote in the summer (Decoying over fields of gold, 25 July) I jumped at the chance to join his…

The frosts have arrived. The ground crackles underfoot and breath mists in the air. Winter is coming. Perhaps I should say winter is here, but in rural Devon that is unlikely to kick off until mid-January, and not for long either. While there are no wildlings after me — wildlings being a sort of feral apple in my world; I am always amused by the reference to the northern characters from Game of Thrones — I am beginning to miss wild greens. It’s a long and slow grower, this “missing of the wild greens”, that builds just before the wild garlic emerges late February or early March. In the past, in a mild winter, I have picked wild garlic on the last day of the pheasant season. I spend every…

This month, we assess the Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 semi-automatic as a wildfowling gun. Fowling and pigeon shooting are probably the two most common uses in the UK, other than perhaps law enforcement and military, for semi-auto shotguns. If you turned up on a driven day with one, you might hear something like “Are you really sure that’s suitable, sir?” or “I think you’re in the wrong place, sir”. In the US, they are widely used for wildfowling and in the competitive clay-shooting arena more often than perhaps in the UK. We do see them at the shooting school on occasion, sometimes when a client is going to the US, usually to shoot duck. We therefore cover the safety drills on how to shoot with a semi-auto. Company background…

“Right, pal, just one more try.” I dropped another two squibs into my pipes and looked up at the high tower The mustachioed Swede, standing on my right, smiled sympathetically then pressed the button for the 30th time. A mechanical whirring sounded and a clay appeared, arcing elegantly across the cold Scandinavian sky. Pushing the Beretta up into my shoulder, I found the red dot, searched out the target and missed again with both barrels. According to the top brass at Aimpoint, its shotgun-mounted scopes improve scores, on the clay ground, by as much as 20 per cent but, in my case, I couldn’t have been any worse. On the drive back to town, I looked out at the setting sun casting long shadows behind rows of windmills and thought…

HRH the Prince of Wales has proven himself to be a disciple of eating what you shoot by picking a pheasant crumble pie as his favourite recipe. Prince Charles has long been known as a keen Shot and his decision to feature a favourite game recipe was made as he guest edited the 14 November issue of our sister title Country Life, a commemorative edition to mark his 70th birthday. In the issue the Prince nominates his champions of the countryside and, in a strongly worded leader, calls for an urgent rethinking of the nation’s relationship with rural areas. A step-by-step guide to creating the dish is featured in the magazine with expert advice from John Williams MBE, executive chef at the Ritz, who gives his own favourite tips for…

Police have closed their investigation into a missing eagle after failing to find evidence of a crime. The bird, referred to as “Fred”, went missing just outside Edinburgh in February and was the subject of an intense media campaign that attempted to implicate keepers (News, 7 March). “Campaigners refused to provide crucial data from the bird’s tag” The young male golden eagle was fitted with a satellite tag funded by cosmetics retailer Lush. The alarm was raised in February after the tag failed to fix and transmit its position for three and a half days before beginning to transmit again several miles out to sea. It subsequently disappeared without trace. Despite suggestions that Fred had simply blown out to sea during a period of extreme weather, Chris Packham, raptor activist…

A wren scratched its way through the foliage and peered in at me, its tail bobbing. Content that it had my measure, the little bird hopped back through the branches and flew away. On the water’s edge, a frog softly croaked, announcing its presence to any amphibians who might be looking for love or war. Silence settled again over the pond then, sharp as cracking twig in a silent wood, came the click of a safety catch being released and a whir of wings. Dumfriesshire is a county of thick grassy farmland, fine fat cows and red sandstone. It is a place with plenty of elbow room. In more than 1,000 square miles, there are only five real towns and nothing even resembling a city. In 1975 bureaucrats, on a…

Even the hardest gamekeeper feels a thrill of excitement to discover a fox. Something primal stirs in our brains when we stumble upon old Charlie, even if our over-riding emotion is sometimes frustration. It can be quite chilling to look up from some task and find that you have been under surveillance from a hidden pair of eyes. Foxes are a constant challenge to game, but they are a worthy foe and I often hear from keepers and farmers who express something close to admiration for the hunters. Perhaps carrion crows are harder to love. We have all seen the evidence of marauding crows on lambs and wading birds, and I have no sympathy for opportunists that kill by a thousand jagged pecks. But I was surprised to feel some…

Cockles will be rather fabulous at this time of year as well and, if you can lay your hands on a few, it is worth perhaps making a simple penne pasta with sea beet and cockles. Boil the pasta, sweat some garlic and steam open your cockles in a little cider. Add cream, turn up the heat to reduce the mixture and add the cooked pasta. Season well, remembering the salt from the bivalves and the beet. However you decide to cook your sea beet, it is a plant well worth familiarising yourself with. Though it is limited to coastal areas, you can pretty much guarantee you will be able to forage a worthwhile amount in next to no time, making it an efficient plant to pick as well.…

A few years ago a friend of mine, who was waiting in line to enter the US on holiday, took out an apple he had brought with him and took a bite. He was spotted by an eagle-eyed officer who asked him where he got the apple. The reply that he had brought it with him did not go down well. “Put it in the bin” was the order, and no, he could not eat it; it had to go in the bin. Given the officer was armed and not inclined to be taken lightly, he did as instructed. The moral of this tale is that if we had been so strict with our own biosecurity, our countryside would have been richer in native wildlife. Many of these imports are…

It may be late October but I was feeling like I used to on Christmas Eve as a child. I still become restless and brim over with excitement and anticipation when I take one of my young ferrets out to work for the first time. It is humbling experiencing everything as if it was my first time; that is what happens when you are connected, a team. The ferret shed was a hive of activity, ferrets all hanging off their wire-mesh doors, willing me to pick them. They had to be patient, though, their time will come. The early-morning mist mantled the road as I focused on my driving, but I could still hear the constant scratching of Mustelidaen claw on wood as it overwhelmed the creaks and groans of…

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“Winds will be fresh to strong, force five to six, possibly increasing to force seven,” warned the weather forecaster. I immediately had visions of straggling parties of duck beating low into the wind over the wide expanses of estuary mudflats and along the edge of the saltings as the tide steadily covered the muds. Surely this could be the opportunity of getting a few ducks? There were already plenty of wigeon in residence, I knew, for only recently I had been out on an unproductive evening flight and seen several large flights heading upriver. Since daybreak, the sky had become overcast and the tops of the tall trees at the bottom of my garden were swaying in the face of a freshening breeze. On the exposed mudflats, I thought, the…