Innholdsfortegnelse for 26-Dec-2018 i Shooting Times & Country

It’s a spectacularly grating number but when it came on in the pub the other day, I thought “you are right, Andy Williams, it really is the most wonderful time of year”. Not because of the marshmallows for toasting or the parties for hosting, but because I get to sit in the pub and plan our content for the year ahead. The challenges we face are ever evolving. One worry is marginalisation. We live in a world where veganism is becoming mainstream as wildfowling becomes niche. Some weeks ago I was asked by a PhD student in London whether there are any opportunities for someone like him to shoot something and eat it. I thought about it and the truth is there aren’t really. During one of my content-planning sessions,…

21 JANUARY JOHN RIGBY & CO RIFLE RANGE OPENING West London Shooting School www.shootingschool.co.uk 29 JANUARY ANGLING TRUST FUNDRAISING DINNER Fishmongers Hall, London po.st/anglingtrustdinner 2 FEBRUARY END OF SEASON GAME CHANGER BBQ Upstairs at the Palmerston Dulwich, London po.st/gamechangerbbq 18-20 FEBRUARY GUNDOG TRAINING FOR PET DOG TRAINERS Oxfordshire/ Gloucestershire www.gundogtrainersacademy.co.uk 20 FEBRUARY STAG COURSE — MENTAL HEALTH HELP Swincoe, Derbyshire enquiries@thegamekeepers welfaretrust.com…

Buccleuch hunters acquitted at trial On 5 December, Tim Allen and Sean Anderson, the huntsman and whipper-in of the Buccleuch Foxhounds, were found not guilty of hunting with dogs on 20 November 2017. Evidence supplied by undercover investigators from the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) had triggered a case brought by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). Countryside Alliance director for Scotland Jamie Stewart said: “We remain frustrated by the COPFS as it continues to indulge these constant and unfounded allegations made by LACS which result in hundreds of hours of wasted court and police time.” Harrier hearings The High Court has reserved judgement to a later date of two legal challenges brought by the RSPB and Dr Mark Avery (pictured below) against Natural England’s hen harrier brood…

I realise many readers will doubt this but I managed the most implausible thing earlier this month; having a brace of pheasants — in the feather — gratefully accepted by a vegetarian. The vegetarian in question is a colleague of mine and while I often share out surplus birds at work to a growing number of appreciative non-shooters, it had never occurred to me to offer a brace to a non-meat eater. On this occasion I asked her out of politeness, not wanting to exclude her, and was stunned when she said she would love a brace if I had enough to spare. She wanted her daughters to try game since they have never had the chance and her (non-vegetarian) husband would prepare the birds, I was told. I’ve often…

Having grown up in Suffolk, I manage to get back home very rarely due to the nature of my job and the distances involved. However, I still have many great friends who are based there and I was kindly invited to shoot at Baylham Hall by my good friend Matthew Strawson. Baylham shoot is near to Needham Market and epitomises a classic friendly shoot that ticks all the boxes. For a shoot to be first class, the hospitality needs to be spot on, the fellow Guns must be friendly, the countryside should be scenic and the birds must be sporting. How many birds are shot is insignificant. Many shoots don’t tick all those boxes. The shooting may be great but the hospitality lets the day down, or the hospitality is…

Dogs have four-paw drive and their centre of gravity is relatively close to the ground, making them much more efficient operators in difficult conditions than we are. While we might struggle for traction in mud or snow, it rarely bothers a working dog, which simply gets on with the job it has to do, usually at undiminished speed. Sometimes, however, things go wrong, as I witnessed recently. A friend was picking-up with his black-and-white springer that was working with her normal enthusiasm. She performed well on the first two drives, bringing every bird she was sent for quickly to hand. Then, on the third drive, something went wrong. When she was sent for a retrieve she ran out as usual, then stopped after a few yards and wouldn’t go any…

Should my dog wear a coat? GUNDOG TRAINING Q At one time you would have been laughed at for putting a coat on your working gundog, but now I see some cockers wearing coats while they wait to compete in field trials. Should I get one for my spaniel for beating and picking-up? A We are seeing more of the fleece-type coats used for dogs, either to keep them warm in the car after a day’s work or to act as a “towel” to help get dogs dry during the day’s proceedings. If you have a very active spaniel that does have short bursts of hard work on a cold or wet shoot day and then has to stand around for long periods in between drives, I’d certainly consider popping…

White-fronted geese in England are largely of the European race, with about 2,000 arriving each autumn from northern Russia. Scottish and Irish birds are of the Greenland race. There may be up to 1million European whitefronts and they are growing in number, causing agricultural damage in Scandinavia and Europe as they fuel up for the trip back to the Arctic. In contrast, the population that breeds in Greenland is under severe threat, numbers having dropped by half in the first few years of this century. The difference in status explains why whitefronts can be shot in England, even though you will see many fewer of them in Scotland. Different sites in Wales attract the two subspecies; a small number of Greenland white-fronted geese spend the winter in sites on the…

Voters in Switzerland recently decided not to pay to protect the dignity and morale of cattle. Well, to be more precise, in a referendum they turned down a proposal for an annual subsidy of 190 Swiss francs (about £150) per horned animal. The promoter of the idea, a farmer, said he wanted to preserve the “dignity of livestock”, claiming that hornless cattle had “low morale”. This comes after a trend towards stocking hornless cattle, which some see as detracting from the chocolate-box image of Swiss alpine pastures. There is no doubt in my mind that cows look better with horns. But why is this? The human fascination with horns and antlers long pre-dates any modern qualms about trophy hunting photos — you only have to look at cave art to…

EAT Birds need high-fat foods during cold weather to survive the frosty nights. So when you’re enjoying an early Christmas mince pie or slice of fruit cake, remember that the crumbs and leftovers are good for feeding your garden birds. You can also feed them dried fruit and unsalted nuts but only use good-quality food and scraps. Try to put out food at the same time every day, as birds quickly become used to it and will establish a visiting routine. WINTER Support the Angling Trust by buying an £80 raffle ticket to win a day’s shooting for eight Guns worth £15,000 at the Hurdcott/Compton Chamberlayne shoot in Wiltshire. The day includes a 300-bird shoot, with high-quality pheasant and partridge drives and a splendid lunch. Funds raised from the draw…

1 Hoggs waxed leggings RRP £29.95 www.fifecountry.co.uk The essential item for those needing a quick and easy solution to the weather when beating in wet cover. These leggings come with a strap and stud fastenings, which loop over your belt, and side studs that allow you to fit them around your leg without having to take your boots off. 2 Chevalier Rover winter cap RRP £45 www.ardmoor.co.uk This technical shooting cap has a reversible orange crown for better visibility and safety in dim light among fellow shooters. There are two ultra-warm fur-lined ear flaps for protection in bitter conditions. 3 Polartec Windjammer fleece RRP £150 www.musto.com Not your standard pullover, this fleece features a wind-resistant knit face and windjammer lining for exceptional warmth. Being breathable, it allows perspiration to escape,…

My last journey west was an unhappy one. A late-night appointment with a kebab resulted in food poisoning which, combined with a hangover, meant the much-delayed train home was a trip I’d rather forget. Since that weekend I’ve managed to avoid going much beyond Salisbury. But a man mustn’t live in the shadow of his demons, so I replied “yes” to a kind shooting invitation. Four months later I found myself heading towards the little town of Wiveliscombe, which my host Andy Westcott had recommended. The most exciting thing about being invited to a new shoot is the anticipation; not knowing how it is going to go, what you are going to see and how you are going to perform. I had brought my cocker spaniel, Bubble, with me for…

My gun for the day was a steel-proofed Yildiz Wildfowler Extreme. This is a great choice of gun for the foreshore — or for any shooting situation, for that matter. The 3.5in chamber allows the gun to fire heavy loads for geese if required, which makes it a great all-rounder. The gun wouldn’t look out of place on a shoot day either, due to its nice timber and overall design. I teamed the gun with some Gamebore 32g No.4s, and choked the over-and-under with quarter and half to give me the best edge at downing a duck or a snipe, depending on what situation I was presented with. I really enjoy shooting the Yildiz because it handles like a dream and is perfect for the anticipated sport of the day.…

While you can scatter food on the ground — and there is much merit in doing this — it does leave any that is not cleared up available to the rats. One of my ambitions at this time of year is to avoid helping them, and grey squirrels, through the hungry gap. So feeding small seeds through specially designed feeders is a great idea. However, my wheat hoppers do not work for this; they spill too much. This is where the farmland bird feeder from Perdix Wildlife Supplies comes in. You can buy it ready made or just buy the feeder ports and fit to your own drums. Some users think in terms of feeding partridges too, but I hang mine a little higher, so that they are out of…

Is this, I wonder, a first? A few days ago I was chatting to a local gamekeeper. More than competent, he runs and organises a syndicate shoot with bags of around the 150-bird mark. He has also, for the past few years, been forced to deal with an influx of polecats, both the real thing and ferret crosses. In our area they have overtaken stoats and weasels to become a frequent menace where release pens and their inhabitants are concerned. Earlier in the year the keeper had cage-trapped what appeared to be a genuine wild male polecat. Instead of despatching it, he decided to see if it would mate with a tame white jill ferret belonging to his son. It was not an easy coupling, but by placing the polecat…

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…

Names can be misleading, none more so than that of the black East Indian duck. This duck is a handsome ornamental breed that was developed in the US in the 19th century. Its exact origins are unknown. Many people think that it is a black sport from the mallard, while others maintain that the North American black duck, a close relation of the mallard, is the breed’s wild ancestor. Both drake and the duck have all-black plumage with a lustrous beetle-green sheen. The bill, legs and feet should be black, the eye dark brown. Classified as a bantam, it is a small and somewhat dainty duck, with the drakes weighing no more than 2lb and the ducks up to 1¾lb. The breed standard was established in the UK in 1865.…

IS THIS THE OLDEST SYNDICATE? I was interested to read your article about the Little Staughton shoot (The Englishman in his castle, 5 December). My best wishes to the shoot but if it began between the wars, I believe it can be pre-dated by some margin. My own syndicate dates back to 1905, with a reference to it existing before that. I have documents detailing the setting up of the shoot, together with game books and accounts from 1905 to date. There are interesting references to the lack of birds in World War I, as a result of war dogs being trained in the area. We have about 20 members and I would describe it as a walked-up, volunteer group who do all the work for a very limited bag…

In deepest winter, the sun will be setting before the working day has ended. For those of us who sally forth in pursuit of the humble rabbit, this can have a profound effect on the way we operate. By November the sight of a rabbit in daylight here in south Kerry is as rare as a dose of vitamin D. In the current era of high technology, night-vision scopes and thermal imaging — once the preserve of the military or the super-rich — are becoming commonplace. I recently attended a demonstration evening at my local gun club and was amazed at the array of technology now within reach of the average hunter. I was seduced and sorely tempted to dig deep and upgrade my ageing equipment, but managed to resist…

BECAUSE OF MY JOB I see a lot of beautifully trained and well-mannered gundogs. I also encounter many more of what I might politely describe as less-finished; a reminder that the average spaniel or retriever isn’t perfectly trained. It is not unusual for people, aware that I write this column, to apologise in advance for their dog’s behaviour. I reply that I’m merely a gundog writer, not a trainer, and my dogs are far from impeccably behaved. Over the years I have become convinced that shooting without a dog, even a not very good one, is unacceptable. When I was in my teens and early 20s I was a dogless shooter. I was also a pretty fast runner so if I had a bird down, I was off after it…

In 2018, we have marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. In the four years since we commemorated its start, I gave many talks to antique clubs and societies which I illustrated with objects from my own collection. One that really piqued people’s interest was Britain’s service rifle, the venerable SMLE. This stands for short magazine Lee Enfield but as British squaddies love acronyms, SMLE soon became the “Smelly”. The SMLE was a universal rifle intended to be issued to all armed forces without the need for cavalry carbines and the longer infantry rifle. Adopted in 1904, it was simply a shortened “long” Lee Enfield with a new nose cap and bayonet. The blunt nose cap was copied from the Swedish Mauser 1894 cavalry carbine. The…

Latin name: Bryonia dioica Common name: White bryony Other names: Red, bryony, English mandrake, wild vine, wild nepit, ladies’ seal, tetterbury How to spot it and where to find it: A climbing perennial vine, white bryony is found in hedgerows, scrub, woodland borders and wasteland. It has bright green, palmate leaves with five lobes. It produces pale flowers with dark green veins in the summer and bright orange-red berries in winter. The plant dies back, but the stems remain for a while with the berries attached. In spring, it sends out shoots that climb and attach themselves with coiled tendrils. Interesting facts: Though it is the UK’s only native member of the cucumber family, white bryony is highly toxic. Ingesting just a few berries can cause severe vomiting, diarrhoea, dizzy…