Innholdsfortegnelse for December 16, 2015 i Shooting Times & Country

ON PAGE FOUR we report on recent attempts by some of those involved in the 2014 lead symposium to stir up a health scare around game. It appears to be a tawdry effort by those involved to bulldoze a lead shot ban onto the statute books. One of the groups present at the symposium, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), seemed to be pushing an anti-lead agenda from the start of the Lead Ammunition Group (LAG) process. When other members of the group resigned after objecting to the way it was run, the LAG, whose remaining members included WWT’s director of conservation and the co-author of the report, Debbie Pain, ignored their administrative objections and despite questions about the efficacy of the report, also continued to publish its anti-lead findings.…

The RSPCA has been accused of putting itself above the law after threatening to penalise farmers who take part in the badger cull. Speaking at the conference of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) in Birmingham last month, an egg producer from the south west of England confronted Jeremy Cooper, the chief executive of RSPCA Assured (which puts labels on the packaging of eggs, fish and meat products that originated on farms meeting RSPCA animal welfare standards), about a letter he had received from the RSPCA. The farmer said that the charity had threatened to “suspend my membership of Freedom Food [the former name of RSPCA Assured] if I were to take part in the badger cull, which is blackmail and above the law, because the badger cull…

Online petition fights to keep lead ammo A new petition is asking the Government to “keep all lead ammunition”. Lodged on the official UK Government and Parliament petition site, the online appeal states that: “Lead ammunition has been used for hunting and shooting since the first guns were manufactured over three centuries ago. Never has there been a recorded death through lead ingestion.” At the time of writing, 19,911 people had signed the petition, almost double the 10,000 required for a response from the Government – though none had yet been posted. This was substantially more than the 3,182 (at the time of writing) who had signed a petition on the site to have lead ammunition banned. At 100,000 signatures, the petition will be eligible for a debate in Parliament.…

Who are you and what do you do? I am the owner of JOMM Events and founder of Glad Rags and Cartridge Bags, a ladies’ only shooting club, based in Scotland. What does a typical working week involve for you? We hold our events at stunning venues and locations so I spend some time each week liaising with them and also investigating new event venues. Naturally I am also involved in responding to any queries and taking bookings. I am currently working on a new website so that has taken a great deal of time recently. What would you say is the greatest issue affecting fieldsports at the moment? There are the obvious well-published challenges and issues facing the sport of shooting at the moment, lead shot being one. However,…

Lead ammunition is a strange thing to be obsessed about, but I know of at least two people who are. Unfortunately, that obsession has not only sustained a long and pointless debate over the use of lead shot, but also created rifts between groups which should have a shared agenda. Dr Debbie Pain of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and Professor Rhys Green of the RSPB seem to believe that nothing — and I mean nothing — is more important for conservation and human health than a total ban on lead ammunition. In 2012, in this magazine, I revealed Dr Pain’s plan to create a health scare around lead shot in game and use every other means to push for a ban in a paper that she presented to…

To a great extent, the shoot’s resurgence can be attributed to the seven-year tenure of the gamekeeper, Martin Baker-Sims, and the support he receives from Jim Wild. Martin, 48 and a fourth-generation keeper, has a background steeped in fieldsports. He started as terrierman to the Chiddingfold, Leconfield and Cowdray Hunt in West Sussex, which, by chance, was a pack with whom I hunted regularly for 20 years. Martin moved to the Wilton as first whipper-in but suffered a bad hunting accident which, though it ended his hunt service career, propelled him into the shooting world as a gamekeeper.…

Released duck offer great sport and challenging shooting. Mallard can be deceptive in flight and require complete concentration from the shooter. The most important aspect of shooting mallard is understanding and knowing your distances for effective killing. I’ve often seen people shooting at duck that are just on the limit or completely out of shot. Mallard are heavily feathered and for birds to be killed cleanly with non-lead shot you don’t want to be stretching over the 40-yard mark. Your cartridge choice is also important, because this is what delivers the lethal blow. My rule of thumb with non-lead shot is to go one shot size bigger to your lead equivalent. For example, if you use 32g 5s for pheasants, the steel equivalent for duck would be 32g 4s if…

LED FOCUSABLE GUN LIGHT RANGE Tracer has launched a new focusable LED gun light range. All three ranges are designed with focusable LED lenses, limiting light filtration, and offer 100 per cent power and range, as well as the ability to adjust from spot to flood, in a small but powerful torch. Easily mounted directly on to your scope, these gun lights are perfect for spotting, quarry identification and shooting. • www.deben.com • Price: F400 £89.99, F600 £129.99, F900 £149.99 MUSTO PRINTED GORE-TEX® SUIT Updated for 2015, this tweed design, printed GORE-TEX® suit combines traditional styling with contemporary technology. Both the jacket and treeks are waterproof, windproof and breathable. The jacket (pictured) features an adjustable hem fitting, waterproof zips and a removable, fully adjustable peaked storm hood. The printed…

This recipe is by Ian Hamilton (above left), head chef at The Three Cups Inn (www.the3cups.co.uk), on Stockbridge High Street in Hampshire. One of our regular cookery contributors, Jamie Chandler, asked Ian to create a starter for a Christmas meal that would be easy to prepare yet tasty. This is what he came up with. PARTRIDGE, PEAR & VENISON TERRINE WITH SPICED PEAR CHUTNEY Chutney ingredients 3 PEARS1 BANANA SHALLOT35G SULTANAS1 GARLIC CLOVE35G CASTER SUGAR100ML WHITE WINE VINEGARPINCH TURMERIC POWDERPINCH GINGER POWDER Terrine ingredients 500G VENISON SAUSAGE MEAT*12 PARTRIDGE BREASTS1 PEAR50G CASTER SUGAR500G STREAKY BACON * Alternatively, you can flavour your own minced venison by adding half teaspoonful each of ground mace and ground allspice, one teaspoonful of ground juniper berries, 50ml cold water, and salt and pepper to season.…

Short winter days can make it difficult to find time to get out and about with your air rifle, but it’s always worth making the effort at this time of year. And you don’t have to spend hours and hours out on your shooting permissions to make it worthwhile — get yourself in the right place at the right time, and you should have no trouble putting quarry in the bag. It’s a handy fact that most of the species on the airgun shooter’s quarry list tend to be active during the first and last in hour or so of daylight. Grey squirrels, in particular, tend to be busy just after daybreak as they forage in the early morning light after sleeping through a long, cold night. It’s a similar…

GUNNAR HULTMAN IS a true retriever enthusiast: he has a passion for dogs and working dogs in particular. If you want to know the pedigree of the dog that won the 2002 Retriever Championship, or perhaps which dog was placed fourth in 2011, then Gunnar is your man. An affable Swede with a ready smile, Gunnar is the sort of chap who soaks up what many of us would regard as superfluous information like a sponge absorbs water. Similar to his wife, Susanna (who shares his passion for Labradors), his English is so good that it puts many natives of this country to shame. Gunnar’s enthusiasm for dogs goes back to 1972, when he acquired his first shooting dog, an Irish setter. “Their way of working really suits Sweden, as…

Brent geese are impressive migrants, travelling from farther west and east than any of the other goose species that visit the British Isles — not bad for the smallest goose we have. Once here, brent geese split their time between sub-tidal and agricultural habitats, grazing either on estuarine salting, eelgrass beds and algae or inland on growing cereals or grass. Black-bellied brent geese that winter along the coasts of south and east England breed as far away as 108° east in Russia, while light-bellied brents found in western Britain and Ireland could have travelled from 120° west in Arctic Canada. Given that it is only 180° to the International Date Line between Russia and Alaska, these are phenomenal migrations. There is even one report of a ringed bird from Alaska,…

1 BARREL 30in or to customer requirements, 2½in (65mm) chambers. 2 DECORATION Strong scrollwork on this gun to customer’s taste. 3 ACTION Anson & Deeley boxlock with ejectors and single-trigger. 4 STOCK Classic straight-hand stock, “roach belly” fore-end. WHAT TO LOOK FOR Barrels: Westley Richards barrels are usually very slim; check for dents and pitting . Action: Little to go wrong with the basic action, the single-trigger is usually trouble-free, ejector springs may fail after extensive use . Weight: 6½lb. Value: In original condition (this gun has been sleeved and has a stock extension) circa £5,000, though second-hand prices vary. The 19th century was a period of amazing change, especially in the development of firearms. At the start of that century the…

COOK With limited daylight hours, it can be difficult to balance your shooting and cooking. However, BASC’s Taste of Game has a number of delicious recipes that you can leave in the oven while you are out shooting. Visit www.tasteofgame.org.uk for details. READ Villager Jim’s Peak District Book (Vertebrate Publishing, RRP £19.99). Published in hardback on 18 December, this book is filled with 180 stunning photographs from the national park. Though the Peak District is Europe’s busiest national park, Villager Jim gives a sneak peek at the region’s quieter, gentler side. GARDENING Frogs, fish and submerged plants can need a helping hand if your pond freezes over in the colder weather. This can lead to the pond becoming completely de-oxygenated, so sweep away as much of any snow as you…

The National Farmers’ Union won the Grand Prix award at the 2015 CorpComms Awards, which celebrates the work of communications professionals, last month, for its Back British Farming campaign. JohnBrannigan(pictured) became a record three-time champion at the sixth annual World Pheasant Plucking Championships in St Helens last month. Judge Barbara Hurst said the contest was “neck and neck” for the final result. The CLA has criticised HS2 Ltd for failing to engage with rural businesses that will be affected by the planned Birmingham to Crewe high-speed railway, which is now planned for completion in 2027. Starlings are mysteriously drowning in garden ponds across Britain, according to researchers at the Zoological Society of London. Experts suggest that the inexperience of young birds at identifying water hazards could be to blame. “Wren…

MORE BADGERS, FEWER HEDGEHOGS It comes as no surprise to me that hedgehog numbers are falling (News, 2 December). These delightful, shy creatures are part of our heritage — indeed, Oliver Colvile, Conservative MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, suggested that the hedgehog should be declared Britain’s national symbol to encourage people to protect it. But people are not the problem. It can be no coincidence that, while hedgehog numbers have more than halved in the past 15 years, the badger population has exploded. In just 25 years, there has been a 103 per cent increase in the number of badger setts in England alone. Figures vary, but I believe 400,000 badgers to be a conservative estimate. The badger may appear cute and cuddly but it is a voracious predator,…

Now that the thrushes have arrived, winter can really get started. On the hill, the rushes are filled with the bouncing shapes of fieldfares and redwings, and the summer’s crop of young starlings has joined them as they scour the soaking grass for food. They trot and squabble between the molehills, cocking their heads to listen for the mud-soaked clicking of worms beneath their feet. The redwings serve as sentries in the topmost twigs of the willows and ash trees, but even they can’t watch every angle. As I passed them last week, a sparrowhawk came ghosting in at ankle height to smash and grab at the flaring shapes. She caught a fieldfare and the hiss of wind in the grass gave way to a shrill, furious yell. They rolled…

It feels like someone is smiling down on me. Who knows if it is divine intervention — or just honest-to-goodness luck — but with the shooting season in full swing, all our shoots so far have miraculously fallen between days of dense fog and heavy rain. We may have steered clear of the murk and the fog, but the terribly mild days of October flowed on into the end of November. Dogging-in is well under way as result: I continue with it throughout the season to some extent because birds — pheasants are inquisitive by nature — will always stray. Pheasants, of course, love exploring hedgerows as much in December as in October. I release only blacknecks, but as the season progresses all sorts of different pheasants turn up here.…

1 Don’t shoot at anything that is out of shot or on the limit. Yes, you may get a golden pellet every now and then, but you run the risk of wounding the bird and not killing it cleanly. This will also cause frustration with your own shooting and possibly affect your form. 2 Be strict with your shot selection. Mallard are large, well-feathered birds and you need a heavy shot size to kill cleanly, especially if you are using non-lead shot. 3 Concentrate on the front end of the bird and have the confidence to shoot them in front. This will buy you some time on a bird that is moving a lot quicker than it appears. It will also result in your killing the bird cleanly. 4 Always…

The key to making the most of short, sharp airgunning sessions lies in reconnaissance, and that’s a useful way to spend the odd hour in the woods during less productive times of day. Even if the shooting is quiet during late morning and early afternoon, you can still gain a serious advantage by searching out clues that will put you in the right place when your quarry is at its most active. Look out for the tell-tale splattering of white droppings on the woodland floor if you want to find where the birds are roosting; woodpigeon usually prefer the more sheltered parts of the woods where conifers or dense patches of ivy offer shelter from the elements, whereas crows tend to favour taller trees that offer them a lofty vantage…

For conventional classes the judges will assess the following sections, marking out of 20 points, with a total of up to 160 points available: Opening: Well cut-out scratches, with no stubble showing in the centre; neat and tidy, uniform through the length. The furrows must be straight, but can be shallow or deep. Start: The start is the first 11 or 12 furrows, which must be uniform and straight throughout their length, and level, with no high or narrow furrows. Seed bed: Grass or stubble should be well buried, the furrow should be turned far enough to leave no holes and sealed up for weed control. There should be enough soil left for a good seed bed. Furrows should not stand on their end to leave them open — this…

Perhaps because I live surrounded by acres of the stuff, I don’t like sugar beet. I appreciate that it’s the mainstay of most East Anglian field trials, but trudging through fields of beet isn’t for me. I’ve never witnessed a serious walked-up shoot in beet. Walked-up birds in beet rarely produce challenging shooting, but they certainly produce challenging retrieving. One aspect of trialling that surprises many people is that novice trials are strictly for novice dogs, not novice handlers. The trial in which Gunnar competed at Cavenham was won by Steve Polley, who has competed in the Retriever Championship on several occasions. There cannot be many sports where you find yourself competing with the great names on your first appearance. Gunnar sent me a report on his next trial in…

BILL HARRIMAN BASC’s head of firearms and global authority on guns MAT MANNING Airgunner and journalist from the West Country BRUCE POTTS Shooting Timesrifle reviewer and stalker DAVID TOMLINSON Highly regarded writer and ornithologist LIAM BELL 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@timeinc.com By post: Shooting Times, Blue Fin Building,…

By mid-December the winter thrushes will have plundered most of the haws from the hedges, and for the birds, winter supplies of fruit are harder to come by. One plant, however, produces fruit that ripens in December: the ivy. It’s unique among European fruit-bearers in that it flowers in the autumn, but while some plants may already have ripe fruit, others won’t do so until March or April. Though ivy berries are poisonous to us, they are popular with many species of birds, ranging from blackcaps and redwings to starlings and woodpigeon. Woodies will start to take the fruit before it’s ripe, and continue to take both ripe and unripe berries throughout its season. Estimates suggest that woodies consume as much as 78 per cent of the ivy seed crop…

If you work in a membership organisation, nothing is more disheartening than coming across ill-informed, factually inaccurate moaning from your own side. I don’t mean constructive criticism or feedback. I mean the sort of people who seem to expect this or that organisation to sort the world out according to their own particular whims because they have grudgingly forked out an annual subscription that equates to just a fraction of their car insurance premium. Of course, they are a tiny minority, and when you dig deeper, you often find they are retired, or at least not fully employed, with time on their hands. Just check the serial posters on certain online forums and you will soon spot examples of the species. If they spent even a 10th of the same…

17 DECEMBER GWCT SNARING AND CORVID CONTROL COURSE Allerton Project, Loddington, Leicestershire Tel 01425 651013 18 DECEMBER CPSA 100 BIRD SPORTING OVER 10 STANDS Atkin Grant & Lang, Markyate, St Albans, Hertfordshire Tel 01582 849382 18-19 DECEMBER CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING EVENT AND CHRISTMAS LUNCH Hereford and Worcester Shooting Ground, Redditch, Worcestershire Tel 01527 65496 19 -20 DECEMBER THE FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP POULTRY AND WATERFOWL SHOW Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire Tel 01270 619990 22 DECEMBER BASC PARENT AND CHILD CHRISTMAS CLAYSHOOT Mid Norfolk Shooting Ground, Deighton Hills, Norfolk Tel 01283 810910 26 DECEMBER REIN DINNIS MEMORIAL CHRISTMAS SHOOT North Cornwall Shooting Ground, Clay Lodge Farm, Cornwall Tel 07790 158109…

The chairman of Scottish Land & Estates (SLE), David Johnstone, has voiced concerns about the Land Reform Bill’s intended aim, following the publication of the stage one report by the Scottish Parliament earlier this month. In a statement, Mr Johnstone said: “The Land Reform Bill, as it stands, will have far-reaching and detrimental consequences for land-based businesses across Scotland, which employ many thousands of people and make a major social, economic and environmental contribution to rural communities.” Mr Johnstone warned: “There has been so much rhetoric surrounding the Bill — particularly outwith the Parliamentary process — that has been about ‘righting historic wrongs’ or ‘giving lairds a bashing’, that many landowners fear the Bill could be in danger of becoming more about inflicting punitive measures on landowners rather than about…

Here we go again: terrorists attack France, so the politicians attack legally held sporting guns in this country (News, 2 December). When did you see the average terrorist, with or without his suicide vest, carrying a double-barrelled side-by-side or over-and-under shotgun? Or, for that matter, when did you see the average terrorist carrying a semiautomatic or bolt-action .22 or a bolt-action stalking rifle? Their preferred weapon of choice is a Kalashnikov. What kind of person would not know the difference between a rifle used for sporting purposes — and held legally on a firearm or shotgun certificate, with that certificate holder having been thoroughly assessed by the police firearms department — and a Kalashnikov-carrying terrorist? The answer, apparently, is a politician, and a European Union one at that. I was…

Mallard are deceptive flyers and move a lot faster than you think. This must be taken into consideration when you’re shooting. When they are on the wing it is important to remember that rarely will you have duck that are flying from A to B. Once the birds have been flushed off the water, bank or place of feed, they will take to the skies, gaining height as they go. A mallard’s aim is to get back to where they have come from, so they will rarely fly in a straight line — in many cases, depending on the drive, they will be gently banking one way or the other as they come over the Guns. It is important for the Gun to work out what the birds are doing…

I once had some ferrets that an animal charity had given me as they were considered too vicious to rehome in the usual way. Some had to be nursed back to full fitness, while others required a lot of time and handling before they could be trusted not to bite. All the ferrets that I have rescued during the past 25 years have been used successfully for rabbiting and one stocky polecat hob that had been retrieved from a coal bunker in a nearby town (and was at the time in a dishevelled state) went on to display a particular talent for dealing with any rats that had the audacity to trespass in the barns where my golden Guernsey dairy goats live.…

The National Anti-Grey Squirrel Campaign, formed in 1931 to keep down the spiralling grey squirrel population, also made an important contribution to rural and urban pest control during the latter end of the inter-war years. Supported by the Forestry Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture and a number of major landowners, it established “squirrel clubs” in various parts of Great Britain. The clubs attracted members from all walks of life, who went out shooting the grey squirrel on farms, in gardens and in woodland with the permission of the owner. In some instances, clubs were issued with free cartridges by grateful landowners in return for their services. In addition to the activities of the Forestry Commission and the National Anti-Grey Squirrel Campaign, a considerable number of farmers, who had become owner-occupiers,…

“Five hundred and forty dollars,” said the man in the tackle shop. I tried to rearrange the expression on my face but my jaw had dropped, leaving my mouth wide open like a pilot whale sucking up krill. I made what I thought was a nonchalant “Uh huh” sound, as if I was simply computing the mathematical information, while inside I was actually screaming: “$540! You must be 10 kinds of crazy.” The number was his answer to my question about how much it would cost me to do a half-day, four-hour guided inshore fishing trip with “Captain Steve” from the marina in Santa Maria Island, West Florida. Catching big fish in Florida isn’t that difficult, especially if you’re prepared to throw money at it. In years gone by, I’ve…

When you see the branches or trunks of two trees, usually of the same species, growing together in a co-joined fashion, this is called inosculation. Initially, the branches or trunks will be completely separate, but over time they will rub against each other and eventually unite in a common graft. This usually occurs accidentally, but the fusion can also be done deliberately. According to Dominick Tyler’s Uncommon Ground, the word “inosculation” is derived from the Latin osculari, which means “to kiss”. And for this reason such trees are sometimes called, somewhat romantically, “husband and wife trees” or “married couple trees”. Inosculation is common in species with thin bark, such as apple, wisteria, willow, beech and ash trees.…