Innholdsfortegnelse for 30-Jan-2019 i Shooting Times & Country

Jura, a 16-month-old English springer, is owned by James Rolfe, a beatkeeper at Tulchan estate on Speyside in the Scottish Highlands. She is never happier than when sitting beside James on a shoot day and showing everyone that the saying “a Labrador is born half-trained and a spaniel dies half-trained” is totally untrue. In association with Orvis For all things dog, Shooting Times recommends Orvis.co.uk  Outdoor outfitters, instructors and apparel makers since 1856.…

It has emerged that the Leicestershire shoot filmed dumping pheasant carcases on a nearby farm is a member of the British Game Alliance (BGA), which was set up to promote best practice within the game shooting industry. The Cotesbach Game farm shoot’s actions have been roundly condemned by shooting organisations and are very likely to be illegal under the Animal By-Products Regulations 2013. The BGA requires members to undergo an on-site audit in the first year to ensure they are meeting the organisation’s standards. When Shooting Times contacted the BGA to ask whether the audit at Cotesbach had raised any concerns, it became clear that an audit had not yet been carried out at the site. It was further discovered that though the BGA has signed up 400 shoots since…

FOXING CLEVER Reading your recent article on how clever foxes are (Soldier Palmer, 9 January) reminded me of several occasions I have watched with amazement smart and sometimes unusual fox behaviour. One such time was early on a May morning, while stalking roebucks along a grassy bank. I paused and noticed a fox coming towards me across the spring cereals sown on the flat between the bank and the Ale Water. It suddenly dived into the grass and flushed a mallard off its nest. The mallard feigned injury all the way to the Ale Water 100m away, but the fox was not interested. Instead it carefully carried each egg from the nest and buried it in an individual molehill in the cereals. It was fascinating to watch this fox dig…

A few seasons ago, while hunting on a troublesome horse, I had the pleasure of meeting jockey, and commentator, Brough Scott. “You know what did for hunting,” he said as we gathered atop a hill to watch the hounds below, “it was our arrogance.” I’m not sure I agree entirely, but the sentiment was thought provoking. Over the past few weeks, shooting has hit the headlines and groups such as BASC, the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation and this magazine have been called upon to defend it. As far as I’m concerned, the likes of Liam Bell have done a stellar job in communicating the fact that shooting, as the law-abiding and ethical majority know it, is being tainted by the malpractice of a few rogues. At the heart of this has…

Readers may have noted that BBC presenter Chris Packham has been appointed CBE for services to conservation in the New Year’s Honours List. Now he says he plans to use the occasion to tackle the Royal Family about their game-shooting activities. In an interview with Radio Times, he said: “I don’t know anything about the ceremony or what happens, but I presume at some point someone’s going to hand me a medal. And whether that’s the opportunity, or another one is — don’t worry, I’ll do it.” It is not yet known whether Mr Packham’s investiture will by conducted by HM the Queen, the Prince of Wales or the Duke of Cambridge. Interestingly, Mr Packham recently stepped down as president of the British Trust for Ornithology, an organisation respected by…

15-17 FEBRUARY THE GREAT BRITISH SHOOTING SHOW NEC, Birmingham www.shootingshow.co.uk 18-20 FEBRUARY GUNDOG TRAINING FOR PET DOG TRAINERS Oxfordshire/ Gloucestershire www.gundogtrainersacademy.co.uk 22 FEBRUARY GWCT GUNSMITHS EVENING Jockey Club, Newmarket neilgraham2@hotmail.com 9 MARCH LADIES FLYFISHING DAY WITH ORVIS River Tweed, Kelso anne@fishpal.com 21 MARCH SEELAND WOODCOCK CLUB DINNER Savile Club Mayfair, London po.st/STwoodcock…

Impact of pheasants on our woodland The GWCT is asking shoots to consider release pen locations and limit pheasant stocking density to aid ground flora recovery in woodlands. A recent study has shown that woodland can take many years to recover from the practice of pheasant release. Dr Capstick, lead author of “Ground flora recovery in disused pheasant pens is limited and affected by pheasant release density”, explained: “We recommend not moving pens but adopting other management approaches, such as reduced stocking densities to reduce the impact of pheasants on woodland ground flora and soils.” Read the paper in full at po.st/woodlandpheasants . Suffolk fowlers unfazed by Sizewell C reactor plan Plans by EDF Energy to construct a new reactor, Sizewell C, on the Suffolk coast next to the existing…

When my father passed away in 1997, he owned an antique shotgun given to him during the war by the father of a girlfriend. The gun was not in our house and he had mentioned having it looked after as he was sick. Calls to friends and gun stores yielded nothing. Last year, we found the stock under his old bench when clearing out for a move. The police licensing department was able to give me the serial number and tell me the remainder of the gun is still licensed to someone, but can’t tell me who. I am searching anew to see if the operating parts of this old shotgun can be found. Its serial number is 149. If you could consider putting something in your magazine, I promise…

CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER D. DONNELLY’S INT FTCH HOLLYDRIVE ABBEY SECOND PLACE J. ADAMSON’S FTCH LOCHANDAIMH KIM OF JENOREN THIRD PLACE E. SCOTT’S FTCH BROOKFIELD TARA FOURTH PLACE J. DRANSFIELD’S FTCH DUNNBRIGGEARLY PURPLE DIPLOMAS OF MERIT C. LEWIS’S HAPPYBOY HARRY W. SWIGGS’ S KILLHOPEMOSS GILBERTO OF SPANNERWOOD E. TAAFFE’S INT FTCH HOLLYDRIVE BERT(ALSO BEST DOG IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP) O.ORGAN’S ROTHIEVALEPRIVIT OF CINDERSASH T. SIWEK’S FTCH SUREFLY SASSY P. AVERY’S FTCH DEEPFLEET VAN PERSIE J.SEMMENS’S KILLHOPEMOSS BEDAZZLED S. JONES’S FTCH BUCKLAWREN KRUSOE C. J. AND MRS Y. L. MACKENDER’S SLIABH LOLA OF CRISPICO, HANDLED BY C. COLCLOUGH J. ORGAN’S FTCH MULRAVENMEDLARESS OF CINDERSASH P. TAYLOR’S PORTCAMAN CASSIE (ALSO BEST NEWCOMER IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP) S. FORD’S HOLLYDRIVE PRETTY POLLY, HANDLED BY M. WALSH J. DRANSFIELD’S FTCH BUCCLEUCH HAMISH…

Dogs drinking from puddles VETERINARY CARE Q Whenever I’m out beating with my dog, he frequently drinks from puddles. It becomes difficult to stop him and I was curious to know if I am simply wasting my time or whether he could become ill from doing so? A There is no reason why a dog should not drink fresh, uncontaminated rainwater and I’ve never known a dog to come to any harm as a result. The problem, in practice, is knowing whether puddle water is actually fresh and uncontaminated. Water collecting in puddles can become contaminated in a variety of ways and from many potential sources. Bacteria can build up if there is vegetation decaying in the water. There may also be the risk of chemical contamination if the water…

Latin name: Viburnum lantana Common name: Wayfaring tree Other names: Cotton tree How to spot it and where to find it: If you are not on chalk or limestone, particularly in the southeast of England, you are unlikely to spot this delicate plant, which is really much more shrub than tree. It grows upwards and outwards and, if left unchecked, can reach around 15ft. In winter, its green buds grow opposite each other and are closely bound against hairy twigs. Its large toothed leaves run in parallel along the twigs and the further down the plant you look, the hairier it gets. In spring it breaks out into pretty five-petalled cream flowers and its berries, which start off red and then turn black, are much loved by birds but are…

For the past 700 years, a herd of wild white cattle has roamed in Chillingham Park, Northumberland, with little or no interference from humans. Today the cattle behaves like a wild herd, with the bulls fighting for dominance of the cows, and the latter fiercely protective of their calves. Chillinghams resemble white park cattle, but have a more primitive appearance with their angular bodies, black noses, hooves and ears and big horns. The current herd numbers around 100, of which half are bulls. The herd’s low point was reached after the bitter winter of 1947, when only eight cows and five bulls survived. In recent years a reserve herd has been established in north-east Scotland to ensure the breed’s survival. Visitors to Chillingham can join the warden, on foot, to…

BOOK The GWCT is holding its first ever Game Scotland conference at Perth Racecourse on 29 March. Attendees will be updated on the latest information, including trap development and legislation, how to manage reared game birds with reduced antibiotics, strategies for handling and marketing game and the preliminary results of the Grouse Moor Review Panel. Tickets are priced at £30. For more information and to buy tickets visit po.st/GameScotland2019. PLAN With some of you suffering from end-of-season blues, we advise you not to pack away your gun and cartridges just yet. The pigeon flocks are building and roost shooting with a couple of friends provides some fantastic sport. Organise your dream team, gain permission from the landowner and head out in pursuit of a grey grouse for your dinner.…

A petition entitled “An independent study to discover if driven grouse shooting is of economic benefit” has been attracting signatures on the Government petitions website. But it appears to be rather less “independent” than its title suggests. The petition instigator, Leslie Wallace, writes for Raptor Persecution Scotland and lobbied the Scottish parliament with a similar petition in 2017. The introduction states: “Driven grouse shooting has been implicated in the loss of wildlife and opportunities for wildlife tourism. The uplands it dominates could instead have fully-fledged ecotourism, natural flood alleviation projects, be more fire resistant, have woodlot forestry to provide fuel for those without mains gas, provide cleaner water and better fishing and be considerably better for general tourism.” Figures from BASC in 2017 showed that grouse shooting is worth an…

1 Fjällräven Brenner Pro jacket RRP £340 www.shopforshooting.co.uk Its robust yet silent exterior fabric makes this an ideal hunting jacket. Both windproof and waterproof, it has useful features such as zipped pockets that allow plenty of space for easy access to cartridges, while large fleece-lined chest pockets keep your hands warm while on the move. 2 Browning Hells Canyon Odorsmart balaclava RRP £37 www.sportsmanguncentre.co.uk As the cold weather begins to bite, keeping warm will be high on many shooters’ priority list. With its three-layer soft-shell fabric, this balaclava will keep you cosy and is a must-have for the foreshore or pigeon hide. 3 Zippo HeatBank rechargeable hand warmer/power bank RRP £24.95 www.zippo.co.uk Available in three- and six-hour models, the Zippo HeatBank lets you warm your hands or charge your phone…

This recipe is not fancy, but it is seriously tasty; in our household we have to ration how often we eat it out of respect for our coronary health. Marinating rabbits in buttermilk (shown above right), a long-standing country tradition here in Ireland, tenderises the meat beautifully and adds an extra dimension to the flavour. Since the rabbit is not precooked prior to being fried, this recipe works best with smaller, younger rabbits. Ingredients TWO SMALL RABBITS, JOINTED 500ML BUTTERMILK 1 TSP PAPRIKA 1 TSP SALT 1 TSP GROUND BLACK PEPPER FOR FRYING 400G SELF-RAISING FLOUR 1 TSP FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER ENOUGH VEGETABLE OIL OR LARD TO FILL A LARGE PAN A THIRD FULL 1 TSP SALT THE METHOD Makes 4 1 First, joint the rabbits by removing the…

We had an unfortunate incident rough shooting before Christmas, which prompted me to quickly replace a rickety footbridge that leads to one of our best snipe meadows beside the river Avon. You might already have guessed what happened on that fateful day. If you are envisaging some unfortunate Gun ending up on their backside in a stream, then you’d be right. I wouldn’t have minded so much if the unfortunate had been me, but it wasn’t. The casualty was one of our guests, and he ended up with very soggy tweeds. Good tweed is waterproof, but not so when you are wearing it under water and he would have endured an afternoon of chafing and considerable discomfort. I had been leading the way, and as I crossed the footbridge, I’d…

I looked across the Brecks from my vantage point, recalling the time I had studied a map of the area pre-forestry. Back then, it was just an expansive heathy landscape dotted with rabbit warrens. There was no light pollution or ambient noise, just nature in its rawest form. The world was a different place back then, but I wasn’t here to report on the dismal dearth of rabbits or the encroachment of the forests, roads and housing estates. I was here to partake in an exhilarating, timeless sporting institution — falconry. One of the oldest sports in the world, falconry offers an experience unlike anything else — the ability to hunt by co-ordinating the triangle of predatory species: human, canine and avian. Two working together, yet the most important —…

Throughout my shooting career I have avoided wearing waterproof trousers — only occasionally resorting to leggings — simply because I don’t like wearing the things. However, I have to admit that there are occasions when such clothing is essential, as I was reminded last month. Despite a dire forecast, I joined the beating line optimistically thinking I could survive a day wearing a pair of tough old trousers. I was wearing neoprene wellies, an excellent Barbour coat, hat and gloves. I survived the first drive, just, despite a short excursion through sugar beet. The latter is my least favourite crop to walk through, but as a result of last summer’s drought the beet hasn’t grown as tall and luxuriant as it does most years. However, the waterproof hat I had…

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…

About 600,000 pairs of goldcrest breed in the UK but we have no idea how many extra birds arrive each autumn to swell the wintering population. It is pretty amazing that a bird that weighs just 6g can cross the North Sea in autumn and spring. These tiny birds spend short winter days looking for insects to provide the energy they need to get through the next night. A lot of their time is spent feeding in conifers, which provide protection from chilling winds. The warmth of towns and increased numbers of leylandii have probably helped to raise numbers of breeding goldcrests. The population can crash after prolonged cold weather but two broods of up to eight chicks each can boost numbers in a breeding season. Nests, made with moss…

I was fortunate enough to spend the whole of my working life as a gamekeeper — 50 years in round figures — and, mostly, my efforts culminated in what many would call “driven days” — the result of a whole year’s work rolled into however many days you had managed to produce game for. Since most of my life was on moorland managed for grouse shooting, the numbers of those days — preceding medicated grit — varied considerably. Some seasons were record-breaking and others heartbreaking as, despite our hard work, the grouse failed. It was, though, not only the way of life for me, but for many other full-time keepers too. There is a whole raft of shooting that goes on without a single full-time keeper. Since my retirement I…

The recent grouse season was a washout, with a resultant knock-on effect on the rural economy of upland areas. We must hope for better things this coming season. Naturally, the antis will be wishing otherwise. They claim that grouse shooting is subsidised by public money, chiefly in the form of stewardship and agricultural payment schemes. I have tried to show that the reality is the other way round. I maintain that there are no direct subsidies for shooting, only for land management that is deemed to be in the public interest. In other words, private, taxable shooting on private land is actually supplementing the public funding that pays for a public good. It occurs to me that too many policymakers have fallen for the mantra “private bad, public good” when…