Innholdsfortegnelse for 20-Feb-2019 i Shooting Times & Country

“I’ve been thinking,” said Ian Bell, the head man at BASC, while we were having lunch last week, “that our presence at the Game Fair is important, but we really need to be just as visible at the likes of Countryfile Live.” There are some Shooting Times readers to whom the word Countryfile is anathema, but Ian’s point was an important one. The Game Fair is a superb do, and catching up with readers on our stand there is one of my favourite weekends of the summer, but how many weekends a year do I spend talking to the non-shooting public about the benefits of our sport? The simple answer is not enough. Ian went on to suggest that there is little point trying to persuade the hardcore anti-shooting lobby…

1 Leica Rangemaster CRF 2800 rangefinder RRP £975  en.leica-camera.com The Leica Rangemaster CRF 2800 has integrated Bluetooth which, together with a smartphone app, gives you far greater freedom and precision. It delivers accurate measurement data up to 2,600m, making it the ideal stalking companion. 2 Shooterking Country Oak cap RRP £34.95  www.uttings.co.uk This cap features two reversible linings for versatility: a natural camouflage print for increased cover and blending in woodland environments, and an orange print for better visibility. Made from tough yet soft fabric, it is a perfect addition to any outdoor enthusiast’s attire. 3 Blaser Argali 3.0 light men’s jacket RRP £435  www.ukcovers.co.uk The Blaser Argali 3.0 is a must-have jacket for the cold weather. Features include a high-stand collar, fleece-lined chest pockets and elastic inner cuffs with…

I have recently been told that Shooting Times won’t use photographs that include females on its cover. Is this true? I find this most bizarre, considering women have long played an active role in shooting sports, are a growth area for participation and you have a number of female contributors. While I am not suggesting women should be on every cover, I would be wholly disappointed if there were any truth in the suggestion that you have a policy or practice to bar them from the front cover. Sally-Anne Cockerill, by email The Editor responds: This is the first time I’ve heard of any such policy. In my first few months of editing Shooting Times, we signed up a female keeper columnist, a female gundog writer, and a professional female…

When it comes to grey squirrels, I’ve yet to find a method more effective than using a feeding station to lure them within range of an air rifle — and now is the best time of year to do it. Drey-poking makes a worthwhile contribution to keeping these destructive rodents in check. It is great fun assembling a few friends for a trek round the woods, but it is rare for us to account for more than a dozen squirrels after putting in the best part of a day’s work. Though far less sociable, staking out a feeding station is much more productive. It is not unusual to bag eight or nine squirrels during only an hour or two in the hide, though you do have to put in a…

THE METHOD Serves 4 1 Melt the butter in a large casserole or heavy-based pan and add the onions. Cook for a few minutes until the onions soften then add all the spices and cook for another minute until they become fragrant. 2 Add half of the chopped parsley and coriander, and the pheasant then cover with water. Bring slowly to simmering point then cook very gently — the liquid should be barely bubbling — for 40 minutes. 3 Add the figs and simmer slowly for a further 15 minutes, season with salt and add the remaining fresh herbs just before serving. 4 Preheat the oven to 100°C. To prepare the couscous, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the giant couscous. Fry it over a low…

Latin name: Terana caerulea Common name: Cobalt crust Other names: Blue velvet spread, blue velvet on a stick How to spot it and where to find it: Should you spy a bright flash of rich blue in your local woods, don’t wonder that it is so early for bluebells — it could be cobalt crust fungus. Rare in the UK, its fruit bodies can be seen all year round, coalescing to form irregular patches of glowing blue. It is generally found on dead hardwood trees and fallen branches, particularly ash. Interesting facts: This corticioid — crust-like, and growing on something rather than from a stem — fungus is a rare beauty, its colour most vivid when it is young. It is more pleasant to touch then, too, living up to…

On the evening of the penultimate day of a remarkable season at Bywell, I joined my employer for a duck flight. The hour or so spent sitting in anticipation of a chance at a wild duck was purely magical. As the light faded, streams of songbirds of all description dashed and darted in search of a safe roosting site. At times several hundred birds whisked past the architects of their vital food supply. First, an odd cock pheasant could be heard signalling the end of another day as he joined the throngs of smaller birds seeking rest. As the minutes passed, more and more pheasants could be heard all around me; a crescendo of wild game signalling the end of another day. Then the evening was filled with the calls…

LOBBY As reported in Shooting Times last month (News, 16 January), the Scottish government, in its recent animal welfare bill, proposed to limit any hunt from using more than two hounds to flush foxes to guns. However, the review by Lord Bonomy in 2016, commissioned by the SNP, concluded: “Searching and flushing by two dogs would not be as effective as that done by a full pack of hounds.” Holyrood is also proposing to halt trail hunting. William Morgan, hunt chairman of the Dumfriesshire & Stewartry Fox Hounds, said: “I hope the shooting community will be fully supportive too, not only because some of these measures could affect shoots, but also because, if the hunts are forced to close, the attack on shooting will fire up.” Scottish readers can find…

It is time to reflect on a fabulous shooting season. Selecting favourites from a treasure trove of memories is never easy but several special occasions spring to mind. Because it came first, I’ll start with a triumphant moment on a perfect driven day in Dorset, when I joined an old-school family shoot in the Cerne Valley. Nether Cerne pheasants are special and my generous host Edward Gallia really knows how to show them well. When they rise from the coverts that cling to this draughty downland, these lofty birds have a knack of leaving Guns tied up in knots. Here, the pheasants don’t come so thick and fast that you can eventually get your eye in. Rather, just enough beautifully presented birds come trickling over the line during drives, offering…

FOR THE PHEASANT 80G BUTTER 4 MEDIUM ONIONS, VERY FINELY CHOPPED 4 HEAPED TSP GROUND CORIANDER SEED 2 HEAPED TSP GROUND GINGER 1 HEAPED TSP GROUND CUMIN 2 HEAPED TSP FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER ½ TSP CAYENNE PEPPER 1 HEAPED TSP GROUND CINNAMON 1 TSP TURMERIC 100G FLAT LEAF PARSLEY, CHOPPED 100G FRESH CORIANDER, CHOPPED 6 PHEASANT BREAST FILLETS, EACH CUT INTO 4 PIECES 10 SOFT DRIED FIGS, HALVED SEA SALT FOR THE COUSCOUS TO SERVE: 1 TBSP EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL 100G GIANT COUSCOUS 200G COUSCOUS ½ TSP SALT 1 LEMON, CUT IN HALF…

Roosting pigeons in the snow PIGEON SHOOTING Q What are the ideal conditions for roost shooting? Is roosting pigeons in the snow worthwhile? A With any form of roosting or flighting to a good roosting wood you can’t beat wind and the stronger it is the better. Unlike decoying in the winter, where I believe there to be an optimum wind strength, for roosting gale-force winds would be OK. With a good, strong wind birds will stay on the move, the noise of the guns will be masked and the arriving birds will be drawn to the woods at a good height for shooting. With regards to snow, unlike with decoying — where thick snow will result in zero success — roosting pigeons in a warm fir wood can provide…

Garden feeding stations have been a great boon for sparrowhawks. Rather than having to patrol woodland glades in the hope that there might still be some berries or seeds to attract loose flocks of thrushes, finches or tits, they visit our gardens, where we encourage loads of birds to gather in the same spot day after day. Our feeding stations become their feeding stations, causing annoyance when a favourite robin or confiding blackbird disappears in a puff of feathers. It is hard not to be impressed by a sparrowhawk as it flips over a hedge, screams around a corner, brings its long talons up in front of its chest and targets one of the perches of a bird feeder. Occasionally a grey male or larger, brown female will sit in…

Afrisson of delight has rippled through the environmental establishment — sometimes called the “green blob” — at the prospect of Tony Juniper becoming chairman of Natural England. Michael Gove, the environment secretary, tweeted that Mr Juniper was his “preferred” candidate for the job. Cue dancing in the leafy aisles. Mr Juniper now has to undergo an examination by MPs but it is clear that Mr Gove wants him in the post — and wants all the credit for his bold choice. Certainly, Mr Gove is trying to milk the appointment for all he can. Put simply, he is pandering to a green audience. Tony Juniper is perhaps best known for his former role with Friends of the Earth. In 2010, he was a Parliamentary candidate for the Green Party in…

Grouse estates spend £1million on tweeds A recent survey has found that grouse estates spent a whopping £1,188,355 on tweeds over the past two seasons. A spokesman for the North Yorkshire Moors Moorland Organisation said: “A full set of tweeds averages around £1,000. This investment continues each season — without grouse shooting many local businesses would not survive.” Readers will be aware that last season was a particularly poor one for grouse shooting but this shows that estates are still big contributors to the rural economy, even when days are being cancelled. Scottish airgunner loses his licence A Scottish airgunner whose pellet “whizzed” past an elderly neighbour’s ear has lost his licence. He only escaped a prison sentence due to his ill health. The offender set up an insufficient backboard…

I have been a firearms enquiry officer (FEO) covering the northern half of Warwickshire since 1996, both as a constable and a civilian. Having completed a total of 50 years’ continual service, it is time for me to go. As an FEO I have met numerous wonderful members of the shooting world, some of whom have become lifelong friends. I like to think of myself as “old school” and have tried to provide a service with good humour, common sense and flexibility. Due to the volume of people under my wing, it will be impossible for me to see them all to say goodbye. Through your pages, this message can be passed on to them — thank you. I do not know who will be my replacement but I sincerely…

“Pheasant dries out swiftly — cook it gently and it will retain its juices and be tender” Only a matter of weeks since the end of the game season, I’m content to have a freezer that overflows with pheasant. Cooking and eating it out of the shooting season is a mindset that, in the past, did not come naturally to me. But the meat of game birds is such a gift to the diversity of what I can offer from my kitchen that stockpiling whole and jointed birds has become normal. It helps, too, that frozen pheasant can now be sold commercially throughout the year. The change to the rules not only resolves the challenge of utilising the abundant proceeds of the season in the UK — rather than “dumping”…

My recent piece about fitting dogs with boots (Gundog snow safety, 30 January) prompted an email from a reader, Robert, who asked if I had any experience of working dogs in boots to protect their paws when working on flinty ground. Robert explained that his German shorthaired pointer bitch had twice cut the same paw when running on fields of winter wheat. Both incidents were expensive and resulted in the bitch being off work for some weeks. They were also, no doubt, painful for the dog. Robert is giving serious thought to equipping his bitch with boots. He explained that the shoot where he works his dog is on chalk downland and most of the fields are flinty. He is concerned that if she does damage the same paw again…

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…

We know that there have been horses grazing in the New Forest for well over 1,000 years: in 1016 rights of common pasture were granted to the people living in what was then a royal hunting ground. There are still many ponies in the forest today, all individually owned, though they may appear to be wild. Despite their apparent abundance, they are listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as being at risk. Compared with the Exmoor pony, the New Forest is a mix, for over the years numerous attempts have been made to try to improve it, with stallions of many different breeds, from thoroughbreds to Arabs, hackneys to Highlands, all run with the mares on the forest. A modern New Forest pony should be no more than 14.2hh…