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

Those of you who use social media will have probably stumbled across comments from people asking why we can’t simply appreciate wildlife from behind a camera lens. Many of you will often wield a camera in the field and others prefer a paintbrush, but that’s beside the point. The more I think about it, the more I conclude that those who only ever look at nature while they click away will never appreciate it as much as someone with their finger on the trigger. With deer, for example, the stalker first has to find a beast and make a decision about whether shooting it is the right thing to do for the herd. Once they take the shot, they have to inspect the animal before processing it for the table.…

1 Cartridge bag RRP £60 www.musto.com As we dive into clay shooting this spring, this cartridge bag makes light work of carrying your essentials to a ground. Made of hardwearing polyester with a water-resistant base and side pockets, it will do a great job of protecting any contents. The bag can hold up to 250 cartridges. 2 Deerhunter sneaky 3D pull-over set RRP £74.99 www.deerhunterclothing.co.uk The introduction of a 3D leaf system offers the wearer even more of an advantage when hunting. It breaks up any possible outline created by clothing, making the wearer almost invisible. This allows you to get even closer to the shot you want to take. It’s designed to be pulled on quickly for top-quality camouflage in no time. 3 Percussion GhostCamo T-shirt RRP £12 www.percussion-europe.com…

I often lament the passing of the wild bird keepers of old. These men had a unique knowledge of landscape management to produce, by today’s standards, remarkable results with wild game. However, some of the practices they employed should never be resurrected and deserve to be left in the past. One such exercise had a profound affect on me and it’s only right to pass on my thoughts for those who consider reviving practices that are now wholly inappropriate. I was kindly invited to attend a late day’s shooting at the end of the season. The shoot was run on rented land by an infectiously enthusiastic family. They put every last scrap of energy into producing a most enjoyable shoot and take great delight in sharing their days with keen…

Several weeks back I spotted a bloated vixen standing on the edge of the small copse behind our allotment, where I keep free-range chickens. Early one morning I saw her again, mooching about in the same place. On investigation, I discovered a short but well-worn path leading beneath a massive bed of brambles and old-man’s beard. I was pretty sure that I’d discovered where she was planning to drop her cubs. It’s taken me a while to accumulate a nice collection of rare breeds again, so she had to go. I set up a bait site about 100 yards from our patio, in a natural bowl in the field that neighbours our allotment. The field is owned by the farm where we run our little rough shoot, so our pheasants…

COULD FEMALE handlers be responsible for the changing the face of spaniel trials? Men have dominated these competitions for more than a century. The fact that the Any Variety Spaniel Championship and the Cocker Championship have each been won only once by a female handler says it all. But things are changing. According to Tulia Reed — who has been honorary spaniel field trial secretary for the Eastern Counties branch of the Utility Gundog Society (UGS) for the past eight years — sees an increasing number of female handlers entering trials. In this year’s Cocker Championship, both second and third places went to female handlers. Tulia believes that it is not only the handlers who are changing; so too are the dogs. “There has been a trend towards bigger, better-built…

What to do with rabbit livers GAME MEAT Q I shot a few rabbits the other night and I have kept the livers. I usually feed them to the dog but wondered if I might be missing a trick. Are they something I could cook and eat myself? A Rabbit liver, while very strong, is a delicacy. Its robust livery-rabbit flavour is one that I find delightful. It needs one of two treatments to make it shine, though. First, you must check that the livers are healthy, that they look good, are clean and very fresh. You can devil them; dust them with a little flour and fry in a knob of butter, then set aside. Add a touch more butter and a little garlic, lots and lots of black…

The hook-billed red-breasted merganser is an expert fish-catcher. There are an estimated 9,000 present around our shores in winter and 2,400 pairs breeding each spring. The largest numbers are in Scotland, but there are winter hotspots as far south as the mouth of the Thames and on the south coast of England. At this time of year local birds are preparing to nest, while others are fattening up for migration. Ringing suggests a link to Iceland, with smaller numbers departing to breeding sites in continental Europe, but this could be due to Iceland’s greater ringing effort. Females lay up to 10 eggs, incubate for a month and accompany their unfledged youngsters for up to two months. The coastal distribution of the species means that red-breasted merganser come into less conflict…

ATTEND Visit the annual Deer Stalking Fair, held at the Border Union Showground in Kelso, from 23-24 March. If you’re feeling lucky, buy a raffle ticket in aid of research into motor neurone disease and you could win a Brock & Norris custom-built rifle. Other highlights include Scottish Natural Heritage presenting its Best Practice Wild Deer Initiative, which provides guidance on the law, public safety, food safety and deer welfare. There will also be butchery and cooking demonstrations from top chefs. Visit www.deerstalkingfair.co.uk. SURVEY The Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust has organised a confidential online survey to judge how best to help those in need. It only takes 10 minutes to complete and all gamekeepers, stalkers and gillies should let their thoughts be known. To take the survey visit. po.st/ GWTsurvey.…

GPs who object to the possession of firearms have been advised that they can decline to provide a medical report in response to a patient’s firearms licence application. The advice was given by Jo Galvin, medicolegal consultant team leader at Medical Protection, in response to a query on the GPonline website. If doctors have a conscientious objection to gun ownership, they should reply to the police letter within 21 days stating this. In addition, conscientious objectors are instructed that they do not have to arrange for another GP to supply the report. However, they are encouraged to find a colleague willing to assist in the firearms certificate application where the applicant needs a firearm for work, such as in the case of gamekeepers and farmers. Patients should also be made…

Further to Richard Hardy’s article about beaver introductions (The anarchist in our rivers, 6 March), BBC2 showed a programme called Natural World — Beavers Behaving Badly. It recounts the havoc created by beavers around the town of Jackson Hole in Wyoming, US. The Wyoming Game & Fish Department has had to employ a full-time ranger to trap and relocate beavers whose activities cause flooding, which threatens local properties. Where will the rewilders find the funds and new locations to do this in the UK? Usually rewilding enthusiasts argue that the reintroduction of extinct animals trumps all modern way of life considerations, so affected people should accept the losses, move or society should pick up the bill. I would like to see how they sell this in today’s political and economic…

Ensure the bitch has plenty of torn-up newspaper to make a bed. Clean the bed thoroughly after whelping and provide fleece bedding; you should change it often. Give the bitch goat’s milk with honey to keep her hydrated during the whelping and for a few days after. But do provide water too. Pig rails on the whelping pen will help to prevent the puppies from being squashed. Ensure all her teats are being emptied. Encourage your bitch to eat by providing good-quality, high-protein food.…

If you are consuming your shot pigeons or giving them away to friends and family, there are no legal food hygiene licences needed. If you are selling birds in the feather to a game dealer who sells them on to the primary consumer, again, no food hygiene certificates are needed. The establishment the birds are sold to carries all the correct food hygiene certificates to dress and prepare them to sell to the primary consumer. However, if you are dressing and selling birds into the food chain and to the primary consumer, you must comply with food hygiene standards. You need suitable premises to dress and prepare the pigeons and correct facilities to dispose of waste product. You will need to have your premises passed and certified by the environmental…

Over the years, I have had to change the way I cook the more abundant red-legged partridge. There was a time when dressed partridges, bought from a butcher’s, were properly hung. Thirty minutes in a hot oven and a little resting time resulted in tender meat that came easily off the bone. With commercial game birds quickly going into cold storage before plucking, the breast meat may yield but the legs are as tough as, well, old boots. Serving whole roast birds to friends for supper, it is distressing to see them sawing away with their table knives. Trenchermen Ingredients FOR THE ROAST PARTRIDGE: 2 PARTRIDGES 2 TBSP MELTED GOOSE FAT SEA SALT AND FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER FOR THE HARICOT BRAISE 2 TBSP GOOSE FAT 1 CARROT, FINELY CHOPPED…

Iwon’t tell you how long ago it is since I last took a dog of mine to village-hall training classes, but I was in my teens and the dog was a show-bred cocker called Kim. I don’t think that either of us learned much from the experience, though I do recall that three of the other dogs in the class were also called Kim, which must have been one of the most popular dog names of the era. Fast-forward several decades and once again I’m going to dog training, this time with my working-bred sprocker, Emma. To be honest I don’t expect either of us to learn very much, but I do think that dog training presents a valuable opportunity for Emma to socialise with other dogs, so it’s worth…

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…

No domestic breed of animal has a more detailed history than the thoroughbred horse. Almost all the horses racing today can trace their ancestry back to three stallions imported to Britain from the Middle East in the late 1600s and early 1700s: the Byerley Turk, the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian. These stallions were put to native mares, with the breeders’ quest to produce the fastest horse possible. Royal patronage and support for horse racing was a major catalyst in the development of the modern thoroughbred. James Weatherby established the General Stud Book for Thoroughbreds in 1791, and it has been published by Weatherbys ever since, with a new edition every four years. It records the pedigree of each horse, and the animal’s individual results. Speed and athleticism are…

BGA gets financial support from BASC The British Game Alliance (BGA) has gainedmonetarysupport from BASC, which has also given access to expert staff to help secure the future of shooting. A BGA spokesman told Shooting Times that its main income in 2018 had been from £130,000 of subscriptions, donations of £290,000 and a voluntary gun levy which raised £66,000. BASC council member Peter Watson, who has joined the BGA board, commented: “BASC and the British Game Alliance are working together to ensure that assured game meat enters the food chain and that the BGA Assurance scheme, which references the Code of Good Shooting Practice, is adhered to.” Pheasant shooting legal challenge lost BASC, the Countryside Alliance (CA) and National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) have lost their legal challenge to overturn Natural…

Richard Negus gives much food for thought in his article about what is sporting in regard to flightponds (Sporting or greedy?, 6 March). Being both a coastal wildfowler and an occasional flightpond shooter, I can see the joys of both forms of shooting. But I share his concern about exploitation of wild duck on ponds just inside the sea wall. This is particularly the case when you consider the rigmarole that many wildfowling clubs have to go through to negotiate their modest use of coastal Sites of Special Scientific Interests with Natural England/Natural Resources Wales, while watching the nearby flightpond shooters taking what they want without regulation. As an aside, I have to question how many “muddy fish” tasting shovelers Richard has eaten? Like him, I rarely shoot one but…

Leaving firearms in a car when you go on reconnaissance throws up potential problems. Condition 4b of your shotgun certificate says: “Where a shotgun to which the certificate relates is in use or the holder of the certificate has the shotgun with him for the purpose of cleaning, repairing or testing it or for some other purpose connected with its use, transfer or sale, or the shotgun is in transit to or from a place in connection with its use or any such purpose, reasonable precautions must be taken for the safe custody of the shotgun.” In essence, if you are leaving a gun in the car, the car must be locked and it would be sensible to hide it, particularly if you’re in a built-up area. Walking off into…

Corvid control with an air rifle can be unpredictable. There are days when the quiet stealth of a modertated airgun can be a real asset, enabling you to pick off countless birds before they wise up to what’s going on. And, of course, there are plenty of times when suspicious crows and magpies flatly refuse to present a static target. You find yourself wishing you’d taken the less subtle approach and brought along a shotgun to pull them out of the sky as they circle above the decoys. If there is a time when airgun shooters can expect to enjoy less difficult, if not entirely easy, action with corvids, it’s usually during the spring. Vulnerable At this time of year, songbirds and game birds are busy nesting and crows and…

THE METHOD Serves 2 1 Preheat the oven to 150°C. Take two squares of baking parchment measuring 30cm by 30cm and put a partridge in the centre of each sheet, brushing the bird all over with melted goose fat. 2 Season with salt and pepper, wrap like a parcel and put on a baking tray. roast the partridges for 1 hour and 15 minutes, then open the parcel to release the steam and keep in a warm place. 3 To braise the haricot beans, place a casserole dish over a medium-high heat, melt the goose fat and add the carrot. Fry until the carrot turns pale and shrivels slightly — this sweetens the braise — then add the bacon and onion. Cook for another 3 minutes until the onion is…

Latin name: Lamium purpureum Common name: Red dead-nettle Other names: French nettle, bad man’s posies, sweet archangel, bumblebee flower. How to spot it and where to find it: We have probably all seen this plant — as a child I would sip the nectar trapped in the flowers — as it is common throughout the UK on arable and wasteland as well as hedgerows and roadsides. It is a downy annual with heart-shaped, toothed leaves and reddish, square stems. Whorls of pinkish-red, hooded flowers grow up the stem, which grows up to 30cm. Interesting facts: The “dead” in dead-nettle refers to the plant’s lack of sting. The generic name comes from the Greek lamia, meaning “devouring monster”, perhaps because the flowers look a little like open jaws. It is a…

The purpose of medical involvement in firearms licensing is to lessen the risk to the public, we are told. If a GP has valid concerns about a certificate applicant’s medical background, they are expected to notify the police. And by placing a marker on a certificate holder’s medical file, the doctor is effectively flagging up the gun owner for real-time monitoring. Fair enough, you might think. But how do the same doctors deal with elderly car drivers? As we all know, cars are involved in vastly more deaths and serious injuries every year than legally held firearms. And while most elderly drivers are safe, a significant number have medical conditions that should lead to them being reassessed for driving, at the very least. The issue was brought home to me…