Innholdsfortegnelse for 12-Jun-2019 i Shooting Times & Country

I recently drove to GWCT HQ to chat to Dr Mike Swan about curlew conservation. Mike, a stalwart Shooting Times contributor, has been at the trust for almost four decades. Those who spend a long time in the fraught intersection between fieldsports and conservation can often end up jaded and angry. Mike, however, is resolutely optimistic. The conversation turned to the RSPB and predator control. The RSPB admits it controls species but tends to do so apologetically. Its chief executive admitted in a blog that “many predator control contractors will have links to the shooting community”. Shocking, isn’t it. We are living at a time when badgers, foxes and crows are on the rise; three wonderful species but their ascendance is set against the decline of curlew, lapwing and capercaillie.…

As a young apprentice, I was told vivid tales by the older, more experienced keepers. A recurring theme was the mass migrations of stoats. These at times blood-curdling stories included encounters with hundreds or — as the tales became more animated — thousands of animals on the move all at the same time. I have never seen this phenomenon and wondered if those tales were real or an elaborate hoax to frighten a young lad. Either way, for the rest of my career the stoat has played a major part in my everyday activities. Often underestimated, the stoat can become a specialist feeder and whichever species it chooses comes under pressure. These can include wading birds and our largest game birds; neither is a match for the stoat. This specialism…

Chilli con carne, the cowboy’s campfire stew, is traditionally a beef or pork braise, but it is even better made with minced venison. The dark savouriness of the meat blends so well with the other ingredients: the smoky chipotle and ancho chillies, the beans and coffee. Coffee? You will, I am sure, have heard about adding chocolate to chilli and, aside from making it much richer, I am not sure how much it improves the dish. But coffee has a remarkable effect, bringing forward all the flavours. There are dozens, even hundreds, of ways to make a chilli. Some cooks like to chop the meat into cubes rather than mince it, but I like the way that the mince has a creamy texture once braised for a couple of hours.…

Perhaps the term “bunny boiler” deserves a makeover. It was coined after a shocking scene in the 1987 film Fatal Attraction. But maybe it should now be given a new, positive meaning, describing the proper disposal of a deceased pet rabbit by an owner keen to protect wildlife. Confused? Please read on. We know of instances where diseased wildlife infects domestic livestock; bovine tuberculosis (TB) caused by contact with infected badgers is one. The infection route may be circular, but you cannot break the cycle without dealing with the disease in both domestic and wild animal hosts. Many dairy farmers regard TB-ridden badgers as reservoirs of disease. But what happens when the situation is reversed — when the domestic animals are the original source of the disease and are now…

CHECK Make sure your pens are pristine before moving poults into them. Give them a good clean, then clear out any vermin by running a line of beaters and dogs through so that anything unwanted moves out. To make doubly sure of capturing any lingering pests, place traps along each side. Check currently approved species traps at po.st/Approvedtraps. Finally, border the pens with an electric fence and, after a couple of weeks of inspecting the traps, you can be fairly sure that the pens are clear and ready for the poults. APPLY Forty-nine out of 50 people say they have never met a gamekeeper. This week, consider contacting teachers at local schools and colleges to arrange a school or estate visit so that pupils can see gamekeepers at work and…

I am not used to seeing carrion crows and magpies using our bird table in the spring. I provide a sprinkling of mealworms and seeds in April and May for more welcome garden guests such as finches and house sparrows, robins, blackbirds and collared doves — so that they can grab a quick and easy meal during the rigours of their breeding season. But this year, for the first time since we moved into our semi-detached farm cottage 20 years ago, the local songbirds are sharing the grub with pairs of crows and magpies rearing youngsters in the sycamores behind our allotment. And for the first time in memory, mistle thrushes aren’t. They tried to nest in the sycamores again this year but they gave up and I’ve rather missed…

This year, 23 April fell on a Tuesday. In our house Tuesday is ballet day, so at 4pm I was drinking bad coffee in a community centre café and waiting for pre-school ballet to finish. The manager of the centre approached and said: “I think I have your wife on the phone.” With an intonation that made it clear she was reading, she told me I had an urgent message: “Natural England is revoking the general licences with effect from Thursday.” I insisted she was wrong; it was impossible. She insisted that was the message she had been asked to pass on. I was astounded. When I made it home, I discovered that one of the legal legs of shooting had been knocked out from under it. The legal case…

ENCOURAGING THE PREY DRIVE Across the country, litters of ferrets are being born every day. Exciting times lie ahead for those who are breeding and looking forward to getting their home-bred ferrets in the summer. Ferret quarters are being assembled, cleaned or repaired in readiness for the new arrivals. Care and attention focused on them now — and not simply on a hutch — will pay dividends come the winter’s hunting. The foundation that should be laid is often overlooked, and only when the cracks start to appear later on do we all realise that we have tried to take a shortcut somewhere along the way. I will readily admit that I am as guilty of this over the years as anyone — but this is how we learn. I…

Buying a fully trained dog GUNDOGS Q I’ve recently taken up shooting and have seen how much enjoyment others get out of having a dog by their side. I don’t feel confident about buying and training a puppy, so I have been scouring the internet looking for a fully trained Labrador. I have been amazed at the range in prices and concerned that some dogs are readily available without any checks on me. What do you suggest? A You have ventured into the minefield of the gundog world. I urge caution. There is a way through but you have to be careful. Yes, there is a huge variation in price and an equal variation in the ability of the dogs offered and, I am afraid to say, the way some…

Latin name: Oenanthe crocata Common name: Water hemlock Other names: Hemlock water dropwort, dead man’s fingers, dead tongue How to spot it and where to find it: As its name suggests, water hemlock is common along waterways, damp ditches and marshy areas. It has a bright green, grooved stem, which can grow up to 6ft tall. Shiny and hairless, the stem oozes a yellow liquid when cut. Its leaves are rather fern-like, triangular in shape and the same bright green as the stem. It produces small white flowers in an umbel, followed by rugby-ball-shaped seeds. Interesting facts: Water hemlock is the most poisonous plant in Britain. It looks worryingly like flat-leaved parsley, water parsnip or water celery and is said to taste rather pleasant — before it kills you. The…

1 Where will this year’s Game Fair be held? A Hatfield House B Stratfield Saye C Ragley Hall D Blenheim Palace 2 Which dog breed is said to have been developed by a Dartmouth parson? A Border terrier B Jack Russell C Sealyham terrier D Patterdale terrier 3 What is a stook? A Type of billhook B The collective noun for jackdaws C A stack of wheat sheaves D A cider tankard 4 Which of these ducks is not on the quarry list? A Gadwall C Merganser B Goldeneye D Pintail The Accreditation is based on The Knowledge book on the conservation benefits of game management and the law on shoot days.To order, visit www.gwctknowledge.com. Do you know the law? Now take the real test! Visit www.gwctknowledge.com to become a…

Milestone for BGA More than 500 shoots in the UK have signed up as members of the British Game Alliance (BGA). Eighteen game processors are now members of its assurance scheme, with more than 100 BGA assured stockists in the UK reaching over 3,000 food outlets. Charles Wood of Ardencaple shoot in Scotland told Shooting Times: “I joined the BGA because it is a crucial move towards ensuring a solid future for game shooting in the UK. The alliance is working hard to solve the many problems we face and is coming up with innovative solutions on the processing and distribution of game.” Police in Cheshire drop hunting issue Cheshire Constabulary has said it will not be taking further action following an allegation under the Hunting Act 2004 after the…

A frenzy of activity seems to engulf everything on the estate at the moment. The intensity is upped in a response to longer daylight hours and the vulnerability of many of the species that rely so much on the intervention of a wild bird keeper. Nesting birds add to the business of the daylight hours, as their movements signal quite vividly nest-building, egg-laying and more recently the feeding and protecting of vulnerable chicks. Alongside all this activity, conservation margins, wild bird food crops and nectar flower areas are all in need of urgent attention. An array of farming actions are required to establish and maintain successful conservation areas that deliver what they were created for. There is no doubt that the creation of a conservation crop — no matter what…

While waiting in my car very close to a bird feeder a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get as close a view as you are likely to see of a nuthatch. They are by any standards striking little birds and not without attitude, as I noted whenever it arrived on site. Everything else slipped away to a safe distance, which was hardly surprising when I noted the power in that dagger of a beak. “The nuthatch builds its nest in hollow trees but will use a nest box, reducing the entrance hole to a perfect fit with mud” Despite the time of year it was noticeable that the feeder had a steady supply of customers, from long-tailed tits to the much more substantial great tits, and for…

Parvovirus is a disease that we’ve all heard of but of which, fortunately, few of us have any experience. It is one of the diseases we vaccinate puppies against: the vaccination is extremely effective and it is rare for an inoculated dog to succumb to the disease. However, it can happen, as I was reminded by a recent email from Alison Frost, whose husband, David, is not only a highly experienced picker-up but also a contributor to Shooting Times. Alison explained that one of David’s three Labradors, Tavy, a fit 12-year-old, was suddenly taken severely ill overnight. He was rushed to the vet the next morning. The initial diagnosis was that he might be suffering from hemorrhagic enteritis and that if he was put on a drip for two days…

THE ULTIMATE SHOOTING QUIZ TEAM 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…

The quail is a small, migrant game bird, weighing about a quarter of a partridge. We don’t really know how many will return from their African wintering grounds each summer, because there is a lot of annual variation and they are difficult birds to see. Perhaps 500 males will set up territories across the UK this summer, usually in the edges of arable fields, giving away their presence with their “wet my lips” calls, used to attract females. Heavy use of pesticides caused declines across Europe but there is now more concern about pressures on African wintering grounds. In the UK, quail are given added protection in the nesting season, when nests can only be approached if you have a special licence. Any quail on a restaurant menu will be…

1 JRC Defender Session cooler food bag RRP: £74.99  www.total-fi shing-tackle.com If you are heading down to the river for the day, this specialised fishing bag can hold everything you need to keep you satisfied. From food storage to cutlery pouches, this bag is the modern hamper. Supplied with mugs, plates, tea towels, cutlery and a bottle opener. 2 Field trousers RRP: £85  www.browning.eu These trousers were designed for wet-weather, small-game hunting. As such they are equipped with essential features such as water-repellent materials and lightweight, reinforced lower legs. Available in sizes S to 3XL. 3 Stamford vest RRP: £179.95  www.schoffelcountry.com A great summer vest for clay shooting, this multi-purpose version will keep cartridges within easy reach, regulate your temperature and make you look smart. With reinforced…