Innholdsfortegnelse for 03-Jul-2019 i Shooting Times & Country

When I was a teenager, I used to beat on grouse moors with my terrier. Her understanding of the task at hand let her down but her enthusiasm never faltered. Most mornings, she would spot a hare on the horizon and bound away over the heather in hopeless pursuit. Readers will know that hares thrive in such places, partly because they eat the heather and partly because commercial afforestation has reduced their habitat. But, sadly, all is not well. Beyond grouse moors, on unkeepered ground, mountain hares are in trouble. Intensive farming and the destruction of their habitat is driving localised decline. Last week in Scotland, Alison Tohnstone, a Green Party MSP, introduced a bill to bring an end to hares being shot on sporting estates, something that is undertaken…

BASC members have elected a new chairman and vice-chairman. Eoghan Cameron, a self-employed rural project manager from Aberdeenshire, has been elected to the top job. Eoghan takes over from Peter Glenser, who has chaired the organisation for 10 years. Eoghan said: “Peter is a tough act to follow – he certainly met his own challenge of leaving BASC in a better place than when he took over as chairman. “There are some fantastic challenges in front of us and I am not underestimating the work that needs to be done in the months and years ahead,” he added. Council member Claire Sadler has been elected vice-chairman. Business lawyer Claire is the first woman to be elected to the role of vice-chairman.…

Little tern eggs stolen from beach Norfolk Constabulary is appealing for information after the theft of seven clutches of little tern eggs from a beach in Norfolk. The eggs were stolen from a colony near Winterton in the early hours of the morning on 20 June. The little tern is one of the UK’s rarest seabirds and has suffered a severe decline in the past 25 years. No evidence dead geese were shot Police investigating a mass death of geese in County Durham have not found any evidence the birds were shot. The 30 geese, which were found dead on a remote pond, were initially believed to have been illegally killed. However, police and RSPCA officers found no sign of trauma. Investigations are ongoing and the Animal and Plant Health…

I am currently engaged in armed warfare: the weapon, my antediluvian BSA underlever air rifle. Built in 1936, this Standard No 2 air rifle enjoyed a long and successful history and, as the result of a complete overhaul, new spring and re-blueing, is virtually “off the shelf”. A classic of its day, this .22 air rifle was extremely popular for its era. Today it remains powerful and accurate, even though it is only armed with iron sights. A scope could be fitted but would spoil the appearance of the rifle. I have used it with reasonable success for a good many years, having bought it at auction for a mere £60. Provided you can accomplish a steady rest and take a head shot, success will usually follow. I have shot…

Successfully walking-up any quarry and making the most of your opportunities is not as as straightforward as people often think. In the first part of this series (Rough and ready, 5 Tune), I covered some all-important aspects of footwork and safety. Now we will go into specific details about how to tackle commonly encountered species. The most frequently made mistake among would-be rough Shots is to head to the local clay ground and spend all afternoon practising going-away birds. Walked-up shooting can give the impression that the majority of your shots are going away, but it is a form of shooting which actually requires huge versatility. In fact, it’s the variety of heights, speeds and angles encountered that make rough shooting such an exciting sport. PHEASANT Of all walked-up quarry,…

I love my sport. I cannot really imagine a life without it. The thought of troutless springs and summers, of autumns and winters with no pheasant days, is simply appalling. Sport enriches my life in more ways than I can say but one of the aspects I love most is the places to which it takes me. Almost every minute at High Park is a pleasure and there are days spent there in preparation for later sport that bring me every bit as much satisfaction as the shooting days themselves. There are very few days that bring me home from Wharfedale and the river Wharfe without feeling that it has been a privilege and a blessing to spend time along the banks of what is undoubtedly the first river 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 Times rifl e 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…

BUILD Mink tend to be more mobile in the spring and early summer as they seek new territories. If you don’t currently have mink, this is the most likely time for them to show up. A mink raft will let you see if your river or pond has unwelcome visitors. Instructions on how to build and use a raft can be found on the GWCT website. BUY With the weather warming up, the grass is growing fast. A few spare spark plugs and air filters could make all the difference to keeping strimmers and hedge-cutters running, which in turn can keep rides and riverbanks in good order. Instead of being held up by long mail-order delays when you need them, order a few in now.…

A STORY OF TWO SPORTS While serving in the Royal Artillery I was posted to a gunner regiment, which had its recruiting base in the lowlands of Scotland. Unsurprisingly, golf was a popular pastime in this unit and, arrayed around the sports pitches, was a nine-hole golf course, which was open to local civilians as well as serving members. I decided to give it a try, so one Saturday, armed with a starter set of clubs, I set out to have a go at losing some golf balls. I was getting myself sorted on the first tee when I heard a cough and turned around to see two gentlemen with what I can only describe as all the gear — one even had a radio-controlled golf trolley. They told me…

The welcomed warm rain of late May after an almost drought-like spring was, for much of the country, followed by prolonged periods of cold, heavy rain. What was originally welcomed as a much-needed pick-me-up for the game crops soon turned to doom and gloom as it continued for the best part of a fortnight. Our rain gauge showed 118mm for June, almost a record for the past 20 years. It was surpassed only by 2012, a monumentally poor year for wild game, when many estates’ autumn counts were lower than their spring counts six to seven months earlier. How much the weather has actually affected the birds this year remains to be seen, but early signs are far from encouraging. We are seeing some good early broods of pheasants, chicks…

Having had a break and taken it steady, I am going to move Sika on to something a little more advanced. She is confident and absolutely loves her job, which is what I want from any young dog. Now I want to introduce some stop-whistle exercises. It is worth remembering that while I am teaching these, I always mix them in with various other exercises. It is not uncommon for people to overdo the stop whistle and end up with a “sticky” dog — the dog is so used to being stopped it begins to ask questions. Most often on the cast they only run out so far before stopping to ask for reassurance and extra instruction. Some dogs do it while hunting, too — they will hunt an area…

KEEPA IS CURRENTLY having a few weeks of competitions with the goal of “putting miles on the clock”. This might seem a little strange but it is important for young dogs, when the time is right, to be put in new circumstances and asked new questions. Working tests frequently throw up challenges that hadn’t even occurred to me so, if nothing else, it means I get ideas and inspiration for new training situations at home. It will also quickly show me the holes in my training. Keepa is running well at the moment and growing in confidence and ability weekly. At home his training is relatively limited so he is not overloaded. He needs to continue enjoying what he does. One of the most common exercises he is doing is…

WE BRITISH ARE A clubby lot; we like to join clubs and societies. This is particularly true of the gundog world. The Kennel Club’s (KC) website has a list of what it calls field trial societies, though a number of them don’t organise trials but do arrange tests. There are nearly 200 societies listed, some big, others small. A few cover every discipline but these are the exception and, though many embrace both spaniels and retrievers, the majority are concerned with only retrievers or spaniels, HPRs, or pointers and setters. In addition to these more general clubs are those that are breed-specific. Some breeds have more than one club, usually the result of a historic disagreement, with disgruntled members splitting off to form their own association. This leaves new members…

If by some turn of unfortunate events, I were to eat my last meal tomorrow and I had a choice of what to have, I would most likely go for sticky Asian wild boar ribs, Notoriously destructive, wild boar have always fascinated me. In recent years, their numbers have dropped slightly in East Sussex but I am lucky to shoot a little patch with a buoyant population. The numbers are nowhere near as high as in the Forest of Dean, which could be the result of several factors. I have three trail cameras that I keep regular tabs on for boar movements. Though quite a size, they are amazingly elusive; they and can be here one minute and then disappear for months on end. Their habits, as with most animals,…

Latin name: Campanula glomerata Common name: Bellflower Other names: Clustered bellflower, Dane’s blood, stars How to spot it and where to find it: Though it’s quite short in stature – it doesn’t grow much higher than 30cm – the bellflower is easily spotted due to its rich purple-blue blooms on a dark red stem. They are generally at the top, though some do grow further down, as do its toothed, dark green leaves. There may be as many as 15 in a cluster, or a single flower at the end of a stem. Bellflower is found in chalk and limestone grassland, downs and banks, and sometimes on coastal cliffs and sand dunes. Interesting facts: Widespread throughout Europe and the US, bellflower has long been cultivated with several other varieties, whose…

1 Seeland Buckthorn Ripstop gaiters RRP: £39.99 www.seeland.com If you have booked stalking or shooting in some rough terrain these gaiters will protect your lower legs. They are incredibly strong and the Ripstop fabric will brush off any thorns with ease, making the going much more enjoyable. 2 Ariat Catalyst Defiant walking boots RRP: £320  www.ariat.com These are waterproof leather boots with a breathable membrane that makes them ideal for any outdoor situation that you find yourself in. They have built-in odour protection and insulation that helps keep your feet comfortable and inoffensive, even in the dampest conditions. 3 Mud Pattens in the Morning RRP: £40  www.amazon.co.uk This highly readable and well-researched coffee table book by Steven Borland traces the rich history of wildfowling in the Chichester…

7 JULY GUNDOG RETRIEVING CHALLENGE Burgate Manor, Fordingbridge, Hants gwct.org.uk/events 10 JULY SHOOT WALK Godmersham, Kent gwct.org.uk/events 11 JULY SHOOT WALK AND BARBECUE Cranborne, Dorset dorset@gwct.org.uk 24 JULY SCOTLAND YOUNG SHOOTERS DAY GWSDF Auchnerran, Aberdeenshire gwct.org.uk/events 2 AUGUST HIGHLAND FIELD SPORTS FAIR Moy, Inverness-shire moyfieldsportsfair.co.uk 2 AUGUST THE QUEEN’S ANNUAL CHARITY CLAY DAY Sandringham Estate holtsauctioneers.com…

I read with great interest about Jamie Blackett’s battle to save our red squirrels (Country diary, 19 June). I have volunteered to help Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels and carry out grey squirrel culls whenever I can. However, in Scotland we have been set back by at least a couple of years. This has come about by the Scottish government introducing the airgun licence. With this coming into force, there was no benchmark established prior to it as to how many grey squirrels were culled nor, indeed, any other pest species, managed with the air rifle. Now we can only surmise as to how many were culled and what effect this was having on the general population. I have anecdotal evidence from around my mother’s house in Angus where, for more…

Revisiting the pond at Brian and Patrick Barker’s Lodge Farm at Westhorpe reminded me that conservation projects should only be taken on by those who have patience. Nature works at its own pace; we can help it, but it will not be hurried. The pond at the Barker boys’ farm in mid-Suffolk has progressed significantly since my previous article (If you build it, they will come, 27 March). The water levels were not as high as I expected. Brian noted that the normal rainfall from February to May here is 166mm, yet this year we have had a mere 87mm. Worse, the winter rains that are so important for not only ponds but all plant growth were down from a norm of 175mm to a paltry 79mm. Despite this parched…

I BEGIN walking Sika next to me at heel and every time I stop, I ask her to sit. Once she is doing this consistently without me having to ask, I introduce the whistle. Obviously, until now she hasn’t heard a whistle so it’s like teaching a person a foreign language. It’s important that I only put the stop whistle in when she is actually doing the action I require. “A common problem is that the handler assumes the dog understands, and when it doesn’t stop, gets angry” When she isn’t sitting, or about to sit, I don’t use the whistle or she will make the incorrect association. As I see her about to sit or even already sitting down, I put in the whistle and praise her. I then…

THE STOPPING EXERCISES have been going well so I have started to ask Sika to stop when she is on her way to retrieve. This is a big step and must be approached carefully. It is vital that the dog’s drive and enjoyment for the job is not diminished. The first exercise I do is to sit her away from me and throw a retrieve directly behind me. I then send her on her name. Obviously she has to run straight past me, making it easy for me to get in her eyeline and stop her. If you think the dog will dodge around you, pop on a long line or lead so you are able to stop them. It’s important that their reward of the retrieve doesn’t happen if…

Which would you consider is the biggest crime: allowing your dog on the beach or feeding the gulls? The Suffolk coastal town of Aldeburgh has no doubt. You can be fined as much as £2,500 if you feed the gulls, but up to £1,000 if you decide to let your dog gallop on the beach in the summer. However, it would be fascinating to know if fines anywhere approaching these levels have ever been inflicted on those who have ignored the rules. I doubt it, somehow. On almost all beaches where dogs are banned it’s usually only a summer restriction, typically from 1 May to 30 September. For the rest of the year you can let your dog run free. Curiously, I’ve never yet owned a dog that really likes…

A breath of fresh… weed? FISHING Q As a young boy I remember buying oxygenating weed to put in my fish tank. Last summer the fish in a local lake where I go fishing had to be removed because of dangerously low oxygen levels. Would introducing oxygenating weed to the lake help? A Canadian pondweed ( Elodea canadensis ) is a non-native aquatic weed that was introduced to this country in the 1830s. It was widely sold as an “oxygenator” for fish tanks and garden ponds. It is, however, quite invasive and can choke a body of water given the right conditions. Like any plant, it produces oxygen in the day — and in a fish tank it is possible to see the bubbles of oxygen forming and rising to…

The razorbill is an elegant bird with a fearsome, neatly marked bill. The strong jaws and the hook at the end of the upper mandible might be designed to ensure that a slippery fish cannot escape once caught under water, but these features are equally effective when it comes to hanging on to the flesh of an unwary bird ringer. Razorbills are smart, dressed in their “tuxedos” of crisp black and white. Unlike guillemots, which nest side by side on open ledges, razorbills tend to tuck into crevices or under boulders, with pairs using the same sites in successive years. If visiting a seabird colony at this time of year, look out for razorbills on the water near the foot of the cliffs. Young birds jump into the sea before…

In the row about the BBC’s audience selection for a Tory leadership debate, it became apparent that one of the “ordinary members of the public” happened to be a lawyer who had been working on secondment to the Labour Party. Furthermore, it emerged that he had made some rather unsavoury comments on social media. When some of his tweets were exposed by the media, the lawyer was suspended by his employer, a firm called Leigh Day. Now, where have we heard of Leigh Day before? Last year, I pointed out that Leigh Day had been tweeting about its work for anti-grouse shooting campaigners (Sharpshooter, 23 May). This same firm hit the headlines after the Al-Sweady inquiry of 2014, when it represented nine Iraqis who made claims against the British Army.…