Innholdsfortegnelse for 24-Jul-2019 i Shooting Times & Country

Readers of fine literary taste will be no doubt be well acquainted with Paddington Bear. One of my favourite plotlines from the much-loved British series of books is when Paddington goes to the Bank of England to ask for his £5 note. He then has a paddy because the cashier hands over somebody else’s. His, he remembers, was crusty with marmalade. What does this have to do with anything? I must confess I always feel slightly sad on a shoot when the keeper hands me a brace of birds that is most likely not ‘my’ brace of birds. Some of you might think it absurd. After all, the bag is a joint effort but I think in some ways my view is justified. When you kill something you are taking…

London sparrows dying of malaria Avian malaria has been identified as the possible culprit in the decline of London’s sparrows. Numbers of the birds have dropped sharply in recent years and it appears the malaria parasite may be the cause. Roughly 70 per cent of the birds were found to carry the parasite in their blood, with a clear link between declining colony sizes and the number of birds infected. It is thought that warmer weather has allowed malaria-carrying mosquitoes to breed and transmit the infection. Avian malaria is related to, but different from human malaria, and is not a threat to human health. RSPB releases its annual cull figures The RSPB has released its annual cull figures for 2018. The figures were included in a blog by the RSPB’s…

All eyes now turn to the grouse again. We didn’t suffer the same trouble as other parts of the country in the summer of 2018. For all we had dry weather through June and the grass bolted, there was still enough water for the insects that the broods of young grouse depend upon. When the time came to count our transects in July last year, we found some moderately good coveys, often clustered around bog holes and peaty areas where the water still lay after several weeks without rain. The 2018 season could hardly be called a vintage one, but it was solid nonetheless. Perhaps there is a virtue to living in the far west of the country where rain is a fact of life. We are all being encouraged…

The unbelievable sporting qualities of the woodpigeon can really help the game shooter make that transition from the clay ground to those first partridge days, writes Tom Payne. Decoying pigeons or getting yourself under a good flightline in favourable conditions is a great way of honing the skills that you have worked on so hard at the clay ground. Practising your style and technique on good simulated driven birds is essential, but it is very easy to become too robotic. Though you may shoot a simulated tower with accuracy, demonstrating the skills of a top game Shot, it doesn’t help you prepare for that important fieldcraft aspect. Being able to react, select a bird and not panic with the real thing can only be achieved by either waiting for the…

AS A GENERAL GUIDE, MANY FIRMS GRADE THIS WAY: EXHIBITION GRADE : EXCEPTIONAL, UNIQUE AND HIGHLY PRICED. GRADE 5: FIGURE OVER 100 PER CENT OF THE BLANK, GOOD COLOUR AND CONTRAST. GRADE 4: FIGURE OVER 75 PER CENT OF THE BLANK, GOOD COLOUR AND CONTRAST. GRADE 3: FIGURE OVER 50 PER CENT OF THE BLANK, GOOD COLOUR. GRADE 2: 10 PER CENT FIGURED WOOD, NICE COLOUR. GRADE 1: PLAIN WOOD WITH NICE COLOUR AND GRAIN FLOW.…

Have you ever looked at something and thought you knew what it was? Yet for all its familiarity, something was not quite what it ought to be and there was this nagging, insistent doubt that kept unsettling you? That happened recently to me with an attractive little .410 hammergun that passed through my workshop for a spot of TLC. It arrived while I was refreshing myself in a favourite watering hole in Chester. Consequently, I only looked at enough detail to complete my dealer’s register. I noted that it had post-1904 Birmingham proof marks and that the retailer was ‘Lincoln Jeffries Jnr, 120 Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham’. “This was not an English gun but a Belgian firearm masquerading as one. However, the deception was perpetrated by the English” Lincoln Jeffries Jnr…

Venison offal, or umbels, is among the best innards you will ever eat. As a shooting type you will be able to get to them while they are very fresh, because with no other part of the animal is freshness so desirable. Offal, particularly liver and kidneys, lose sweetness and become more bitter by the hour, so fresh is best and super-fresh is even better. I have been known to eat venison liver before it has even cooled and it is very special indeed. There is nothing new about this recipe, though it is quite exciting — I have adapted it from many great recipes for devilled kidneys of many kinds from far better cooks than me. Fergus Henderson, Mark Hix and Gary Rhodes all have excellent versions, and the…

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…

Storm petrels are fine little birds but you are unlikely to see one unless you go looking for them. Imagine a dark-bellied house martin with webbed feet that can skip across the water, picking food items from the surface and you’ll have the right image. Most of the year is spent at sea, with birds returning to nesting colonies in May and leaving once the young have been raised. To avoid predators such as gulls and skuas, storm petrels only come ashore to visit their nesting burrows at night. Breeding sites can be found by listening for purring males as they try to attract females. You may see a passing, migrating storm petrel on the coast in the autumn or you can book yourself on a boat trip to watch…

I remember my first bird very well. I was just seven years old and my uncle Carlo Beretta had given me my first custom-made gun. It was a .36 calibre shotgun that I still keep in the rack of my office in Gardone and, as I was anxious to try it, my uncle Carlo Beretta took me to the hunting reserve on the banks of the river Po where he usually went every week. His driver was also with us and helped us find the best situations for me to shoot my first pheasant. After a few failed attempts we found a pheasant in a small wood and with my uncle Carlo, who supported me, I took up my rifle and obtained my first hunting success. I don’t know who…

DOG Summer is high season for ticks and it’s vital to keep them under control to protect your dog’s health. A number of proprietary tick treatments are available, most of which are dripped on to the back of a dog’s neck. These treatments also help to control fleas and disrupt the life cycle of some worms. Tick-repellant collars are another option that some dog owners use. Dogs should be checked regularly and ticks removed with a special tool. MANAGE Himalayan balsam is beautiful but invasive. It is the UK’s tallest annual plant, putting on spectacular growth during the warm months. It is also a damaging invasive plant that smothers native vegetation before dying off to leave bare riverbanks. Cutting it below its bottom node before seeds ripen is an effective…

My pheasants arrived a few days ago and they are all looking well. The morning drive to the pens around 4.30am is always slightly nerve-racking as you never know what could have happened over night. You can only check one pen at a time so any pens that you know are being targeted by foxes should be first on the list. If foxes have been to the pen at first light when the birds drop from roost, you could set some snares, keep lamping regularly and sit up a high seat by the pen in the evening and morning. Waiting with a rifle in a high seat by the pen is a very effective tool at combating visiting foxes. Though I control foxes throughout the year, since the birds have…

ON FRIDAY I WILL BE undertaking the annual ritual of going to the Game Fair. I’ve scarcely missed one since my first at Stowe School in 1970. Over the years I’ve run stands, provided gundog commentaries, met friends and spent lots of money. My spaniels have competed in the have-a-go events and have even won rosettes and prizes, the best of which was a bottle of champagne, long since drunk, alas. The fact that mine have enjoyed modest success at the fair is a reminder that any dog can win, as I have never had any that were either perfectly trained or particularly competitive. The secret of success is to choose an event that you think your dog might be quite good at, and enter first thing in the morning.…

1 Deluxe dog cage and gun box RRP: from £1,400  lintran.co.uk Lintran has launched an innovative new product in its Dog & Gun range to solve the age-old problem of carrying dogs, guns and equipment in your shooting vehicle. The new layout allows dogs to sit up and has a discreet extendable drawer to take guns in slips. It also offers equipment storage to suit individual needs. You can see it in person at the Game Fair at stand J1061. 2 Rigby Caprivi knife RRP: £199  johnrigbyandco.com This knife would be an ideal addition to your stalking equipment and could come in handy out on the hill or in woodland. Made from ebony wood and a blade crafted from Damascus steel, it was designed for being out in…

I would hazard a guess that many a captain of industry who also runs a shoot listens as carefully to his gamekeeper as he does to his finance director. Not that he pays them the same. Gamekeepers are an iconic species. An ancient and highly respected profession, keepering is small and highly select; there are perhaps 6,000 gamekeepers in the UK, of whom about half are full-time. For comparison with another small profession, there are about 16,000 barristers. Of course, keepers don’t pocket anything like as much dosh as lawyers, though on some large shoots the headkeeper trousers a healthy amount of tips — all subject to tax, naturally. But nobody becomes a gamekeeper for the pay. There are many other, non-financial, rewards. Working in the countryside on your own,…

1-4 AUGUST COUNTRYFILE LIVE Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire countryfilelive.com 2 AUGUST THE QUEEN’S ANNUAL CHARITY CLAY DAY Sandringham, Norfolk gunroom@ holtsauctioneers.com 2 AUGUST HIGHLAND FIELD SPORTS FAIR Moy, Inverness-shire moyfieldsportsfair.co.uk 2 AUGUST DEVON ANNUAL AUCTION OF PROMISES Honiton Showground, Stockers Farm, Gittisham gwct.org.uk/events 17 AUGUST SCOTTISH SHOOT WALK Game & Wildlife Scottish Demonstration Farm GWSDF Auchnerran gwct.org.uk/events 24 AUGUST CORNWALL CLAY SHOOT Caerhays Castle gwct.org.uk/events 25-26 AUGUST FENLAND COUNTRY FAIR Stow-cum-Quy Park fenlandfairs.com…

I believe it was Dr Mark Avery who recently referred to bullies in the countryside — the fieldsports community who ‘bully’ those who happen to live in the country but don’t share their views. I have read interviews with and comments from Dr Avery and Chris Packham recently, especially with regards Wild Justice and the general licence debacle and I would like them to know that I feel very much bullied. Having a different opinion from someone is not a problem — I respect and even defend their right to disagree with my views entirely — eat meat or don’t, vote for a different political party or don’t even vote, support a different football team, have a same sex partner or not; having a different view to others is absolutely…

Good game management is a great way to get vital conservation done. If I didn’t believe that, I would long since have moved on from my job as a GWCT adviser. The trouble is, in an increasingly sceptical age, we need to prove it. Glib statements along the lines of “all wildlife benefits from gamekeeping” will not do. In any case, such a sweeping statement is simply not true. There may be many species that benefit from our activities, but what about the ones that we suppress, such as foxes, crows and magpies? They are part of the wildlife, too, and it would be hard to make the case that trapping and shooting is beneficial to them. However, it would also be fair to say — and say emphatically —…

The fact that I have been to so many Game Fairs might explain why I have few memories of individual events. Most recollections have slipped into that recess of the brain labelled Game Fair, with no recall of particular years. However, there’s another reason, too. There’s never been much change in the gundog events from year to year, with the same old competitions, the same people doing the demonstrations, the same familiar voices doing the commentaries. Perhaps this is what the great majority of people want. Game Fair gundogs have fallen into a regular routine. You know, without looking in the programme, that the Euro Challenge will be on the Friday, the Home International on the Saturday and Sunday. You can be confident that the have-a-go events will be much…

How soon can I work my kits? FERRETING Q I have just been given some kits. How old should they be before I can work them? A Getting your first ferrets is a joy, something that you should cherish. You failed to say how old they are so I can only assume they were born this year and must be only a couple of months old. If that is the case, what you should do is spend all summer getting them used to being handled. Make sure they are used to you standing over them to pick them up and get them accustomed to being picked up in many different ways, not simply the same way day in, day out. Because the kits grow quickly it can be easy to…

Latin name: Clematis vitalba Common name: Traveller’s joy Other names: Old man’s beard, tuzzy-muzzy, skipping ropes, maiden’s hair, hedge feathers, grandfather’s whiskers, virgin’s bower and willow wind How to spot it and where to find it: This scrambling plant can be found growing on top of hedgerows, bushes, scrub or trees. Its leaves are oval with rough-toothed margins and grow in an opposite-leaf arrangement. The greenish-white flowers appear in July and last until September, while the feathery seed heads appear wispy and white over autumn and winter, giving rise to another common name, old man’s beard. It favours chalky soil and is most common in southern England and Wales. Interesting facts: Traveller’s joy is our only native clematis and, like its more exotic cousins, its flowers have a pleasantly sweet…