Innholdsfortegnelse for 04-Dec-2019 i Shooting Times & Country

Last Saturday, I was lucky to be invited along to the sort of shoot I love. There were nine Guns, the beating line was made up of friends, grandparents and a neighbour’s errant spaniel, and the mixed bag of 28 we shot were argued over at the end of the day. Tust before lunch, as two woodcock flew over, a man in a dark cagoule, with a pug panting on the end of a pink lead, appeared over the horizon. “Missed a few,” he chuckled while wandering past. He was being charitable — it had been rather more than a few — but I smiled and nodded, while thinking about how important it is that those out shooting are friendly to passers-by. “I’m a postman,” the pug owner continued, “and…

4 DECEMBER NGO CHRISTMAS QUIZ NIGHT LINCOLNSHIRE Skillington Village Hall NG33 5HG 07765 402146 6 DECEMBER INTRODUCTION TO DRIVEN GAME SHOOTING DAY Kinblethmont estate, Angus po.st/gameintroScot 7 DECEMBER YOUNG SHOTS GAME DAY Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire po.st/YShants 8 DECEMBER 75-BIRD CHRISTMAS SHOOT Manchester Clay Shooting Club po.st/Christmas75 12 DECEMBER BASC EASTERN CHRISTMAS DINNER Elveden Inn, Thetford, Norfolk 01283 810910 15 DECEMBER S&CBC LADIES CHRISTMAS CLAY SHOOT Doveridge, Derbyshire doveridgeclaysports. co.uk/clay-shooting/…

BGA capitalise on National Game Week The British Game Alliance made the most of British game week (25 November to 1 December) by spreading the word about how healthy and sustainable game meat is. As well as serving pheasant meatballs and sausages to office workers in Bristol and London, the Alliance teamed up with Hello! to publish recipes for game pies. Leon Davies , head of business development for the BGA, said he was absolutely delighted when a schoolchild turned to his father after trying the pheasant meatballs and said “Please can we have these for dinner,?” Native woodcock under pressure The GWCT has again called for restraint in shooting woodcock. The previous advice to not shoot the birds before 1 December in areas where they are known to breed…

My experience is rather different from that of Mr Daws, who was so impressed by his local police force (Letters, 27 November). On 14 May I applied for my first firearms certificate. With the fee being £88, I believed I would have first-class postage and prompt return with the documents. It was not until 3 October that I received the certificate — it is a disgrace that it took so long. The firearms enquiry officer who came to the house was very helpful in giving details on owning a rifle. I have owned shotguns and air rifles for 54 years. My first shotgun licence cost 10 shillings when I was 15 years old; that is 50p.…

Our local butchers have been producing black pudding for generations to a recipe unique to the south Kerry region. Made with suet and blood from both beef and lamb, the fine-textured pudding is baked rather than boiled and purchased in ‘slabs’. Its rich spiciness goes perfectly with ground venison, which is in plentiful supply at this time of year as the older cull stags make it into the pantry. These ‘posh’ sausage rolls are my favourite way of fusing the two flavours and, hot or cold, they make the perfect addition to a bonfire night picnic or shoot day lunch. THE METHOD Makes 6 large or 18 small sausage rolls Ingredients 1 SMALL ONION A KNOB OF BUTTER 3 RASHERS OF GOOD, DRY-CURED STREAKY BACON 450G FINE VENISON MINCE 150G…

I have spent the past year training Keepa to be a capable all-round working dog and hopefully successful competition dog. He has proved himself on the test circuit over the summer but now the trialling season is under way I would like to see what he can do. He is ready to be entered. He has no eliminating faults — such as whining, running-in and so on — and has been consistently working well and picking-up various types of game. Though I’ve recently had a baby, so have not done a great deal of training, I entered and got a run in a novice driven trial. The day began with a drive spread over two stubble fields with lots of water and cover in the middle. The Guns shot plenty…

You may find, like I did, that this colourful recipe fast becomes a household favourite. Once a kitchen staple, the mincing machine has become rather outdated, but most chefs I know wouldn’t be without one. Minced pheasant will work very well for this dish but pretty much any minced game will do. To avoid the dish coming out a bit flat, you will need to dig out your punchiest spices and darker, stronger meat is desirable. Interestingly, keema, exotic-sounding as it is, simply means ‘mince’ on the Indian subcontinent. As you can probably guess, there are endless variations of this dish and I’m not sure that any one version could claim to be more authentic than another. I have always viewed Mark Hix as a great judge of spice and…

I am applying for my shotgun licence. I own an air rifle and an antique percussion shotgun. When the firearms enquiry officer (FEO) visited, he said I had to declare both and made me put them on the form. I have since been told I did not need to do so. Is this true? There is no need to declare that you own an air rifle because those below 12ft/lb are not certificated. All that the law requires of you is to take reasonable precautions to prevent unauthorised access to it by persons under 18 years of age. That does not mean locking it in a cabinet; it depends on your personal circumstances. As for the percussion shotgun, you should only ask for it to go on your certificate if…

Can you please clear up a confusion for me? What constitutes a switch head in a red stag? I thought I had deliberately stalked and shot one on a friend’s permission only to be told that it was only a young spiker. Over the past stalking season there seems to have been a lot of interest in the types of heads that stags grow, from hummels with no antlers, to the names of multi-pointed heads. Switches fall in between and always attract attention. When red stags grow their first set of antlers most produce two simple spikes, which are often of varying lengths and thickness. Some animals, often thought to be of better potential, produce spikes with one or both tops forked. It’s these first-year animals that are called spikers…

1 Montrose BR1 Jacket RRP £185 Musto.com This new jacket is the ideal addition to your shooting wardrobe, with a two-layer showerproof and breathable fabric designed specifically to keep out persistant downpours. It also features faux suede shoulder panels, which aid gun mount and add durability. 2 Glencoe boots RRP £200 Tel 074691191916 (north) 07840325059 (south) The full-length style of this boot delivers better ankle support than a wellington. Delivering a classic look, the boot’s performance is enhanced by the inclusion of a fully breathable, waterproof lining. The rubber outsole design should ensure the Glencoe grips on all kinds of terrain, from rocks to slippery mud. 3 Solway 15 game bag RRP £155 Chapmanbags.com A classic design of game bag, this has one main compartment and a…

WIN Snap up a ticket for the GWCT gun draw. The winner of the raffle will receive a day’s driven grouse shooting for one Gun, a new pair of William Powell shotguns, a three-hour fitting session and 500 game cartridges, all worth £25,000. There will also be second and third prizes: a William Powell tweed shooting suit, worth more than £1,100, and an embossed leather gunslip and cartridge bag priced in excess of £400.Tickets cost £100 and the draw closes at midnight on 17 December. FISHING Try your hand at grayling fishing. With game fishing taking its winter holiday, there is no need to put your flyrod away. Grayling can provide a fascinating winter challenge, taking both dry flies and heavy nymphs. They have a strong tendency to shoal, so…

I am woken by a ping from my mobile phone; I have been mentioned in a tweet. It seems the RSPB took exception to my recent piece (Country Diary, 9 October) with a first-hand account from a keeper about two activists claiming to be from the charity carrying out an ‘inspection’ on private property and searching his vehicle. “The trouble with the animal rights movement is that they are post-modernists and therefore post-truth” The usual suspects pile in to question my article. The trouble with some members of the animal rights movement is that they are post-modernists and therefore post-truth. They routinely fabricate stories, evidence and even science for their own ends so they assume that we do too. But I didn’t fake it and have no reason to disbelieve…

I often see people with good dogs who start to let standards slip, purely because they feel they cannot take their training any further forward. But gundog training is like any other sport. The best in the world never stop training. Keepa and I have now reached a level where it would be good to start tapping on the door of open level trialling. He definitely has the ability and I am learning with every step we take. I have a live game day planned and have arranged for a top trainer — who will, of course, be neutral — to come and assist us both in advance.…

I’ve written before about burdock and goose grass, both plants whose seeds attach themselves to dogs and people with extraordinary tenacity. An equally horrible species is hound’s tongue, the seeds of which recently stuck to my spaniels. I am a reasonably competent naturalist and can generally name any bird or butterfly I come across, but botany is not my strength, so I had to seek help. There wasn’t a lot to go on, as the plants had largely withered away, leaving a seeded skeleton. I sent a photograph, together with a description of the seeds — small, very hard, oval-shaped and with an exceptional ability to attach themselves to passing dogs — to the Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service. The answer came back within a couple of hours: “I think that…

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 TONY BUCKWELL Veterinary surgeon with a special interest in gundogs 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 CIC international trophy judge…

I have a 10-month-old cocker spaniel puppy that I bred myself. I want to make a better job of training her than I did with her mother, so on the advice of friends I have been to training sessions with a variety of trainers. This was intended to give me a broad sweep of guidance but I am now more confused than ever because everyone seems to have a different opinion. Should I stick with one trainer, or will the mixed approach benefit me in the long-term? This is a situation that puzzles a lot of people. Very often an individual with a dog to train attends the most conveniently located training group or trainer and so inevitably ends up following the guidance given. This guidance is never challenged, because…

The scaup is a close relative of the tufted duck. Unlike ‘tufties’, which occur on even the smallest of inland ponds, the scaup is almost exclusively coastal. When seen on the water, a male scaup has a silvery grey back, as well as a white wing. Females are brown, like tufted ducks, but there is a grey patterning within the feathers of the back. Winter counts show that tufted ducks outnumber scaup 10 to one, in the UK, with biggest numbers on the Solway and on Loughs Neagh and Beg in Northern Ireland. In spring, scaup return to their breeding grounds, north-west to Iceland or east to Finland and Russia. If you find a scaup wearing a ring, it is likely to be Icelandic, because the species is studied at…

Having read with great excitement your article about a day out with birds of prey (Death on silent wings, 12 December 2018), I have always fancied working my ferrets in a similar vein. Usually I bolt rabbits for my lurcher but am keen to see the difference when it is a bird. What differences do you recognise between them? For years I have been asked by many friends who hunt with birds of prey if they can fly them over my ferrets. Not being from that world, I was always too apprehensive to try it. Typically, once I did, I loved it. But it is absolutely vital that you trust the person who owns and flies the hawk. It could be a Harris hawk or goshawk; I ferret under both.…

There are certain groups of people who are almost above criticism. Medical professionals come into this angelic category — and you can understand why. Doctors, for example, work hard, under great stress. The same esteem does not necessarily extend to the groups that represent doctors. Bodies such as the British Medical Association (BMA) might be advised to brush up their bedside manner, lest they tarnish the halos of their members. The BMA is the doctors’ trade union and professional association. In 2016, it had a major role in a revamp of the medical involvement in firearms licencing. At the time, the BMA gave assurances that there was an ‘expectation’ that no fees would be charged, given the importance of public safety. But it seems many GPs thought differently, so the…

A commitment to a free vote on fox hunting will not be included in the Conservative Party manifesto, a change from previous general elections. Since the introduction of the 2004 Hunting Act every Conservative manifesto has included a commitment to a vote to allow the use of dogs to control foxes. However, it now explicitly states that a Conservative government “will make no changes to the Hunting Act”. The news came as the Countryside Alliance launched its “I am rural and I vote” Twibbon campaign. A Twibbon is a small banner that can be added to a social media profile picture to show support for a cause. Sarah Lee, head of policy at the Countryside Alliance, said: “Twibbons are just another way to spread a message at election time. In…

I have been a shooting man since the age of about 12 and now I am coming up to my 61st birthday. Throughout all those years, I have been shooting in one form or another, from target pistols — surrendered after the 1996 school massacre in Dunblane — target rifle, both long-range full-bore and small-bore target shooting. For more than 25 years I have been a solo rough shooter on farmers’ land, bagging geese, duck and stray game birds, and a full-bore deer stalker — high seat shooting as due to injuries as I cannot walk far — and .22 rabbit shooting. Over the past 15 or so years I have had two Labradors who came with me and we have spent long hours sitting under hedges or wandering around…

Despite what some may think it gives me little pleasure to once more take our civil servants to task for their decisions. However, as long as they continue to make glaring errors that is what will happen. You may recall in a previous piece I noted that anyone who manages a notified site has to apply for individual licences to take certain species of predatory birds. When I followed up the point made by a licensing official about why you would kill magpies, I was even more astounded to find out that no licences would be issued before the start of the bird breeding season, which they stated was the first of April! Here we have civil servants who, by a quirk of the law. have become the managers of…

I confessed to shooting appallingly badly on my first driven day of the season (Odds and endings, 6 November). I only bagged one pheasant and I refused to say how many shots it had taken me to achieve this enviable prize. This refusal still holds firm because, though I try to be frank with readers, I do have my pride. There would be none of it left — there isn’t much to begin with — if I knew that the whole world was talking about how many shots it took Laurence Catlow to kill a single hen pheasant. Things have improved since then, though I have never yet come home from a day this season feeling that I have shot really well. This makes a disappointing contrast with last season,…

I am sure I am not alone in having a boot room full of overloaded coat hooks. In mine, the hooks groan with a collection of coats, jackets and fleeces. A few favourites, and some rarely used. Among the favoured two or three, there used to be an ancient Deerhunter Montana 5-in-1 jacket. Bought new, patched, repaired, re-zipped and my go-to coat for almost everything, until it finally gave up the ghost after 10 to 15 years of hard use. For reasons I can’t remember, though it may well have been a fashion for newer brands, I never bought another Deerhunter coat to replace it. Now, having recently been sent and field tested the new Deerhunter Pro Gamekeeper jacket, I wish I had. Passion To give you a bit of…

I have been shooting air rifles for several years and am now planning to make the move from targets to live quarry, mostly controlling grey squirrels and corvids in woodlands near to me. From what I have seen, I am going to need to kit myself out with some form of camouflage clothing, because most airgunners seem to wear tree-print patterns in order to go unseen. Can you advise which camouflage patterns work best? Modern tree-print and digital camouflage patterns can be effective for breaking up your outline. The best ones will be those that provide the closest match to the landscape you are shooting in. Fancy camouflage patterns are not essential, though, and drab olive and brown jackets and trousers will do the job as long as you make…

Latin name: Lamium album Common name: White dead-nettle Other names: White archangel, deaf nettle, dog nettle, snake flower, helmet-flower, Adam-and-Eve-in-the-bower How to spot it and where to find it: The heart-shaped leaves, which are pointed with toothed edges, look very much like those of the stinging nettle but, as the ‘dead’ part of the name suggests, those of this common plant do not sting. The small flowers are not pure white but are suffused with green. They have hairy upper hoods and toothed lower lips, and bloom in round clusters that look rather like an Elizabethan ruff. They appear from March to December. Interesting facts: The flowers provide a nectar source for long-tongued insects such as the white-tailed bumblebee and red mason bee and burnished brass moth. The caterpillars of…

I wondered if it is possible to make charcuterie out of my pheasants this year? I am trying to use up every single bird I can get my hands on, but I have never seen pheasant charcuterie and wondered why. Actually, I have never seen chicken charcuterie either. Why is this? The short answer is yes, you can make jerky, salami and smoked pheasant, or you can make pheasant ham by curing, then poaching the breasts. I have had pheasant salami on many occasions and it is very good, but smoked pheasant tops the board in my opinion. As to why we never see chicken salami on the market, I do not know. Perhaps it might be due to people’s concerns over making sure chicken is thoroughly cooked. I would…