Innholdsfortegnelse for 26-Feb-2020 i Shooting Times & Country

We all have a favourite. In the Hull High Pheasant Extreme I trust and when my supplies run dry, the Eley Zenith is everything the name suggests. So it was with mixed emotions that I received the news from Garry Doolan, BASC’s head of press, that his organisation has decided to endorse moving away from lead shot (see p6). Confidence in your cartridges is an essential part of shooting well. But we can’t hide from the facts. Covering the countryside in lead causes creatures we share it with to suffer and makes game harder to market. There will be readers who will see my view as giving in — a number of them have told me so in the past few days — but I would urge them to have…

28 FEBRUARY TASTE OF GAME DINNER Brown Horse Inn, Winster Valley, Cumbria. Brown Horse Inn 01539 443443 or Ryan Hartley 07876 231671 06 MARCH NORTHERN IRELAND GREY SQUIRREL COURSE Glenwherry Hill Farm, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, bit.ly/BASCsquirrel 07 MARCH INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: LADIES CLAY SHOOTING EVENT Grousemoor Country House, Llandegla wales@basc.org.uk 24 MARCH GWCT ROADSHOW The Castle Inn, Castle Street, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7HR gwct.org.uk/events/ gwct-roadshows/ 28-29 MARCH COUNTRYSIDE CLEAN-UP Nationwide bit.ly/Countrysideclean 04 APRIL GOLDEN PHEASANT CLAY SHOOT Castle Hill estate, South Molton nationalgamekeepers. org.uk/events…

Squirrels to ‘go on the pill’ to save trees Scientists could give grey squirrels contraceptives in an effort to reduce their numbers, which are spiralling out of control and damaging trees. Researchers based at the Animal and Plant Health Agency are focusing their efforts on turning a currently injectable formula into an oral contraceptive that could be distributed with food in areas with high squirrel populations. The Earl of Kinnoull, chairman of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, said the project will “give forestry a chance”. Keepers’ efforts highlighted in study A new report has identified the often unrecognised conservation efforts that skilled and knowledgeable land and wildlife managers undertake nationally. The survey of almost 1,000 keepers — carried out by the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation and Scottish Gamekeepers Association — highlights…

As 2020 begins, I find myself reminiscing over some of the many evenings I have had out fox shooting. It has been a passion of mine for many years and now, at the age of 55, it gives me great pleasure to look back. I recall looking for the telltale signs where Charlie had been passing through the hedgerows and fence lines on a regular basis, or walking the land with my lamp, rifle and lurcher, and using an old motorbike battery and a chrome car spotlamp from the local scrapyard. Most of my evenings out fox shooting are now spent in the fox box the landowner provided for me. As you can see from the photo (right), it’s a sturdy structure approximately 20ft high, with a 10ft square platform…

I would give up all other forms of shooting if I could still flight pigeons into a wood on a February afternoon. It’s where I began; where I grasped the need for effort to understand my quarry; where I learned to watch for patterns of behaviour, for preferred roosting trees and how pigeons adjust flight lines to the wind conditions. Pigeon shooting, in general, is perhaps the best grounding for anyone looking to understand the essence of hunting with a shotgun. The added difficulty of the height, speed and angles when roost shooting pigeons make it a real examination of your ability and there are no guarantees of success. Roost shooting is not an exercise in high self-esteem. It is difficult to shoot consistently well at this most sporting of…

FOR THOSE DOGS with seemingly endless energy and bottomless reserves to run, canicross can be a great activity to complete together. This is the sport of cross-country running with your dog. You work as a team to complete a course as quick as possible. A big problem with gundogs is walking them. The owner forgets that if you do not give the dog a job, it is more than likely to find one for itself. That is nearly always something undesirable such as eating or rolling in excrement, chasing birds — or, even worse, livestock — harassing other dogs and so on. However, if the walk becomes a joint activity for the handler and dog, that risk of the dog getting into trouble is greatly reduced — if not eliminated.…

Recipe kindly donated by Mark Hix  Mark Hix’s impact on British cuisine has been enormous, with many successful restaurants in his portfolio, cookbooks that number double figures, and his unfailing support of British producers and suppliers. I love a game pie. I love pheasant, partridge and pretty much all game, cooked in all sorts of ways. Pheasant is such a staple in our house, as I expect it is in many Shooting Times readers’ homes, that we can on occasion run out of enthusiasm for our familiar, much-loved, tried-and-tested recipes. At times like that, it’s possible to find yourself reaching for the Chinese takeaway menu, even though our nearest is seven miles away. I can’t remember the last time I actually gave in and ordered a takeaway, but it is…

Latin name: Gyromitra esculenta Common name: False morel Other names: Turban fungus, lorcel, brain fungus, red mushroom How to spot it and where to find it: The lobed and convoluted cap of the false morel is distinctive — like a miniature brain — and, as the name suggests, looks much like the common or yellow morel. The cap ranges in colour from orange-brown to dark brown, on a short white stem. The false morel is usually found under pine trees, in sandy soil that is preferably rich in woody debris. Interesting facts: The most important thing to know about the false morel is that it is deadly poisonous. But it is also considered a delicacy. It contains the toxin gyromitin, which reacts with water to form monomethylhydrazine (MMH). MMH is…

As we move inexorably towards a brave new world of shooting without lead or single-use plastic, I wonder how we will look back on this time. I shall keep my powder dry on the lead issue. I have written before about my own positive experience of using steel for game shooting in my English gun. I see no reason why I should go back to using lead for most of my own shotgun shooting. But using steel means, in most cases, having to use shot cup wads to protect barrel walls. And, until recently, most of those shot cups were made of single-use conventional plastic. What has changed is the advent of biodegradable shot cups, which can make steel loads usable in most ordinary nitroproofed shotguns. This has been described…

The country’s major shooting organisations, including BASC and the Countryside Alliance, have called for an end to the use of lead shot and single-use plastic in ammunition for live quarry. In a joint statement they said: “In consideration of wildlife, the environment and to ensure a market for the healthiest game products, at home and abroad, we wish to see an end to both lead and single-use plastics in ammunition used by those taking all live quarry with shotguns within five years. “The shooting community must maintain its place at the forefront of wildlife conservation and protection. Sustainability in our practices is of utmost importance,” they emphasised. The move was welcomed by some in the industry. Nick Levett-Scrivener of Shooting Star said: “We’ve been in the cartridge game for 31…

CHECK Check and oil guns. With the persistent wet weather it is all too easy for guns to remain neglected in a cabinet. A quick clean and oil will do them the world of good and will help ward off any damage that the persistent damp might do. CHECK  Keep your eyes open for muntjac. A “probable” sighting of a muntjac in the Scottish borders has led to appeals to look out for them in southern Scotland and the English border counties. Muntjac are a harmful invasive species and nature conservation agencies are keen to limit their spread. Anyone spotting one north of the border should contact the British Deer Society.…

HONEST AS THE DAY My wife and I attended the British Shooting Show at the NEC. It was a fantastic event, packed with almost anything a shooting enthusiast could want. The atmosphere was friendly and the stalls we visited were manned by patient and knowledgeable staff. All was good until just after lunch when my wife discovered that she had lost her mobile phone. In controlled panic, pockets were turned inside out and backpacks were emptied but there was no sign of the phone. Fearing that we would never see the device again, my wife approached the security staff and reported it missing. The panic was cranked up several notches as the phone held sensitive data and banking apps; passwords are easily bypassed these days. At 4.30pm we headed home,…

I had no cattle to sell this February. But I was pulled like a moth to a flame to the mart in Castle Douglas anyway. I love going there for the theatre; it will be a sad day if in future, as seems likely, cattle are all sold over the internet by video as they do already in some countries. Watching a farmer in the ring with his cattle is like seeing a chef anxiously offering up his signature dish for judgement on MasterChef. Your competence as a farmer is on display. The first time I did it I felt as much stage fright as I did before my first school play. I became acutely aware that my corduroys were a little too bright for the assembled company and the…

A proper end-of season service will involve total stripping of all mechanical parts, including operating mechanism, locks, ejectors, and fore-end iron. All the wood comes off the metal and all metal parts are detached from one another. Metal parts are then thoroughly cleaned and polished and inspected for wear. Small adjustments are made; such as re-shaping sears and bents, tightening loose pins, making new ones where the threads have worn and then re-blueing them all. Any loose parts are tightened, trigger-pulls tested and adjusted if necessary, ejectors timed and the cocking-firing sequence tested, including function of the safety mechanism. Barrels will be put in a bath to test for leaking ribs, inspected for any dents, bulges, rust and so on. Extractors will be removed and cleaned before being oiled and…

I like vegetarian food. On my last trip to India, a year ago, I ate nothing but vegetarian food for two weeks. This was in contrast to my local guide, who told me he was a Hindu but his favourite food was beef. However, I have to admit my Indian holiday was in sharp contrast to a visit to Texas many years ago, when I cheerfully consumed a 32oz T-bone steak. The truth is that I’m an unashamed omnivore and enjoy good food, though I do believe that source and provenance are important. This is why I’m happy to promote eating game to my friends, as I always know where the partridges and pheasants I’m giving them come from. However, the fact that we are still using lead cartridges for…

1 Cotton French rib quarter zip RRP: £79.95  schoffelcountry.com This new ribbed jumper is lightweight and breathable. It is crafted using pure cotton and, when paired with a shirt, creates the ultimate smart-casual outfit. Wear it down the local pub or out in the field. 2 Ultimate trousers RRP: £129  en.browning.eu These new “foul-weather” trousers have been developed for all types of hunting, from pigeon to deer. The trousers are made with noiseless technology to help you get ahead of your quarry. They have also been given knee reinforcements to prolong their life. 3 DTT6 blank firer RRP: £159.95  sportingsaint.co.uk As the close season begins, continuing to train your dog is important. The DTT6 is a six-shot blank firer that can replicate the sound of gunfire and…

As cases of Alabama rot continue to be reported in dogs across the UK, Shooting Times contributor Ellena Swift is trying to raise awareness of the disease. Her friend’s Labrador, Giuni, developed an unexplained ulcer on her foot following a walk. As her condition worsened, the vet diagnosed Alabama rot and put Giuni on treatment to support her kidneys. The causes of Alabama rot are not completely understood, but Ellena advises dog owners not to panic. “While there is currently no known source of the problem, it is not spread from dog to dog, and is rare,” she said. “There are an estimated 10million dogs in the UK and fewer than 250 have been diagnosed with this disease. If your dog is off colour or has lesions from an unknown…

On my local beaters’ shoot day, a Gun attended with his wife, four young ladies and their dog, which had recently gone blind. It was endearing to see the dog work — at a steady pace due to a recent bump with a tree — with heightened senses. The noise in the line did mean he was not always sure which direction the beating was heading, much like most of the guns beating! One of the young ladies over from Spain asked if she threw a stick into a bush would a pheasant come out? I said try. The look on her face was a picture when the bush erupted and a fallow buck exploded from the cover. It was enthralling to see the dog steadily working cover by quartering…

It’s 2.5million years since the first sign of tools being used, and 2million since humans spread out from Africa. What have we done since then to our planet and the other living things that we share it with? Our impact does not really become apparent until you look at what happened when man as a hunter-gatherer discovered new lands. The first humans to settle in Australia wiped out the megafauna that lived there. As did the first humans who crossed to what is now the US and, though that seems a long time ago — 16,000 years — it is but a grain of sand compared with the time humans have been around. It would appear, however, that hunter-gatherers elsewhere coexisted with the majority of the species they relied upon…

Following my end-of-season review (Dogs just wanna have fun, 29 Tanuary), I have made some proper plans. The summer is a great time for our dogs to wind down, physically and mentally. Like us, they benefit from variety and respite at times. There are plenty of activities a handler can do with their dogs over the summer. With any working dog, they generally do not have a preference for what they do, as long as they are doing something. Spaniels, in particular, simply like to be busy. It is our job to ensure that the “busy” is beneficial and supportive of their primary role as a gundog. I know a lot of gundog trainers do not encourage alternative activities with working dogs. There is certainly merit in their thinking. If…

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 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…