Innholdsfortegnelse for 10-Jun-2020 i Shooting Times & Country

As summer jobs go, nothing beats grouse beating. As teenagers, all the way from the Twelfth until the partridges started, we’d head up to the Angus Glens and earn £50 a day. Most of it vanished in the pub every evening but it was enriching in other ways. I learned wonderful things about conservation, moorland management and how to walk in a straight line. I also came to have tremendous respect for the extraordinary hours the keepers worked, usually getting out at 7am and clocking off after midnight. Everyone who came to shoot was indebted to them for the way they went beyond the call of duty to provide great sport. The past months haven’t been easy for those running shoots and the season ahead is set to hold some…

DIG DEEP It is time for readers to put their hand in their pockets. I’ve sent the GWCT £50. I don’t do any fieldsports; my contribution to those activities is domestic; my washing, sewing, butchery and cooking skills and the like for husband and children over some 40 years. Yet even I know the importance of the GWCT. Thank you for bringing the finances of this unique organisation to the fore (News, 27 May). If every reader sends a tenner that would be a start. Perhaps this summer’s aborted holiday fund or monies not spent on fuel should be passed on to those such as the GWCT, Countryside Alliance and BASC. They all promote treasured countryside activities and counter detrimental rural and wildlife legislation. I’ve supported all three — a…

For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone / The flowers appear on the earth / The time of singing has come / And the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land.” This is part of the Song of Solomon 2 from the New King James Bible. The magical purring voice of the turtle dove is certainly back in my land after their long migration from the warmer climes of north Africa. Our first traveller was heard on last week in the tall poplars on the edge of our favourite woodland. Over the weekend, another two arrived and took up position around the towering larches on the central ride in the same wood. Locally, there has been a substantial and evidently successful effort…

I love muntjac. They’re weird, intriguing and delicious in equal measure, and I have been lucky enough to stalk them on a number of occasions in East Anglia. It has always been an entertaining challenge, wandering through deep reeds and alder carrs on the hunt for the strange little beasts in the dusk. From where I am standing, the only problem with muntjac seems to arise when you reach for the skinning knife. When I returned home with a pair of muntjac carcasses in the back of my car, a friend once came to help me butcher them. After 10 minutes, he described the carcass as being “like a hare that has been superglued into a wetsuit”. Having read around the subject, I realised that I love muntjac because they…

It’s essential to have both written permission from the landowner of the watercourse and a licence from the Environment Agency in England or Natural Resources Wales. Don’t be deterred by this as, unlike much environmental licensing, the crayfish trapping application is remarkably simple, efficiently administered and completely free. Further information, including guidance on the required trap dimensions and links to the licence application forms can be found at bit.ly/crayfishtrap Crucially, make certain that you can identify both the signal crayfish and our now very rare and highly protected white-clawed crayfish. Key identification features can be found at bit.ly/nonnats…

Fitted with the Optima 3-9x40mm scope, which is supplied as standard, we shot the Hatsan Escort on test with and without a sound moderator. As with all new .22 rimfires, the bolt action ‘runs in’ after a few hundred rounds and becomes smoother to operate. Because it is primarily a hunting gun, we shot subsonic ammunition and some high velocity (HV) just in case. The Eley Subsonic 38-gr loads achieved 1,041fps and 92ft/lb energy, with 0.65in 30yd groups and 0.95in at 50yd for five shots. Similarly, the Winchester 42-gr Max loads achieved 1,061fps and 105ft/lb, and 0.70in 30yd and just over 1in 50yd groups. CCI Suppressor and RWS subsonics fared a little worse, oddly, as they are normally very good. The HV were all a bit erratic, except for the…

Well, we can heave a small sigh of relief, because by now most of our wild pheasants will have hatched. The partridges will be through soon too. We saw our first pheasant brood on 19 May and, by then, what were pairs of wild greys had become cocks on guard while their faithful wives were incubating. By mid-Tune, the bulk of the partridges should be away too. Once their chicks are hatched, and the broods of game are on the move, vulnerability to predation drops quite a bit. This applies to waders such as lapwings and curlews too, as well as ducks and geese. Foxes can still bump into them, of course, but not hiding in the same place day and night is a big help. Also, while crows will…

Last month there were newspaper stories about the Dutch Kennel Club stopping the registration of brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds, following the Dutch government’s ban on breeding dogs such as the pug, bulldog and French bulldog. This wasn’t really a new story, as the Dutch moved to ban breeding these dogs six years ago, though until recently the legislation wasn’t enforced. I’m not a believer in bans: the ban on foxhunting certainly didn’t achieve what many of those who supported it wanted. Whether this Dutch ban will have any real impact remains to be seen, but if these breeds can’t be registered they can’t be shown, which would have an impact. However, I fail to understand how the Dutch government will be able to stop its citizens from importing puppies from neighbouring…

BILL HARRIMAN BASC’s head of firearms and global authority on guns MAT MANNING Airgunner and journalist from the West Country DIGGORY HADOKE Vintage gun expert, firearms dealer, author and journalist 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…

The news that shooting can start to come out of lockdown prompted me to have a look in my gunroom to see which shotgun would accompany me on my first foray after what has been a very long four months with no shooting. I know the word ‘gunroom’ sounds terribly grand; in my case it is actually a big walk-in cupboard, but that is what it has always been known as. My choice eventually fell to my 12-bore Webley & Scott 100 Deluxe Model single-barrelled gun. I have not shot it for at least a season, and as a single it will be light to carry and more than adequate for the opportunity targets of pest control. I had single-barrelled guns as a teenager; I found that only having the…

There is something both immediately beautiful and startling about the alarm call of a lapwing. I swiftly scanned the landscape, searching for the bird and her chicks that were under threat. The danger, I soon discovered, was nothing more than a wandering cock pheasant. He had strayed near the four chicks and the mother wasn’t happy. Seven pairs of lapwings — or peewits as some call them, due to their enchanting call — have taken advantage of this particular Countryside Stewardship lapwing plot. I was out after a marauding fox that I’d previously seen foraging for food for her nearby family. The fox has unsurprisingly taken up residence in the fringes of our conservation area at Bywell because there is an abundant food supply on offer. My scanning with high-powered…

CHECK Now that summer has arrived, ticks are once again becoming a hazard. Check yourself and your dogs thoroughly after walking in areas of long vegetation. Ticks should only be removed using a proprietary tick tool. Vets should be able to provide a suitable product to keep the insects off dogs. BIRDS Ensure plenty of water is available for birds. With one of the driest springs on record as we come into summer, it is important to ensure birds have ready access to drinking water. In areas where wild birds might normally be able to depend on naturally available water, they may need water provided for them this year.…

Regarding David Tomlinson’s viewpoint and his opinion, rightfully so, on irresponsible owners (Gundogs, 20 May), I too walk my working dogs in a variety of quieter places. They have suddenly become busier with walkers of young dogs with little, if any, manners. I am starting to look for a new youngster to train up ready to start the 2021 season, hopefully, dependent on age, to join my picking-up team. More and more rescue centres are reporting an increase in the number of gundog breeds that were bought as lockdown dogs being surrendered because people did not look beyond the COVID-19 crisis. Perhaps now is a good time for us, as a sporting group, to consider a rescue youngster, rather than buying from a breeder? I certainly will be and hopefully,…

“He was alone when I first came, peeling a plover’s egg taken from the large nest of moss in the centre of his table.” With this memorable line, Evelyn Waugh reveals much about Brideshead and Sebastian — nobility, money, opulence and a sensibility of taste beyond that of the common man. Plovers’ eggs say it all. Times have changed, and anyone now wishing to make so grand an impression will need to look elsewhere: plovers’ eggs and almost all wild birds’ eggs are off the menu. Exceptional numbers Though it is likely that Sebastian’s eggs would have been procured from the Brideshead estate, had they been bought they would have set the Marchmain household back a bob or two. In 1846 they were sold at market for ‘one and six’…

As a nice little package with all you need except a sound moderator, the Hatsan Escort is a cheap rimfire that is designed to thin out vermin without any airs and graces. It doesn’t have much finesse but it offers great value for money. 17 /20 Accuracy It preferred subsonic ammunition to high-velocity rounds. 16 /20 Handling Lightweight and easy to handle in most positions. 15 /20 Trigger Truth be told, a touch vague. 16 /20 Stock Weather resistant and designed well. 17 /20 Value Good value for a starter gun 81 /100 Overall score A little rough, perhaps, but a low-cost rimfire.…

It is easy to believe that pasta belongs to Italy, but versions of it are found all over Europe and Asia. In the south of France, nouilles are eaten with butter and cheese from the Alps. In Greece, you will always find a good dish of braised lamb and pasta on taverna menus. In Spain, fine, short noodles are used in place of rice for a version of paella. But there are plenty of lesser-known dishes too. This one, khingal, from Azerbaijan, is a wonderful, makes a comforting supper. The base comes in the form of soft and buttery egg pasta, which works perfectly with lightly spiced venison, fried with onions until crisp, plus a yoghurt, dill and coriander sauce. Here, I’m using minced venison but I have no doubt…

Latin name: Veronica spicata Common name: Speedwell Other names: Spiked speedwell How to spot it and where to find it: The rich blue spikes of speedwell flowers are hard to miss and it blooms from June through to September. An upright, clump-forming herbaceous perennial, its flower spikes can be up to 2ft tall, with toothed, narrow leaves that are covered in silvery hairs. It likes open, sunny positions; stems of plants in shade tend to be floppy. It can thrive on poor ground, but prefers soil that drains freely. Interesting facts: Speedwell is considered lucky and seeing one would speed travellers safely on their way. The genus name is thought to come from the Latin adjective vera, meaning true, and nica, meaning image. When Saint Veronica gave Christ her veil…

1 Shooting vest RRP: £299 johnrigbyandco.com Tailored from wool, this lightweight shooting vest has two goat leather shoulder patches designed to protect either the right- or left-handed shooter. This vest is suited to the clay ground but is also ideal for use out in the field. It also features two internal goatskin pockets, which are large enough to fit plenty of cartridges. 2 Zeiss Terra ED 10x42 binoculars RRP: £475; SALE: £405 bushwear.co.uk These binoculars are robust, reliable and easy to use. They are lightweight and are built to handle any kind of weather you might have to deal with. Available in olive green or black, they include a neck strap bag and microfibre cloth. 3 Canvas shotgun slip RRP: £79.99 browning.eu This gunslip is ideal for…

I’ve had my fill of bad news. I’ve certainly had enough of the unrelenting alarmism of key figures in the national news media. Some of them seem incapable of presenting the facts and allowing us to make up our own minds. They constantly tell us what to think. They also seem to forget that we are more interested in answers than in their grandstanding questions. Would our forebears have emerged victorious in 1945 if our airwaves had been dominated by the likes of Piers Morgan? It’s time for a bit of fortitude and optimism. Barring a second wave of COVID-19 triggering another national lockdown, it seems we will soon be shooting again with a semblance of normality, albeit with social distancing. That’s a cause for celebration, isn’t it? I am…

Eco cartridge could be a game-changer Environmentally minded Shots will be able to shore up their eco credentials with an exciting new cartridge being launched by Gamebore in July. The new Dark Storm will feature a “quad seal system”, which has a 100% biodegradable wad. Gamebore says the recoil is noticeably low and claims its release is “undoubtedly the most groundbreaking development in modern cartridge manufacturing history”. Gamebore’s new cartridge joins Eley’s VIP Steel Pro Eco wad, which was launched last year. Charlie Bull of Just Cartridges said that nobody is allowed to confirm exactly what the wad is made of at this time. Deerstalking schemes reopen BASC’s deerstalking schemes across England are reopening from this week. The Hockwold scheme in Norfolk and the Raby scheme in County Durham will…

Geoff Beesley, who passed away on 4 May 2020, was vice-chairman of the Scottish Solway Wildfowlers Association. He was also chairman of his local clay pigeon club here in Clarencefield, where, when we finally come out of lockdown, he will be missed. Geoff was an Oxfordshire boy who arrived at Moonflight Cottage in 1980 on the Solway he loved so much. It was here he was able to follow his passion for wildfowling and guided out on to the merse many guests for whom his wife catered in their home. Geoff always had a love of firearms, be it rifles, pistols and shotguns, and his knowledge on this subject was extensive. He was an avid reader and enjoyed being surrounded by books. For many years he drove the game cart…

TIME FLIES. IT hardly seems possible that it’s 13 years since I visited Christine McDonald at her home on the Essex coast to talk about dogs in general and Welsh springers in particular. Christine had been involved with these spaniels for nearly 30 years, both showing and working them. She had bred four full champions, which meant they were champions in the show ring and had achieved their show working gundog certificate, proving that they were steady to gunfire and capable of retrieving shot game. However, after so many years with Welsh springers, Christine had decided to try another breed. She had acquired a very handsome Hungarian vizsla called Coast (Bitcon Gold Coast at Northey JW), by a Australian champion. I was impressed with him, writing in this column that…

Best ‘bits and bobs’ recipes GAME COOKING Q I have found lots of odds and ends, such as venison kidneys and rabbit livers, at the bottom of my freezer. How should I use these up? A First, check that they are still fit for consumption once defrosted. Any that seem to have freezer burn should be consigned to the dog bowl. Take extra care to assess the smell of these morsels once defrosted and discard any that seem unusually whiffy. You can make an excellent one-pan Tuscan dish with any livers you have — rabbit, duck and so on — by simply frying them briefly with some finely chopped onion, thyme, garlic, butter (or lard) and a splash of Marsala wine, sherry or brandy — even a dash of cider…

The iconic American cartridge, .45-70, was created in 1873 for the US Government. It originally fired a .45 calibre, paper-patched, 405-gr bullet, propelled by 70 grains of black powder. It was accurate enough to make 4in groups at 100 yards and powerful enough to kill at 3,500 yards, though the heavy, slow-moving (1,394fps) bullet dropped rapidly at range. A good shot could hit a man at 600 yards if he knew his rifle and the exact range. Originally housed in “Trapdoor” Springfield rifles, the .45-70 was later used in Gatling guns, but it was last used operationally in 1897, in US Navy Springfield Model 1882 rifles.…