Innholdsfortegnelse for 11-Nov-2020 i Shooting Times & Country

A move away from grouse shooting and towards rewilding and native tree planting will drive up unemployment and decrease private investment in rural communities, according to a new report from the Scottish government. The report into the socio-economic and biodiversity effects of driven grouse shooting found that not only would a step away from grouse shooting cause the loss of jobs, it would also need an increase in public money to fund tree planting and conservation programmes. In addition, the study found that species such as golden plover, merlin, curlew, whinchat and lesser redpoll all benefited from muirburn by gamekeepers for grouse. Alex Hogg, chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, said: “Gamekeepers play key roles in their communities, and their work, which has no drain on public finances, extends beyond…

Some forms of shooting may be able to resume in Wales as the ‘firebreak lockdown’ ends. From 9 November, groups of up to 30 people will be able to assemble for “organised outdoor activities”. However, groups must abide by proper COVID-19 control measures, such as social distancing. While shooting groups have yet to issue formal guidance, the change offers the prospect that some formal shoots will be able to operate again and that activities such as rough shooting, wildfowling and deerstalking can resume. The requirement to stay at home except for essential trips outdoors had previously prevented shooters going out at all, even if they lived within walking distance of their shooting ground. Welsh shooters will still not be able to travel to England or Scotland for shooting as travel…

LIVING THE DREAM Since the age of 16, more than 50 years ago, I have always looked forward to my weekly copy of Shooting Times. People, mostly non-shooting folk, often ask, “What do you find to read that’s different every week?” My reply is “Plenty!” and the superb article by Megan Rowland is proof (Let the devil take the hind most, 28 October). I have stalked for many years, mostly in my native Devon, and in more recent years over here in Ireland where I now live. I have been fortunate and stalked red, fallow, roe and, in Buckinghamshire, muntjac and Chinese water deer. Until last year my hope of stalking a red stag on the hill in Scotland remained an unfulfilled dream. In the winter of 2018, I was…

Having risen very wild the first time and just out of reach the second, the covey of greys burst out of the hedge bottom almost at my feet. I mounted the little Army and Navy 20-bore smartly and missed with both barrels as the partridges slipped over the hedge. I had dreamed of this moment since early summer, when I collected the beautifully restored gun from gunsmith Mark Crudgington, except that in the dream version there had been a right-and-left. Nevertheless, a little bit of history had been reenacted, for walking-up wild greys would have been common practice back when the gun was made. I am researching the detail with the University of Glasgow, where the Army and Navy Co-operative Society records are archived, but the little gun was made…

For many countrymen and women, the ban on hunting has only confirmed what we already knew — that the fox as a species was a lot better off living in countryside that was regularly hunted by a recognised pack of foxhounds. That’s not to suggest that foxes enjoy being pursued — though they often behave in a remarkably sangfroid manner when only a few minutes ahead of hounds — but that populations were healthier and more buoyant in traditional hunting countries where farmers, landowners and gamekeepers allowed the hunt to fulfil its role in managing the fox population. Many recognised the important differences between indiscriminate control and management, where the ambition was to maintain a healthy population at an acceptable level. Farmers and landowners who supported hunting achieved this by…

One of the frequent joys of foraging is to suddenly find something wonderful when there has been nothing to see all morning. Occasionally, I find myself in the woods, coming across the odd inedible mushroom here and there but with nothing for my tea. Slightly deflated, I will rest for a moment, look down and see, camouflaged to near invisibility, the dull brown and wrinkly cap of a mushroom at my feet. I know straight away that it is a trumpet chanterelle as it is almost impossible to confuse it with anything dangerous. However, I always look for the general trumpet shape, the thin edge to the cap, the thick wrinkle of yellowish or greyish gills running part way down the long, yellow, hollow stem. I look around and see…

The shooting season has been flung into turmoil once more by the Government’s announcement of a second lockdown in England. The new restrictions, which came into force on 5 November, include a number of measures that are expected to prevent any form of large-scale recreational shooting from going ahead. However, the effect on smaller-scale shooting is currently less clear as an exemption allows for outdoor recreation. Included in the Government’s range of measures were instructions to limit travel as far as possible and not to assemble in groups with people who are not from your own household. These two measures alone are expected to be enough to prevent nearly all large-scale shooting from going ahead during the lockdown. “Rough shooting, wildfowling and deer management may continue during the lockdown” The…

A large part of Langholm Moor is to be bought by a local community group. The moor, which was the site of two groundbreaking studies that examined the interaction between grouse moors and birds of prey, is owned by the Duke of Buccleuch. Buccleuch estates announced that the moor would be put up for sale after a second attempt to establish an economically viable grouse shoot failed. Community group the Langholm Initiative then announced it would try to raise funds to purchase the land, and it has now agreed a sale for part of the moor. The land will be operated as a nature reserve. Opinion among the fieldsports community was divided, with some welcoming the opportunity to test the claimed viability of alternatives to grouse-moor management. Others took the…

The melting permafrost in Siberia is turning up some remarkable finds. The skeleton of a mammoth has recently been found studded with signs of a prolonged battle with humans. The mammoth was killed by our forebears 45,000 years ago. Tusks nearly a metre long were also found from a mammoth that lived 13,000 years ago. The tusks had been engraved with rough hunting and fighting scenes by cavemen or women of that time. I like to imagine them laughing about their hunting as they roasted the mammoth while sketching a record of their adventures using the same sharpened flints that had killed the beast. “Pursuing quarry for food is written deep in our DNA” The cunning of the hunter, the excitement of the chase, the planning and adventure that goes…

It was a still, soft October morning. I was feeding my pheasants and enjoying every minute of it, because there were lots of birds on show and already they looked more or less ready for sport. There was still over a fortnight to go before the first shoot. Slowly I walked from ride to ride. There were pheasants on all of them, the trees were glowing yellow and gold, robins were singing their sad autumn song and, whenever the gentle breeze roused itself for a minute or two, it brought the soft thud of crab apples and acorns on to the fallen leaves. It was lovely and peaceful and, in my contentment, my thoughts turned by way of contrast — partly prompted by a conversation with the Editor — to…

“The gun felt familiar, like I had used it for years, with no surprises or quirks” OUR VERDICT Being of a certain age, I remember the William Powell catalogue arriving via Royal Mail as the harbinger of the coming season. Though it was full of all things new and exciting, I never dwelt on the pages of tweed suits and leather goods but turned straight to the back where the William Powell shotgun range was to be admired. The images of these timeless sidelocks are still vivid in my memory and it is hard to believe that William Powell has been producing this Continental range for more than 20 years. Working with Spanish artisan gunmaker Arrieta, Peter Powell developed a stunning range of guns to fit all budgets. These guns…

Labrador won’t take plunge GUNDOG TRAINING Q I have a two-year-old labrador bitch that is shy of going into water. What do you suggest I do to help her overcome this fear? A It’s unusual for a labrador to be reluctant to go into water, though it is not unheard of. Unless it is an inherent dislike of water, something must have triggered this situation. I am still surprised at the ways many people introduce shooting dogs to water. Most puppies will splash about in water but not many will want to swim properly from the word go. In fact, puppies that are allowed to splash and paddle soon make a hasty retreat to dry land when they feel they are out of their depth. And yet so many people…

Avian flu has arrived in the UK, most likely introduced by migrating wildfowl. Scientists have been tracking the spread of the disease to Europe and last week Shooting Times reported that it had been detected in the Netherlands (News,4November). Now Defra has issued an alert after two separate outbreaks were detected. The first outbreak was a case of H5N2 low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI). This is the less dangerous form of the avian flu virus. All of the stock on the unit where the infection was found has been culled and a 1km exclusion zone has been imposed around the unit. The second outbreak was detected at a premises near Frodsham in Cheshire on Monday, 2 November. This outbreak has now been confirmed as H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza, the…

Wild Justice has launched a spin and PR offensive after it was wrong-footed by Government lawyers and forced to abandon its legal challenge to gamebird releasing. The campaign group, whose failed challenge to the general licence led to the needless deaths of lambs and songbirds in the spring of 2019, launched a judicial review earlier this year. Its aim was “a ban of releases of pheasants and red-legged partridges into the English countryside this year except where Defra has ruled out any impacts on the ecology of Natura 2000 sites”. The group had hoped to force any shoot releasing birds within 5km of a Special Protection Area or Special Area of Conservation to apply for a licence from Natural England, a costly and difficult process seemingly intended to deter shoots…

On my desk as I write this is a rather yellowed and crumpled letter from the Forestry Commission offering an annual shooting lease over 1,003 acres at West Tofts, Norfolk, for the princely sum of £50. The letter is dated November 1971, a time when my father and a group of his friends were looking for a new piece of ground to shoot over and had contacted the Commission in the hope that some rough shooting might be available in or around Thetford Forest. They took the lease. I remember accompanying my father on several days walking-up the edges of the big forest rides and hunting out the odd wild pheasant, pigeon or rabbit as we did so. Game was scarce, bags were small, but what fun we had. Fifty…

For many years, I have driven past a particular bank on one of the farms that my friends and I ferret. Imposing, steep and treacherous, it is the sort of bank that you would require a goat-like grip to negotiate its face. Rocks the size of cars are scattered above the fast-flowing river below. It has never been ferreted — I wonder why? I have spent time studying it, looking at what goes in and out, where the warrens are and mentally noting where I believe the warrens start and finish. It’s all useful data to have once the first ferret disappears underground. Having watched quite a few rabbits make a beeline for the bank — ignoring plenty of other warrens as the bank offers harbourage and safety — finally…

The geese have arrived, so now winter can begin in earnest. It was fine to hear them tinkling overhead in September and October as the big skeins came thundering down from the far north, and the sound of pinkfeet arriving is a sure sign of changing seasons. The new arrivals are already settling into a steady rhythm, which carries them inland from the shore at dawn. Bigger flights of migrant birds continue to pass high overhead to their winterings in Norfolk or Lancashire, and it can make for a confusing spectacle at dawn or dusk. Soon the winter arrangements will be complete and you will be able to set your watch by the birds as they come in from the sea in a mass of chattering skeins. The process will…

Returning from a few days’ holiday in East Norfolk I found myself comparing that part of England with the downlands of West Sussex, where most of my shooting is done. ’Twixt Norwich and coast lie miles and miles of flat terrain, lush water meadows dotted with ancient windmills, and vast marshes intersected by slow, sluggish but picturesque rivers. These rivers and the great shallow lakes bounded by rushes, reeds and jungle-like swamps are the perfect habitat for wildfowl. Even in the holiday season, when thousands of motor-launches, cabin-cruisers and sailing vessels of every shape and size explore each secluded backwater, and anglers line the river banks, mallard abound, while on Wroxham Broad a fine flock of Canada and greylag geese delight the eye and ear. Pigeon burst from every clump…

Though the Arctic fox may be a common species throughout much of its range, which includes Alaska, Canada and Siberia, it is critically endangered in mainland Europe. It is considered to be extinct in Finland and tiny remnant populations remain in Norway and Sweden. However, the release of captive-bred foxes in northern Norway has led to new populations being established there and boosted the population across the border in Sweden. A small fox with short ears, the Arctic fox is best known for its ability to turn white in winter. It can survive temperatures as low as -45°C. A vocal animal, it generally lives in pairs or small groups and only breeds in years when there is an abundance of lemmings. In winter, it lives chiefly on carrion. One of…