Innholdsfortegnelse for 09-Dec-2020 i Shooting Times & Country

Usually, when you ask a British person how they are, they either tell you they’re not too bad, thanks, or they drift off into vague commentary on the weather. Over the past few months, however, I’ve found that people have responded differently. In Dumfriesshire, I’ve come across ordinarily stoic folk who have freely admitted they’re finding COVIDrelated restrictions unbearable. Three weeks ago I went with my father to a little syndicate he’s on 10 minutes from home. The day was an oasis of joy in an otherwise fairly bleak time. As we walked to lunch — socially distanced soup — after the third drive, an old boy said to me, “At least we can still do this, I suppose.” He was right but there are people who really wish we…

A top gundog trial contestant has been the latest victim of gundog theft. Bob Crowther, who has qualified three field trial champions and two open trial winners, was targeted at his home near Catterick in North Yorkshire. Bob told Shooting Times: “The dogs were kennelled together in our back garden at our home and on Saturday night or Sunday morning thieves climbed over our back fence from the field behind our house. They broke the padlock bolts from the shed door as they couldn’t break the padlocks.” “The dogs we had stolen are used for beating and picking-up. My eldest son, William, a keen country sports enthusiast, enjoys working one of them on his own now on local grouse moors and pheasant shoots. They are also used for some rough…

Mike Swan’s excellent article on how we can nurture our woodcock was a fascinating read (How we can nurture our wonderful woodcock, 25 November). Here in the fenlands of the east of England we are lucky to see a few woodcock each year. Most Guns now prefer not to shoot them and this voluntary restraint has been my position until the past three seasons. I have always eaten a few as other Guns seem happy to shoot them but markedly less keen to eat them — a travesty when they are such delicious birds — so I ended up taking them home. In early 2018, on one of my last days of the season, I was met with a very challenging woodcock breaking from cover and jinking away to my…

WHY WE MUST ALL BE MORE PROACTIVE In 2018, I took the highly commended award for Ahead of the Gameat the inaugural DNA Film Festival, held at the Northern Shooting Show at Harrogate. Among the winners was Robbie Kroger and his Blood Originsfilms, which show “the truth about hunting”. Having witnessed acts against ferreting that I never thought possible, I know now is not the time to sit back. Being proactive is a must. There is outcry when a television programme dares to show someone eating a healthy wild rabbit as a meal instead of some manufactured gunk. But surprisingly, these complaints are not only from those who disagree with our way of life but also those from within the fieldsports community. The days of simply going out as a…

I had a day’s partridge shooting in Lincolnshire in the diary but COVID-19 put paid to that so we went to our grouse butts at Atkin Grant & Lang in Hertfordshire. Taking the gun from the slip, the operation of the top-lever happens with no bite or resistance, the gun opens to its full gate with no graunch or friction. The gape is superb and top and bottom barrels are loaded with ease. The gun gives a solid close as the bolt and action engage. On shouldering the gun, the grip feels thin and refined; the same is true of the forearm with the hand fitting well around the fore-end. At 2.9kg this gun is not heavy and, though barrel weight is slightly forward it handled steadily on fast, simulated…

Due to the lockdown, I will have gone through November without any shooting, hunting or hawking — my first sport-free November since my early teens. It’s been a frustrating month for all of us, but it’s also been a reminder of the importance of our freedom to enjoy our traditional country sports and how vital it is that we defend our right to continue to do so. We are a law-abiding lot and we have accepted these restrictions with very little protest, despite the fact that the scientists have not produced a shred of evidence that people out shooting or hunting spread COVID-19. Similarly, I haven’t seen any peer-reviewed scientific evidence that wearing masks outside in the open air protects anyone from anything. Enough moaning. Walking the spaniels has been…

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…

It’s been a real blow that we’ve lost two days of shooting through November but frankly, we were one of the lucky ones, as many larger commercial shoots lost 10 times that, along with a lot of income. This season is certainly becoming a challenge. The price of the wheat we are buying currently stands at £190 a ton, which will soon add up when we are still feeding a vast amount of game. All being well, by the time you read this, we will back in action, with all the necessary precautionary measures in place. We have managed to put in another shoot day during December and have increased a few of the smaller days to larger ones, but the actual numbers will depend on how straight the Guns…

‘Exceptionally fine’ gun goes on sale An exceptional Kell-engraved lightweight 12-bore spring-opener sidelock ejector gun by Henry Atkin, is going under the hammer at Bonhams on 3 December. Built in 1948 to the specifications of Shooting Times writer Gough Thomas, the gun is estimated at £10,000 to £15,000. William Threlfall, head of sporting guns at Bonhams, said: “This is an exceptionally fine gun made for one of the best-known and most-respected writers on guns and shooting of the last century. It is beautifully engraved and in excellent condition.” Join the Farmland Bird Count 2021 The GWCT is asking land managers to spend 30 minutes counting farmland birds between 5 to 14 February 2021 for the Big Farmland Bird Count. Despite the coronavirus pandemic and poor weather, record numbers of enthusiasts…

With a lot of talk on grey partridges recently, I thought I’d share some footage from my security camera, which shows three visiting my courtyard and having a look about the patio before flighting away. Admittedly, I live in a village in Northamptonshire but it was still a surprise to see them as there’s not a lot to attract them in the garden, especially at this time of year. They’re loud buggers but all the same very lovely to see. Ian Stone, Northamptonshire…

One of the pleasures of foraging is that you may escape for a while the blandness of, not so much our diet, but the ingredients we use. With food collected from the wild, flavours are fresher, stronger and sometimes simply different. Sea buckthorn juice tastes like nothing else, except perhaps orange juice laced with sulphuric acid; the horn of plenty bears a mushroom intensity beyond compare and sweet woodruff offers an aroma that is unobtainable from any grocers, though the scent of a hay meadow will give you the idea. Then there is black mustard. I will always remember my first taste of black mustard (Brassica nigra). I was on the Dorset coast in December, or possibly January, when I spotted them, a group of large plants with dark green…

I find that I am shorter and shorter of time these days, not only for working, writing and doing household chores but also, vitally, I am short of time to cook properly. Many might think that someone like me can whip something perfect up in 15 minutes but everyone has to plan and everybody, no matter how much experience they have, can get things wrong when they’re rushing and they’ve got a great deal on their mind. The key, of course, for those who are short of time but are in want of a good supper is to have a few decent dishes up your sleeve that can be russled up quickly. This is one such dish but it is also a rule breaker — a culinary James Dean. One…

THE QUICKLOADER Mini Martini rifles were popular with vermin and target shooters in the first half of the 20th century. The .22 rimfire cartridge was neat, cheap and effective, but quick loading of the single-shot Martini action called for a ready supply of cartridges to hand. The Quickloader offered a solution. No more digging around in pockets with wet fingers for the next shot. The Quickloader mounted on the rifle and lined up the next 10 shots. The device used existing screws to locate on the side of the action, right or left side. The price in the 1950s was six shillings, with another sixpence for postage. DH…

1 Norfell insulated trousers RRP: £329.99  gb.harkila.com These trousers are completely waterproof and have an insulated membrane to keep you warm and comfortable on those cold, wintery days. They also feature a two-way leg zip for ventilation and easy access. 2 Lomo camouflage bag RRP: from £7.75  lomo.co.uk Introducing the new 20-, 40- and 60-litre camouflage drybags, made from a tough, durable, medium-weight fabric to help keep your gear and valuables dry. Don’t be caught out by heavy rain or waders overflowing. These bags are buoyant so you won’t lose them underwater. 3 Perdrix game bag RRP: £34  furfeatherandfin.com This is a great game bag for rough shooting because it has a large, roomy interior with a robust shoulder strap. It also features an external game net…

We need to avoid being seen as the people who always say “No”. Think of how parts of the farming and shooting communities have reacted to various proposals over recent years. Bring back the beaver — no. Reintroduce pine martens — no. Reafforestation with native trees — no. Reintroducing lynx — no. Rewilding — no. A voluntary move away from lead shot — no. Constant kneejerk negativity is tedious and does our cause no good in the long term. It is demoralising for our own side and undermines our efforts to shape the future. If we are forever crying wolf, we undermine our credibility. Those who flatly opposed the reintroduction of beavers are now having to admit that these animals don’t seem to be causing major problems. Why would the…

LIFE LESSONS Reading about the Revd John ‘Jack’ Russell (Praise be: the creed of horse and hound, 18 November) reminded me of the vicar of our parish in my native county of Suffolk who also “joined in with the passions of his flock”. At the age of 16, some 60-plus years ago, I worked for him on weekends and holidays to earn some pocket money while studying at college. He was a larger-than-life character with tales to tell of his time overseas with the missions and the like. He settled into the local parish to continue God’s work among a very rural, agricultural community, in the days when we ate dinner around midday and had tea when Father got home from work around 5.30pm. He will always be remembered for…

Amid the angst and anguish of a global pandemic and national lockdown, we forgot our individual woes briefly. We paused in a moment of collective sympathy for a young family from London W8 that had undergone a tragic loss. Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, announced via Instagram the death of Lupo, their nine-year-old cocker spaniel, and Britain responded by pouring out its shared understanding. Lupo looked a cracking stamp, from a line of the Middleton’s own breeding. The dog was a wedding gift from Kate’s brother, James, and became an integral part of the family’s life. This empathy highlights two things: firstly, that Britain has taken William and Kate to their hearts as future monarchs; and, secondly, we remain staunchly a nation of dog lovers. The…

The Queen’s Gambit: not only an opening move in chess and a book by Walter Tevis, but also a fantastic series on Netflix. “What has this to do with ferreting?” I hear you cry. Well, for me, everything. Ever since I started ferreting, I have evaluated, scrutinised and reacted to everything that I have done. My biggest bugbear is getting it wrong but when you are dealing with the natural world, it inevitably happens from time to time. It is how you react to it that matters. Like a ferreting Beth Harmon — Tevis’s orphaned chess prodigy — I used to visualise the mistakes, how to correct them and how it would all look when they were corrected. At the time everybody called this daydreaming because they did not understand…

Latin name: Hygrocybe miniata Common name: Vermilion waxcap How to spot it and where to find it: With its vibrant orange-red colour, you’d think it would be easy to spot, but the vermilion waxcap is tiny, growing no more than 3cm in diameter and about 5cm in height. Its gills are yellowish and red at the edges. It is found in fields, on sandy heaths or grassy meadows and its season runs into December, so you may be lucky. It can be distinguished from other waxcaps by its scurfy appearance; most waxcaps are smooth and/or slimy. The cap starts off convex and flattens with age. Interesting facts: The vermilion waxcap is considered an indicator of high-quality unimproved grassland, where artificial fertilizers are not spread. For a long time they were…