Innholdsfortegnelse for 9-Nov-2016 i Shooting Times & Country

I do wonder if the RSPB is regretting its apparently confused performance in the recent grouse debate in response to the petition raised by its former director Mark Avery. While it initially appeared to support the petition, when it came to giving evidence to the committee, it disagreed with Avery’s proposal to ban driven grouse shooting, opting instead to push for licensing of the sport. On reflection, you wonder whether it really wanted to be involved at all. Did Avery raise the petition with the RSPB’s blessing, or is he a loose cannon whom it feels obliged to join because of his past status as director? It feels as though the RSPB is between a rock and a hard place on this one, but I doubt that it has done…

PAY WROTH DUES The Wroth Silver Ceremony is generally held on 11 November every year at Knightlow Hill on Dunsmore Heath in Warwickshire. At the break of dawn, representatives of certain villages meet at the Wroth Stone at the top of the hill. When their parish is called, they throw their dues — about 46p in today’s money — into the hollow in the stone. There are many theories regarding the origins of the ceremony, but the most common is that it began as a payment for the right to drive cattle over land belonging to the ancestors of the Duke of Buccleuch. Those who failed to pay were either fined or had to produce a white bull with red nose and ears as payment. IN THE GARDEN November is…

Rare red-listed Greenland white-fronted geese have been seen at their traditional wintering grounds in locations across Caithness. BASC, NFU Scotland and the RSPB have warned wildfowlers to take special care that they do not mistake the birds for more common quarry. Members of BASC’s wildfowling team have met with a record 60 affiliated clubs across the country in the past 12 months, as part of their regularvisits to strengthen links, answer members’ questions and discuss club development, land purchase and other specifi c wildfowling matters. There were more than 140 new outbreaks of bluetongue reported among cattle and sheep in France in the second half of October, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health. This brings the total number of outbreaks to 621, with each typically infecting one to…

NOT AN ETHICAL AD I am sure I can not be alone in feeling more than a little frustrated seeing sanctimonious onlookers take cheap shots, no pun intended, at our sport. You do not have to look far to see bad animal husbandry being overlooked, used as entertainment or, worse still in this case, used to sell products. Let me direct you to the current Actimel advert being aired nightly. You see a piglet, young enough to need bottle-feeding, being kept in a pen ankle-deep in what can only be taken to be slurry. Any complaints from the RSPCA or any other laudable body? It appears not. Perhaps Shooting Times should be the first. P. Trotman, Gloucestershire The Acting Editor responds: Let us know what you think. You can see…

“The headkeeper has switched to the Kansas pheasant strain, which has a reputation for flying extremely well” I am writing this column a few days before the opening day on the pheasant shoot where I pick-up and am, ostensibly, in charge of the picking-up team. This season, the headkeeper has switched to the Kansas strain of pheasants and I noted, as I drove round the shoot with him a week or so ago, that the birds appeared to be very well feathered and looked alert and ready for action. They are smaller than the traditional ringnecks and blacknecks, which have been the standard bird on the shoot for many seasons, but have a reputation for flying extremely well. It will be interesting to see how they fare and how the…

“We’ve all witnessed a ‘bouquet’ of pheasants: that moment when a bunch of longtail rockets up from a hanging wood like a Roman candle” Picking up a recent book, I noticed the author referring to “pigeons”, and heard a harrumphing from the old-school tweedy ghosts, who maintained that “pigeons” were the residents of Trafalgar Square, whereas our noble woodpigeon (never “woodies”) were always “pigeon” — minus the “s” — no matter how huge the flock. Archie Coats, the father of modern pigeon shooting, used both plural and singular versions, and I don’t suppose he much cared so long as the birds came into his decoys. But there is something to be said for pedantry if we are to retain our rich history of sporting language, much of which has been…

The NiteSite Laser Rangefinder provides an effective solution to the problem of judging range when shooting after dark when you are presented with the flat monochrome image produced by night-vision optics. It can accurately calculate distance from 6m to 500m at the press of a button. HOW IT WORKS The rangefinder connects to the mount that attaches the NiteSite screen/illuminator module to your telescopic sight. It weighs less than 150g, so doesn’t make your setup feel side-heavy. It requires no ambient light and lends itself to airgun use when shots need to be given holdover and holdunder to compensate for the pellet’s curved trajectory. I have found it very effective for close-range ratting (when the pellet is often still below the line of sight) and for working out holdover when…

“Thomas Page-Wood advertised regularly in the sporting press, including a 1963 advert in Shooting Times ” Cartridge collecting is a frustrating hobby, an ongoing search for those items, which have eluded you for years and, realistically except for a lucky find in the most unexpected of places, will probably never turn up. I have a notebook, which I carry with me, containing lists of my “wants”. I have a fairly comprehensive collection by Page-Wood but research has revealed that I have a long way to go if I am ever to achieve a complete display. Thomas Page-Wood began making guns at 29 Nicholas Street, Bristol, in 1876 followed by additional premises at Frome, Cardiff, Bath and Shepton Mallet. By 1904 the firm had expanded and had agents…

At this time of year, fieldfares split their time between berry-bearing hedges and foraging in loose flocks on open fields. They are much bigger than redwing, the other winter thrush, and less confiding. When disturbed, they give a distinctive “chak chak” call as they fly off, flashing their light-grey rumps which contrast with black tails. It is estimated that up to 1million fieldfares cross the North Sea each autumn, though this varies with the amount of food that is available in continental Europe. Many individuals return to the same wintering spot each year — perhaps a commercial orchard — but others will migrate in completely different directions in autumn when they leave Scandinavia and Russia. For instance, a bird ringed in Yorkshire one year turned up in Turkey a couple…

“With a lion population of 500, the conservancy may have to cull about 200… that’s a heck of a lot of Cecils” Psst, wanna buy a lion? Going cheap. In fact, you don’t even have to buy them, so much as pay for their transport. They’re free to a good home. Given the media frenzy about the late Cecil the Lion, where in the world might this place with an over-abundance of lions be? Why, in Zimbabwe, former home of poor Cecil. On the Bubye Valley Conservancy, to be precise. Bubye is an immense private nature reserve, covering about 5,000 square kilometres of land that was previously used for cattle ranching. The conservancy was founded 22 years ago by Charles Davy, the father of Chelsy — well known to the…

11 NOVEMBER CHELTENHAM COUNTRYSIDE DAY Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire Tel 01242 513014 18 NOVEMBER BASC TASTE OF GAME FUNDRAISING DINNER Larchfield Estate, Co. Down Tel 07773 367287 19 -20 NOVEMBER ENGLISH WINTER FAIR Staffordshire Country Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire Tel 01785 258060 22 NOVEMBER THE DEER INITIATIVE BEST PRACTICE EVENING The Crooklands Hotel, Kendal, Cumbria Tel 07855 606877 24 NOVEMBER GWCT ANNUAL LONDON BALL The Dorchester Hotel, London Tel 01425 651013 27 NOVEMBER KENNEL CLUB CANINE SPORTS SCIENCE SEMINAR Kennel Club Building, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire Tel 01296 318540…

“There has been little change over 20 years. We still see roughly the same number of woodcock every year” The leaf is coming off the trees at last and our early days have all gone according to plan. We make a gentle start here and don’t really get into the main drives until the second half of November. This is partly to make sure the birds are well grown and strong on the wing, and partly because a lot of our drives are out of mature woodland. When the leaf is still on, not only do the birds avoid going into the woods in the first place — because they are fairly dark and unwelcoming — but when we do get them in there, they can struggle to fly out…

Night-vision and thermal-imaging kit can give you an edge when it comes to nocturnal pest control — you can see your quarry but it can’t see you. This increased element of stealth can provide a real advantage over traditional lamping tactics, especially on ground where pests have become lamp-shy after sustained shooting pressure. This high-tech equipment was once prohibitively expensive but advances in manufacturing processes — and a huge increase in demand and production — have made it much more affordable. Consequently, more and more shooters are taking advantage of night-vision and thermal-imaging gear for the control of rabbits, rats and foxes. Two of the latest night-hunting gadgets on the market are the NiteSite Wolf R-TEK, its Laser Rangefinder add-on and the Seek Reveal XR30 handheld thermal imager. Here we…

IF YOU PROBE GENTLY, you will discover that most gundog enthusiasts have a pronounced colour prejudice. I recently met a dedicated Labrador man who has owned and worked the breed for more than 40 years and has never, until now, had any other colour than black. However, rather to his surprise, his black bitch, put to a black stud dog, produced an all-yellow litter. He felt duty bound to keep one so, for the first time ever, he owns and works a yellow bitch. He’s found that she works every bit as well as his black dogs. Certain colours do become fashionable, and the current trend in working Labrador colours is for fox-red dogs, though they are classified as yellow. This, apparently, was the colour of the very first yellow…

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 PAUL RAWLINGS Gundog expert and A-panel spaniel judge CHRIS DE CANI Riverkeeper, with specialist knowledge of chalkstreams TONY BUCKWELL Veterinary surgeon with a special interest in gundogs TONY JACKSON A game Shot, keen stalker and former editor of Shooting Times TOM PAYNE Professional shooting instructor and avid pigeon shooter SIMON WHITEHEAD Author, professional ferreter and rabbit controller IAIN WATSON Keen stalker and senior CIC international trophy judge Contact the team Email: stanswers@timeinc.com By post: Shooting…

“Creating a new authority to take over national flood risk management responsibilities from the Environment Agency would be a backwards step. It would risk a confused and disjointed approach at a time when people and businesses affected by flooding in both towns and countryside desperately need more investment.” CLA president Ross Murray comments on MP plans. 25% Up to 25 per cent of fish at Marine Harvest salmon farms in the Hebrides and Wester Ross affected by amoebic gill disease have been lost, placing the integrity of the Special Area of Conservation for wild salmon on Harris under threat.…

Project to return missing fish to Severn A scheme to return missing fish species to the river Severn has received £19.4million in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project, developed jointly by the Severn Rivers Trust, the Canal and River Trust, the Environment Agency and Natural England, will install fish passes at weirs on the river in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. These weirs caused many of the species, including twaite and allis shad, to disappear after they were built in the 1800s. Richard Parry from the Canal and River Trust said that the project would help to “restore this important fish stock to the upper river Severn”. Heritage Lottery Fund trustee Tom Tew said: “Unlocking the Severn is a very rare opportunity to right 150 years of wrongs. “It will…

 I have now chaired the National Police Chiefs’ Council Firearms and Explosives Working Group for around eight months, having succeeded Chief Constable Andy Marsh. The role is voluntary and is in addition to my normal duties. I have had experience of firearms and explosives for many years from many different perspectives and I hope that I can help the police service, the shooting community, and all those interested in working together to navigate what is a complicated landscape. “Asking for any information from anyone who could help will always be my preferred position” As readers might expect, my main concern is to ensure that the issuing of firearms and shotgun certificates is carried out within appropriate legislation, in order to keep shooters and communities as safe as possible. In doing…

The European otter ( Lutra lutra ) is once more a relatively common mammal, but it was not always so. Ironically, it was those who hunted them, the otterhound packs, who flagged up the fact two to three generations ago, that the otter was declining to the point that it was in real trouble. Though the otter had been hunted by man for centuries for its luxurious, much-prized pelt, we had never pushed it so close to the brink before. But the problem was not persecution, or legal hunting, but the man-made pesticide, DDT. This obnoxious chemical did serious damage to whole ecosystems, and indeed would have had quite an impact on humans too had its use been allowed to continue. At this point I should point out that today…

“I could feel myself masochistically rubbing salt into my own wounds for not being the eagle-eyed hunter I wish I was” Owning your own fishing boat is a privilege, and it’s a curse. Forget all that stuff about crippling expense and tear-jerking frustration when things break, corrode, fail to start running or won’t stop leaking. There’s a whole other aspect to boat ownership and self-skippering — blame. When you charter a boat for the day and you don’t catch much, you can always blame the charter skipper, who will in turn blame the weather, the European Union, Russian factory ships, algal bloom and the rubbish anglers on board. But when you are your own skipper and you have taken a couple of mates out, and caught absolutely nothing all day,…

Plant: Common ivy Latin name: Hedera helix Other names: Bindwood, love united, ivy gum plant How to spot it and where to find it: A common sight in woodland, hedgerows and shady areas of gardens everywhere, ivy is a vigorous, self-clinging climber with glossy, evergreen leaves and pale green veins. Young ivy has lobed leaves and aerial roots while mature plants produce bushy and rootless flowering shoots and have unlobed leaves. Ivy’s clusters of small, nectar-rich, greenish-yellow flowers open late in the year, usually from September to November, and are followed by black berries in winter that are favoured by blackbirds in particular. Any uneaten berries provide a valuable food source for young birds in the spring. Interesting facts: The branches and leaves of ivy provide shelter and nesting sites…

Only two species of duck have ever been domesticated: the mallard and the muscovy. The latter was first tamed by the indigenous people of South America: they kept the duck as pets or to control insect pests in their houses. Perhaps surprisingly, the muscovy has never been developed into distinctive breeds like the mallard. However, they will cross readily with domestic (mallard-type) duck, producing sterile offspring that make excellent tasty table birds. Known as mulards, these hybrids have never been produced commercially in the UK, but they are bred in a number of countries, ranging from France to South Africa. Mulards have the advantage of being quick to mature. Lean-breasted birds, they are sometimes force-fed to produce the enlarged livers essential for the production of pâté de foie gras. They…