Innholdsfortegnelse for 26-Jan-2022 i Shooting Times & Country

Humans are better than wolves at creating landscapes of fear, according to scientists. The phrase ‘landscapes of fear’ was used to describe the effects of reintroduced wolves on deer in Yellowstone National Park in the US. According to rewilding lore, the returning predators scared deer out of river valleys, which allowed scrub to thrive and made the rivers change their course. This effect is known as a trophic cascade. However, a team of Canadian and American scientists has found that deer are much more frightened of people than of any other predators. The scientists played recordings of human voices and the sounds of other animals to deer in woodland. They found that the deer reacted far more strongly to the voices of humans than to the calls of wolves, bobcats,…

The first salmon of 2022 has been caught on the opening day of the season on the river Tay. Initial reports suggested that the Helmsdale, which opened a few days before the Tay, had provide the year’s first fish. However, the claims of a spring salmon from the Marl pool proved unfounded and anglers had to wait until the Tay opened on the 15th before a real spring salmon was taken. The first fish was landed by experienced Tay angler Iain McLaren on the Pitlochry Angling Club beat of the river Tummel. The 19lb sparkling silver springer was released unharmed. Just a day before the Tay opened, the Scottish government released its new strategy intended to reverse the catastrophic declines in wild salmon. According to its authors, the Scottish Wild…

The festive doldrums dawned after Boxing Day. It’s hard to complain about slack water after a busy year, but there is always something frustrating about that static period between Christmas and New Year when nothing seems to happen and everybody is keeping their powder dry for Hogmanay. In previous years, I’ve been lucky enough to line up shoot days to fill this gap and I’ve often broken the time with trips to other parts of the country for the chance of wildfowling in Norfolk or Aberdeenshire. My social calendar fell apart this year and I was faced with the prospect of making my own fun. That’s no great hardship here in Galloway, where there is always something to keep you busy, but it did force me to adjust my mind…

“The numerous wild boar present a problem for farmers, which means foreign hunters are highly valued” The slope falls away below us towards a valley floor filled with scrubland and split by a dried-up stream. Beyond its far bank, a hill rises. As it climbs, it begins to leave the trees and bushes behind, gradually becoming more open towards the top. There, on the upper stretches, a frischling boar — a small immature animal — flees through the sparse vegetation. It zips around one posted shooter after another on its way up the hillside. Some 50m behind it, a Tunisian tracking dog is racing to catch up with it. The hunt’s drive has been in progress for 30 minutes, and Jens Kjaer Knudsen and I are enjoying the spectacle from…

The Long Mynd, a stunning heather-covered upland plateau 1,700ft above sea level in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has been a Mecca for tourists since the railway arrived in the nearby market town of Church Stretton in 1852. Forming a part of Shropshire’s “blue remembered hills”, immortalised by the poet A E Housman in A Shropshire Lad, it is now a popular destination with walkers, mountain bikers and gliding aficionados. However, from the late 1840s until the mid-1990s, it provided grouse shooting facilities for the various owners, their guests and sporting tenants. The Long Mynd, Shropshire’s principal grouse moor, was substantially larger than the 300-acre Gatten moor on the Stiperstones and small areas of heather moorland in the Clun Forest and on the Clee Hills, both of…

Not sated by causing panic during two years in which they doled out doom and wild statistics, scientists and public officials are now telling us that the “worst drought in decades” is gripping my homeland in Africa. This, naturally, is all “driven by climate change”. For sure, it hasn’t really rained on my farm north of Mount Kenya for 16 months. The nomads’ cattle and sheep have been dying since late last year. Skeletons dot the dusty landscape along routes where herders have chased towards clouds on distant horizons. British newspapers have published photographs of dead giraffes clustered around a parched watering hole in the deserts north of us, quoting local people who say they’ve never seen things get so bad. In response, inevitably, the UK Government is sending humanitarian…

I am not much of a man for New Year revelry, leaving others to carouse until dawn and then feel subhuman for the rest of the day. On New Year’s Eve, I make a point of being in bed well before midnight and then, on New Year’s Day, I generally wander round High Park shoot, feeding my birds and wondering what lies ahead for me in the coming 12 months. On this particular New Year’s Day, as I wandered from place to place, there was the same feeling of disappointment that has come to me on this day for at least 10 years. Disappointment that, in spite of a life selflessly devoted to the defence and promotion of fieldsports, I had once again been passed over in the honours list.…

For the past 10 years or so, I have had the great pleasure of introducing my son, Neil, progressively to the sport of shooting. From the age of eight he has graduated from .410 to 20-bore, and thanks to the uninhibited attitude and natural timing of youth, he is quite a good shot. I’ve had the vicarious thrill of seeing him kill his first pigeon, pheasant, mallard, woodcock, grouse, teal and even rabbit. But his education in relation to wildfowling in general, and to geese in particular, was far from complete as none of my posts had enabled us to live near to or visit the Wash, the Solway or the Tay. The moment of truth was last January. We had been staying in Scotland for Christmas, but the holidays…

Do you remember pre-pandemic air travel? Even then, you could find yourself in a horrendous queue, waiting for a truculent official to examine your passport at one of the few booths they deigned to open. If you complained, you were told that the hassle was all due to “the need to keep the public safe”. But it wasn’t. It was down to institutional penny-pinching and a lack of customer focus displayed by virtually unsackable jobsworths. Far from aiding public security, the inefficiency and chaos provided the very conditions that are exploited by wrongdoers. Something not dissimilar seems to be afflicting the firearms licensing functions of police forces. At the time of writing, seven forces have simply halted the granting of certificates, citing the disruption caused by COVID-19 (News, 19 January).…

A man killed in an accident on a shoot has been named by police. Brian Harwood, 73, died after a Polaris Ranger and trailer in which he was travelling fell from a bridge on a shoot in Lancashire. Police said the bridge had collapsed as the vehicle crossed it. The vehicle and trailer are understood to have been carrying members of the shoot’s beating team. A number of other people were seriously injured in the accident, which is reported to have happened around 4.30pm on 18 January during a shoot on private land near Moor Lane in Roeburndale. Police, firefighters, ambulance crews, an air ambulance and cave rescue volunteers all attended the scene. “One man died and a number of people have serious injuries” In a statement, Mr Harwood’s partner…

BIRDS With the season ending and wheat prices high, it is tempting to stop feeding birds. However, for gamebirds and wild birds, the hardest part of the year is yet to come. The hungry gap in February and March — before seeds and invertebrates begin to appear — is one of the most trying times for wildlife and one that we can all help to get them through. CHECK Putting your kit away wet, dirty or unoiled is the fastest way to ruin it. All over the country, guns are going into cabinets, coats on pegs and boots on racks. Make sure yours are put away thoroughly cleaned, thoroughly dried and thoroughly oiled. When next season rolls around, you will be glad of it.…

Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, has visited the Lytham & District Wildfowlers Association (LDWA) to see its conservation work up close. Mr Juniper said: “It was excellent to see the conservation work being done by the Lytham association and to learn of their passion to protect this special place and its wonderful bird populations. It was also very good to learn about the cooperation and common cause that exists between Natural England and wildfowlers.” Andy Lee, the marsh warden for LDWA, said: “The club has been committed to conservation since its creation in 1954. Members are fully committed to the shooting and conservation message. It was fantastic to welcome Tony to the area and talk him through our efforts.” Mr Juniper’s appointment at Natural England was initially welcomed by…

I have always wanted to go beating and my new neighbour, Alison — who has been beating and picking-up her whole life — has made it possible to participate in a local shoot. I was so excited to go I barely got any sleep the night before. We were greeted with lovely bacon rolls to kick the day off. We did five drives altogether, and 81 birds were shot in total. I was told that this was a good bag, considering we only had eight beaters and eight dogs. I couldn’t really see the dogs because they were working so fast at flushing birds out. Where we were beating was steep and muddy. I had a go at putting birds up in the air, which I found difficult as the…

And just like that, the shooting season ended. The whistle brought proceedings to a close. Scout was sent for a distant cock pheasant that had towered then tumbled miles behind the line, buffeted by a westerly gale. I turned my attention to the immediate area. A woodcock — the season’s final shot — lay on its side, wings outstretched as though in mid-flight. It seemed to hang in the grass, light as frost clinging to bracken, with its lustrous eyes still shining. Three of its kind had flushed as we pushed through woodland for the last time and neighbouring beef farmer John Mitchell had dropped one smartly behind him. “A woodcock lay on its side, lustrous eyes still shining” As I crouched to pick it, rain seeped down my already…

Inevitably, waking up on New Year’s Day is a painful experience. The celebrations from the night before have well and truly caught up with you and the thought of getting out of bed fills you with dread. A headache gently thuds away and, no matter how soft the pillow, you can’t escape it. The first day of 2022 was no different and it took a pint of Berocca and two coffees before I felt sufficiently human again. But I knew that the real cure would be provided by fresh air and so an outing was very much in order. Max Blanshard, who enjoyed New Year’s Eve even more than I had, was equally keen to get out of the house. He has never shot a deer before, so we decided…

MANY YEARS AGO, I used to write about cars. I don’t know if anyone bought a Porsche 911 rather than an Aston Martin DB7 on my recommendation, but I rather doubt it. Most people decide on what they want to buy without following the advice of a motoring journalist. It’s the same with dogs. Although it’s not unusual to be asked for guidance, the majority of buyers have already decided on their breed of choice, be it spaniel, retriever or HPR. The majority of people remain with the same type of dog, if not the same breed, throughout their life. However, a friend, Ruth, recently turned to me for suggestions as to what breed of dog I would recommend for her. She is looking for a pet rather than a…

Night shooting can be the only way to make a serious impression on some pest species. Foxes, rabbits and rats are often more active after nightfall and it can be easier to get past their natural defences when operating under cover of darkness. Infrared and thermal sights are now regarded as standard after-dark equipment by many shooters, myself included. Most of these optics work well straight from the box, but some accessories designed for use with them can make life easier, which is an important consideration. As a shooter who prefers to keep things simple, kit has to make a real difference to convince me that it’s worth paying for it and lugging it around. The following items have made it into my regular after-dark gear line-up by bringing real…

It may surprise younger readers to learn that there was once a gun and rifle department at Harrods in Knightsbridge. Customers could buy firearms while shopping for Christmas presents or haberdashery. Today, as with the pets department, it is no longer to be found within the famous store. Harrods Stores Ltd became Harrods Ltd in 1920, providing the earliest possible date for this label. Harrods began selling guns and rifles in 1898 and closed the department in 1968. Harrods sold own-brand pistols and rifles and also retailed British and foreign brands of rifles, pistols and shotguns of all types. This label would suit a Harrodsbranded gun made between 1920 and 1968.…

THOUGHTS FROM THE FIELD In the clear skies at this time of year, the brightest star in the firmament, Sirius — the dog star — is particularly vivid. Its colour has changed over the millennia. The Romans sacrificed red dogs to honour its then rosy hue. By the time of the Vikings, Sirius shone silver and believed to be the torch of the god, Loki. Loki’s pet wolf, Fenrir, was also associated with the constellation of Canis Major in which Sirius sits. I knew an unkempt and hirsute mechanic and avid lurcherman called Clive. He named his enormous and equally unkempt running dog after Loki’s wolf. Clive and his dog were once pulled over in his disreputable van by armed police. A witness had reported seeing two bearded men in…

The bill for eradicating stoats on the Orkney Islands has topped £2,000 per animal. The RSPB-led Orkney Native Wildlife Project has been using traps and specially trained dogs in an attempt to rid the islands of the mustelids. Stoats are not native to the islands and their presence has been shown to have a negative effect on ground-nesting birds and the Orkneys’ unique vole species. In October 2018 the project was awarded £6.1 million of funding, with the National Lottery and the EU Life project both contributing. At the time, the figure was higher than the funding awarded to support the Orkneys’ lifeline network of inter-island ferries. The project immediately met with resistance from local landowners, who refused trappers access due to the RSPB’s failure to support goose management measures.…

Cornwall Council is likely to rebuff a petition seeking to have trail hunting banned on its land following a vote on 19 January. The official result will not be announced for several weeks, but commentators suggest it is “quite clear” which way it is likely to go. Speaking against the petition, Conservative councillor David Harris said: “Trail hunting is a pursuit of all types of people and a major contributor to the rural economy.” His position was backed by independent councillor Paul Wills — “proudly wearing” a Cornish hunting tartan tie for the occasion — who said he believed in “the tradition and the right of people to carry out lawful pursuits in their everyday activities”. He asked: “If we ban lawful activities such as trial hunting on council land,…

Marsden Moor arsonist jailed Viktor Riedly, the man who started the catastrophic Marsden Moor fire, has been sentenced to a year in jail. Riedly, who pleaded guilty to arson at a previous hearing in magistrates’ court, started the fire with a firework. The blaze spread to cover 285 hectares and took more than 100 firefighters to put out. Wild Justice suffers another legal defeat Wild Justice has suffered yet another legal defeat. The campaign group outdid itself by failing in an attempt to appeal a previous failed appeal attempt. Wild Justice had originally asked for a judicial review of the heather and grass burning regulations. When this request was denied, the group appealed, and when that appeal was declined, it asked for permission to appeal for a second time. The…

Many years ago, the late John Humphreys (Shooting Times contributor Country Gun) highlighted the excessive overshooting and killing of migratory grey geese on and around Loch Leven in Scotland. He named the article in his weekly column ‘The Killing Fields’. Sporting agents and their clients had been overshooting and taking excessive bags of the geese and, in time, this resulted in migratory wildfowl all but abandoning the area for quite a long while. It was thought that BASC had created its long-awaited Inland Goose Guide Code of Conduct Policy after there was an uproar by the shooting community at the agents’ unsporting behaviour and lack of respect for the geese. It is debatable how well this policy has worked in practice over the years. Unfortunately, it appears that sporting guides…

My first-ever dog was a remarkably handsome blue-roan-and-tan cocker spaniel. I loved him dearly, but he was inbred, neurotic and not really a nice dog at all. He was show bred, but I took him shooting and it was an infection of tetanus, picked up on a shooting day, that led to his early death at the age of five. Many years have passed since his demise and cockers — both show and working bred — have changed enormously, mainly for the better. “Cockers — both show and working bred — have changed enormously, for the better” To understand the cockers we have today, it’s essential to look back at the breed’s history. Perhaps the most surprising fact is that the cocker is an older breed than the springer. The…

CONFIDENCE IS VITAL so I often will train Keepa with double marks, as opposed to a distraction and blind. Ideally it will mean that when we are on a shoot day, he will have the belief and confidence in me to run where I have asked, despite what he has seen or marked down. This ability to ignore distractions is essential in the beating line or when hunting for lost birds. With Keepa, I am able to hunt and hold him in areas where I think a bird has fallen, whether he has seen one or not. There may well be some other dead birds in plain sight, but he must hunt where I ask. On a shoot day, this training frequently comes in handy. There are many occasions where…

I recently reported in these pages my sprocker Emma’s first day in the beating line. She has had a few more outings since and I’m both pleased and relieved to say that she has continued to fulfil her early promise, remaining steady and not getting too excited by the occasion. Her most recent excursion was on a local farm shoot. Only a couple of days are held each season, but as the farm is a model of good conservation practice, with acres of wild bird cover and wonderful big hedges, there are always a lot of wild pheasants to be found. For Emma, it was her biggest day so far. The bag was 69 pheasants, while the man with the clicker noted 225 shots, so there was more than sufficient…

It was heartening to see the amount of support for hunts up and down the country over the festive period. Boxing Day fell on a Sunday last month, so most hunts held their Boxing Days meets on the Monday. There were spiteful attempts by some of hunting’s opponents to convince councils to prevent hunts from meeting in market squares, as they have done since time immemorial, but thankfully most of these were dismissed. Fortunately, in the run-up to Christmas, we only lost one day to adverse conditions, but as with all matters connected to the great British weather, things can change. Some sharp frosts and foggy mornings have sadly meant that since the New Year we have lost two days. Fog is one condition that is difficult to overcome; sitting…

Is it worth using a probe? FERRETING Q I have noticed from reading your articles and watching your films that you always dig and use a probe. Does using one really make a difference? A I think it was Torchie, a good friend of mine, who introduced me to the pleasures of digging and using a probe. To the uninformed, a probe is a spike or ‘T’ bar. This is used to ‘probe’ the ground when digging to your ferret. I find that the vast majority of ferreters nowadays never go ferreting without one. When you look at its benefits, it is easy to understand why. Once you have located your ferret, the first few spits of earth are removed. Then, when you are getting nearer to the ferret’s location,…

Latin name: Artemisia campestris Common name: Field wormwood Other names: Breckland wormwood, mugwort, field southernwood, prairie sagewort How to spot it and where to find it: A perennial herb with strong rootstock, field wormwood is quite rare, but it is also easy to miss. It grows between 8in and 32in tall, with several branches from a central stem and fern-like pale leaves that appear alternately on the lower stalk. The stem is grooved and usually dark reddish-brown, and the plant produces small, yellow flowers in spring and summer. Field wormwood favours dry meadows, roadsides, railway embankments, sandpits, wasteland, sandy parts of seashores, shingle, crevices and any dry, disturbed ground. Interesting facts: Field wormwood is one of England’s most threatened wild plants, largely due to the kind of ground it prefers…