Innholdsfortegnelse for 2-Mar-2022 i Shooting Times & Country

There is uncertainty over the future of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, which is widely seen as a pet project of the Prime Minister’s wife Carrie Johnson. The bill would give an ‘animal sentience committee’ power to oversee any proposed legislation. It has proved deeply unpopular among Conservative MPs in rural constituencies. Now a number of media outlets are reporting that they expect it to be dropped. Fraser Nelson, the famously well-informed editor of the Spectator, claimed that in an effort to prop up the PM “some of his worst ideas are being abandoned. His plans to set up an all-powerful animal sentience committee to judge government policy now look doomed”. However, Shooting Times understands that the shooting groups expect the bill to move forward as planned and are preparing…

“The eagle was hobbling slowly in the snow and was clearly in a highly distressed state” A desperate attempt by gamekeepers to save an eagle’s life has ended in tragedy. The drama began when the headkeeper of a Highland estate spotted an eagle in distress while he was out on the hill. He called for assistance and other members of the estate’s gamekeeping team joined the mission to help the bird. The headkeeper, who asked not to be named, said: “I came across the eagle, which was hobbling slowly in the snow and was clearly in a distressed state. It came to rest in the snow and was immobile. On close examination, it was clear that the bird had suffered a very serious blunt traumatic injury to its left wing.”…

New conservation awards launched The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) has teamed up with Marsdens Game Feeds to launch the Conservation Champions Awards, which celebrate conservation and biodiversity in the game industry. The awards are aimed at shoots, estates and gamekeepers in a bid to highlight the positive impact shooting has on our countryside. Thomas Welham, sales director for Marsdens Game Feeds, said: “We are proud to partner with the NGO and hope this new award will shine a light on the huge amount of conservation work that those working in the game industry undertake every day.” Information on award categories and how you can nominate a shoot will shortly be available at conservationchampions.org Success for Shooting Times contributors Shooting Times contributors were among the winners at…

It’s just a traditional farm shoot.” I must have heard that description a thousand times during my career as part of the GWCT’s advisory team. We probably all think that we know what it means. But what is a traditional farm shoot? Come to that, how old is the tradition? I shall no doubt be shot down for saying it — and there may be earlier examples — but as far as I can see, the farm shoot is only about a century old, stemming from changes in land ownership after World War I. Up until then, most of the country was taken up by big estates, most of the farmers were tenants and most of the shooting was reserved for the landowners. It is true that there were already…

In mid-February, the pressure is always on. Not only for ordering Valentine’s Day presents on time but also to complete cull plans. In Britain the way we manage deer is been unique and solitary. Unlike the Continent, where they have long specialised in driven hunts, we have always preferred the “one-Rifle-at-a-time” approach. Deer numbers are on the rise in the UK and the pandemic has not helped. With demand for venison nowhere near pre-Covid levels, deer are not being culled effectively, and lockdown restrictions have accelerated a sharp increase in numbers — perhaps as high as 30%. That is an extra half a million deer that are putting pressure on our native flora, which does not bode well for British woodland. High-vis I was lucky enough to receive an invitation…

The grey squirrel is a highly successful introduced species that has wreaked havoc since its introduction to the UK more than 100 years ago. Their contribution to the decline of our native red squirrel is well documented, but these tenacious rodents also cause extensive and costly tree damage by stripping bark, and impact on vulnerable woodland birds and mammals by raiding nests and monopolising natural food sources. Controlling grey squirrels is a year-round task, but it is an easier job when there are no leaves on the trees to conceal them. For that reason, I usually double my efforts during the spring months. We can all do our bit; here is some of my tried and tested gear for the job if you are planning to tackle the grey menace…

“The overall feel is that of a London-made game gun; the quality of wood is superb” OUR VERDICT Now fading into memory, the lockdowns of the pandemic have had a profound effect on all of our lives. Though an incredibly difficult period, as with many historic moments of this magnitude, inspirational, industrial, charitable and heroic acts punctuated this chapter in our lives and have left us with some positive legacies of which we should be proud. In the gun trade, one of these legacies has been the increased focus on research and development. Many of the exciting new products that have come as a result are going to be showcased at IWA OutdoorClassics, hosted in Nuremberg, Germany, this week . Ahead of this, I was given access to a lockdown…

When the shooting season finishes, there’s always that empty feeling about what to do on Saturday mornings — you don’t really want to go shopping, do you? I try to continue with a sporting theme, which generally means going to a meet of the foxhounds. I love the tradition of hunting, while I’m always fascinated by how one person, the huntsman, sitting on the back of a horse, has so much control over 20 couple or more of hounds. Imagine trying to control just 10 cocker spaniels from a bicycle. Even 10 labradors would be a challenge. The biggest difficulty these days is finding out where the nearest pack is meeting. Gone are the days when the local paper published a list of hunting appointments. The threat from saboteurs is…

“What we need is clarity about what we can control and when” The forthcoming Brexit Freedoms Bill has offered the prospect of a return to a far simpler system for licensing the control of pest birds, according to BASC. Currently, the control of pest bird species such as magpies, carrion crows and jackdaws is permitted under general licences, which allow control of these birds for certain purposes. The general licence system was introduced in 1992 by Michael Howard, then secretary of state for the environment. Originally conceived as a low-hassle way of reconciling EU law with the need to control certain bird species, the licences have become progressively more complicated in response to legal challenges and new regulations. Prior to the current system, a single list of birds that could…

Three Natural England (NE) officers have been given first-hand experience of wildfowling with Lytham & District Wildfowlers Association (News, 26 January). Along with club mentors, the officials took part in a morning flight. Two of the six mentors bagged a single pink-footed goose each. An NE spokesman commented: “What came across strongly is not only the wildfowlers’ passion for the sport, but also for the wildlife of the marshes and its ongoing protection. It is clear we have a shared goal and this will, I’m sure, keep our partnership working moving forward.”…

A 17-year-old hunter has accidentally shot and killed a hiker in France. The victim, a 25-year-old woman, is reported to have been hiking on a marked trail near Aurillac in the Cantal region in southern France when she was shot. According to the French authorities, she died instantly. The hunter was participating in an organised boar hunt at the time. She required hospital treatment for shock and has been questioned by police. Tests found no drink nor drugs in her body. According to figures published by the French government, there have been 421 fatal hunting accidents in France since 2000. Hunting, and particularly hunting accidents, has become a key area of debate in the French presidential election. Incumbent Emmanuel Macron is a supporter of hunting, which is seen as a…

It seemed a simple suggestion: “Just explain to the camera what you like about wildfowling.” I was filming my first Shooting Show episode and Callum, the cameraman, was struggling a little. Teal had flicked through in the darkness from behind us, fleeting shadows for only split seconds — they were the very essence of winter fowling. I’d scrambled one down by throwing the gun into my shoulder and Scout made the retrieve in the gloom. “Two shots and two retrieves, a moon and a tawny owl” Then a pack of wigeon silhouetted themselves for a moment crossing high from right to left. They had obviously lifted from a pond or a splash somewhere during the night and were looking for shelter from the storm. I lifted my gun and fired.…

“Game crops should be able to provide cover until the end of January” There are few things more frustrating than having your birds where you want them on shoot days, only to have them flush all together when the beaters start to get anywhere near. It may impress Guns who are standing underneath them, but from a keeper’s point of view, and on syndicates where every bird is precious, it is a huge waste of time and effort. If the reason for them flushing is a fox or roe jumping up and running about the flushing point, there is little you can do about it other than curse. If they are being flushed by an out-of-control dog, you can ask the owner to put it on a lead or request…

There’s little to be said for these February days, which lie both too late and too early in the year for shooting. The season is behind us, and the prospect of pigeons on the spring drilling is so distant that it might as well not exist at all. Shouldering the responsible legwork of the year’s deer management, I find that these days frequently fall to the doe cull. It’s hard, unglamorous stuff on forest fringes, dropping roe to feed a quota. I’m always glad that I’ve done this work in the summer when the bucks come begging, but with short days and bitter winds, this kind of stalking is often an acquired taste. I was gearing up for one such day last week when a big van pulled into the…

Ferreting has presented me with a fair share of challenges, as well as teaching me many life skills. It has taken me to some fantastic places and I’ve met some amazing people. But a recent message from one of my social media followers highlighted one aspect of ferreting that is often overlooked. The ability to switch off completely, in the context of mental health, has never been talked about in ferreting circles, but it should be. My calendar is absurdly full in 2022, which is fantastic after the past couple of years, but it also heaps on the pressure. Having too much on your plate can be overwhelming but, fortunately, when I recognise a need to chill out and reboot, I know exactly what to do. My alternative therapy isn’t…

In this, my final offering in our series on how to become a better stalker, I wanted to look at the methods by which we prepare a deer for recovery to the larder — essentially, the gralloch. This term is derived from grealach, meaning entrails, and how we go about this process depends on several factors. Unless the deer is for your sole consumption, the gralloch must be done in a way that complies with the current food and hygiene regulations. If you have taken, or intend to sit, the deer management qualifications, the theory aspects of the process and said regulations will be covered in Deer Stalking Certificate Level 1, with the assessment to ensure understanding and compliance assessed at Deer Stalking Certificate Level 2. Reference material regarding gralloching…

As surely everyone who shoots pheasants must know, a brace is often available in the feather for the cost of simply asking. It takes minutes to prepare the bird into a top-quality source of protein and it’s very tasty without being too strong for even the most mild of palates. Factor in the soaring cost of living and surely we find ourselves with a perfect solution; pheasant presents an opportunity not a problem. You might get ‘pheasant fatigue’ by the end of the season, or as you eat into the frozen bounty of your shooting efforts. But can you really get bored with eating pheasant? We need a national survey. Certainly, there is evidence that many people never tire of eating chicken. There are more than two million chickens consumed…

Should all shooters in the UK have public liability insurance? In most European countries, this insurance is a statutory requirement. If you are not insured, you are not allowed to shoot — it’s as simple as that. And given that most of these countries have annual hunting permits, the enforcement of the insurance stipulation is rigorous. Considering the vastly higher rate of hunting accidents in countries such as France and Italy, you might argue that they do need insurance. But this is a bit unfair; the issue is the compensation of the victims of accidents, and that is a serious matter for anybody unfortunate enough to be involved. There is a reason why almost all our private landowners and shooting clubs insist on shooters having insurance, despite our good safety…

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has announced that it will be stocking lead-free, British Game Assurance (BGA) certified game products from now on. BGA chief executive Liam Stokes said it was a landmark moment. “M&S has told the shooting world that it wants to be the frontrunner in sourcing sustainable, British game, and that means insisting on BGA certification as well as lead-free. “We now need to rise to that challenge. Our regional development officers are on hand to help any shoot on the journey to assurance.” The announcement came at the Agents’ Symposium at Royal Berkshire Shooting School, where a representative of the retailer made it clear that it would expect the standards which apply to other meats to be applied to game from now on. A push for lead-free…

I am well aware that some firearms departments have had a lot of bad press recently. So can I relate how helpful Northumbria Police has been recently? Unfortunately, a friend of mine passed away unexpectedly in Sweden in January and, though I live in Lincolnshire, I offered to help his widow sort out his six rifles and three shotguns. I emailed the department over a weekend and left a voice message. At 9.15am on the Monday, I received a call to say that they would issue the widow with a temporary certificate and that they would not distress her further by the police attending at the house to seize the guns. After the widow returned from Sweden and we had located the keys, we were able to deposit the guns…

How can we shoot more of what we put down? This year — given the surging costs of pretty much everything — it’s a particularly important question. I’m not sure any magic formula would ever bump up returns by 10%, but it is how well the basics are catered for that probably makes the greatest difference. Rearing, releasing, game cover establishment, cropping, the quality of roosting areas, feeding, dogging-in; the list is as long as it is varied. As I reflect on the season past and look ahead to the next, however, several things spring to mind. At certain times of the year — September to November — a bit of variety in what I am feeding has helped to hold birds. Partridges in particular seem to love kibbled maize.…

What makes the perfect shoot day? Is it the height of the birds? The size of the bag? Sure, for some game Shots, these are the markers of a great day out in the field. Yet most Guns will acknowledge that these two factors are rarely what makes a day memorable, or even enjoyable. Indeed, research by GunsOnPegs suggests that, for the vast majority of Guns, having fun with friends is the most important thing. With around 12,000 Guns in the UK, each visiting an average of five different shoots a season (as of 2017), how can you make your shoot stand out from the crowd and live long in the memory, even if you’re not blessed with the best topography? How can you go beyond the “five-drives-with-a-lunch-in-the-middle” formula? Making…

With clarity that only pain can bring, my first encounter with stinging nettles is seared into my mind. My grandmother would take me for a walk down the Reading Road to sit on a roadside bench along the A30. We used to watch the cars go past. Unfortunately, an otherwise benign couple of hours was often ruined by the nettles that grew through the metal bars of the seat, awaiting the arrival of any four-year-old boy in short trousers. Grandmother, hardy country lass that she was, would tell me to stop complaining. I expect everyone has a similar experience and the stinging nettle is the first plant we learn. It certainly was in my case, followed by the entrancing forget-me-nots that grew in our garden. Despite the pain that sometimes…

On 1 March, who goes fishing for trout? Not many, I warrant, though the sun may shine on the fatal date — but will it? And flies may buzz along the boundary ditch — but will they? Flies are unlikely to buzz in early spring of 1963, though it has to be admitted that on 1 February — about the coldest evening of the winter — a demented and gigantic queen wasp emerged from heaven knows where to provide a stirring hunt round the sitting room, during which the terrier nearly made a kill and the grandchild, for some reason best known to herself, threatened to break forth into screaming hysterics. As for the wasp, she must have been off her rocker. When the child had been quietened, the insect…

Matching old with new Q I am planning to reacquaint myself with my old Weihrauch HW25E spring-powered air rifle so I can use it for close-range pest control. This airgun dates from the early 1980s and is fitted with a budget 4x32 telescopic sight of the same era. Would fitting a modern higher-specification scope help me to shoot more accurately with it? A As somebody who witnessed the deterioration of his own airgun shooting after switching from open sights to a cheap 4x32 scope, I can confidently say that a modern scope will help to improve your accuracy. You don’t have to spend a fortune and the Hawke Vantage 2-7x32 or 3-9x40 AO, which retails for less than £90, would be a great match for your gun. Your old Weihrauch…

MISTAKEN IDENTITY The ‘W’ does not stand for ‘Westley’. W Richards was a gunmaker based in Liverpool and Preston and the ‘W’ in this case denotes ‘William’. He traded as W Richards from several addresses in those cities from the early 1800s until becoming a limited company in 1878 and closing in 1965. This label from the Tithebarn Street address dates from 1901 to 1917. It sports the Royal Warrant, with the Latin phrase “shamed be he who thinks evil of it”, which features in Order of the Garter, and “God and my Right”, which is the standard of the monarch. The English lion and Scottish unicorn flank the motto. Owners of W Richards guns sometimes mistake them for those of Westley Richards.…