Innholdsfortegnelse for 3-Aug-2022 i Shooting Times & Country

Last week, I was in a dingy pub in the East End of London, with a friend I often shoot ducks with, when a lady appeared with a snake. It was meant to be, I suppose, a form of entertainment. She wandered along the bar while a man played the piano. “Quite amazing,” remarked my friend’s girlfriend, who was standing next to me. “Do you think the snake is enjoying it?” I replied: “I’m not sure I approve.” The girl was a little taken aback and told me so, quite plainly. She thought it odd that I shoot geese and grouse and rabbits but objected to the snake. I wasn’t going to start protesting there and then, but there are important differences. Shooting should involve heading out into your quarry’s…

As bird flu cut a devastating swathe through the UK’s wild birds, two rare harriers cared for by gamekeepers have been lost to the disease. The illness, which has wreaked havoc on game bird supply chains, has caused mass deaths of wild birds, with the dense summer seabird breeding colonies badly affected. Now it has been confirmed as the cause of death of two hen harriers in Yorkshire. The news came as a blow to the moorland gamekeeping community, who have led efforts to unlock conflict over the birds through diversionary feeding and brood management. A spokesman for the Animal and Plant Health Agency, part of Defra, said: “We can confirm a number of wild bird deaths in North Yorkshire, including in two hen harriers that have tested positive for…

“It really is OK to tell us you are not OK” is the key message from the Scottish Firearms Licensing Practitioners Group for anyone who might be struggling with their mental health. The group, which includes Police Scotland and all the shooting and gamekeeping organisations for Scotland, has prepared a joint publication that offers anyone with mental health problems advice on how to seek support and what to expect. Fraser Lamb of the Scottish Association of Country Sports said: “We understand that mental health can, and does, affect a sizeable proportion of the communities in Scotland. It really is OK to tell us you’re not OK. “The long-term well-being of those involved in country sports is paramount. We understand that guns will be taken on occasions by the police for…

“I felt like a traveller gazing upon a lost world. There, in front of me, were the fields in which we played and worked. The stone wall around the garden was still there with not a stone removed. My, it was a grand sight, it did me good to see it. I was very sad when I came away, before it was covered up once more by 50ft of water at the beginning of January,” said Murdo Matheson. For the Matheson family, the arrival of the estate factor at the cottage door with the news that the glen they lived in was going to be flooded — in order to create the largest hydro scheme in Europe — changed the course of their lives. It was the only home they…

Roebuck stalking Time, we are told, waits for no man. And for me, neither does progress. I seem to be constantly playing catchup with ever more sophisticated gadgetry, most recently with handheld thermal imagers. I became familiar with the technology during my RAF days many years ago; it was expensive, specialised equipment used in military applications. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the use of thermals would become commonplace when stalking. It was almost 20 years ago — after a fruitless evening watching a large expanse of young Christmas trees — that I thought it would be great if I could see into the trees and detect the deer that I knew were there. So it’s strange that I had such grave reservations about using a thermal…

Gundogs NEXT WEEK, THE attention of the trialling world focuses on Byrecleugh Moor, high in the Lammermuir Hills in the Scottish Borders. Part of the Duke of Roxburghe’s Floors Castle Estate, it has a well-founded reputation for offering some of the finest grouse shooting in Scotland, while on a clear day it offers commanding views south to England and the Northumberland National Park. It provides a suitably stunning location for this year’s IGL Champion Stake, the pinnacle of the pointer-and-setter trialling year. The Champion Stake has by far the longest history of any of our gundog competitions. It was first held in April 1869 on Sir Vincent Corbet’s Shrewsbury Estate. At that point, there was an abundance of grey partridges to test the dogs. However, as the trial was held…

Greatest poachers It is interesting to note how often God-fearing, law-abiding parents produce offspring who veer wildly from the straight and narrow. That is certainly true of twins born to Charlotte and Henry Fox, of Ten Acre Farm, Symonds Green, Hertfordshire, in 1857. Little did these doting parents realise that their babes in arms would one day turn out to be two of the most notorious poachers that England has ever known. Christened Albert Ebenezer and Ebenezer Albert — after the Ebenezer chapel where their father preached — the twins grew up to know every stick, stone, copse and rabbit hole for miles around their country home. By the age of 11, their formal education considered complete, the boys sought employment as labourers on farms. Naturally, this occupation gave the…

In the 1800s, firearms technology moved so quickly that governments often found themselves with a large inventory of obsolete but perfectly serviceable firearms. Clearly, they wanted to get the best rifles to their armed forces and there was always a risk that existing technology could become obsolete overnight, which would force a government to rearm all their men — at a vast cost to the treasury. The generally adopted short-term solution was for obsolete muzzle-loading rifle-muskets to be converted into breech-loaders, while continually holding trials to choose a new purpose-made breech-loading rifle. We now certainly live in a world where technology is ever evolving, but the mid-19th century wasn’t dissimilar. Trial designs In 1864 the excellent .577 calibre Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket was had become obsolete. The American experience after…

In France, if you go out for a few too many drinks, you often end up at the sandwich stall late at night. Of course, the treats on offer are of a far higher culinary quality than you might expect to find at your more familiar British butty van or burger wagon. A particular favourite of mine when I was younger was a toasted baguette, groaning with rare beef burger, chips, cheese and a magical mixture called sauce Américaine. Naturally, this version is made using some fine backstrap from a roe. Rather than mince it all, I have cooked the strap like a big steak, then sliced it and wedged it into a baguette along with cheese, fries and the American sauce — which changes every time I make it.…

THOUGHTS FROM THE FIELD The combine harvester combines three operations – reaping, threshing and winnowing – into one process. In 1826, the Reverend Patrick Bell invented a horse-driven reaping machine incorporating a rotating 12-vane reel (header) that pulled the crop over a cutting knife. The first true ‘combine’ was patented by the American Hiram Moore and needed 20 horses to pull it. As technology developed, horse teams were replaced by two steam engines, one to propel the wheels and header, the second to run the separator. Then came the internal combustion engine, with Massey Harris (now Massey Ferguson) perfecting the first self-propelled combine harvester in 1937. Today’s machines are giants. The largest, the John Deere X9 1100, has a header wider than a tennis court and costs in excess of…

NEWS BIRDS If, like many, you have been having a dry summer, give swallows and martins a little help by dampening a patch of bare earth so they can get mud to keep their nests in good repair. TRAIN A slow and steady increase in exercise is the best way to get your dog ready for the shooting season. Long days of beating or picking-up, or hard shifts on the foreshore, are demanding for a dog and their fitness will help stave off injury and keep performance consistent. If you or your dog needs to lose a little weight and get a bit fitter, start now with lengthening walks and perhaps add in some swimming if you have the facilities to do so.…

I need to let off some steam to somebody.” That’s what good friends are for, I say to myself, as I prepare to digest the latest bit of bad news from the front. Given that our interests overlap on a number of fronts — children, farming, shooting, salmon fishing, golf, Scottish rugby and unionist politics — I wonder what it is going to be. It’s forestry. It transpires that he has a well-known forestry management company in clearing up some wind-blow from the catastrophic Storm Arwen last back end. It was always going to be a mistake to call a storm after a character from Lord of the Rings. The forestry company had brought in a local contractor with an eye-wateringly expensive — £250,000 — machine to do the work…

During its 140-year existence, Shooting Times has published the work of many fine writers, but none wrote more beautifully about the English countryside and its sport than BB, the pen name of Denys Watkins-Pitchford. He contributed a bi-weekly column for the magazine from the 1930s until a few weeks before his death in 1990. I was fortunate enough to meet him not long before he died and he introduced me to his black labrador, Monty — he assured me that he was his best-ever dog — and showed me the larvae of his beloved Apatura iris in a cage in his garden. Butterflies were one of BB’s passions, and none more so than the purple emperor, Apatura iris (see Blue Zulu, p50). Every year, he would collect the eggs of…

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 MIKE SWAN Conservation expert and head of education for the GWCT DAVID TOMLINSON Highly regarded writer and ornithologist LIAM BELL Shropshire gamekeeper, keen wildfowler and amateur naturalist 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 ELLENA SWIFT Award-winning gundog trainer and canine behaviour specialist 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…

I used to be a home-loader, but I am better now, thank you. Don’t get me wrong; I have every respect for those who espouse the fine craft of producing their own ammunition. I admire their self-sufficiency. But I’d rather not stand next to them when they test fire their latest piece of handiwork. One famous Canadian hunting guide has been vocal about home-loaded ammunition, explaining how he once found himself in fraught encounters with grizzlies on two occasions within five days. Each time, he came scarily close to firing in self-defence; his rifle had been loaded with ammunition provided by an avid home-loader. A few days later, the guide had occasion to check his rifle at a target before going hunting. He started off with the same round that…

Rum red hinds just want to be alone Older hinds prefer peace and quiet away from the herd, according to scientists. The red deer herd on the Isle of Rum in the Inner Hebrides is one of the most intensively studied herds in the world. Scientists were able to analyse a data set from 46 years and containing more than 200,000 observations of 3,500 hinds. They found that as female deer age they have fewer social connections and associate less with the main herd. Help for those with long-term illness The Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust knows how hard it can be to receive a medical diagnosis of long-term illness. On top of the emotional and physical impact, there are practical and financial implications and the GWT Support Grant can help. To…

As I paused to close a roadside gate, a stranger greeted me with an engaging statement. “Whatever you are doing it’s certainly working,” he said, smiling from ear to ear. Mildly taken aback and certainly intrigued, I entered into a most rewarding conversation. I discovered that this member of the public had recently moved into estate accommodation and was thrilled with views from the kitchen window that revealed myriad wildlife. The vista not only inspired this stranger but also raised emotions that rarely surface around farmland wildlife. I enquired about his previous place of residence and was interested to hear that Cumbria, in one of the beautiful North Lake District dales, had been his home for many years. Wildlife, farming and country living were revered and although he wasn’t directly…

Wildfowlers are a loose collection of tribes and mystics. While the tribes jostle for imaginary points over which is the best gun or calibre to use, the mystics are the ghosts of the foreshore, confident in their choice of both. They are most often seen at the club’s annual AGM, calmly making their experience tell in rowdy discussions over access and restrictions, like Captain Quint scratching his fingernails down the blackboard of the Amity town meeting. Quint’s character in Jaws was made up of several real-life professional shark hunters whose ancestors were the professional market gunners both in this country and the US. For these gunners operating at the end of the 19th century, it was the era of blackpowder. For blackpowder to be effective out fowling, you needed big…

Pigeon shooting You can’t help but look forward to those first fresh stubbles. It’s the perfect opportunity to get a handle on pigeon numbers, especially on farms that have struggled with damage through the winter months. Of course, you have to be dedicated to know when a farm has struggled through the winter. It’s a real bugbear that the fair-weather pigeon shooters only start to emerge with the longer summer days. I wonder if this is becoming a problem in all areas of shooting. Do those who fish and stalk have the same problems? My phone never seems to ring through the cold winter months with friends desperate to come out for a shot. I only shoot with a handful of people, all dedicated pigeon shooters. There’s no room for…

The history of keepering There is a good deal of talk about changing the name of the age-old profession of gamekeeping or, to be more specific, gamekeepers. Nothing new here: the Wildfowlers Association of Great Britain and Ireland morphed into the British Association for Shooting and Conservation; the Game Conservancy became the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust — the addition of the word ‘conservation’ being the magic word. Having abused our wildlife for centuries, it has become important to add key words such as habitat, conservation, wildlife, protection, anything that gives the impression that our flora and fauna are being shown the respect they deserve. The reality is that our wildlife, its habitat and food are not high on many agendas, those institutions mentioned above excepted. Water companies, despite their…

While thermal imagers are enjoying a boom in the stalking world, many professional outfitters warn against ditching traditional optics. Chris Dalton explains (p26) that glassing is still essential for identifying deer and his Swarovski Z6i scope remains an essential part of his kit. Indeed, Swarovski is among the most popular brands for stalkers across Europe, a position that Peter Antoniou puts down to the company’s forward-thinking approach. “We’re not complacent,” he says. “Thermal is here to stay and changing the way people are hunting. But I still believe there is a very strong market for traditional optics. If we are developing and delivering products that make stalking easier and safer, then that’s a good thing.” Peter joined Swarovski in 2007, but confesses his interests still lie with optics rather than…