Innholdsfortegnelse for 5-Oct-2022 i Shooting Times & Country

When I was young, I used to do a fair bit of beating on grouse moors. The young keepers there used to wind each other up by saying that they’d seen the RSPB poking around. At that point, RSPB officials held a bit of a bogeyman status. Last week, I went to see Paul Jackson, the RSPB’s conservation adviser for upland shooting estates. I should add that we struggled to get a date in the diary because Paul, at this time of year, is often out beating. He wondered, he told me, when he took the job if keepers might no longer want him in the beating line, but it hasn’t bothered any of them. In fact, a few of them have welcomed the opportunity to discuss upland management with…

We shouldn’t rely on US steel shot study In his column (Sharpshooter, 21 September), Alasdair Mitchell is keen to report the findings of a US study on the effect of steel shot versus lead shot on mourning doves. Put simply, no difference could be found. It would be dangerous to extrapolate these findings to English game shooting conditions. Mourning doves are lightly built, fragile birds. A cock pheasant is much more robustly built and nine times heavier. Even a woodcock has twice the mass of a mourning dove. In addition, American proof regulation allows the use of ultra-high-velocity cartridges (over 1,500ft/sec) and gas-operated semi-automatic shotguns are in common usage. These will help dampen the inevitable recoil. All that can be gleaned from this study is that small steel shot fired…

It will have varied a bit from region to region — most things in nature do — but one thing numerous country people have told me is they have seen fewer raptors in the skies this summer, particularly buzzards. A list of said birds crossed my computer a while ago and the one thing that struck me was the sheer number of birds and species it contained. These were all birds that had been sent into government laboratories to be tested for bird flu and had tested positive. There was pretty much every species you could think of, and one or two you may not. Harriers are a prime example, and why not. After all, they will target other birds to eat and will pick the one that is in…

Sport abroad The roar of stags echoes across a glen. The gentle squeak from a cherrywood whistle brings a roebuck hurtling through the forest towards you. The clack-clack of two handheld antlers heralds stamping from a nearby fallow buck, defending its territory and betraying its presence. The British Isles has some of the finest stalking in the world. From Chinese water deer on the reedy Norfolk Broads to sika in the Wicklow mountains, there are few places that rival our diversity. At the root of our sport, though, lie traditions imported from the Continent. It was a German that shaped Highland stalking as we know it, bringing the culture of his homeland to the hills of Balmoral. Later, servicemen returning from Europe in the aftermath of World War II, who…

There are few things that are more inviting to pick than a fresh field mushroom. Not only do they look good, they smell good too. I was reminded of the joys of mushroom picking on a recent visit to Kent. Giving the dogs a walk across a field of pasture, I came across a number of mushrooms, gleaming white in the sparkling, dew-drenched grass. I was able to fill my hat with enough for a tasty risotto. Picking those mushrooms reminded me of shooting days, long ago, when I belonged to a syndicate in the Sussex Weald. On early-season outings it was quite normal to come home with a gamebag stuffed with mushrooms, and they made the perfect accompaniment to whatever we had managed to shoot. It was excellent mushroom…

ON RIVER’S FIRST DAY OUT, he was as I expected. He heeled beautifully and was extremely relaxed when waiting for his turn to retrieve or watching game shot. He had two retrieves all morning, both delayed marks that he flew out to with drive and speed. He then hunted with real confidence and style. I was so pleased with him, but will have to take him slowly so as not to over-faze him. He is a dog that likes to be nursed through everything and then, once he understands, he will fly. Hela was a different kettle of fish. Her heel work was OK and she sat nicely waiting until the first bird was shot, unlike River who took a few birds to work out where to watch and remained…

The experts THE ULTIMATE SHOOTING QUIZ TEAM Contact the team Email: ollie.harvey@futurenet.com Post: Shooting Times, Future, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6JR Guessing the price of game GAMEBIRDS Do you think game dealers are going to pay more for pheasants and partridges this coming season because fewer birds have been put down? It is hard to say. You would think a shortage of birds would mean a higher price, but if wages, energy bills and the price of fuel are up, and the country enters a recession, the dealers are going to struggle to increase the price of the end product and convince the consumer to pay more. In the short term, I think that the price paid for partridges will be slightly higher, as the reduction in…

FORAGE Blackberry picking is one of the most accessible forms of foraging and October is the last opportunity. It used to be said that the devil will appear if you pick blackberries after September, but we can’t say we’ve ever heard of it happening. Try blackberries slow-cooked with old grouse. STALK There is nothing like the rut to turn savvy stags silly. A good imitation of a stag’s roar can be made using a specialist call, but it can also be produced with an old cola bottle or by voice alone, and it can be highly effective at luring the big boys out of deep woodlands.…

A teenager from the Midlands has been named the Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust (GWT) Young Gamekeeper of the Year. Fifteen-year-old Esme Daubrah received the prize from Sir John Scott Bt, the charity’s honorary president, at the Yorkshire Shooting Show & Game Fair. Esme’s father, who nominated her for the award, said: “As I was looking for photos, it struck me that most of the photos were taken from the back of her as she was striding ahead getting stuck in, with me trying to keep up with her, which is typically her.” Esme is a dedicated and hard-working member of the estate team, involved in every aspect of the shoot from feeding birds through to beating and picking-up. She has also introduced her father to social media and its many benefits…

The cost of early-season birds is even higher than expected, with retailers and stockists of all sizes expressing concern at the price of sourcing processed pigeon and mallard. Shoots have put down more mallard this season and some dealers are inundated with them, but European demand for duck in the feather is causing dealers to send the birds abroad rather than meet the unprecedented processing costs. Some areas have a glut of pigeon, but others are short and the hot summer has taken its toll on the quality, underlining the challenges with chilling shot game. Outlets are being asked to pay about 10% more for game than last year. Inevitably this will be passed on to shoppers, which may affect demand, but so far forecasts remain very strong. Liam Stokes…

I love this time of the year. To be out at sunrise, wandering the Ayrshire forest with its spectacular colours, contrasted as they have been recently by blood red skies as the sun peeps over the horizon, has been simply magical. Mornings, now with a distinct autumnal chill, are signalling that it will soon be time for the ‘roar’, when the focus of my stalking turns to the woodland stags in the forests close to home. Although much less vocal than their hill cousins, at up to a third bigger in body, they are a truly magnificent beast. Thicket search But this morning it was Zosia taking the lead. We had a lost stag. Last night, one of the clients had shot a young stag from a small bachelor group…

For parents, the school summer holiday is very much like listening to the pub bore tell a joke. You know it is going to be terrible, and inevitably it doesn’t disappoint, dragging on and on and on. Realisation dawns, you have heard it before and when the punchline mercifully hoves into view you discover that your glass is empty and you really need another stiff drink. Obviously for children it’s something quite different. The near eight weeks of freedom is the best, most hilarious thing that has happened since the two weeks off at Easter. Therefore my wife decided, rather than resort to booze, if you can’t beat kids — metaphorically speaking not literally — you may as well join them. She threw herself into the joys of summer; researching,…

I heard the first pink-footed geese of the new season a few nights ago, bang on schedule. It is remarkable how regular they are each year on their 600-mile journey down from Iceland. I heard their calls dropping from the darkening sky just as my red stag was chivvying his hinds around the enclosure — another harbinger of autumn. He hadn’t actually started roaring at the time of writing, but he was black from wallowing in peat and I expect him to begin vocalising any day now. We’ve just had the first white frost of the autumn, so that might push things along. Once again, we stand at the threshold of a new shooting season. For me, the anticipation is tinged with sadness this year. One of my old friends…

Getting a rare triple Macnab in the bag A Highland estate has recorded a rare achievement — a triple Macnab. A Macnab, named after the fictional poacher John Macnab, is taking a stag, a brace of grouse and a salmon in a single day. Achieving a Macnab is rare enough, but Invercauld Estate in the eastern Highlands recorded three Macnabs in one day. Two of the salmon were returned fighting fit, while one deep-hooked fish joined the six grouse, an 11-point stag, a 10-point stag and a nine-pointer in the game larder, and then in the kitchen later. Potential licence change for tractors Shoots that use tractors on the road may find that drivers will require HGV licences if proposals that are being consulted on are made law. Currently tractors…

The grass is changing colour in the hills. Greens are becoming orange and it won’t be long before the cows are coming down off the high ground to winter at home. My hardy Galloway cattle never come indoors, but it’s handier for everybody if they are closer to the farm between October and May. I can keep an eye on them, and if hard weather comes, it will be easier to feed them and be sure they are doing well. They’ll leave a mess of mashed-up grass and bracken in their wake. It’s amazing what an impact they’ve had during the past few years and I find it’s become easy to walk in places that were formerly overgrown. It’s hard to gauge their success in facts and figures when they…

The fouler the weather, the better the fowling.” I’m sure you will have heard that old saying before. But is it true? Well, I don’t think so. I have had some great days in very mild and moderate conditions, and too often a ripping gale has brought precious little sport. A big wind may bring flighting geese lower, giving a shot when they would otherwise be stratocruising, but in my experience really rough weather is not good for duck. They seem to find somewhere sheltered, get hunkered down and stay that way until it calms down. Give me a grey sky and steady breeze for consistent flighting. For my money, a much more important question is the weather pattern and how the ducks are reacting to it. Yesterday, I had…

Gundogs AS BOOK TITLES GO, Gundogs: Training and Field Trials is not the snappiest, so it’s no surprise that it didn’t take long for the work to be known by the name of its author, Moxon. For generations of gundog trainers, Moxon has been their bible, and it remains just as useful today as it did in 1952 when it was first published. Of all the many gundog books on my shelves, Moxon is still the one I refer to most often. Peter Moxon was Shooting Times’s kennel editor for 40 years, writing an entertaining weekly column based on his experience as a professional gundog trainer, field trial competitor and boarding kennel proprietor. Gundogs was his first book; it featured 36 black-and-white photographs, the majority taken by Horace Hall. My…

With the partridge season well under way and pheasants now upon us, most dogs and handlers are slowly getting into the swing of working again. Hopefully everyone’s hard work from over the summer is paying off and dogs are settling well. It is not uncommon, however, for dogs to behave in a slightly — and frustratingly — wayward fashion at this stage of the season. It can seem as if they have forgotten everything we taught them or that they are simply being stubborn. It is rarely either. Dogs do not aim to wind-up a handler, nor do they forget something that they have been thoroughly taught. However, the distraction and excitement of real game is a new stimulus for many. Very few have access to game over the summer,…

The stalking season is well under way now and the weather is certainly getting cooler. It’s time to seek out the recipes that will warm us up on autumn evenings, especially after a long day of shooting or stalking. I think venison is having a renaissance. With the cost of living crisis seeing beef, lamb, chicken and pork all increasing in price, wild venison is becoming an increasingly good option for restaurants and retailers. Venison has also featured in some renowned food competitions and events. The Craft Guild of Chefs has added the meat to its National Chef of the Year competition, one of the most highly rated and acclaimed chef competitions of its kind. And this year, with the help of Lincolnshire Game, I set the task of boning…