Innholdsfortegnelse for 21-Dec-2022 i Shooting Times & Country

A passionate falconer has taken the fight to save one of the most ancient fieldsports to the Scottish parliament. Barry Blyther gave evidence to the parliament’s petition committee in support of his petition to re-allow the use of golden eagles to hunt mountain hares. Since March last year it has been illegal to intentionally kill or injure mountain hares in Scotland without a licence. Mr Blyther told the committee that at “absolutely no point at all” had falconers been consulted on the changes to the law. He also explained that the eagles trained to hunt white hares could not be used for other types of hunting. Mr Blyther’s wife Roxanne said: “He has put two and a half years of work into being able to once more head out into…

Large-scale, damaging changes to general licences for Wales have been avoided. The licences have come under close political focus in the country after a challenge by Wild Justice. The licences have been significantly more limited in scope in recent years, and further restrictions were proposed for those coming into force in 2023. However, shooting and countryside organisations have fended these changes off. A spokesman for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) said the group “had sight of preview versions of the licences. In those, NRW [National Resources Wales] had proposed changes that we believed would make the licences unworkable. We suggested changes to these licences, and the NGO has therefore been instrumental in enabling operators to carry on with important conservation and crop protection work.” However, Welsh gamekeepers and pest controllers…

At the end of November, high pressure settled over the Baltic. In Riga and Helsinki the thermometer settled at -8°C; nighttime temperatures in St Petersburg were -10°C. Cold weather in northern Europe has knock-on effects here. In Essex, quite suddenly, great skeins of brent geese darkened the sky and grazed on winter drill by the thousand. Knots swirled over the estuary like snow. Best of all was the arrival of wigeon. One morning the tideline seemed to be black with the gregarious little dabblers. The purrs of the ducks and whistles of the drakes rang out across the saltings. It was raining hard and splashes were beginning to form on low-lying arable land. I knew the birds wouldn’t hold for long and the chance for a foreshore flight would be…

“There’s no such thing as an easy snipe,” my father used to say to me when I was a child. As a young teenager, I was introduced to the world of snipe shooting around Pembrokeshire. Most of the time I couldn’t hit a thing. I would become increasingly miserable — sometimes even teary — as I followed my father around some godforsaken bog, missing snipe after snipe, cheeks burning with shame every time I stuffed another empty cartridge into my bulging pocket. My cartridge ratio has improved somewhat since those early teenage days but, even at the age of 22, I still have to repeat my father’s words to myself occasionally. This was one of those times. The plan was to work out which shooting method yielded more snipe, walked-up…

THOUGHTS FROM THE FIELD Thanks to sanitisation by the Christian church of many old pagan rites, wassailing — a cider-fuelled celebration of friendship in midwinter — is now associated with Twelfth Night. However, in antiquity the tradition bore no such rigid date. There are two types of wassailing; both have booze at their core. One involves revellers knocking on the doors of wealthier homes to offer the residents a ‘sup from the wassail cup’ — a twin-handled communal drinking vessel. This is thought to be an early form of ‘buttering up’ the boss by farm workers. The second form is linked with cider orchards. A largely West Country tradition, in torch-lit procession, a wassail king and queen accompanied by an entourage sing and dance to ‘awake’ the apple trees. This,…

Have a pheasant for your Christmas dinner, not a turkey — that is the message from the game-meat sector as turkey supplies falter. Turkey production, and particularly farming of free-range birds, has been hit by a perfect storm of disease and cost increases, which has pushed up prices and slashed the number of birds reaching the supply chain. Giving evidence to Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee last month, Richard Griffiths of the British Poultry Council described the severity of the situation. He said: “The usual number of free-range birds grown for Christmas is probably around 1.2 to 1.3 million. We have seen around 600,000 free-range birds directly affected.” Of the total 8.5 to 9 million turkeys produced for Christmas in the UK, a million have now either died…

More information has come out about the controversial purchase of an Angus Glens shooting estate. Government agency Forestry and Land Scotland was criticised by land-reform campaigners after it bought Glenprosen Estate in an ‘off-market’ sale. Now in response to questioning in parliament, it has emerged that the agency paid £17.6m for the estate. This is less than the widely rumoured £25m, but the agency’s plans for the estate have prompted widespread concern. Minister Màiri McAllan confirmed that there was “no certainty” over the level or nature of new planting on the estate as of yet. Former gamekeeper and Angus Glens resident Bert Burnett said: “The former headkeeper on Prosen was heavily involved in Working for Waders, and I’m sure has a record of the birds breeding there. That alone, if…

My head weighed heavy as the shrill alarm clock split the still morning air, but like a kid waking up on Christmas Day, a sudden bolt of excitement coursed through my body. Today was the first time I would raise a gun to red grouse in many years. I had been looking forward to it since 2021, when I lost a walked-up spot on the same moor to an enforced Covid isolation. Charging around the house, I threw on my gear and rushed down breakfast, while my Clumber spaniel Bertie buzzed with energy, knowing what my outfit meant. It was a short drive to the starting point, but this was going to be far from an easy day on the moor. I would be walking from the base of the…

The crow hovered on the breeze for a moment, choosing its place to land in the grass before dropping in among the others already picking around in the sheep field. This one, however, had decided to land a little closer to me with nothing but open grass behind it. As it paused, its beady eye scanning for danger, I placed the red box of the laser rangefinder around it and recorded a range of 115m. It settled down and began to strut around, searching for bugs among the sheep droppings as I slipped behind the rifle and lined it up in the scope. At this distance the crows clearly felt no threat from my truck parked on the farm track; they were used to seeing vehicles moving about or parked…

Rummaging around in an old Georgian bureau that now stores my shooting knick-knacks, I came across an ancient pair of Millarmitts. They were pretty much standard issue for the keen sportsman last century. Their fingerless design allowed total connection with trigger or reel and the freedom to roll up an Old Holborn cigarette when the ducks weren’t flighting or the fish sullen — which was most of the time. Despite the lack of finger covering, they still kept your hands warm thanks to the waterproof wool handcrotcheted on the backs and cuffs, while a sure grip on a slippy fore-end was guaranteed by the palms made from string-like cotton. What’s more, they could be easily hand-washed when muddy, unlike the far posher silk-lined, leather shooting gloves, which were more suited…

There was an article — interesting, as always — by Tower-Bird a few months ago about a discussion with someone who claimed that pigeon provided the best sport of all, whereas he, T-B, preferred wigeon. Myself, I think that, as a target pure and simple, the driven grouse on a hilly moor — such as Finzean in Aberdeenshire, where I have been lucky enough to shoot since 1957 — makes any other bird a poor ‘also flew’. There are several reasons for this. First, there is the fact that grouse prefer flying downwind and come down it at a tremendous pace. This year, at a downwind drive, after missing two birds well out in front with the first barrel, I caught them with the second. Though killed before they were…

The appalling abuse to which gamekeepers are subjected has been revealed in a shocking video from the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation. A short film documented several instances of harassment faced by keepers going about their business. Among those featured was Ant McLearnon, who was the target of a campaign by hunt saboteurs that saw pens damaged, birds harmed and the police at his door. Mr McLearnon asked: “In what other industry do people go out of their way to video record you and your family? They report you to the police and they try to get you prosecuted for something you haven’t done. Why are we allowing this? Why does this happen?” Helen Benson from the Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust (GWT) said: “Whatever pressures gamekeepers and their families are feeling over the…

Wild Justice, the anti-shooting campaign group led by Chris Packham, has used the avian influenza outbreak to launch yet another attack on shooting. The decision by Defra to allow the release of gamebirds to continue this summer without restrictions was based on a risk assessment that gamebirds posed a low threat of spreading bird flu. However, it was widely criticised by both Wild Justice and the RSPB. The target of the group’s latest attack is the process of ‘catching up’, whereby gamebirds are caught after the end of the shooting season to provide breeding stock. In a letter from solicitors Leigh Day to Defra, the group said it was writing to “raise concerns regarding the catching-up of pheasants and red-legged partridges released from captivity for the purpose of shooting in…

Will Pocklington speaks to some of our leading shooting instructorsWe all have a friend who is annoyingly good at whatever sport they turn their hand to. We’re talking natural sportsmen and women with a knack for any activity that demands a reasonable level of hand-eye coordination. To some, Richard Fussell is undoubtedly that friend. Richard’s sporting career is as varied as it is remarkable. At the age of 12, he won gold in the junior class of the British Olympic Trap Championships. By his late teens, he was playing rugby union for the Welsh under-21 side. He was a Welsh rally champion in 1989. And he then returned to competitive clay shooting in the 1990s and represented his country in Olympic Skeet for over a decade. Nowadays, Richard works at…

What do you buy for the chap who has everything? And I should stress at this juncture that whenever I mention chaps I mean both gentleman chaps and lady chaps and, for that matter and in these somewhat confusing times, chaps who may be, or identify as being, any of the options in between or even beyond the binary tradition. So, having cleared that up, what do you get the chap who has everything? You might, of course, buy them more of something. Another day’s shooting will never disappoint a keen Gun, but there is always the risk of clashing with another sporting obligation. You can ferret about in their diary to avoid this or recruit their spouse, partner, significant other or PA to ferret on your behalf, but ferreting…

OUR VERDICT Spanish gunmaker Bergara is well known for its quality barrels and range of centrefire rifles, primarily for stalking. It has now introduced a range of rimfire rifles, ideal for target shooting or vermin control. While models such as the B-14 R mimic the proportions of a centrefire, this new Bergara micro rifle — or BMR — is much lighter, compact and designed with hunting in mind. You have two BMR models; the steel barrelled (on test) or the carbon-fibre barrel version, which are available in .22 LR with an 18in barrel, .22 WMR or .17 HMR with 20in barrels. All specs come with ½in UNEF screw-cut muzzles. Other key features include a Remingtoncompatible trigger and a polymer moulded Sportertype stock which, on this model, comes with a grey…

If you are one of the many shoots that struggled, or failed, to secure their full quota of poults this year, and you are wondering where you will get next year’s birds from, you might want to consider rearing your own. It is not an easy option, and hatching and rearing won’t suit everyone, but if you or a member of your shoot have the time, the space and a few basic husbandry skills, it can be very rewarding. It isn’t without its pitfalls, though, and there are several things you should consider before you go ahead. The most important is where you will source your laying stock, your eggs or your chicks. If you did manage to put birds down this year and you want to produce your own…