Innholdsfortegnelse for 8-Mar-2023 i Shooting Times & Country

Last Monday morning, among the usual emails, there were a few aggressive missives on lead. The spikiest of them demanded to know why I am “A LIAR”. I imagine that the email was written by somebody who believes they are defending shooting against dark forces. It wasn’t clear what they were complaining about, but I guess it was the fact that ST runs articles by a number of contributors who sing the praises of steel shot. They find it to be effective and are pleased to be doing something environmentalists see as necessary. It may well be the case that some of those environmentalists dislike shooting, but I have met lots of them and most are open-minded — there’s even one bloke I know at a conservation organisation you’ve all…

Despite bird flu threatening to disrupt the last shooting season, there were few cases of gamebirds succumbing to the disease. However, this doesn’t mean that bird flu (technically highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI) has gone away, as a report just published by the British Trust for Ornithology and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee highlights. It identifies three major gaps in our knowledge that need investigating. First, we need a better understanding of how the virus spreads between individual birds. Second, we need to be able to assess accurately the scale of losses at Britain’s internationally important seabird colonies. Finally, we need to determine the best practical approaches to managing and mitigating future outbreaks. More than 60 species have been affected in the UK by bird flu, and it is…

Email your stories / shootingtimes@futurenet.com Ptarmigan are typically inhabitants of the Arctic and subarctic, with the populations in Scotland, the Alps and the Pyrenees regarded as glacial relicts from the last Ice Age. While the ptarmigan population in Scotland is believed to be stable, that’s not the case in the Alps, where the threat comes indirectly from climate change. According to the Swiss Ornithological Institute (SOI), these grouse are now under mounting pressure from new ski centres. Recent warmer winters have led to developers wanting to build winter sports infrastructure at higher altitudes in the Swiss Alps. The SOI believes that the resulting disturbance would be a disaster for ptarmigan and other birds and animals found in the high mountains, with the distinct possibility of ptarmigan eventually becoming extinct in…

LETTER OF THE WEEK It’s our collective duty What a wonderful article by Mike Swan (We must never rely on the golden pellet, 22 February), and how refreshing to hear from someone who ‘gives a damn’ about wounding. For years I have had to endure the chest-beating prowess of “what a fantastic shot” and “did you see that pigeon”, with nothing mentioned or even considered about the dozen birds wounded before a lucky pellet hit a vital organ or broke a wing. When did we actually stop caring about wounded birds? When did we lose sight that it is the duty of everyone who shoots to attempt a clean kill and never to fire at anything where the chances of a clean miss or a clean kill are unacceptably decreased…

It is an undeniable fact that deer numbers are increasing. It is also a less well-published fact that they are being very well managed on estates and farms and in private and Government-owned woodland throughout most of the UK. I should add, though, that the well-managed bit is an inconvenient truth to those who see deer and the reduction in their numbers as some sort of modern-day crusade. Yes, their numbers are too high in places and there are areas where deer are degrading the habitat, but it is wrong to assume that they are a problem everywhere and that it is impossible to manage them properly. Tied in with this, there appears to have been an increase in individuals and commercial stalking enterprises contacting estate owners and estate offices…

Gundogs IT IS A QUESTION that, until a decade or so ago, would have been easy to answer simply by looking at the classified advertisements for dogs in the back of Shooting Times. The rise of the internet led to the death of the classified ads we all used to love trawling through, so now you have to go online to get an idea of current puppy prices. Dominating the online puppy market is Pets4Homes, a site that carries a huge number of advertisements for puppies of virtually any breed. I’m writing this in February, and today I see that it has no fewer than 655 cocker puppies for sale, 136 English springers, 87 sprockers, 600 labradors and even three Clumbers. It’s a well-organised and easy-to-use website: there are filters…

With such a long list of historic names to choose from within the world of wildfowling alone — Colonel Peter Hawker, BB, Kenzie Thorpe — the choices of characters are endless. And, while all of them have influenced many people, myself included, the biggest influence on my life has obviously been my father, Chris Green. Those who know of him will probably be aware of his relatively new persona, the ‘Cornish Countryman’. What he’s done for the world of wildfowling and pigeon shooting is nothing short of spectacular. He portrays our way of life at shows across the country year after year, and his series of DVDs have certainly showcased what we do in a way that’s simple and enjoyable, and has undoubtedly attracted many newcomers to the sport. However,…

It is that time of year when the shooting season is over and there is a hidden bounty lurking in the bottom of your freezer — quite often unlabelled or unidentified. I tend to break down my pheasant carcasses and separate the breasts from the legs. Both cook differently and I prefer to use the breasts for faster recipes such as fajitas, pan-fried in a creamy mushroom sauce or even southern-fried in a burger. The legs follow a different process; they are not as tender as chicken legs or thighs and have less meat, but they work excellently in slow-cooked dishes. I have made plenty of dishes with the legs, from curries and stews to even homemade stock, which works very well. However, for this week’s recipe I have created…

DUCKS BASC is calling on the shooting community to help with its duck monitoring project by building and installing nest tubes. Duck nesting tubes offer protection for breeding ducks and have been proven to increase hatching success rates. Through the monitoring project, BASC aims to learn more about nesting successes and aid the conservation of the species. Sophie Stafford, BASC’s science adviser, told ST: “Clubs, organisations and syndicates should contact their BASC regional office to enquire about workshop availability to help increase the number of nest tubes installed.” SF DEFEND In 2015, Fish Legal, which encourages the preservation of British rivers, won a landmark legal case that secured a right for the public to access environmental information directly from privatised water companies in England and Wales. The right has been…

The latest SWITCH-SHOT report has landed, the annual report card on how the move to non-lead ammunition is affecting the game available in the shops. There has been progress, but really not much. In previous years, 99% of the game sampled was lead-shot; this year it is down to 94%. This doesn’t come as a surprise. I have written before that the 2022/23 season was not a good one for the transition from lead. Empty shelves What should worry us all is that we now have yet another data point suggesting that the lack of lead-free birds resulted in empty shelves. Waitrose is named in the report as simply not stocking game over Christmas because the non-lead supply dried up. I am looking at stats pointing to a reverse in…

Buck, my labrador, is almost one year old. He’s getting a bit braver, a bit bolder and just a little bit cheeky. He’s getting to the age where he’s pushing boundaries — but this is good, as this is where the ‘real’ training begins. A dog has to do wrong before you can teach it what’s right. However, his latest ‘wrong’ was more than a bit scary. I’d shot a juvenile doe, which fell stone-dead where it stood. The adult doe that was with it did not present a shot and trotted off into the pre-thicket. I could see the dead deer lying there, but even when I can see them clearly I let my dogs find them first. Every deer is a learning opportunity. “Eight hours after he went…

February fill-dyke did not live up to its name this year. As I write, in the closing days of the month, we have had less than 6mm of rain over the past five weeks. The beck that runs through our farm has already stopped flowing and even the River Waveney is virtually down to summer levels. Not surprisingly, wild animals are looking for water — and that includes deer. I organised a local three-day cull and it was noticeable that almost all the muntjac I saw and shot were close to streams or ditches where there was still water flowing, or at least showing. The same applied this morning. I wanted to stalk part of the estate where I do not usually go, so the evening before I checked the…

Dogs are remarkable creatures. They will cheerfully consume the same boring diet every day of their lives, while owners are assured that the dry food they are providing is balanced and includes everything a dog needs. It’s not something I’ve ever believed, and I was pleased to see that my suspicions were confirmed by research from Helsinki University. This involved more than 4,500 puppies, between two and six months old, whose owners were asked what food they fed them and how often. It was found that puppies fed on a mixed diet that included raw red meat, eggs, fish, bones and offal, plus vegetables, berries and leftovers from human meals, were 22% less likely to suffer from chronic enteropathy (CE) than those fed a diet of processed dried kibble. CE…

The experts THE ULTIMATE SHOOTING QUIZ TEAM 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…

Concerned that some of his guests had not seen enough action to justify the £2,000 per head they were paying, estate owner William Elder, 60, threw a dead partridge at his headkeeper during an altercation after a shoot, Weymouth Magistrates’ Court was told on 23 February. In retaliation, the keeper threw it back. The magistrates cleared Elder of assault, despite hearing from keeper Daniel Burden that Elder allegedly “chest bumped” him and then kicked him in the legs. One teenage beater also claimed Elder kicked him in the backside and told him to “get off my land”. “They have to follow my orders from a safety point of view,” Elder explained to the court, “because you have got people with guns. I’m not rude, I just give sharp orders.” FOLLOW…

Spring is showing signs of being just around the corner in the North York Moors. Snowdrops are carpeting the ground, the daffodils have come into bud and the lapwing and curlew have arrived from their winter grounds. These birds will be coming back from places such as the Somerset Levels, the Humber and Ribble estuaries and the Wash in the UK, while some will also be returning from as far as Iberia, Ireland and France. Across the moors, this cold, dry February has provided some near-perfect conditions for muirburn, or heather burning, and we have enjoyed seeing the small plumes of smoke rising from the hills on still days. But it has been so dry recently that we have had to stop burning for about 10 days, in the hope…

A CLASSIC SERIES REVISITED At the Little Oakley and District Wildfowlers, we have our annual meeting in February. It’s a chance to review the season and put plans in place for the summer. Post-holders are re-elected and beer is sampled. For me, the highlight of this get-together is a very simple two-word question. I like to have a drink and enquire of anyone willing to answer: “Good season?” And I ask it now in writing. How was the winter for you? How does it compare to previous years? Would you rate it as a decent wildfowling season? This all depends on what we mean by a ‘good season’. Maybe I can suggest some criteria. Most obviously, it’s about the quarry — and let’s be honest, the bag returns. Wonderful though…

Although a shotgun is usually my tool of choice for dealing with crop-raiding pigeons, it can be done with an airgun. Out on open fields, these birds can sometimes be persuaded to land among, or at least close to, a decoy pattern, but it doesn’t always work. A more reliable and generally far less frustrating option is to target pigeons in trees that flank the fields where they are feeding. I have had some great days shooting pigeons from prominent sitty trees, which they use as stopping points on their way in and out of their feeding grounds. Woods and spinneys next to the fields the birds are hitting can also be productive, especially around lunchtime and dusk, when pigeons flight back for a snooze after their binge. Unexpected One…

I was recently breasting and legging my 26th pheasant of the week. Later, with the new chest freezer at least partially filled, I started thinking of all the suppers I could make and all the shopping trips I could save. Then the accountant in me started thinking about how much I had actually saved. With pheasants, whether you have bought and reared poults or paid £55 a bird on the peg, in terms of meat, it is hardly a thrift way to fill the freezer. Which made me wonder, is there any sport that pays its way? Over the next few months I am determined to find out which of our beloved fieldsports provides the best chance of seeing a person, who has bought a day, take home the equivalent…

You hear a lot of stories about gun owners being dropped into the ordure by a disgruntled ex, who then contacts the police and makes fabricated allegations of violence, aggressive behaviour or poor gun security. When facing such claims from a source who has an axe to grind, the police have to make a decision. If they take no action, the potential consequences could be tragic. But if they swoop in and seize the firearms, they might be overreacting to a vexatious complaint. Guess which route they tend to take? The mere fact that there has been so much media coverage about the fitness to possess firearms means that a complaint about a gun owner is likely to get some traction. This is sometimes exploited by vengeful ex-partners of either…