Innholdsfortegnelse for 28-Jun-2023 i Shooting Times & Country

Some weeks ago, one of our regular contributors emailed me to say that all of his guns had been stolen. For anybody this would be pretty devastating — as much as anything, stolen guns are going to result in a lot of hassle. At the time of writing he was undergoing a police suitability review. Luckily, the contributor in question was going above and beyond. The bolts from his rifles and the fore-ends from his shotguns were always stored separately, and the thieves didn’t manage to find any ammunition. The whole thing made me wonder, though, about my own gun security. It’s certainly up to scratch and I have an alarm that I set if I’m away for a while, but could I do more? I don’t think we should…

LETTER OF THE WEEK There will be no lead ban this year Regarding the news piece ‘Lead shot could be banned in the autumn of this year’ (News, 21 June), the UK REACH final dossier may be presented by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to Defra this winter, but having consulted with Government ministers, BASC can confirm there are no plans to bring forward any such bill in 2023. The draft proposal by the HSE of a blanket ban on the use of lead ammunition outdoors has been strongly opposed by BASC. Our 280-page response and four technical reports to HSE’s call for evidence relayed our position of adequate transition periods where necessary and that lead ammunition should continue to be allowed for airgun use, for the use of…

Liam Bell is headkeeper on a family-owned estate in South Shropshire and a keen naturalist I recently read that the Welsh government has taken its proposed ban on snares to the next stage. The proposal, which formed part of the Agriculture (Wales) Bill, was drawn up last autumn, voted on last month and will become law following Royal Assent later in the year. The ban will cover all types of snares and include modern humane cable restraints (HCRs). The HCRs that a huge proportion of Welsh gamekeepers — and a not insignificant number of Welsh farmers — have been trained in the use of. And which is nothing more than a restraining device, very similar to the leashes used by animal charities to catch and control dangerously out of control…

Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and the northern part of Essex, known collectively as East Anglia, boasts a sporting pedigree as wild and diverse as its people. It is no idle swank to say that much of the sport enjoyed today in England was either invented, first recorded or formalised here in the east. This is the home of the Jockey Club and Swaffham Coursing Club. The notably picky red-legged partridge decided, (with a little help from the Marquis of Hertford) that Suffolk was just the place to be. This is the birthplace of driven pheasant shooting and ancestral home of the punt-gun. Izaak Walton fished our waters and wrote a masterpiece about it; other sporting literary greats followed in his wake. John Humphreys, Allan Savory and James Wentworth Day penned images…

Rabbit shooting Rabbits are making a steady and very welcome comeback around many of my West Country haunts. Not so long ago, rabbit haemorrhagic disease had more or less completely wiped them out. While several of the more ruthless landowners were pleased to see a reduction in the damage they cause, the majority were saddened to witness the sudden decline of a species that plays such an important role in our local ecosystem. The rabbit is a resilient creature with a reputation for rapid breeding, and those characteristics have resulted in numbers bouncing back a little too successfully on several of the farms and estates over which I shoot. While it is a relief to see them doing so well, their recovery has resulted in the return of the usual…

The year has seemed to fly by, and we are reaping the rewards of summer already. It is a very busy event season that sees me all over the country; we have all the game fairs booked, as well as multiple weddings and a couple of festivals, which are always good fun. Summer is also a great time to head out on the beach and try for some mackerel when I get some downtime. “Everyone who eats mackerel knows you just can’t beat it fresh from the sea” Here in East Sussex, the mackerel season has seemed to shift over the past few years. I remember when we used to get good numbers of the beaches in July when the sea was warm enough. The vast shoals of mackerel would…

NEWS COUNT Where are you a bit lacking in your sporting skills? Be it deer butchery or casting a fly, there are all things we could brush up on. Why don’t you have a look at what courses are available or set a bit of money aside for some shooting lessons? The more capable you are in the field, the more enjoyable it tends to be. APPLY If you’re farming or you own land, why not have a look at the Natural England website to see which grants might be available to you? There is a fair bit of money on offer to restore and maintain ponds at the moment. It could be a win for nature and win for you when you want to shoot a few ducks on…

A few weeks ago, we attended Glendale’s Children’s Countryside Day in Northumberland. There were 1,500 children from various locations in the local area, most of whom were from towns and cities. Our tent showcased the complete journey of venison, pheasant and partridge. The children learned how shoots support the local environment, the process of harvesting and butchering the meat, then they had the opportunity to see us cooking and taste the meat. I was slightly nervous about how they would react to an unfamiliar type of meat. However, it turns out that if you provide a bit of ketchup, they are willing to try anything. There was some initial hesitation as they peered at the samples, but we showed them pictures of the partridge and explained that it was similar…

Charlie Blance is a stalker, fishing gillie and conservationist working across Scotland The roe deer are getting back in good condition and that means a few things, but at the forefront of my mind it signals that the best roast vegetables are just around the corner. Let me explain. Using as much of the animal as possible is something we deerstalkers like to champion, but it seems using deer tallow is something only a handful of British stalkers seem to endeavour in. In the next few months, as the mushrooms and berries come out, the deer will begin to layer on the fat in areas of good feeding. This mixture of natural forage makes for some really delicious fat. In comparison to the tallow of hill red deer and Chinese…

Sitting in my father’s old chair in the spot where members of my family have catalogued antiques for the past 120 years, I gazed across shelves filled with broadswords, serpentine Turkish blades and fine flintlock pistols. Although there was a mountain of items to research and catalogue, rather than fill me with dread at the task ahead, my head bounced with excitement, wondering what treasures might lay within the pile of metal and wood. Immediately, my eyes were drawn to a percussion fowling piece. Sliding it carefully off the shelf, I could not help but mount the piece and gaze down its wide rib to the bead sight ahead. Though at first glance it was a fairly typical shotgun, with a familiar 12-bore and classic side-by-side stock profile, it had…

The shotgun market is an ever-changing beast, with new brands and price points coming to the fore every year. To that effect, it’s interesting to me that a decade ago I spent every day referring to some of these models as entry-level. It’s not just that my perspective may have changed, but nowadays a reliable over-and-under can be purchased new for well under £1,000, and with inflation happening to everything but wages, these guns are now more ‘mid-market’ than before. Do not fear however, I think they still represent good value for very versatile guns. Beretta Silver Pigeon I Sport In no particular order, here are my top new mid-market all-rounders, starting with the Silver Pigeon I Sport. Where would a list like this be without a 680 series Beretta…

Gundogs WHEN I WROTE A short obituary of gundog trainer, big-game hunter and generally larger-than-life figure Guy Wallace (Gundogs, 17 May), I noted that his book The Specialist Gundog is one of the most readable of volumes on gundog training. Writing those words prompted me to reach for my copy, with the inevitable result that I became engrossed in reading it again. Okay, it might not be as exciting as a Wilbur Smith novel, but unlike most books on the subject, which tend to be safe and dull, it’s witty as well as being instructional. You won’t agree with everything (or possibly anything) he says, but you are sure to be entertained. An alternative view Take dog walking, for example. Guy was famous for his views on the subject, for…

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…

I once had a badger disappear before my very eyes. I had walked into a barn one evening and surprised the animal as it was helping itself to one of the livestock feed bins. It didn’t seem unduly bothered by my presence. It calmly bustled off towards the opposite end of the building, and then it simply vanished. When I reached the spot, I found there was a badger-sized hole in the hardcore barn floor, alongside a strip of concrete. It later emerged that this hole connects to the wooded area behind the barn. It seems the badgers had got so used to raiding the feed bins in the barn that they had constructed a covered walkway to and from their restaurant. That hole is still there today. At times,…

Clarification on ban of lead ammunition Last issue, ST ran a news story suggesting that the use of lead in ammunition could be banned in the autumn of this year. Rather than any bill being put before parliament, ST understands that in fact the final dossier of evidence will be put before Thérèse Coffey in the autumn, for her to decide on without further scrutiny. At that point, she could enact the ban with the minimum 18-month transition period, leading to the ban actually coming into force in spring 2025. Campaigners such as BASC are hopeful that the transition period will be longer, but all seem now to accept that the ban will happen. SF Positive signs for the capercaillie At least 30 capercaillie hens attended leks in managed forests…

In 2020, the Government pledged to ensure 95% of the UK landmass has access to 4G by 2025, with a £500m investment going into the UK’s ‘not spot’ areas as part of the Levelling Up White Paper. The Shared Rural Network was formed, and mobile phone companies have clubbed together to bring mobile phone coverage to areas with no phone signal, sharing the cost of constructing and maintaining a mast. “In this world of fake news, it’s hard to know what to think or believe” I live in one of the UK’s so-called ‘not spots’, which in this day and age is often a blessing; unless one is in the house where Wi-Fi calls work brilliantly, the mobile goes to voicemail and the distraction of WhatsApp, emails or telephone calls…

A CLASSIC SERIES REVISITED I’m not sure who coined the term ‘armed birdwatching’ to characterise wildfowling, but they certainly weren’t too wide of the mark in describing the often long passages of time one spends on the foreshore simply waiting for something to happen. But it’s no bad thing. For us souls of questionable sanity who voluntarily turf ourselves out of a warm bed on a cold, dark winter’s morning only to have our hopes of a productive flight confounded, some degree of recompense can be gleaned by the rare and unusual birds we spot while tucked away in our muddy gutter. David Tomlinson’s report (News, 7 June) on the 2022 Breeding Birds Survey brings home how much bird populations change over time, a change we wildfowlers are well placed…

Before summer hit us with a bang, it had been a long, cold spring here in east Suffolk. For weeks we had nothing but a nagging north-easterly wind that drove banks of cheerless grey cloud inland from the North Sea. We call it a ‘lazy wind’ in these parts: “That dunt goo round yer boi, that goo straight thru yer.” While western areas basked under blue skies and warm sunshine, we shivered along the east coast. But the unseasonable chill did at least enable us to hold on to the May blossom for far longer than normal. Right up to the end of the month, the countryside was in her bridal gown, with cascades of white dripping from the hawthorns matched by the lacy trim of cow parsley and nodding…

I’ve never been a keen watcher of the television, but on a cold May evening I sat down and scrolled through BBC’s iPlayer in search of something to watch. I came across a Countryfile special devoted to Sandringham. As the 20,000-acre Sandringham Estate is one of the premier shooting estates in the country, I felt sure that even Countryfile would consider how the royal family’s enthusiasm for shooting has shaped how the land is farmed. It didn’t. However, it did include lengthy coverage of HM The Queen’s passion for working gundogs, including an interview with Bill Meldrum, the former Sandringham headkeeper, who for over 40 years oversaw The Queen’s gundogs. I’m sure Her Majesty was every bit as good a handler as Bill insisted she was, and there’s no doubt…