Innholdsfortegnelse for 5-Jul-2023 i Shooting Times & Country

Defra has released more details of its Sustainable Farming Incentive, part of the Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs). This revolutionary new method of funding agriculture and countryside management has, however, raised concerns from farmers, with Minette Batters, the president of the NFU, saying: “There’s still a huge amount of concern that these schemes are seemingly not designed to be profitable for those who work the land.” Due to pressures arising from the loss of the Single Farm Payment subsidy, staffing shortages and increased farm input costs, British agriculture is in a financial crisis. As a result, rises in costs for shooting tenancies, poults and feed are expected. Upland farmers have been particularly vocal over smaller payments under ELMs, citing fears over bankruptcies or lost tenancies. Positives, however, are clear for…

The UK has experienced a 25% surge in car thefts, and Land Rover has emerged as the most frequently stolen vehicle brand in the country. According to data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), approximately one out of every 100 Land Rovers in circulation was reported stolen between April 2022 and March 2023. These statistics reveal that Land Rovers are three times more likely to be stolen compared to the second most popular target for thieves, which is the Mercedes-Benz. The concerning situation in car theft is highlighted by information obtained by Confused.com through Freedom of Information requests. Out of the 896,948 licensed Land Rovers in the UK, 8,284 were reported stolen during this period, resulting in a ratio of 924 thefts per 100,000 vehicles. Notably, Land Rover…

Rabbit shooting At about 4pm on a warm Thursday in June, three men in a soft-top black BMW used a rock to smash the patio doors at my home. They made their way through the house looking for jewellery, cash and any other valuables, conducting what the police call a “messy search”. At our home and three others in this area, they moved quickly to the main bedroom, turning out drawers and rooting through cupboards. The place was trashed. On their way through, they found the gun cabinets. Using various power tools, they forced entry. They then clattered downstairs carrying the 10-bore I’d bought at auction from the late and great ST writer John Humphreys. They also had the Miroku Sporter my wife gave me when we got engaged. They…

Coarse fishing The River Lea boils over the Kings Weir at Broxbourne with determination. Its ever-present roar hushes the screaming passenger jets that stream overhead in a conga to Stansted. The sooty hum of cars, buses and trucks from the nearby A10 is similarly quietened, yet the two-note phrase of a cuckoo rings clear. It is as if this old river, coolly tunnelled by its bankside attendants of towering willow, dusky thorns and maples, steadfastly refuses to admit the modern world. More remarkable is that this place, where nature trumps the 21st century, is less than 30 miles from Hyde Park Corner. To cast a line into these crystal flowing waters is a joyful, natural act; the perfect location to see in the opening day of the coarse fishing season.…

OUR VERDICT Rabbits are absolutely everywhere at the moment, feeding on the abundance of verdant green foliage and crops that have shot up — just like the rabbit population. Normally I am a bolt-action rimfire shooter for vermin, but an accurate, reliable and semiautomatic .22LR makes a lot of sense in these circumstances. The Ruger 10/22 has been almost mainstream in the British shooter’s psyche since 1965 — can you believe that? — and still endures as one of the best semi rimfires ever designed, with this new Competition model offering us sporting shooters everything one needs for ‘clinical’ pest control. New features now include a very handy ambidextrous quick-release magazine catch, a machined action block from aluminium, adjustable cheekpiece with easy height and lateral movement, extended Picatinny rails for…

100 years of keepering I well remember the first keeper I met; he was a tough Scot called George. I am not sure how old I was but definitely over six and under 10. I know he was tough because in those days keepers had to be — dead game was valuable and not just game; rabbits and hares were all very poachable quarry. The Midlands was a mining area and miners loved a long dog, folding .410 and a fight, but not necessarily in that order. To me, George was a god who could do no wrong. I often stayed with George, or Mr Fulton as he was known to me, and his wife as my father and grandfather shot on the estate. I remember shooting my first rabbit…

Al’s sporting tour When you think of driven wild boar, London wouldn’t be the first place that comes to mind. But that is exactly where I went for a practice session on running wild boar. I had only been in the city for 24 hours and I was already exhausted. Every train seemed to be running late, and meandering in tunnels with subterranean Londoners was draining. As I got close to West Ruislip tube station, the concrete jungle gave way to some green space, and the scenery improved dramatically the closer I got to the West London Shooting School. The school is nestled in what resembles the countryside, while still being inside the M25. It was a novelty shooting in smart trousers and a shirt, but given that I had…

NEWS As ST reported last week (News, 28 June), shoots across the country have been struggling to deal with the implications of the Government’s 11th-hour changes to general licence 43, covering the release of gamebirds in or around Special Protection Areas (SPAs). The licence was suddenly withdrawn and in its place there was a requirement for shoots within 500m of a Europeandesignated SPA to apply for a new, individual licence before releasing. ST now understands that those licence applications are often being declined on the grounds that avian influenza is a risk in these areas. One of reportedly hundreds of shoots affected is the Royal Artillery Shoot, one of whose members is Ian Bell, chief executive of BASC. Ian said: “We have to make a decision about whether the Royal…

Last week, ST reported on the Scottish government’s decision to implement a key part of the Deer Working Group’s recommendation and remove closed season on all male deer, despite some objections from stalkers who such as Davy Thomas, who said: “To remove seasons altogether shows very little understanding, or indeed empathy, towards [the deer].” Shooting Times has now learned that other, less controversial, recommendations will also be brought into effect, including the allowing of stalking with thermal or night vision optical kit and some moderation of the required calibres used to enable easier transition to lead-free ammunition. Award-winning stalker Chris Dalton of South Ayrshire Stalking broadly welcomes the new initiatives, acknowledging: “To shoot deer at night requires a specific licence issued by Nature Scotland and for the most part these…

Sporting history Until well into the 17th century, it was the practice of sportsmen to fire at stationary game, whether from natural cover or from artificial hides copying some natural feature such as a tree or hedge. Of the practice then prevailing, Claude Gauchet’s poem Le Plaisir des Champs (Paris, 1583) describes several examples. Partridges are shot on the snow; wild duck on the water; a roe deer is shot standing; a litter of wild boar, sheltering with a sow, is fired on; and a fox making off with a leveret is shot, but only when it stops to shoulder its prey better. As for those sporting artists of the period, Stradanus, who died in 1605, and his contemporary Hans Bol, always depict the shooter firing at stationary game. Examples…

There’s been a lot of pub muttering over the price of driven game, now steeper than an Exmoor archangel. We all know high energy and food costs haven’t helped but even so, who would have thought we’d be asked to fork out somewhere between £60 to £80 per partridge or pheasant? A neat right-and-left and that’s around £150 leaving the bank account. Of course, we don’t normally view it like that. The money usually goes out in February so by the time the season comes around you’ve almost forgotten the cost. And anyway, shooting isn’t — or shouldn’t be — tallied by dead birds. The expected bag is a useful indication of what’s likely to happen on the day if a team of Guns shoots reasonably well, but it does…

Will Pocklington speaks to some of our leading shooting instructors Tizi McPherson’s objective is simple: to help his clients get the very most from their time in the field. But he’s quick to point out that improving a person’s shooting ability is just one part of that. “Helping people who go game shooting understand what they’re participating in is a huge thing for me,” he explains as I catch up with him between lessons. “It’s not just about safety and shooting well, it’s about actually understanding the bigger picture: the land management; the role of the keepers, beaters and pickers-up on a shoot day; the whole cycle from egg to mature bird — whether that is a grouse or a reared pheasant.” “All this translates into a greater capacity to…

CELEBRATING OUR BEST WRITERS Vintage Times In the winter of 1956/57, pigeons were even scarcer in this district than they were in 1955/56, but in the summer their numbers were back to normal and in the autumn we had far more than usual. I had, in a small way, some interesting days over decoys, of which three have stuck especially in my mind. On 31 October, a friend and I went to a barley stubble on which the pigeons had been feeding for some time. They were said to come fairly early and to leave at about 1pm, so, having breakfasted and motored 10 miles, we arrived at 8am. We went in high hopes. There had been at least 300 on the field the day before and this was an…

THOUGHTS FROM THE FIELD The mountains of 16th-century Dublin and Wicklow were alleged to be overrun with wolves. By the mid-17th century, the number of cattle lost through wolf predation became such an issue that Oliver Cromwell, as Lord Protector of Britain and Ireland, made a law forbidding the export of Irish wolfhounds. He insisted that locals breed “sufficient numbers” of the hounds to hunt the wolves. The policy was clearly effective. The last Irish wolf was said to have been killed in 1710. The Irish wolfhound, however, continues to thrive, with 200 puppies registered annually in the UK. Few of these dogs are now worked, but Seamus, the wolfhound mascot of the Irish Guards, has had a busy few months during the Coronation and Trooping the Colour. Richard Negus…

The shooting community breathed a massive sigh of relief last week, as the long-awaited announcement on proposed changes to shotgun licensing laws was released with an eight-week consultation period for the public. The proposals were notable for the absence of any mention of adopting the same rules for shotguns as currently applied to other firearms, meaning that shotguns would continue to enjoy exemption from some of the more onerous legislation applied to rifles. This suggestion had been a key feature of some recommendations and was broadly expected to appear in the proposals. The consultation instead contains many suggestions that the community would welcome, such as making it mandatory for your GP to be involved in the process of licence application, and the possibility of changing the length of the licence…

NEWS While Chris Packham’s Wild Justice remains committed to a ban on driven grouse shooting, there are signs that the RSPB’s stance is becoming more conciliatory, even going as far as to acknowledge not only the economic importance of the sport but also its benefit to wildlife. There is, however, a catch. The charity remains totally committed to licensing. A recent blog by Imogen Taylor, RSPB policy officer, argues that licensing driven grouse shooting is essential: “Our uplands need to be places where nature can flourish with a rich diversity of wildlife and deliver vital services for nature, climate and people. If driven grouse shooting is to have any place in that future, licensing is the only way forward.” She goes on to say: “We [the RSPB] believe that the…

Sport abroad It had just stopped raining when we turned off the asphalt road on to the dirt track that leads down to St Lawrence. The town was far from charming, but it meets all requirements for the 50 or so permanent residents who have settled in this bit of outback. We drove through the town and reached Greg Coyne’s farm just a few minutes later. For the next few days, this place would be the starting point for what would turn out to be a truly unique stalking trip. The oppressive, humid heat hit Mark Longhi Andreasen and I with an unpleasant force, immediately causing beads of sweat to break out on our foreheads. The heat wasn’t just uncomfortable, we were also nervous about whether the stags would break…

Remembering the experience that ignited a lifelong passion for stalking My first-ever block of stalking ground was challenging to say the least; a large and featureless expanse of sitka spruce at the thicket stage, utterly impenetrable with narrow, straight rides devoid of any open areas. The most experienced stalker would struggle to find deer here and struggle I did. Looking back, I spent a lot of time in that forest with little reward, which I believe has ultimately served me well but, at the time, I began to wonder if there were any resident deer in the place. After a time I did start to see the occasional roe deer, usually a fleeting glance as they skipped across a ride, but if I did get one feeding on the ride…

Giles Catchpole I see that the Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management (VAWM) is concerned by the declining population of foxes in the countryside. So concerned, indeed, that it said so in a letter to The Telegraph. Now, the VAWM is a generally well-meaning group that is concerned with animal welfare rather than animal rights and, according to its website, asserts that — from a fox welfare standpoint — hunting with hounds is generally less prejudicial than other means of fox control such as snaring and shooting. There is nothing in any of these comments that comes as any surprise to me. I only wonder why it has taken so long for anyone else to notice. In the long debate leading up to the banning of hunting with hounds almost two…

Losses of released birds to raptors is usually less than 5% of the number of birds put down. There are of course places where it is higher, but in many cases it can be as low as 2% or 3%. But this doesn’t make it any less frustrating when you find kills, especially if you only put a few birds down to start with. Pheasant poults have usually outgrown sparrowhawks when they get to 10 to 12 weeks of age. They will be too big and streetwise for all but the largest and most determined of buzzards a month later, but sadly never get too big or clever enough to escape the clutches of a goshawk. A goshawk will kill fewer birds as the poults mature — and become more…