Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i Shooting Gazette

Sitting has helped me keep shooting I was interested to read Adam Calvert`s advice on seated shooting in the December issue. Due to a painful back I had to miss several shoots during the final months of the season before last. I had surgery to remove a tumour from my spine, but nerve damage had occurred, which affects my walking and balance, and I am now on treatment for bone marrow cancer. I spoke to my surgeon, Miss Li Yeung, and was surprised to find out she owns a 20 bore shotgun and shoots clays. She confirmed I should be able to shoot again. However, due to my balance problems I have found it difficult to shoot driven birds. A friend suggested buying a Bergara folding shooting seat. This seat…

It can’t be easy being Michael Gove. Since election to Westminster in 2005, he has defied gravity to wriggle ever-upward in the political snake-pit. A frontman for the Leave campaign, his most notable contribution in the referendum debate was espousing the notion that leaving the EU would save £350m a week, a statement that prompted Sir Ivan Rogers to declare the vacuum surrounding the PM ‘was being filled by noisemakers punting ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking’. Surely not. Having seen the Leave argument over the line, Gove gained a less enviable reputation as silent assassin, knifing fellow leaver Boris Johnson’s leadership ambitions, but this did little to dull the sheen acquired by his handling of a wide spectrum of ministerial briefs and responsibilities in opposition and government, before pitching up…

Bite-sized training is key: I tend to make my training sessions short when I am on my own, and look at just one or two specific elements that need work. Keeping it simple allows me to focus on quality in each of the behaviours I am looking at. Rather than setting up complex tests for my dogs, I do ‘breakdown’ work on individual skills. The devil is in the detail: Once I’ve gone through the elementary stages of bonding with a pup, and building its confidence and enjoyment in training, I do sweat the small stuff. Being perceptive and noticing individual elements of behaviour is key. Building a good habit from the start is much easier than trying to break a bad one later on. Never give up: Things don’t…

Q Would a shooting party have grounds for a refund (full or partial) on the cost of their let day if, owing to the actions of errant beaters’ gundogs, a drive or drives were ruined? A I rather suspect there is a left and right of arc on this one. We have all seen a beater’s dog get a little overexcited and push forward too far on a drive. Bouquets of pheasants appear at the wrong moment and the air is normally rent by colourful expletives from the gamekeeper politely and gently requesting that the errant dog is brought under control, put on a lead or taken home. Somebody normally makes an unpleasant and unnecessary comment about putting some lead behind the dog's ear. Apart from this last remark, it…

SCOPES GOLD HAWKE SIDEWINDER FFP 4-16X50 SWAROVSKI Z8I 2.3-18X56 P The Sidewinder (right) is a robust bit of kit the judges felt was ideal for shooters who use various magnification settings over a variety of ranges. The Swarovski’s (far right) optics deliver superb images and the scope has an astonishing 93 per cent light transmission. NIGHT VISION GOLD ALPHA SOLO HUNTER KIT PULSAR N355 The standout feature on the Solo Hunter kit (right) was the beam quality. It has a range of 600m with white light and delivers a clear picture. The judges liked how the N355 (above) allows the user to scan at low magnification and shoot at high magnification simultaneously. FINALIST • Yukon Photon RT 6x50 BINOCULAR GOLD LEICA HD-B 3000 These binoculars boast an astounding signal return…

We went out onto the shooting school with everything from 21gram to 36gram cartridges to give it a thorough work out. Although both my colleague Paul Gendall and myself are similar height at around 6ft it was a lot of walnut on the back of this gun. But given that we pick up different guns every day of the working week we adapted to it without a problem. Starting on the 40ft tower as a benchmark with 21gram cartridges whatever the choking was it was tight as the clays were turned to a ball of soot. Onto the 80ft tower with some 28gram and 30gram No.6s with a few No.5s and the gun did the job. Now for the real test on targets where this gun is designed to feel…

Q Is it a good idea to take your gundog on a shooting lesson? I’d like to get my youngster shot over but I am aware it could disrupt my lesson at the same time. A I’m a keen gundog person and rarely does a day go by in the field when I’m without my trusty cocker, Torrin, who incidentally is now the most famous team member in the Calvert Sporting office and is more commonly known to his social media fanbase by his pet name, Tyrone. The reason I mention this is that I know how difficult it is sometimes to get a dog shot over, and the temptation is great to try to kill two birds with one stone. The problem is, you are likely to do a…

Finally the diktat has come through that to be included on a judging panel all judges must have passed the J Regulations exam for the appropriate sub group by January 1, 2022. The news broke in December on a gundog group page on Facebook. After much debate on the thread, one of the Kennel Club Field Trial committee members clarified the new rule and put a photo of the newsletter segment where it featured. At the time the newsletter was still to be issued. I was a bit baffled: was the Kennel Club Field Trial committee member posting on Facebook as herself or as a Kennel Club Field Trial Committee member? In my opinion it is a good thing to have everyone singing from the same hymn sheet using a…

On the last let day of the season, one of the Guns shot a cock pheasant which staggered but failed to come down. It set its wings and crossed a busy road, its destination obscured by a tall hedge. Cecil and I crossed the road safely and struck out across a large field of wheat following what we hoped was the line. Cecil was doing his “windscreen wipers” but we were faced with the prospect of many trips up and down the field in order to cover it properly. “It would have been unwise to fire his second barrel...” The keeper, who had a better view, had seen the bird curl towards a ditch before he too lost sight of it and he sent another picker-up to lend us a…

How to win For your chance to win either a Pintail Explorer smock (top) or a Seasons jacket (right), email high-resolution pictures to: katemaxim@outlook.com. Please put “Gundog Picture of the Month” in the subject line. The winner will be chosen by the Shooting Gazette judging panel. Good luck! The prize will only be posted to winners with a fixed UK postal address.…

I am not much of a one for the idea of heaven or the bending of knees in general, but I would happily arrange the flowers and pass the collection plate around if it would guarantee the pearly gates would have some wet noses pushed through them, with the steady wag of tails behind. We never let it slip to the charity from which we got Louis that the 14-week-old unwanted puppy, who had, allegedly, growled at a toddler, became a gundog. As he had only arrived with them 30 minutes before we turned up, I don’t think we ever felt terribly obliged to tell them. And anyway, 30 minutes doesn’t compare much to the 17 years he spent with us. He was a positive character, shall we say. Well,…

The need to do all that we can to make sure that game meat enters the foodchain is getting stronger and more urgent with each passing season. Not least because game is a food source which can do so much for those in food poverty. John Walker speaks to some of the main players in the game meat industry about how shooting and its partners can make sure there is more value added to shooting's harvest than ever before and why we need to be the ones leading the change. Shooting Gazette was proud to be part of the 2019 Shooting Awards, along with our sister titles in the TI Media family at a ceremony that took place on the Friday evening of the recent British Shooting Show at the…

In response to Peter Schwerdt’s letter in the February issue on the subject of kills to cartridge ratios, I'd like to take the discussion further and give my thoughts regarding ‘extreme’ birds (namely those over 45 yards). Peter and I have mutual shooting friends so I have heard of his prowess with a shotgun and while I agree with nearly all he says regarding the competence of a Gun, I think he is being a bit simplistic. I should point out I am of the “older generation” and have more than 60 years’ experience with a shotgun. Modern firearms and the ammunition used with them are vastly improved from say the late 1960s when driven game shooting was just starting to become popular and affordable to more than the “landed…

When developing new products are you always seeking to develop something new or improving something already on the market instead? “We are always seeking to develop new products, usually through our own ideas and designs, or ideas bought forward by our customers or gundog trainers. When we first started 12 years ago there were only a handful of training dummies available on the market. Sporting Saint is now, through research, product development and customer input, able to offer the gundog world an extensive range of training dummies. We are constantly striving to challenge and improve on existing products where needed, too.” How are your products tested – and how important is a dog’s reaction to them? “Our products are tested by our designated and varied trainers and through our social…

My day would take place at a Dorset dairy farm that I know where the landscape lends itself to pheasant and snipe shooting with steep hills either side of the valley. I would invite gundog trainer, Tracy Corbin and her team of cockers to join the pickers-up. Tracy has given me so many great training days with a lot of laughs. Next is my training buddy, gundog handler Karen Handley. My first picking-up dog came from her kennels and not only was the pup my introduction to the sport but an inspiration for my writing journey. Karen is a fun loving character with a personality and handling ability that would be an asset to any team of pickers-up. The 2018 IGL Retriever Championship winner Billy Steel Jr is an inspiration…

Paul Kenyon writes: “Pictured here are Guns and beaters on the last day at Laighwood. Mrs McAndrew (the lady in red) supplies lunch, namely traditional Scottish stovies, which are great on a cold day.” Picture of the month winner Lucien (front) with his father Mark Reid (fourth from right) among the Guns during the aforementioned day at Summerstone Estate in Nidderdale. Sue Knight sends this selfie from February 1, loading for retired gamekeeper husband Steve at a friend’s keepers’ day in Hampshire. Sue writes: “Despite the increasing wind chill and snowfall, every drive produced challenging birds. The total bag was 160 pheasant, 28 partridge and 11 various, including nine pigeon. With thanks to Lester, Sarah and Team Houghton for a memorable end of season day.” Pictured are the Guns, gamekeepers,…

Everything shot or stalked on the Great Durnford Estate goes into the local food chain, having first been prepared by Tom and his colleague, James. The investment to achieve this includes an on-site plucking machine, vacuum packer and labeller, chiller and kitchen which have allowed the estate to become registered as a farm shop and run to Food Standard Agency criteria with regular inspections. The end product for Guns and local buyers alike is high quality, sustainably produced, oven-ready, vac-packed breast or leg meat and the shoot has established a reputation as a supplier working and delivering to the highest standards. Just one of the advantages of having a knowledgeable team, working with an owner who appreciates the countryside and how it needs to be husbanded. Old and new working…

TRAVEL There are up to 200 ferry crossings a day – Portsmouth to Fishbourne, Southampton to East Cowes and Lymington to Yarmouth – as well as the FastCat and hovercraft services from Portsmouth. The car ferry from Portsmouth to Cowes takes 45 minutes but you need to inform the ferry company if you intend to transport a gun and cartridges – you can only do this if you are taking your car. STAY There is no shortage of places to stay. In Cowes there are two yacht clubs vying for your attention, the Royal London Yacht Club (rlyc.org.uk) and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (rorc.org/clubhouses/cowes-clubhouse), together with the nearby New Holmwood Hotel (newholmwoodhotel.co.uk). The George at Yarmouth (thegeorge.co.uk) is situated at the water’s edge, has 17 bedrooms, two restaurants and…

It is a fair bet that no-one who shoots driven game is in want of a square meal. It was therefore chastening that at precisely the time that this feature was being researched the Trussell Trust announced there are currently 14m people living in food poverty including 4.5 million children. Trussell runs 420 food banks across the UK, whose object is to provide packs of a minimum of three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food to people in crisis. In the year to March 2018, they distributed 1.3m packs and numbers are rising steeply for food insecurity hits metropolitan and rural communities alike, which is a sobering thought. December 2018 brought a perverse serendipity in the news. Coincident with the annual pinnacle in game shooting and supermarkets achieving record sales of…

Now you might very well say I’m not looking hard enough or even in the right places, but I don’t seem to see as many Guns with dogs as I used to. Is that the same picture wherever you are in the countryside, or do I need to have an eye test? As a later-life dog owner (I am the proud owner of a 10-year-old basset hound bitch rescued from a puppy farm) it’s always a great pleasure to see peg dogs on shoot day, especially if the breed is a little different from the norm. But for whatever reason, be it the amount of time it takes to train a gundog to an acceptable standard, the cost involved, convenience etc., a peg companion now appears to take the form…

Engineering: 8/10 Rizzini is a tried and tested product and the William Powell Prestige comes with a five-year warranty which shows confidence in the product. We see Rizzini’s regularly at the shooting school and owners report very few issues. If I was to be ultra critical the safety catch is not the most positive, the ejectors work well and the timing is good. Handling: 8/10 Given the weight of the demonstrator and stock dimensions we were surprised at how well the gun shot on some extreme targets. I would very much like to test one with 32in barrels and some more suitable stock dimensions at about 8lb 4oz or thereabouts. You might need a post event sports massage if you shot the demonstrator on an exceptionally busy day. Looks and…

Emily Norton Head of Rural Research, Savills A diverse income stream is key to a resilient rural business. While new enterprises should always be approached with care, Savills Rural Research finds those that have diversified often record an increase in overall profitability. Growing grapes is one of the fastest growing areas of the British economy and is by no means restricted to the South East. Freak weather conditions in 2018 were described as “the worst summer for decades” by arable farmers, but “near perfect” by English wine makers. While grapes and financials remain at the mercy of a wide range of external factors, there are many reasons for investing in wine. Here are some of our top tips for establishing a successful vineyard in the UK: • Market: Know your…

1 (& Judges’ Choice, presented with The Winners’Trophy, sponsored byAlbert Titterington; The Knight Frank GanlyWalters Perpetual Cup; The Barbara Eustace Duckett Memorial Trophy; The Maude Perpetual Challenge Cup; The Fred McGuirk Perpetual Cup as the highest-placed bitch; Irish Countrysports and Countrylife Perpetual Trophy for Guns’ Choice; The Cromlix Perpetual Trophy for the best labrador retriever in the championship) John Barr Jnr with Shimnavale Jasmine of Drumnamoe 2 (& Winner of The Second Place Trophy; The Auckland Perpetual Trophy; The Ballyfrema Cup as breeder of the winning dog/bitch; The Sam Jennett Raughlin Trophy as breeder of the winner of The Irish Retriever Championships) Richard Johnston with Trefaldwyn Kribensis of Shadowbrae 3 (& Winner of The Robert O’Farrell Triple Crown Perpetual Trophy) Tony Rodgers with Highwalk Galway 4 (& Winner of The…

Q My red lab is fantastic at hunting and direction work and retrieving but no good at steadiness and obedience around me. He reluctantly stays close when commanded then charges off to hunt at the first opportunity. Any ideas? A I know that feeling well. Some dogs are just very keen and enthusiastic at some things over others. It can be very infuriating not to get the rounded dog in both close and long-distance work. This behaviour may be a characteristic or as a result of the environment the dog is kept in. Or maybe the pattern of training you have put in or emphasised, or history of the dog. It may be age as I am not sure how old your lab is. I don’t know the detail of…

The recent national news story regarding the burying of a large quantity of pheasant carcasses has prompted me to ask a question that has been on my mind for months. Please can shoots that bag 5,000 or more game birds each season tell me where the birds go? It seems the market for game has never expanded to keep up with supply and new marketing initiatives are struggling to encourage consumers to buy more game, so where do the estimated 13m game birds go? Can these shoots provide detailed explanations that can be verified independently? I defend game shooting constantly with non-shooting acquaintances but this is the question everyone asks and now even includes fellow shooters. Let’s have transparency please.…

Dear Uncle Giles, I want to come up with a new routine for Guns to draw pegs on my shoot. We’ve done the shot glass thing to death and choosing markers from a case is boring. Any suggestions? P.J.S. McT, via email Uncle Giles writes To a large extent the answer to your question depends on your circumstances. If you are a mixed bag of Guns thrown together on a let day, then the random selection process — however it is administered; shot glasses, balls-in-a-bag, silver markers in a case — ensures that no one is in a position to assert that they were allotted a poor or less good peg than anyone else. This avoids ill feeling if the drives seem to favour particular people or pegs. Random selection,…

TRAVEL Great Durnford has excellent road connections being only 90 miles south west of central London via the M3 and A303, five miles from Salisbury and Southampton is but half an hour distant. Both cities have fast mainline rail links and Southampton and Bournemouth have international airports. Private helicopter movements can be accommodated if you wish to arrive this way. STAY The area offers many fine pubs and hotels. The Stones Hotel at High Post is most convenient and has a good restaurant (thestoneshotel.co.uk) the Pembroke Arms has rooms named after parts of Wilton House (pembrokearms.co.uk) and better known as a shooting venue is Howards House at Chilmark (howardshousehotel.co.uk) with a restaurant it describes as the best kept secret in Wiltshire. CATERING Great Durnford is well served by its resident…

“Our blackgrouse are leaving us bit by bit, and it is hard to see how they can last another 10 years.” I spend a good deal of time searching for blackgrouse every spring. Where I’m based in south west Scotland, the birds are found in the furthest back hill corners where people never go. Spotting them takes a good deal of legwork, and I’m often up before 4am with a flask in my rucksack and binoculars round my neck. The best way to assess the local population of blackgrouse is to count them at their breeding grounds. They are strongly gregarious at this time of year, and they all meet up as the sun rises to fight, display and draw in females. It is a fine, atmospheric sight, but it…

For my friend James, who farms heavy land on the edge of the Cambridgeshire fens, spring drilling is always late but usually successful when the March winds blow and spring sunshine dries the soil. Last year, however, it was not until the end of April that the land ploughed the previous autumn could be cultivated and drilled. There is usually a sprinkling of seed left on top and James kindly welcomes me to shoot if there are pigeons about. “Though the horses in the far paddock would take little notice after the first few shots, often the owners get more agitated than their animals.” James phoned a few days after drilling to say there were only one or two birds on the field and not the usual numbers in the…

Suppose a Shooting Gazette reader is interested in putting a story or their memoirs down on paper with a view to sending it to a publisher. How should they approach writing it? KAREN MCCALL, MERLIN UNWIN BOOKS: “A memoir or story has two challenges: one is in the telling of it – the writer needs to be gifted enough to capture the attention of a reader – the other is the tale has to be out of the ordinary. It is best if the author approaches a publisher with a one-page synopsis and a couple of sample chapters. The former means an editor can discuss the outline and help shape the content, and the latter gives the editor a feel for the writing style of the author. At Merlin Unwin…

A picture purporting to be of the new Land Rover Defender’s interior has surfaced online. While it has not been confirmed or denied by the company, some fairly irritated tweets from the company’s PR boss would seem to indicate it’s not too far from the mark. It looks like it features more durable materials than any current Land Rover product, a digital display for the dashboard and this one had an automatic gearbox and what looked like three front seats. The new Defender is due to be unveiled later this year and to go into production in 2020. Eventually, it may well be available in three-door 90, five-door 110 as well as pick-up and convertible.…

DOG HANDLER CHEVALITE PANT BY CHEVALIER £299  chevalier.se Picking-up is a hard enough job without the thought of your kit not being up to scratch playing on your mind. The last thing you want is to be wet through before the drive has even started, or scarred for months by brambles while looking for pheasants, or struggling for mobility on your way back to the game cart because of inadequate design. These extremely comfortable gundog handler trousers leave all those worries at the shoot yard thanks in no small way to their Chevalite membrane lining, which will do its utmost to wick moisture away from your skin. We walked for hundreds of yards across all kinds of terrain in these built-to-last beauts and never felt the effects of the journey…

The possibility of winning an open working test with a rescue gundog may be rare, but the story of Chris and Bailey demonstrates it can be done. Gundog handler Chris Hinch first heard about an Irish water spaniel in need of a home through the Irish breed club. “He was in a bad way with swags of green gunk pouring out of his eyes due to an infection, his coat was matted and he had been chained up for most of his life. I didn’t have to think twice about it, I knew I had to have him,” he says. Based in Chesterfield, Chris Hinch is passionate about the breed and has dedicated the last 25 years rescuing ‘lost causes’ and giving them a new leash of life. He regularly…