Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2019 i Shooting Gazette

It was a great interview with Tim Maddams (June issue) who is surely one of our best-loved ‘star’ chefs, but not only that, is a man who talks a lot of sense. I wholeheartedly agree with Tim that if you’re willing to kill it you should be willing to eat it. However, Tim states it cannot be beyond the wit of anyone to take game to a local butcher to get it dressed. If only it were that easy. I live in a city in West Yorkshire, home to around eight butchers and not one will take game and dress it, at any price at all, whether just a brace or a dozen or two. No price negotiation – I offered £10 per bird to see if they would change…

I am always keen to illuminate the darker recesses of the unlikely, unpredictable and unbalanced aspects of politics, from parish pump to Donald Trump, as they might conceivably influence how our countryside and lives are managed. Maladministration, malfeasance and stupidity have never been in short supply and since the EU Referendum, time has provided a rich harvest of pratfalls perpetrated by those attempting to govern us. More of us voted to exit the EU than to remain within it and after the last General Election, our representatives returned to Westminster mandated to continue delivering that decision. It was clear that the closest advisors to our Prime Minister masterminding her disastrous ‘strong and stable’ election campaign evidenced the collective intellect of an aubergine. Our leader proceeded to conduct exit negotiations with…

Dear Uncle Giles, My shoot will welcome several overseas teams this season, and among those teams there will be some Guns who don’t speak English. How can I make sure the days are welcoming but also run smoothly? M.D. deT by email Uncle Giles writes As driven game shooting becomes more popular and inclusive, it is increasingly likely shoots, and those involved with them, will encounter guests from overseas whose grasp of our language may not be complete. A number of things occur to me at once. As the host of the day you should, at least, be able to say, “Good morning and welcome!” in the mother tongue of your guests wherever they are from. And, for that matter, “Thank you and goodbye!”. Neither of these key phrases should…

Far from the grand moors of Yorkshire and Angus, the Glorious Twelfth stirs some dearly held memories for me. While all the sporting world is glued to the ups and downs of red grouse at this time of year, I can’t resist quietly wending my way back 10 years to my first encounter with walked-up ptarmigan shooting in the hills of Wester Ross. I was brought up around red grouse on the family farm, and black grouse were a burning point of focus for me in my teenage years when the leks were booming. British grouse have an impossibly exciting allure, but the small white birds are all too often forgotten in the rush to the butts, and it seems only fair to give them due attention as August approaches.…

Shane Strawbridge’s Wiscombe Park has a rich and fascinating history. It belonged to the church in medieval times before it was granted to Sir William Bonville during the reign of Henry III. It then passed to the Marquis of Dorset, later the Duke of Suffolk, and was eventually bought by the Gordon family (The Earls of Aberdeen) who in 1815 commissioned a local builder to construct the impressive Gothic pile seen today. Richard and Bunny Chichester bought the estate in 1953, principally to start the legendary Wiscombe Park Hillclimb. The parkland has hosted the 1,000-yard course since 1958. Then, in the 1980s, Maurice Wood set up a driven shoot. When he decided to leave in 1995 a syndicate of Dutch businessmen took it over but the gamekeeper stayed on. Simon…

The Glorious Twelfth is a date everyone involved with driven game shooting looks forward to, regardless of whether they’re involved with grouse or not. It’s the moment the moors can finally draw back the curtains after months of careful preparation and welcome fieldsports enthusiasts to their inner sanctum. As anyone who was wandered the heather with gun, flag or dog lead in hand will tell you, being high up in that unique atmosphere can sometimes feel like walking into another world. To those yet to experience its wonder I say go as soon and in whatever capacity you can. It will be worth it, I promise. “A moor that is a sea of purple in August must surely be as hypnotic as one covered in snow and lit by blinding…

I just love hammer guns, not only for their appealing lines, but also for the profusion of patents employed by them. The era of the centre-fire hammer gun (1860-1900) coincided exactly with the introduction of the breech-loader and the hundreds of patents associated with their development. Every maker had its own idea on closing mechanisms, extractors, locks, fore-end fasteners et cetera and often a fairly straightforward looking hammer gun can have very rare and interesting internals. I am always reminded of this in my library when I look at the volumes for The Abridgements To The Patent Specifications. The volume 1855-1888 is twice the size of the preceding and following volumes. The subject of this article, a 12 bore side-lever hammer gun by F.T. Baker, fits the bill perfectly of…

Engineering: 9/10 The gun gives the impression a lot of care has gone into its manufacture to ensure the owner derives maximum pleasure from shooting it. Looks and finishing: 8/10 The appearance, especially the engraving, is truly exceptional; the wood to metal fit is excellent, as you would expect with a hand-finished gun. The lacquer finish on the woodwork doesn’t do the gun justice, but then it’s just one option available to choose. Handling: 10/10 The handling was excellent, as demonstrated by Bart, who had never picked up a side-by-side, let alone used one. Reliability and customer service: 9/10 The gun comes with a two-year warranty and the back-up from Tony Laughton at Stag Country Sports. Value: 10/10 This is a lot of gun for the money, especially in the…

Grouse are splendid natural sporting birds forming part of a unique environment. For what it‘s worth, I think grouse trials are the best trials. Grouse trials are usually early on in the season, as shooting walked-up grouse in range can prove to be tricky later on. Often rabbit retrieves are used for the first round, however, the final stages are all about retrieving grouse or the odd snipe or two. Retriever trials over pointers are great fun and keeping up is not easy, fitness needs to high of the list for both you and your dog. It takes a dog of experience or extreme quality to pick wounded grouse from deep heather and there is no substitution for picking-up on a grouse moor – the earlier the better. Picking grouse…

The world of pointer and setter field trials has been deeply saddened by the death on 5 June of Morris Getty of Bushmills, Northern Ireland, writes Jon Kean. Morris was a top pointer handler and trainer spanning more than 40 years and on his day he would be the man to beat. He was, quite simply, a brilliant handler who got the very best out of his pointers. He had a formidable team and they were great game finders on the grouse moors. My first memory of Morris is from the 1970s when he and his wife Jean came to Scotland in their car, a Morris Minor containing everything for field trials in the British Isles and the Republic of Ireland. They were a great team and Jean was always…

THE WRITER of the Letter of the Month will receive a pair of Wexford boots from Dubarry of Ireland (RRP £325). The knee-length, side-zip boots – designed for both men and women – are handcrafted from waterproof Dry Fast-Dry Soft breathable leathers. The high quality of the boot is reinforced throughout with an insulated GORE-TEX lining that wicks moisture away from the foot, ensuring the wearer remains dry and comfortable all day. Dubarry’s new hard-wearing durable outsole gives maximum grip whatever the ground conditions.…

Preparation is everything: Being one step ahead gives you the upper hand. Have spares of all the essentials (eye protection, ear defenders etc.) but also spare gun sleeves, coat, dog lead and midge repellent shows you have gone the extra mile. Make sure you know the meeting place and time, and even scout out the location the night before to ensure you are organised and ready on the day. Take time to get to know your client: It is important to make sure that you appear organised and confident about your abilities, whilst at the same time allowing the client to be the centre of attention. Be on hand yet blend into the background for what is essentially their big day. Once familiar, it is great to know their favourite…

It’s early January and I awake to a blue sky, a light breeze and snow on the ground. The setting is Mulgrave Castle near Whitby. I believe the shoot is now closed but as this is a dream day it’s reopened especially for my team. Dave Beardsmore is in. He has helped my shooting immeasurably over the years. I have shot with him a couple of times on skeet. It’s not the fact that he doesn’t miss, it’s the way it’s done. Super stylish and effortless as you may well expect from a double World Champion. Archie Coats is next up. I read his book, Pigeon Shooting, as a young boy and it really gripped my imagination to be a professional pigeon shooter. I thought “what a dream job, going…

Mention Gannochy in shooting circles and one of the possible responses is to talk about the Gannochy Loader - one of several devices devised in the days when well-connected Guns were looking for faster loading and bigger bags. Gannochys such as this can actually date to 1905, when McArthur & Prain from nearby Montrose launched its patented Gannochy Rapid Load dispenser, whose name came from the Gannochy Estate in Glen Esk, where Mr McArthur was the headkeeper. The estate itself was around much earlier than that though; records show that it existed in the 12th century when it was owned by the Stirling family. By the 18th century it was part of the expansive Dalhousie estates, where, legend claims the Laird could ride from the Invermark border to Edinburgh without…

There are three reasons why a flyfisher ties his or her own flies and none of them is to save money. People tie flies because firstly, you can create new patterns and keep up with developments; secondly, you can fine-tune patterns to your own specifications; and thirdly and perhaps most importantly, a fish caught on a fly you have tied yourself is definably better than one caught on a fly you have bought. Actually, there are four reasons, the fourth is that you simply fish better with your own flies; they add to your mojo. I have never caught a fish on a shop-bought fly in my life, though I have, on occasion, used the flies of trusted friends. That brings us to home loading shotgun cartridges and the question…

One week last summer produced four days of good sport, shooting over a variety of crops being damaged by pigeons. The first day on peas produced a bag of 153 which was a better-than-expected result considering the birds were decoy-shy having already shot the field on five previous occasions. The second day was on lucerne where birds decoyed well, dropping in in ones and twos and 85 were gathered by the end of the evening. “I picked as many as I could by hand before Gordon was retrieving bird after bird from the tangled barley in front of the hide.” Day three looked exciting from reconnaissance on a field of barley with several laid patches out in the middle and a good number of pigeons there by 1pm. I started…

Yes, a 6 bore rifle. Frederick T. Baker was quite well-known for making massive rifles for dangerous game and the example illustrated, no.739, a percussion rifle, built around 1850, is a very substantial rifle. Like many large bore rifles, the barrel is relatively short, only 32in long and it is rifled with two grooves for a belted ball. It has a three-flap rear sight sighted to only 50 to 150 yards as such rifles were designed for very close range due to their poor trajectory. And just to steady the aim at this range a hunter knew he only had the one shot with a muzzle-loader. The rifle is of very high quality and the lockplate is engraved with a wild boar along with dogs and inlaid with a flaming…

Q I get conflicting advice from friends about whether to let the dog have all retrieves of dummies thrown to encourage him or be selective with just a few of them. Any thoughts? A The general principle is that the dog should not be entitled to pick-up everything it sees and it's worth starting this early in the training. On a peg, for instance, you will be picking-up the obvious birds that are nearby and stretching your dog to other more challenging retrieves. Likewise, if you are picking-up behind the Guns, there will be birds you must leave alone for that Gun with a dog and therefore your dog cannot assume it is there for the taking, if not commanded. It can get quite infuriating for everyone if a dog…

Shotgun cartridge conundrums I have been away from the UK for seven years and have only recently returned for a long visit. Hoping to take up clay shooting again I purchased some suitable 12-bore cartridges and just avoided a heart attack when I was informed that 'budget' cartridges were those under £200 per 1,000 and 'quality' cartridges were in excess of £300 per 1,000. During my absence I lived and worked in Sweden where the cost of living is far in excess of that in the UK. VAT is 25 per cent and a pint of beer costs circa £7, yet quality clay pigeon cartridges cost circa £120 per 1,000 for top names such as Norma, Gevelot and Fiocchi. Granted they are 24gram and loaded with steel, but steel cartridges…

Am I the only person whose heart sinks a little when I hear that there are to be back Guns on a drive? I appreciate there are times when it is not possible for a keeper to present birds over the full line of Guns. I suppose it is then better to be a back Gun with a chance of some shooting rather than an end Gun just spectating; but over the years I have had some memorably bad experiences of back gunning. Undoubtedly, the worst experience was when I was placed behind a Gun who repeatedly shot behind him and over my head. Perhaps it is almost as worrying for a front Gun when a back Gun is placed too close behind. It is hard to relax when someone…

SERVES TWO PEOPLE Ingredients • 2x grouse breasts • 1x garlic clove • 30g unsalted butter • 1x sprig of thyme Albert sauce • 2x shallots • 25g unsalted butter • 50ml white wine • 125ml double cream • 2tbsp horseradish cream • 5g English mustard • 1x lemon • 10g breadcrumbs • Nutmeg, grated Carrots • 2x purple carrots • 4x orange carrots • 2x star anise • 200g unsalted butter • 1x cinnamon stick Method Trim any excess skin from the grouse and seal in a hot frying pan skin-side down, turning once the skin is crisp. Add 30g of the butter, a garlic clove and a sprig of thyme to an ovenproof dish with the grouse, then cook the grouse at 180°C for around 7 minutes. Take…

Grouse shooting is often criticised as being hard to get into, elitist and too expensive. Some say its exclusivity and mystique are part of its appeal but I’d argue if it is to thrive – not merely survive – it needs to reach out to a new market of shooter, whose wallets and purses are more English Channel than Mariana Trench. How can this be achieved? One option is to provide smaller bag, lower cost days with no overage fees, marketed through booking agents so Guns who have not shot grouse before can find something to suit their pockets. Perhaps grouse moors could also introduce ‘non-profit’ days? I realise many moor’s finances are tight and in some cases subsidised by their owner’s personal funds, but such days would encourage a…

For your chance to win a bottle of Taittinger Champagne for Picture of the Month, send us a team photograph or a picture of something unusual from your shoot. Send high-resolution images or prints with captions to Shooting Gazette Gallery, Time Inc. (UK) Ltd., Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF or email: martin.puddifer@ti-media.com. “These pictures are from the Old Granary Shoot at Popham in Hampshire last December,” writes Tom Naylor-Davis. “We had Simon and Benita with us, who run the Hownhall Shooting School at Cowdray, with Benita taking the pictures. Digger the puppy, above, was out with us for his first day exploring in the field, and below is us coming back from the last drive of the day.” Pictured are the team of Guns who enjoyed an…

The Back Gun is a remarkably amiable cove, a sanguine chap, jolly of mien, bright of eye and bushy of tail, whose syndicate has been remarkably fortunate in its 19 seasons of peripatetic meanderings, having lost precious few members to the ravages of time or infirmity. Perhaps inevitably as the seasons roll on, the spectre of the Grim Reaper, or at least his indentured apprentices, lurks annoyingly on the fringes of peripheral vision. As if to underscore the iniquity of time passing, it was while attempting to reduce the number of simulated grouse fizzing past the ears on a day when everything else thrown up and over was being shattered in satisfying numbers, that the writer began to realise that what had been razor-sharp reactions but yesterday had very definitely…

Lead in Game Meat- Swedish National Food Agency Report 18- 2014, BASC; Lead poisoning and Health, World Health Organisation (2018); Hunting with lead: Association between blood lead levels and wild game consumption, Shahed Iqbal et al; centers(sic) for disease control and prevention, USA; The Value Of Shooting Report, PACEC and BASC; The Langholm Moor Demonstration Project, Buccleuch Estates, GWCT, Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, RSPB; The Strutt and Parker Game Shooting Census 2018, Rhodri Thomas, Strutt and Parker.…

Regular client and good friend Bart Carnahan helped with the test. Starting at the 40ft tower I shot a variety of targets. The demonstration gun was choked ¼ and ½ and delivered some devastating kills, handling very well. I gave the gun to Bart and the clays soon started breaking for him too, despite the fact he’d never used a side-by-side before. There were no issues at the 80ft tower and some great kills from Bart who was getting into shooting side-by-sides. It was the same from Bart at the High Tower. We used 24gram clay loads for much of the test and I then introduced some 35gram No.5s to see if the gun could handle the recoil without discomfort. This was another new experience for Bart, but the recoil…

Stay where you are!” barked the dame. I carried on walking. “Stand still!” she bellowed, blocking my path. I guessed she meant it because I found myself staring down the barrel of her revolver. I stood still. I put my hands up gingerly. “Cecil’s flawless retrieve was greeted with applause.” “Trust your dog,” she said slowly but forcefully, the regulation trainer issue red and black Olympic 6 with eight blanks in the drum still levelled at a point midway between my eyes. “I do. I do,” I replied. “Really I do. But not beyond 30yds. He’s a cocker regardless, catching up with Cecil who was sitting down waiting for instructions. With a sigh, SWMBO chucked an “easier” dummy and I pushed him on over two dykes and into rough grass…