Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i Sporting Gun

A newly established campaign group called Wild Justice is to challenge the issue of general licences. The group, which counts TV presenter Chris Packham as its most high-profile member, was established in February to seek changes to the law. Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural Resources Wales and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland issue general licences annually. They allow anyone to kill certain species of bird to protect crops and livestock, to prevent damage and disease, and to protect the environment. In a statement, Wild Justice said: “We contend that it is the licensing authority’s (Natural England’s) legal responsibility to satisfy itself that killing these birds is an appropriate last resort. However, in the general licences issued on 1 January 2019, Natural England ducks…

Lethal tick found on horse Participants in fieldsports should beware after Public Health England confirmed it had discovered a lethal tick. The Hyalomma rufipes tick was found on a horse in Dorset and tested positive for rickettsial spotted fever. It is capable of carrying Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal. It has previously been found in Africa, Asia and parts of southern Europe. Deer poaching on the rise Deer poaching is on the rise in Lincolnshire and the surrounding counties, police have said. They are running night operations in conjunction with gamekeepers, farm managers and other forces to try to combat the poachers.…

Antibiotic use down by half Antibiotic use in game birds has been reduced by half over the past few years, said the GWCT. However, the conservation charity said more can be done and urged gamekeepers and farmers to step up efforts to reduce their use. Liam Bell, chairman of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, said: “Keepers are aware of the need to reduce antibiotic use, and of the vital part biosecurity, stock selection, good husbandry and the management of the habitat within release pens will play in helping them achieve it.”…

It is probably no surprise to those who know Tony Laughton, a former paratrooper, that he is involved with guns. After leaving the Army he started his own building company and in 1995 he set up a pheasant-shooting syndicate in North Yorkshire. He also carried out deer management on an estate in Scotland for many years before deciding to pursue his love of fieldsports in a professional capacity. So, Tony, what first got you into country pursuits? My father started it. I’ve been fishing and shooting since I could walk. I grew up in Middlesbrough but spent much of my time in Kirbymoorside, a market town on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors, and Tebay in Cumbria. Both have prime fishing and shooting country. It’s been an eventful journey…

I don’t think it would be wrong to say that in the not too distant past the very thought of the fairer sex being actively involved in anything to do with shooting was a rarity. Things have changed and we now have some excellent female gundog handlers (two out of the top three handlers at the 2019 Cocker Champs were women); Amber Hill has had huge success in clay pigeon competitions; and it is not unusual to see women shooting on driven days. Also, there are now a number of female gamekeepers working alongside their male counterparts throughout the country. Young gun Until recently, the gunmaking trade had been a redoubt of male domination but change is afoot in this industry, too. Last year, world-renowned gunmakers James Purdey & Sons…

You will be reading this in May and we are coming up to my favourite time in the buck season. In about three weeks, the bucks will be voicing their command over territories and sorting out who is the ‘boy on the block’. It will be all action and it is fascinating just to sit and watch it taking place. In some areas, I have observed a large number of ticks as early as January, so keep an eye out. If you are bitten handle it properly. Remove with a tick hook, never put ointment of any sort on the tick to remove it, as it is likely to salivate into your body before it removes itself. Now, there’s a pleasant thought.…

Were it not for the wild boar, it is possible that the bayonet would not have been invented. In the days before breech-loading firearms, a hunter armed with a muzzle-loading gun would take some time to reload, quite long enough for a wounded and enraged boar to take advantage of his helplessness. As a result, sportsmen took to carrying hunting daggers with handles shaped to be jammed into the muzzle of an empty musket to create a spear that they could use to defend themselves. Something to ponder The wild boar’s reputation for ferocity is legendary but, in reality, it is a shy animal that only emerges to feed at night before retiring into deep cover during the day. An animal that encounters a human will tend to retreat quickly…

It’s been a while since I have been called upon to spend time reducing rabbit numbers. This is mainly because a liver haemorrhaging disease had all but wiped out the local population. However, I noticed that the numbers had started to recover and saw the first litter of young rabbits above ground in early January. This is early and a fair sign that it will be a prolific breeding year if numbers are left unchecked. Litter are between one and 14 and the doe can become pregnant as soon as she’s given birth. The gestation period is 30 days and rabbits reach breeding maturity at six months old. You do the arithmetic. Part of any gamekeeper’s job is to keep the farmer happy and one way this can be done…

Though I had never been historically overweight, years of driving thousands of miles and consuming daft quantities of garage food saw my weight about 10 years ago soar to more than 16 stone. I felt tired, and running up a flight of stairs would leave me gasping. The thought of stalking in the Highlands filled me with dread. Something had to be done. A programme of cycling, running and walking saw me shrink to just over 12 stone. To put it in perspective, I managed to shed about the equivalent of a gralloched roebuck. Enthusiasm for exercise waned and two stone has gone back on — the equivalent, perhaps, of a gralloched muntjac. Fitness and health are important for your well-being at any time but more so as you get…

Vet’s advice Neil McIntosh SG’s gundog health expert The answer, despite much pseudoscientific factoid nonsense that circulates on social media, is a resounding “Yes”. The reason is simple: Toxocara canis. Let me introduce you to the fascinating world of this intestinal nematode parasite… Toxocara canis This is the most common nematode found in our dogs and cats and is often simply referred to as roundworm. It is a frequent cause of disease, especially in puppies, in which it can be deadly. The life cycle is complicated. Toxocara eggs are passed in the faeces of dogs but they are not immediately infective. After about two weeks, they mature and become embryonated, at which point ingestion by another dog will allow reinfection. (You can see why picking up poo immediately is…

GRAHAM WATKINS GUNDOGS A professional gundog trainer for more than 35 years, he runs Gamegoer. NEIL MCINTOSH VETERINARY A keen shooter and a practising vet in Scotland. TONY BRACCI TUITION Bisley Shooting Ground’s deputy shooting manager and master gunfitter. DAVID FROST LEGAL SG’s legal expert and author of Sporting Shooting and the Law. PETER THEOBALD PIGEONS Pigeon-shooting expert; author of Woodpigeon: The Ultimate Quarry. ROBERT MORGAN ANTIQUES Arms and armour valuer at Holts Auctioneers. ED COOK RABBITS Professional rabbit catcher working over 30,000 acres. TOM SYKES PEST CONTROL & WILDFOWLING Sporting photographer, wildfowler and pest controller. MARC BULL COVER CROPS Marc is our new expert and is the Midlands and Eastern adviser at Bright Seeds.…

My part-trained six-month-old Labrador is well-behaved but has the disgusting habit of eating his own poo. Could he be suffering from some sort of deficiency? Neil says: Most likely not. Poo eating, or coprophagia, is not uncommon and there are many possible causes. It could be learned behaviour, as his mother might clear up puppy faeces instinctively to keep the den clean. Also, when there is competition for food among puppies, anything with nutritional value will be consumed. Many low-quality diets can be poorly digested, meaning subsequent faeces contain food material and that makes them attractive to dogs, especially if they are underfed. Additionally, some dogs that pass faeces in their kennel might eat them to avoid punishment. The short answer is to pick up poo immediately, add pineapple to…

I like all aspects of shooting and working my dog, but can a gundog really multi-task? Graham says: Most gundog owners — me included — need their dogs to undertake a range of tasks in the shooting field. One day they may be picking-up or beating, the next sitting at a peg or being shot over. It takes a lot of training not only in the early stages but throughout a dog’s working life to ensure their discipline is kept at an acceptable level. Picking-up can be the undoing of many a well-trained dog. I know from experience that sweeping up runners after a big drive and beating on a busy shoot can be the quickest way to unsteady a dog. This is especially so when you then take them…

I’m new to clay shooting and am having trouble catching up and swinging in front of crossing targets. Can you help? Tony says: Look at your starting or pick-up points. If you are starting too far behind the target, then it is going to take a lot of work to catch it. Check your line — if you are moving your gun on a line that is too high then you may be shooting as the barrels go over the target and you lose sight of it. Try moving on a line that is directly under the target, keeping it in sight throughout the whole process. Finally, rather than starting behind the target and swinging through, try mounting to the target and pulling away or mounting in front and maintaining…

If I go out in wet weather with my gun, I don’t see many rabbits. I imagine they are all in their burrows. Would such conditions be good for ferreting? Ed says: Having just walked in from a day’s ferreting in torrential rain, I would say that going to the pub seems a much better idea. Rabbits don’t like to get wet, especially on their bellies, which can mean fewer being around. But ferreting in the rain can be very productive and the common view that rabbits bolt best on a frosty morning is not my experience. However, ferreting in rain is not the most enjoyable task, especially when combined with wind, which makes everything hard work. That said, if you wear the appropriate clothing, you may find you are…

Winchester SX4 20-bore This super-fast handling shotgun is now available in 20-bore. It comes with a speed-loading facility, which means the first cartridge loaded into the magazine goes directly to the chamber ready to be fired. Comes in camo, composite and wood stocks. Price: from £850 (composite stock) Visit: www.winchesterguns.com Albion England dog collars and leads If you are looking for a posh collar and lead to spoil your pooch, Albion England has luxury leather leads in a range of colours. Price: Leads in raised black and Australian nut, £69; collars in raised black and Australian nut, £39 Visit: www.albionengland.co.uk Streamlight The ProTac HL 5-X is a high-performance torch. The super bright, 3,500 lumen flashlight is available as a rechargeable system or with four CR123A lithium batteries. Both come with…

Ridgeline Pro Hunt Jacket I have been wearing the Ridgeline Pro Hunt Jacket for the vast majority of my cold and wet-weather airgun shooting over the past year, and it has stood up very well to the test. Generously cut, with long sleeves, a long back and a nice big toggle-adjustable hood, it does a great job of sealing out the elements. The waterproof membrane keeps wind and rain at bay, and there are underarm ventilation zips to get some air flowing through on warmer days. From a stealth point of view, the soft, bonded fleece outer, which is surprisingly tough, is quiet. The Prey Eyes digital camouflage pattern also does a great job of breaking up your outline and seems to work well against a wide variety of backdrops,…

A magpie swept down onto the lawn. My mother has lived there for 30 years and has never seen magpies in her garden, so I was surprised to hear from her that they had ‘moved in’ a few weeks ago. A few days earlier, I was remarking to her about the absence of songbirds in her garden – a stark contrast to when I was young. I now know what happened to them. Magpies and corvids play their part in nature but I have noticed that since the estate there has ceased rearing game, the number of vermin has increased massively. It has pushed out other wildlife, which is good news for corvids and pigeons but not so good for the diversity of wildlife. In this month’s issue, Robin Scott…

Hen harriers will take to the skies once more in southern England due to a new initiative. The endangered bird of prey is to be reintroduced to a site on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, in a project co-ordinated by Natural England on behalf of Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra). The project is part of a six-point recovery plan for the birds following a battle to save it from extinction in the north. Hen harriers have suffered dramatic falls in numbers in their natural habitats on moorland areas in Britain, with persecution being cited as a prominent factor in their decline. A study by an international team of scientists recently confirmed that more than 70% of the birds on grouse moors in northern England had been killed illegally…

When I went down to let the dogs out on the last Thursday in November, Tyne, the three-year-old, looked distinctly under the weather. He ate his breakfast but I left him at home and set off for the shoot with Marne and Tavy. When I returned in the afternoon it was apparent that I had a seriously ill dog on my hands; he was not even able to get up and greet me at the door. An hour later we were at the vet. Diagnosis Tyne spent the night at the practice as the provisional diagnosis was meningitis, but doubts began to surface overnight so an appointment was made for the Friday morning at a specialist veterinary centre an hour’s drive away. When I collected Tyne in the morning, a…

• As well as the standard decoys, I also have two Sillosocks Hypa-flappers. These are ideal for me, as I like to use bouncers to help guide birds in. The downside to bouncers is that you need to have a dead bird or two before you can get them working and I don’t usually put crows in the freezer, because it is too full of tasty game. The Hypa-flappers allow me to set the decoys and bouncers from the start of the day, meaning I can hit the ground running. The Hypa-flappers are also a very good design, made from two pieces of corrugated plastic, the wings the same bag material. This means that they also absorb the sunlight, reducing shine. The wings have a thin flexible rod threaded through…

I have been preparing the caravan for a visit to my permission on the Borders. I don’t know how he does it but the big lad recognises the sounds of my preparation and barks the kennel down until I let him out to assist. He watched me filling the water tank only to bound into the van to check that his bedding is in order (he shows no interest in mine until I am in it). He has even moved his bedding around into a comfortable spot so that he can look out of the window. I can’t help thinking that I have gone wrong somewhere with the lad.…

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Europe and Asia UK DISTRIBUTION: Very localised, mostly in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, Devon and Dorset, and Sussex and Kent, but limited presence elsewhere BREEDING: New litters are born from February to October, with a peak around April. The sow usually has four to six young. GESTATION PERIOD: Three months, three weeks and three days FOOD: Omnivorous; will take a wide variety of animal and plant material as available HABITAT: Highly adaptable but prefers deciduous and mixed forest in Britain LIFESPAN: 10 to 14 years HEIGHT: 1 metre WEIGHT: Around 150kg, but a large male could reach 200kg; females around 110kg LEGAL STATUS: There is no close season or minimum specified calibre for shooting. The Deer Initiative recommends a minimum rifle calibre of .270 Winchester firing an expanding…

You won’t need anything excessive in terms of scope on your rifle. I find that a good-quality 3-9 by 42mm works perfectly for this job and if they’re set to a similar magnification to your binoculars, you’ll find spotting and then lining up the scope for the shot far easier. The reason for this is if you spot a rabbit through a lower magnification pair of binoculars compared with your scope, the rabbit will appear far larger when you put the scope to your eye – and the opposite with higher magnification binoculars than your scope. I use 8x bins and set my scope to 8x as well. A good pair of binoculars is essential and will make spotting targets far easier. You’ll spend far more time looking through the…

• A lot of people experience equipment failure by trying to save a few pennies by buying cheap batteries. Andy at Ludicrous Lumens got so fed up with not being able to buy high-quality ones that he had these made specifically. Based on Panasonic NCR cells, the rated output is accurate (unlike many) and they are both button-topped & have inbuilt protection. • Available via www.ludicrouslumens.co.uk, there are two power levels, 2900mAh and 3200mAh, on offer.…

In this series we have been looking at Alastair Prince, a newcomer to shooting sports. In the first article we focused on getting started from Alastair’s point of view. Here, I want to look at things from an instructor’s viewpoint. This will help any new shooters ask the right questions and know what we are looking for in a new shooter. Questions, questions In the previous article, Alastair mentioned to me that there were a few questions he wished he had asked sooner, so I have listed them here with answers. Is buying a fixed-choke gun a disadvantage? No, not at all. A lot of shooters use the same chokes for pretty much all their shooting, particularly if they shoot at the same clay ground all the time. However, the…

Now here’s a question: just how dedicated are you to your gundog training? Would you drive more than 700 miles to brush up on your handling and hunting techniques? Over the past few months, I have been helping a few friends train their spaniels and the one thing I think that I have been able to pick up and hopefully assist them with is the handler’s body language. In particular, how this can affect the dog, especially when it is returning on a retrieve. I tend to do a lot of training on my own and never really get a chance to have someone observe my handling of Ted, perhaps highlighting where I could make improvements. The long-suffering Mrs R will film some of my training sessions, so I can…

I was told off for working my dog with his collar on. My friend said he could get caught up in something, but I’m worried about the dog getting lost and having no ID. What should I do? Graham says: I always work mine without collars. While a dog without a collar is safer in work terms, your concerns are understandable if there is any risk of someone picking up your dog and taking it to the authorities. Since April 2016, by law all dogs have to be microchipped, so if your dog does get lost he will be scanned and returned to you. However, by law, any dog in a public place should have a collar and tag. There are exemptions for gundogs but only when working, so if…

My six-year-old pointer bitch has broken her lower canine so that you can see a black hole in the middle. Do I need to get this tooth removed? Neil says: Not necessarily, but you do have to do something. Contrary to popular belief, tooth fractures that result in exposure of the pulp are painful (no matter that your dog does not seem to react to them). You should consider having a root canal treatment done on this tooth, which has about a 95 per cent success rate when performed by skilled hands. Alternatively, the tooth should probably be extracted; not an easy job with this long-rooted tooth in an adult dog. It may be necessary to flap the gum and burr the bone away from the side of the tooth…

Is it worth investing in lofting cradles to get some decoys off the ground? Tom says: I like to get decoys off the ground where I can as when done correctly it creates a natural-looking scene. I have a set of lofting hangers made from strainer wire with fishing weights as a counterbalance. These can take a little trial and error but are cheap to produce compared with bought ones. If you want to get the decoys on posts, you can often get away with using insulating tape. I always keep a roll with me for various jobs, including taping decoy stakes to posts. Remember to dispose of the tape afterwards.…

A friend is at death’s door and his wife has contacted me to ask how she can best dispose of his guns. I’ve offered to buy back one of them — I sold it to him years ago — but he is unable to complete the transfer form. How do I go about things? David says: The law is mainly concerned with possession, acquisition and disposal, not ownership, sale or purchase of guns. You should enter the details of the gun on your certificate and send off the usual notification to the police. That legitimises your possession. You should provide your friend with a receipt for the purchase. That legitimises your ownership and provides him with proof of lawful disposal. His wife should email the licensing department to say what…

Game farms have been put on alert following direct action by animal rights activists. Activists released about 6,000 birds from two farms in Wiltshire and Cornwall following two recent overnight raids. The attacks were filmed and videos of them released online. The Animal Liberation Front is thought to be behind the raids, though police are yet to make any arrests. Dorset Police has said it is aware of animal rights activists investigating farms in the south-west and that farmers should contact police if they discover trespassers asking to buy livestock to ‘rescue’, filming or “any other similar incident”. Following the raids, Facebook has removed a map from its site published by activists showing the location of nearly 100 game farms throughout the country. Supporters of BASC and the Countryside Alliance…

4 May NGO Team Flush Six Mile Bottom Shoot, Suffolk, www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk 4-5 May The Whitfield Annual Clay Shoot Whitfield Estate, Northumberland www.whitfieldclays.co.uk 11-12 May Northern Shooting Show Yorkshire Event Centre, Harrogate, North Yorkshire www.northernshootingshow.co.uk 9 June The Northwest Clay Shoot Penbedw Estate, Flintshire www.countryside-alliance.org/events/ northwest 19-23 June Jack Pyke English Open Sporting Targets Bedfordshire www.sportingtargets.co.uk/shoot/ competitions 27 June Singles Clay Shoot Pittodrie House, Inverurie www.jommevents.com…

David Penn, the British Shooting Sports Council’s long-serving secretary, has retired. Mr Penn stood down at the end of March after 13 years with the council, British shooting’s umbrella organisation. To mark the occasion, he was presented with an engraved silver salver by Jonathan Djanogly MP, the BSSC’s chairman, in a ceremony at the Army & Navy Club in London. Mr Penn was formerly Keeper of Firearms at the Imperial War Museum. His detailed understanding of firearms technology and legislation has been invaluable in helping shooting sports to counter challenges to firearms ownership. He was also chairman of the Firearms Consultative Committee.…

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Vipera berus DISTRIBUTION: Found across the country, except for the Scottish islands, the Isles of Scilly, the Channel Islands, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man CONSERVATION STATUS : Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. Priority species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework CATEGORY: Reptiles LENGTH: 60-80cm WEIGHT: 50-100g AVERAGE LIFESPAN: Up to 15 years WHEN TO SEE: March to October HOW TO IDENTIFY: The adder is a greyish snake, with a dark and distinct zig-zag pattern down its back, and a red eye. Males tend to be more silvery-grey in colour, while females are lighter or reddish-brown. Black (melanistic) forms are sometimes spotted. HABITAT: Grassland, heathland and moorland, coastal woodland…

Ingredients 2lb venison stewing meat (shoulder works well) 2 tbsp flour 1 tbsp olive oil Knob of butter 4 onions, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 sprigs thyme 1 bay leaf Salt and pepper 1 bottle red wine 1/4 pint stock, venison or beef 3 tbsp redcurrant jelly 1 packet ready-rolled, all-butter puff pastry 1 egg, beaten Put the flour on a plate, season with salt and pepper and toss the meat in the flour. Melt the butter and oil in an ovenproof casserole dish and brown the meat. Remove the meat and keep warm. Melt more butter in the pan and fry the onions and garlic until soft. Add the herbs, seasoning and red wine and reduce by half. Add the meat and stock, cover and cook in the…

• If you carry a spare battery, put a piece of tape over the end so that it can’t short and go flat in your pocket. If you double the tape over on itself at one end, you’ll be able to peel it off in the dark, even with thick gloves. • The bodies on many IR illuminators are either 1in (25mm) in diameter, so it’s relatively easy to mount them using a pair of spare scope mounts with a short length of Picatinny rail in between. I find this gives a solid, dependable solution. • Keep the brightness of the IR as low as possible. Though many manufacturers claim that the light cannot be seen by animals, this is patently not so and many will turn tail the moment…

NAME: Alastair Prince AGE:28 HEIGHT:5ft 10in WEIGHT:13st 10lb OCCUPATION: Finance manager for a rail and construction company in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. Alastair is right-handed. SHOOTING EXPERIENCE: Alastair lives in Droitwich, Worcestershire, with his fiancée and daughters. His first experience of shooting was in 2016 at a work Christmas outing. Since then he has been shooting a few times and was granted his licence in July last year. He has always enjoyed outdoor life and has childhood memories of being taken all over the country to visit National Trust and English Heritage sites. He is looking to shoot at a local club and develop a rounded knowledge of shooting.…

First of all, it doesn’t matter what verbal commands you give your dog, just remember that whatever word or words you use should correspond with an action, and you should be consistent. Personally, I like to keep my verbal commands short and sharp: “sit”; “stay”; “back”; “out”; but if you want to add a “go back” or “get out” that’s fine, just use the same phrase each and every time for the same action. Hand signals should always be clear and easy for the dog to see at a distance. You can also use a verbal “release” command, which can be useful if the dog cannot see you due to heavy cover. One important aspect of handling your gundog is that you must try to stay calm, as this will…

What should I buy for my first gun? Tony says: The first thing to remember when buying a gun is that it is not just a purchase but also an investment; it will have a value if and when you decide to upgrade. Try to buy a gun that fits and is suitable for the type of shooting you do. Stick to a known brand, as they are more likely to be reliable and it is easier to get parts if anything goes wrong. A new gun is nice, but there are plenty of excellent used guns for sale. Advice from your shooting coach or, even better, a shooting ground or shop that allows you to try before you buy will give the confidence to buy a gun that works…

My three-year-old cocker spaniel really feels the cold and I would like to put a coat on her at the end of the day, but a friend said that if I do that her fur will lose its weather-proofing. Is this true? Graham says: No matter what kind of shooting you undertake your dog will be working hard, so during breaks and at the end of the day, make sure you give her a rub down with a microfibre towel and then put a good-quality coat on her. This will not only make the dog feel more comfortable but it will also help to prevent stiff joints in later life and will not affect her fur in any way.…

We have a small farm shoot and all our game covers are wild bird seed mixtures in stewardship, which we find get taken over by weeds most years and we end up with nothing come the middle of the shooting season. Is there anything we can do? Marc says: Modern stewardship schemes, unlike the originals, will allow you to either (a) move the plots around your farm or (b) use herbicides. Quite often the plots are sited to benefit the farming practice and that is where you want your birds on a shoot day, so the first option is not always practical. Option two is the most common answer, but before you get your farmer to plant a crop and get the sprayer out you have to identify what your…

Do you clean your shotguns? I have a friend who doesn’t clean his gun — he says modern guns don’t need it because the barrels are lined. I imagine that if you are busy, gun cleaning is the last thing you want to do. Ed says: This is a case of “do as I say, not as I do”. I will never be able to sell my guns under an advert that begins “one careful owner…” due to the misuse they get and, yes, a lack of cleaning. But you should clean your gun and look after it to ensure it lasts and works correctly. I worked at a shooting school before I became a rabbit controller and gun maintenance was an integral part of the job. It is simply…

What is the ideal weather for pigeon shooting, in your opinion? Peter says: The best weather conditions can vary according to the crop you are shooting over. For winter rape it is essential to have at least a 15mph wind to help break up the flocks and muffle the sound of your shooting. Wind is not so important in the summer but it helps to have enough of it to channel the pigeons into the decoys. For the most part, a dry day is better than a wet one, but avoid foggy or frosty days. Sunny days can be a nuisance too, if you cannot arrange things so that you are not looking directly into the sun. So, the perfect day would be overcast with a decent wind blowing.…

I am hoping to do some wildfowling next season and want to take my Labrador with me but I am unsure how I can train my dog to sit in a hide and only retrieve on command. Any ideas? Graham says: Wildfowling dogs are worth their weight in gold. It is a hard discipline for any gundog as there can be long periods of inactivity where they have to sit really still and then swim out in cold, muddy and inhospitable conditions and then sit back in the hide. Early training should involve the dog sitting next to you for extended periods of time. To help with this, you could set up a hide in the garden and practise with the dog. When the season starts, you could go out…

We find maize a good crop early in the season but it can go a bit cold and sparse later on. Is there anything we can do to improve it? Marc says: You could under-sow your maize crops with Bushmans millet blend, which will give added feed value as well as greater structure and warmth, while still allowing for weed control. Alternatively, you could plant a windbreak around the outer edges of your maize crop. Our Monday dwarf sorghum is ideal for warming up cold ankles, while our Jaguar intermediate sorghum will give more height. Both can be sprayed the same as the maize/ millet mix; however, as a rule of thumb, sorghum will not grow past South Yorkshire, so if you are in the north you would need to…

As you can see from our selection, beds come in a wide variety of styles and prices can vary substantially, so the first thing to think about when buying a dog bed is how you want to use it. Is it just for the home or would you benefit from something more functional that can be used in the car or on the hill if required? If you’ll be taking the bed outdoors then you will need to get one that can be cleaned easily or doesn’t break the bank, especially if it’s going to take a battering. Try to match the bed to your dog, too. At the very least, make sure you pick one that’s the right size.…

This is a well-made, classy-looking gun at an affordable price. So many Bettinsoli shotguns seem to put up with years of abuse and have a longevity that is beyond belief. I have no reason to think the DeLuxe will be any different. I would love to take it into the field on a rough shoot because it is fast-handling and relatively lightweight, but it wouldn’t look out of place on a driven shoot. SCORES ON THE DOORS Build quality 23/25 Handling 21/25 Styling 23/25 Value for money 25/25 Total: 92/100…