Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2019 i Sporting Gun

The two candidates vying for the role of leader of the Conservative Party and, de facto, prime minister have outlined where they stand on a number of issues facing the rural community, not least general licences. Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt were asked by the Countryside Alliance if they would ensure there were “no undue restrictions on legitimate gun ownership and use”. Mr Hunt said he “wouldn’t introduce any undue restrictions” whereas Mr Johnson, who is the clear favourite to win the contest, was more circumspect. He said: “We rightly have some of the strictest gun laws in the world. I believe that legitimate ownership and use should come with robust levels of responsibility, too.” The two men also took a different line on the issue of general licences. Asked…

The winners of the new bursary scheme introduced by Holland & Holland were announced at a recent ceremony at the gunmaker’s London HQ. Sam Kilduff, 18, an underkeeper from Edinglassie Estate in the Cairngorms, and Iona Macpherson, 20, a recent agricultural student at SRUC, Aberdeen, will share £10,000 to help complete their projects, which are related to sustainable natural resource management. Sam will be travelling to New Zealand for two weeks to learn about the protection of indigenous wildlife through innovative predator control, while Iona will be carrying out a 12-week trial to investigate the effect of tick control for sheep on the welfare of ground-nesting birds. Both projects will enable the winners to develop their understanding of conservation and contribute to the wider rural community in Britain. Holland &…

So, Doug, what got you into shooting? Did you have a family background in the sport? No other reason than that I always wanted to do it. I was born in London, not a fancy boy at all. It was just a whim. I understand that you were involved in racing cars first? Yes, I was. Many, many, many, many years ago I used to work in the motor trade. Shirley had an MGC and I had an MGCGT. I ended up racing Lotus Cortinas and Formula 3. But it got expensive and then I met Shirley and started doing up houses and motor racing took a back seat. Was that a success? We made about £4,000 selling a house and I wanted to learn to shoot and we lived…

• I use two callers. One is the Buttolo. This is popular because it is easy to use; simply press your thumb down and out comes the phweep. The volume can be changed by the amount of pressure used. The sound does carry, especially if you press hard all the way down. I had a favourite caller that was hand-made by someone using a piece of antler as the main body. That was played almost as you would a reed instrument and needed some practice to tease the different sounds and pitch. I lost it in the woods a few years ago, alas, after an exciting calling session. I know roughly where it was and have been back many times to try to find it but to no avail. It…

DISTRIBUTION: Native to Portugal, Spain, Andorra, southern France and north-west Italy. Also present and breeding in other European countries and New Zealand following releases UK DISTRIBUTION: Widespread, but more likely to breed successfully in southern and eastern parts IUCN RED LIST STATUS: Least concern HABITAT: Prefers warm, dry lowlands with sandy, well-drained soils FOOD: Primarily seeds and roots, although chicks feed heavily on insects as a source of protein BREEDING: Males form territories in spring, staying with the previous year’s mate if it has survived the winter or calling to attract a new one NESTING: A shallow hollow in the ground lined with a few pieces of vegetation CLUTCH SIZE: 10 - 16 eggs INCUBATION TIME: 23 - 25 days LENGTH (AVERAGE): 35cm WINGSPAN (AVERAGE): 50cm WEIGHT (AVERAGE): 550g FLIGHT…

I’ve had the Ridgeline Monsoon Elite II smock to test (retail price £239.99) for a couple of months now. It’s a good bit of kit and does exactly what the makers say. We’ve had 140mm of rain in the past two weeks and it has been well-tested. No leaks! The taped seams have worked perfectly and I love the hood shape and fit. It has a long enough wired brim and plenty of adjustment to fit well but doesn’t block your peripheral vision. As it’s a smock, it can be a struggle to put on but on the bright side, there are fewer openings to allow rain and wind in. I guess that’s a personal preference and I’m sticking with this design.…

Age 41 months I recently received a notification on Facebook reminding me that it was three years ago we picked up Ted from Whaupley Gundogs. I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone and how much we have achieved since. The little dog has proved himself to be a reliable shooting companion and, as regular readers will know he has managed to hold his own in both spaniel and retriever working tests. In June I had the opportunity to enter a fun informal water test run by the Kintbury Gundog Club in west Berkshire. The location was a small fishing complex that was perfect for setting out two retrieving tests. The first was a fairly straightforward pick from the water and then a seen thrown up on to a…

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 firearms licensing department tells me that my certificate has been renewed but due to delays it may be some time before it’s posted to me. They say it’s OK to continue to use my guns. Are they right? David says: Certainly not. The law requires that you hold a certificate. ‘Hold’ means that either you have it in your possession or close at hand. If it hasn’t been printed you aren’t personally holding it, so you are in unlawful possession. Moreover, the date of issue will be shown as the date of printing, so for whatever gap there is between the expiry of your old certificate and the issue of the new one you will be in unlawful possession. Email the police and crime commissioner to complain that his…

We cannot establish a late sown mix for this season, is there anything we can autumn sow ready for next year? Marc says: Yes, we often formulate bespoke autumn sown wild bird seed mixtures and/ or game cover. An autumn sown crop will, in theory, establish better than most spring sown crops and have less weed/vermin pressure. These crops will also double up as high value nesting and brood rearing habitats for wild game and other ground nesting songbirds the following spring/summer. These can be fairly basic mixtures combined with perennial chicory or reed canary grass to aid with weed control or fairly complex if going on ‘clean ground’ to meet requirements of the more demanding stewardship schemes.…

What’s the best way to cook rabbit? I have heard of some people who soak the prepared carcase in salty water overnight first. Have you ever tried that? Ed says: If I’m honest, I don’t eat a lot of rabbits. I see them most days at work and that does not inspire me to want to eat one. That said, I have eaten rabbit in various forms and my favourite was when I visited Spain, a rabbit and snail risotto. I am very lucky in that I have access to lot of different game and seafood, so, given the choice, I would go for venison, crab or scallops.…

The Coley Gold Regal is one of the most beautiful guns I have tested this year. Looking at the stunning engraving and wood you would think it costs double the £8,595 price tag. The aesthetics, combined with the solid Rizzini engineering, make it a great game gun for high birds. If you bought it you would not be disappointed. As the poet Keats said: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” SCORES ON THE DOORS Build quality 24/25 Handling 23/25 Styling 25/25 Value for money 24/25 Total: 96/100…

The latest action has taken a broadside at Defra and the wider game-shooting community by claiming the Government department has failed to assess the impact on sites of conservational interest of releasing non-native gamebirds into the countryside. Wild Justice has called for more government regulation of the shooting industry. This is particularly galling because we – the shooting community – have always been good at regulating our own practices. For example, The British Game Alliance was set up after we noticed some incidents of bad practice when it came to rearing and shooting game. With the help of the major shooting organisations, our sport took a good long and hard look at what it was doing. My point being that legislation did not force us to review our practices, we…

1-4 August Countryfile Live Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire Countryfilelive.com 2 August The Queen’s Annual Charity Clay Day Sandringham Estate, Norfolk gunroom@holtsauctioneers.com 2-3 August Highland Field Sports Fair Moy Estate, Inverness-shire www.moyfieldsportsfair.co.uk 24 August Cornwall Clay Shoot, Caerhays Castle www.gwct.org.uk/events 25-26 August Fenland Country Fair Stow-cum-Quy Park fenlandfairs.com 30 August-1 September Chatsworth Country Fair Chatsworth House, Derbyshire www.chatsworth.org…

The number of women shooters is rising, according to latest figures published by the Home Office. Overall, the number of certificate holders has increased by roughly 1% since last year. Men, however, still account for the vast majority of shooters. Out of the 591,302 certificate holders, 35,622 are women — an increase of 1,233 compared with last year. Claire Sadler, BASC’s first female vice-chairman, said: “It’s fantastic news that more women are coming into shooting. It shows that contrary to the stereotypes, shooting welcomes diversity. “It is also positive news for shooting to see increases in the overall numbers of people holding shotgun and firearm certificates. The more people sharing our passion, the greater our power to fight for the changes that are necessary to protect shooting’s future.”…

• Be patient. Do not overuse the caller, but sparingly in groups of four to six calls with long gaps in-between. Deer are not stupid; they know what a deer should sound like. • Be patient. That buck you are hoping for may be some distance away and he will have heard it. Give him time to make his decision and arrive. Also be prepared for a doe to come in barking at the floozy who is intruding on her territory. • Be patient. If she is aggressive, she probably has a buck following her. Be patient. You may hear him crashing in and then nothing. Give him time to brave the open ground. • Be patient. It can often feel like watching paint dry but you may be surprised at what else may…

Ingredients 1 venison loin fillet Olive oil 2 tbsp Dijon mustard 2 sprigs thyme, chopped 1 clove garlic, crushed Coarse ground black pepper Parmesan shavings Juice of 1 lemon Mix together the 4 tbsp olive oil, the mustard, thyme and garlic on a plate and roll the venison in it until completely covered. Heat more oil in a frying pan and sear the venison on all sides until brown. Remove from the pan, roll in the black pepper and allow to cool. When cold, roll in cling film to make a sausage shape and place in the freezer until firm. This makes it much easier to cut and also has the advantage that you can make it in advance and use as you want. When firm, slice as thinly as…

Over the past couple of months I have hopefully enlightened you about the gear that I have found useful for a day’s walked-up or rough shooting. I have been involved with this type of shooting for more than 30 years and have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t. One question I am asked a lot is: “How do you find your shoots?” Well, the simple answer is through hard work and perseverance. When I started our informal rough shooting syndicate, the Circle of Trust, we had one location and that was a three-hour drive away in Newark, Nottinghamshire. We mainly shot in sugar beet, the bag was predominately partridge with the odd pheasant, the walking was awkward and you had to be quick with your shot…

• Paul reckoned the trip cost him about £4,500 all in, including flights, gun hire and victuals. He flew from Heathrow to Johannesburg, and then on to Kimberley. • Paul paid the PH 1,000 rand for his night out, which he reckoned was about £55. • Although you can take your own guns and ammo, doing so can lead to all manner of bureaucratic hassles. Hiring a rifle in country is much simpler – Paul paid £25 a day for use of a rifle, plus extra for whatever ammo he used. • Most airlines will charge further amounts for the carriage of firearms for each leg of the journey. This can add up to a considerable sum, so it’s worth doing the research before setting off. No inoculations were needed as Paul…

As with all gundog training, you have to have the foundations firmly in place before moving on to more enticing exercises. You should not attempt to work a dog in a hedge until it has a firm recall or turn to the whistle and it has been conditioned to hunt close to you in open cover. The chances are that if the dog does get on the wrong side of a hedge and decides to make a run for it, and ignore the recall command, there is going to be very little you can do about it. The worst-case scenario is that the dog manages to get a flush and rewards itself. Remember, preventing a problem is far easier than correcting one. 1 From the outset, a sound recall to…

Legal concerns Looking through an old magazine (SG, June 2016) I see there was a question in the legal section asking if someone could make a claim against a landowner due to a slip on a wooden stile. What is happening to people? Should we wear boots with spikes on the sole to prevent us slipping on a muddy slope? I have stalked on an estate in Scotland for a good number of years but the new owner (who spent years living in America) is insisting that if you stay in a cottage on the estate you must sign a disclaimer, so that if there’s an accident you will not sue. You also have to sign a similar disclaimer if you also go stalking there. John, Alnwick, via email Pre-season…

You always seem to shoot woodies. Do you shoot anything else? Peter says: Regular readers of a certain age may know that I had a successful career as a clay shooter, as well as a passion for shooting pigeons. My shotgun career started at the age of 13, when I learned to shoot on the  saltings of the farm where I was born, on Canvey Island in Essex. Curlew and redshank were legal quarry back then and I have never lost the love of fowling in wild places. To this day a group of likeminded friends and I travel up to Orkney in pursuit of grey geese. So, yes, I do shoot birds other than woodpigeons.…

Olivia Tullett Josie ladies’ gilet For a more traditional style and versatile approach to the shooting gilet, the Josie boasts the same flattering fit as the rest of the Olivia Tullett collection but has soft moleskin detailing with a five-button fastening. Available in UK sizes 8-22 and three colour ranges. Price: £299 Visit: oliviatullett.co.uk QB compact spot beam LED headlamp The QB headlamp is an ultra-lightweight, weather-resistant, personal work light. It has three output modes, high, low and emergency flash, and a charging indicator. Price: £32 Visit: streamlight.com Le Chameau Jameson unisex leather boot Made with premium leather and featuring new Michelin soles and exclusive LCX technology, the Jameson boot is a waterproof all-year-round boot. It is also available in a wide fit for the calf. Price: £385 Visit: lechameau.com…

A couple of months ago I said we would take a closer look at another obsolete ignition method: needle fire. Perhaps the shortest-lived firing mechanism since Forsyth’s ‘scent bottle’, the needle-fire system was another idea from the Swiss gunsmith Pauly, whom we talked about a couple of issues ago. In its simplest form, a needle-fire cartridge is almost assembled back to front in modern terms. The bullet is a pretty normal outside lubricated flat-based design and sits at the front in the normal fashion. The primer is actually an inverted percussion cap that is for all intents and purposes stuck to the base of the bullet or in some cases a driving wad. The charge of powder is contained within a paper wrapping and attached to the bullet so the…

Michael Gove appeared before the environment, food and rural affairs committee in the House of Commons to answer questions and explain Defra’s role in the general licences farrago. The environment secretary defended the decision by Natural England to revoke three licences (GL04, 05 and 06) at short notice in April. He said that the government agency’s actions were based on a “combination of its legal advice and its board’s reflection on the position in which it found itself”. Mr Gove said that in the circumstances and that given the legal advice it had received, there was “no alternative” course of action for Natural England to take. Mr Gove declined to reveal what the legal advice was. He said: “The fault does not lie with the Natural England board... but the…

Wild boar qualification A qualification in wild boar management is to be launched this autumn. Wild boar hunting has increased across the UK in recent years and the course is intended to ensure that boar hunters are operating in a safe, legal and humane manner. Such qualifications are common throughout continental Europe. In Germany, hunters must pass a practical test together with an exam covering biology, meat hygiene, law, gundog work and more before obtaining a licence. The scheme will be administered by DMQ, the consortium that runs the deer-stalking certificate programme. Chairs of BASC BASC members have elected a new chairman and vice-chairman. Eoghan Cameron, a self-employed manager, has been elected chairman. Council member Claire Sadler has been elected vice-chairman. Claire, a business lawyer, is the first woman to…

It’s nice to be in a position where people talk about the targets you missed rather than the ones you hit,” says George Digweed when I meet him at E. J. Churchill Shooting Grounds. With 26 world titles and more than 150 international titles, George is one of the UK’s greatest shooters of all time. Most of us dream of shooting like Digweed – and now we can; or, at least, we can try. The George Digweed Academy George has set up a new shooting academy at E. J. Churchill in Buckinghamshire, taking a handpicked team of instructors and training them to shoot like him. I asked George if you need to be a champion to be a good instructor and he said: “You don’t have to be a champion…

The big lad has had a few weeks off. We have been on holiday and a relation was staying to look after the dogs. For the first time, The first process is we did have them booked to skin the head into a local kennels but Dill was not doing well, so we decided it would be better for him and the kennels not to take them in, just in case. During the week there was talk on the estate of someone wandering about the fields at night, so our relation emailed us to suggest that Alfie should come into the kitchen at night. He would have loved it but the kitchen would not have faired well. Remember the last time he was in? Alfie and Dill make so much…

I always start to get excited about the upcoming season when I see my chicks develop. My friend Crockett is rearing my pheasants this year and he’s doing a great job. They’re a few weeks old now and growing well. It’ll be another five weeks until they’re placed in the pens in the woods and I’m pretty much there with preparations. I have decided to have 500 ex-layers again and they will be released a few weeks earlier than the reared birds. It’s vital you take time to prepare the pens and plan before releasing them. Here are some things to check. “It’s easy to miss scrapes under the wire or branches that can form a bridge for a fox” Walk your pens Checking the perimeter for openings that will…

Lots of new and maybe a number of not so new shooters seem to reach a level and then get stuck there, floundering with poor scores and not knowing why. With a little self-analysis and a plan this can easily be resolved. Let’s take a typical scenario: two shooters shoot a 100 bird Sporting round at their local ground, 10 stands of 10 per stand. One shoots seven stands straight and misses everything on three stands, resulting in a score of 70 out of 100. The second shoots 7 out of 10 on every stand and also scores 70 out of 100. In the first case it’s fairly obvious that this shooter needs some help with those targets that they missed altogether, but has fantastic consistency on the other stands.…

Scientific evidence: Mark Avery responds Mark Avery states as a fact that, of the corvids, only the carrion crow should be controlled in order to protect other birds (SG, Snapshots, August 2019) and that we should “take notice of the science”. If he has scientific evidence that this is the case, please tell us where this science is published and who carried out the rigorous peer review that is required to confirm its validity. Gerry Eastham, North Yorks Dr Mark Avery of Wild Justice says: “Mr Eastham and others should look at the Wild Justice blogwww.wildjustice. org.uk/blog/ entries of 13 May, 17 May and 19 May for that information. The 17 May entry is particularly interesting as it shows that even the GWCT can find no evidence for jays, jackdaws…

After a long and difficult time, my vet diagnosed my dog with inflammatory bowel disease. He still suffers intermittent diarrhoea, despite much treatment. Any thoughts? Neil says: First and foremost, I sympathise: the road that eventually leads to a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be arduous. It starts, of course, with the realisation that your dog is suffering from increasingly frequent tummy upsets. It continues as treatment after treatment fails to deliver a cure and meanders through faecal analysis, ultrasound scans and blood testing until, finally, you have the intestine biopsied. Even then, armed with your definitive diagnosis of IBD, there is not a clear route to take as IBD is a general term for a group of conditions that cause thickening of the lining of the bowel.…

My springer spaniel bitch has developed a vertical brown streak in the hair under an eye. It doesn’t look infected but what is it? Neil says: This is most probably tear staining due to overflow from the eye. We tend to think of tears as just being water but they are a complicated mixture of proteins, enzymes, fats and electrolytes, which serve to lubricate, nutrify and cleanse the eye. Once the water component has evaporated, the brown material that you describe is left behind. Overflow from the eye can occur due to excessive production of tears or because of blockage of the tear ducts that drain tears away from the eye to the nose. This can happen as a result of injury to a duct but more commonly would be…

How do you deal with members of the public who disagree with you clearing rabbits from public places? Ed says: A lot will depend on the situation; how they present their views or what mood I’m in. As a rule, I try to reason with those who question why I do what I do. Some people find it interesting but there are plenty of people who won’t listen or be educated as to why rabbits need to be controlled. Most will walk away after they have said what they want to say and very few will be a nuisance. Some phone the police in the hope that it will interfere with my work, but I am well-versed in dealing with that. I find the best way to carry out rabbit…

My old Lab has hair loss at the top of his tail. It looks to be caused by the way he is sitting on it. Is this due to arthritis? Neil says: I think it is far more likely that he has a condition that we refer to as tail gland hyperplasia. There is an area on the top of the tail, just below the base, that contains numerous sebaceous and hepatoid glands and these can become hyperplastic (overactive) and infected, resulting in a roughly circular patch of hair loss, while the skin is a little red, lumpy and greasy to touch. It is most commonly seen in elderly male dogs, in part because excessive androgen (male hormone) production is one of the main underlying causes. It can occur in…

My police force has started to demand a medical report from my GP before they will process my application. Is this lawful? David says: I don’t believe it is. All the law requires is a completed application form, a photo and a cheque or other form of payment but you are between a rock and a hard place and may have no option but to comply if you want your certificate. The main shooting organisations are being incredibly weak over this and are doing nothing tangible to get matters put right. The Home Office is equally feeble. As a result, some police forces think they can get away with inventing law rather than enforcing it. There are several things you can do: email your police and crime commissioner and complain;…