Innehållsförteckning för Apr-2018 från Sporting Gun

Pest control is perhaps the single most important part of our sport. The risks posed to human health by some pest species, or to other wild animals, provide a good reason for culling to help maintain the balance. This is no better demonstration of this than the work the Penrith & District Red Squirrel Group is doing in Cumbria. You can read all about it on page 62. Patrick Hook also demonstrates the benefits of his fox control over the years on page 16. Some forms of pest control can have an added benefit in that you can eat what you shoot. In this case, pest control is a win-win situation. Pest control gives us a close relationship with the countryside and that is why we are rightly considered by…

Slip-pery subject I really do not like gun slips. As soon as a gun is slipped too many people stop treating it as a gun. This year I have twice been passed slipped guns muzzle first, as if the slips contained nothing more than a walking stick. When a shotgun is broken it is plain for all to see that it is in a safe state, as is a rifle with the bolt open or removed, but when they are in a slip how are we to be sure that they are unloaded? The newer slips with carrying handles are also a concern because the guns are not pointed up or down, they are carried horizontally. Rifle slips have a pocket on the side. This pocket is not for ammunition,…

Not everyone can afford top-end optics, and even those who can may still struggle to justify shelling out big money for a scope that’s seldom used or that’s going to be subjected to some serious abuse in the field. The Vantage range of scopes from Hawke Optics offers a wide variety of go-anywhere glassware that won’t break the bank. Prices start at just £47.99 for the basic 4x32 model – the sort of price that enables you to get on with the job without having to worry about bashing your scope or caking it in mud. Despite their modest pricing, these scopes show no obvious signs of skimping when it comes to performance and reliability. Consequently, they’ve very quickly established an extremely loyal following among shooters who want a decent…

With the game shooting season now closed, avid game and pigeon Shot Russ Breen’s mind turns to roost shooting. At Racecourse Road shoot, where Russ is a syndicate member, there are three large blocks of mature mixed woodland which, in February, provide great sport on the pigeons. However, bird-to-shot averages can be humbling. We now know why — the birds are a long way up! Roost shooting is best at this time of year for fairly obvious reasons. Trees need to be bare of leaves so that the birds can be seen and the woods are off limits in the pheasant season to minimise disturbance to the birds. Pigeons congregate in large flocks at this time of year, too, which means decoying is problematic. All the birds turn up over…

While taking part in a “cocks only” day a short while back (March issue), the signs had been obvious. Walking alternate drives, almost in the centre of one of the largest woods on the estate, I came across masses of pigeon droppings spattered among the brambles surrounding a thick clump of mature fir trees, showing where a fair number of local woodies were tucking up for the night. With a little luck I could now put this knowledge to good use. Since my early morning pigeon outing had been spoiled by rain, weather conditions had improved greatly and though a few dark clouds still hung rather ominously on the horizon, the wind had picked up sufficiently to make a decent roost shoot possible — providing the rain held off. Meeting…

“The RDX is clearly a shotgun of unparalleled quality” Having been asked to test this new gun, I was a little surprised to open the case and find a 20-bore and not a 12-bore as expected. However, it was a delight to handle — a fine example of what the Italian gun makers do so well; a slim, elegant and very classy new model. This gun blends tradition with new technology to produce a fabulous new game gun. Weighing in at 6.3lb, it has the balance and “feel” that give the impression of a much lighter gun. It would suit a lady, young person, or someone wanting a great gun for walked-up shooting. The RDX is clearly a shotgun of unparalleled quality and elegance. Unique looks combined with Italian breeding…

Expert advice Graham Watkins SG’s gundog guru The causes Last month I offered some advice when buying a part or fully-trained gundog. On the face of it, it could appear to be the easiest option, and in the short term it could be considered the cheapest. But be under no illusions, you will still have to put plenty of time and effort into both learning about and maintaining the training levels of the dog. The other obvious option, and most new gundog owners will go down this route, is to buy a pup and train it themselves (with help from a gundog club or experienced trainer). You can gain a huge amount of pleasure and satisfaction by training your own dog, but it will take dedication, time and a large…

We are in the thick of the doe season as I write and trying to catch up the numbers on one estate. Parts of this ground can be quite disturbed with walkers and people enjoying time in the woodland. It also has two good shoots that run from November to the end of January. All of the above will make the deer hunter’s job somewhat more difficult with the time-to-carcase ratio rising alarmingly. We tend to leave most of the effort until February and March. This can be risky, especially if the weather comes in as it so often does at this time of year. distance, which didn’t surprise me. We could, of course, have chosen to stay in a high seat, but with a temperature of -8°C I didn’t…

Max price: £1,250 Type: O/U game or Sporter Main purpose: clays, pigeons and game Preferred make: Browning Mike George’s buying advice When John Moses Browning’s famous B25 model first appeared in the gun shops in 1926, the makers boasted that it contained 22 different types of steel and the gun’s 84 parts went through 794 different precision operations. Different heat treatments were applied to 64 of those parts, and 1,490 instruments and gauges subjected the gun’s components to 2,310 different checks and measurements. All of the gun’s parts were hand-fitted, and skilled craftsmen carried out 155 different operations. By the standards of the age, the gun’s production required the employment of a large number of skilled artisans. The B25 was certainly a work of art but, in modern terms, it…

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When it comes to knives I’ve always gone down the functional route. The blinged up, flashy blades have never really attracted me because I see hunting knives as a tool, not ornamentation. After all, would you really want a fine burr walnut handle on a hammer? However, the knife on test here, the Trout and Bird from D. H. Russell Grohmann, has made me rethink my knife-buying philosophy. With its rosewood handle (or scales as they are called) and satin-finished elliptical blade, it looks rather fancy, but I found it to be a very practical tool when it came to game preparation Knives used for preparing small fish and game usually have a clip point or drop point blade because this makes them good at making incisions, so I wondered…

The game and wildfowling season has now finished, which allows us to get back into vermin mode. The crows, foxes and squirrels have been left in relative peace throughout most of the winter months because we do not like to disturb the shoot during the season. Last month we had a nice dusting of snow, so I took the opportunity to air my snow poncho, grab the gun and go and stretch my legs on the shoot with Charlie to see what was about. Like most people, I have a real love for getting away from daily chores and heading out in the snow. The white blanket looks magical but also has a practical use as it can reveal a lot about what creatures are moving, that often go unnoticed.…

Meet the team GUNDOGS GRAHAM WATKINS A professional gundog trainer for more than 35 years and runs Gamegoer Gundogs. VETERINARY NEIL MCINTOSH A practising vet in Scotland. TUITION TONY BRACCI Bisley Shooting Ground’s deputy shooting manager and master gunfitter LEGAL DAVID FROST Author of Sporting Shooting and the Law. TECHNICAL MIKE GEORGE Engineering author with a deep love of gunmaking. PIGEONS PETER THEOBALD Author of Woodpigeon: The Ultimate Quarry. STALKING GEORGE WALLACE Former National Gamekeepers’ Organisation’s firearms consultant. RABBITS ED COOK Professional rabbit catcher working over 30,000 acres. PEST CONTROL & WILDFOWLING TOM SYKES Passionate wildfowler and pest controller. GUNDOGS Keep it simple Q I have just bought my first gundog puppy and I am looking forward to buying bits and pieces of training equipment and want to know what…

There are times in every sportsman’s career when he has to make the heart-wrenching decision to retire, or put down, a loyal companion. Unfortunately, that time has arrived for me. No, silly, I’m not talking about a dog, but my trusty Perazzi, which is beginning to show its age and is becoming temperamental. Not surprising really; it is nearly 40 years old and has fired more than a quarter of a million cartridges, the vast majority of those at woodpigeons. Bought new in 1980, it was one of the first guns with multichoked barrels, plus I felt the longer barrels would steady my swing in the numerous clay shooting championships I was taking part in. In those days, most serious sporting clay shooters toted two guns round a layout, one…

Despite being the son of an old-style gamekeeper, I have always liked watching birds of prey hunt. It was another means of catching rabbits and one that I have been doing for nearly 20 years. I get a lot of pleasure in seeing my Harris hawk, Bracken, in action. Harris hawks are often flown over ferrets or dogs and the quarry is then “presented” by the furry members of the team. While I do carry out my fair share of hunting via such methods during daylight hours, I also use my hawk at night while lamping. Effective Though this may be frowned upon among the more traditional falconers — or even classed as unsporting by some — it can be an effective means of control in the correct circumstances, which…

There is no doubt that the brown rat is one of nature’s success stories. It is equally at home in the biggest of cities or the countryside. It will take advantage of any food source and, as we all know, it is the carrier of some potentially deadly diseases: Weil’s disease and murine typhus, as well as such organisms as salmonella bacteria, parasites, viruses and worms. Rattus norvegicus has been a resident in the UK since the early 18th century and ever since then Man has fought a never-ending battle to control its growing population. It is said wherever you live you are only ever a few feet away from a rat. Rats can breed all year round and a female rat is able to breed from six weeks old…

Pigeon magnet car battery In recent years, I have started to use my pigeon magnet again, mainly for crows. The trouble was I needed a battery to run it after my original one gave up. I decided to adopt a trick that my pigeon-shooting friend, Alan Wood, has used and run the magnet off a car battery. I sourced a small car battery from the local car breakers for £10 and added fittings so that the rotary can be hooked up to the power quickly. Although a car battery can be heavier than some of the modern-day equivalents, they are cheap to buy and will easily last the whole day. Alan runs two magnets off one battery with the use of extension cables as the basis of his decoy spread,…

Ingredients Mix the flour, marjoram, salt and pepper. Rub this mixture on both sides of the steak. Then coat the liver with the same. Cut both pieces of meat into strips about two inches long. Heat the butter in a large pan and sauté the onions until soft. Remove and put to one side. In the same butter, brown the steak and liver strips, turning them often. Add the onions and wine and enough water to cover and simmer uncovered over a low heat until the mixture has slightly thickened and the meat is tender. Cook the beans and peas in boiling water for about five minutes and then drain. Just before serving the casserole, gently stir them…

Most shooters and gun collectors tend to associate certain makes or types of guns with particular countries. Say Colt for instance, and the mind immediately conjures images of the Old West and America, even though a fair number were produced in London back in the day. Hammer shotguns and quality sidelock ejectors are always assumed to be English, even though nearly every country in the modern world produced them. Pictured here is a very niche type of rifle which – while produced in large numbers in the United States of America, Britain and Europe – only really ever found favour in one country; Australia. Quite why Australia took the revolving rifle to its heart is not clear, but some sources say that over 70 per cent of the total production…

GUNS adj— adjustable ble— boxlock ejector blne— boxlock non ejector brls— barrels c/w— complete with cyl— cylinder db— double barrel dt— double trigger ej— ejector ex con— excellent condition fac— firearms certificate fc— fixed choke gc— good condition grd— grade hg— hammer gun imp— improved ltwt— lightweight m/c— multi-choke mod— modified o/u— over and under ono— or near offer ovno— or very near offer p/x— part exchange pa— pump action rf— rimfire rnds— rounds (ammunition) sa— semi-automatic sb— single barrel sbs— side by side sle— side lock ejector slne— sidelock no ejector sst— single selective trigger tge— teague chokes u/l— underlever vgc— very good condition DOGS b/w— black and white ess— English springer spaniel ftaw— field trial award winner ftch— field trial champion ftw— field trial winner hpr— hunt, point…

£12,500 An online auction run by BASC in aid of the Scottish Youth in the Countryside Education Trust (SYCET) has raised £12,500 to help fund initiatives aimed at getting youngsters out into the country 100km Former Countryside Alliance regional director Richard Walton and gundog trainer John Cavana are taking part in the Frontline charity 100km walk from La Boisselle, France, to the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium to raise money for the Army Benevolent Fund. £1,000 Rural workers of the future have been presented with scholarships to help pursue their dream of working in the countryside, thanks to Wilderness Foundation UK. The charity made grants totalling £1,000 after a special reception at the Scottish Parliament building.…

How did the game season pan out for you, lads and lasses? Ticketyboo, I trust? Oh, and thanks for asking… mine went with its usual swing and reverie. I enjoyed a mix of (mainly) 20 or so brace farm days as well as invitations from friends to some cracking syndicate shoots across the country. There were also a handful of outings to renowned high bird estates here “oop narth” that showed truly memorable pheasants and partridge. Between them they have filled the freezer with another year’s worth of fat free, artery-friendly meat. Come summer we won’t go hungry when the barbecue fires up. I only hope I’m not letting the cat out of the bag by saying this piece is being penned with still one week of the season to…

My shooting partner Paul and I have been hunters for most of our lives, but in recent years we’ve been focusing — some would say obsessing — on foxes. There are many reasons for this, but predominant among them is that here in mid-Devon much of the local economy is vulnerable to vulpine predation. This ranges from the vast number of sheep farms, through the plethora of chicken-rearers, to the innumerable pheasant shoots and on to the various smallholders with their ducks, geese and hens. Distressing Fox attacks are usually obvious — victims either vanish or are left lying around in bits. Watching a ewe trying to resuscitate a lamb that was torn in half two days before is distressing, as is seeing the big, tough 60-year old Exmoor sheep…

Over the past few months I have had the Seeland Exeter Advantage jacket and Polar Lady trousers on test. I have been putting both garments through their paces this winter and I can’t complain about their performance. Both have kept me warm and dry in some of the foulest weather, from in the beating line to out chasing ducks. They are perfectly fitted for the female shape, which is a welcome change in a male-dominated clothing market. Both products are incredibly practical. My favourite features include a detachable hood with zip and drawstring, fleece-lined handwarmer pockets and large front pockets with drain holes — perfect for cartridges. The trousers keep you snug and warm and are easy to get on and off. I have loved every minute in them and…

“What I am looking for in a beginner is a good understanding of timing” In the first of Graham Brown‘s shooting lessons, he looked at a target that he starts all pupils with –the “slow crow”. When they are shooting well on this he progresses to a single driven clay. On this occasion his pupil was 15-year-old Giacomo Drax. Graham would normally start a new pupil with a lighter gun and as they progress move over to a heavier one as soon as possible, as is the case with Giacomo who has progressed from a 20-bore to a 12-bore. Graham said: “Whatever gun a pupil uses I would always advocate moving to the heaviest one they can hold while retaining good posture. It is no good using something that is…

“The quality coming out of Turkey is something to look at as a buyer” This month, I’m getting to take a look at another piece of Turkish delight from Yildiz. I was really impressed with last month’s Wildfowler Extreme, so when Mike Mogilnicki from Entwistle Guns (Yildiz importer) said that he had a Pro Sport available for me to take a look at, I was more than happy to oblige. I had heard a lot about this particular model and was intrigued to get my hands on one because Yildiz, as a brand, has always been associated with entry-level guns but has decided to take a big step into the mid-market. And after what I have seen, I really think it was a wise move. Value I was sent the…

An unchecked rat population can become a major issue – this is where our pest control services come into their own. I employ a wide range of different techniques but on a job of this scale, shooting is a good way of making a significant dent in the population. Situation Working at night is part and parcel of being a pest controller and this was one of those situations. The areas I focused on during this session were around a feed hopper and a fire tip. The hopper had a slight spill underneath from each time it was filled, which made it a perfect food source for the rats. The fire tip had been used to burn all sorts of waste, including household, and some had not been burned off…

Vet’s advice  Neil McIntosh SG’s gundog health expert I agree, but many working dogs are affected by arthritis and it can be a very debilitating and frustrating condition. There are a number of steps you can take to prolong working life and improve quality of life. It is helpful to have a better understanding of what goes wrong. What is arthritis? Arthritis can be defined as inflammation of a joint or joints that is characterised by pain and/or stiffness of the affected parts. Immune mediated (rheumatoid) arthritis is uncommon in dogs and most patients are affected by secondary osteoarthritis, caused by abnormal juvenile joint development (think hip or elbow dysplasia), trauma or infection. The pathological process is complicated but involves: • Degeneration and eventual destruction of the cushioning cartilage. •…

Age 24 months As I get older, time seems to rush by so fast. I can’t believe it was two years ago that I took a long-awaited phone call from Andy Robinson of Whaupley Gundogs to tell me that his FTCh bitch “Meadowsedge Shooting Star”, aka Dizzy, had given birth to her puppies and there was just one dog in the litter – and if I wanted him, he was mine. To say I was excited would be an understatement. I have known “Dizzy” since she was about eight months old and I had always been impressed by her drive and style, but, more importantly, she has real character and is as much at home curled up on a sofa in front of the log burner as she is hunting…

INGREDIENTS Serves 2 Red wine sauce: Cooking method 1 Remove the loins from the rabbits. Place the Parma ham in layers on some cling film. Season the loins, drizzle with oil and place across the ham. Using the cling film, roll it into a sausage shape pulling it very tight and then tie the ends of the cling film. 2 Boil a pan of water big enough to take the sausage. Place the sausage in the water and poach for 10 minutes. Make the caramelised onions by heating oil in a large frying pan over low heat. Add the onions and a good pinch of salt and cook slowly for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to…

Most shooters — and students of British military history — will have heard of the Martini-Henry rifle. And those who haven’t, providing they are old enough, may well remember the 1964 film Zulu , which told the story of the defence of Rorke’s Drift in 1879 — a heroic action in which the reliability and accuracy of the Martini-Henry played a major part. The defence by the 24th Regiment of Foot is well documented, even though the film — which introduced Michael Caine in a starring role — had a few historical inaccuracies. The story of the Martini-Henry and its Martini-actioned successors, which served as the British soldier’s rifle for 30 years, is also easy to access. But who on earth was Martini? Details of the man’s contribution to engineering…