shoouiuu 45

EXCLUSIVE: BUZZARD SHOOTING CLAIMS DEBUNKED

Since 1882

29 JANUARY 2020

Glorious beaters’ day Hard work rewarded

WILD SPORT

Chasing woodcock in North London

ONE-SHOT WONDER

Why you might shoot more with a single barrel DRIVEN GREYS

Starbursting Englishmen in Suffolk SILENT GREEN JOY

ARE ELECTRIC QUAD BIKES THE FUTURE?

PEST CONTROL MAR ATHON

RATS AND RABBITS ROUND THE CLOCK

SERIES

POSITIVE ACTION The 828 U is an extremely innovative and beautifully engineered shotgun. Featuring the revolutionary steel lock plate which ensures a completely secure lock up between the breechface and the barrels.This system allows it to be produced in traditional steel for competition shooting and lightweight milled aluminium for field models.

SPORT

A state of the art competition gun that can be adapted to meet the exact requirement of the competitor. Progressive Balancing allows the user to alter the centre of balance fore and aft, whilst the shims facilitate 40 possible stock positions. Carbon rib and an adjustable trigger further demonstrate this gun’s pedigree; whilst the Progressive Comfort system minimises recoil.

828 U SPORT SRP £3,545

SILVER

This ground breaking 12g field gun weighs the same as a 20g. However it manages recoil through Benelli’s excellent Progressive Comfort system making the gun incredibly smooth to shoot.This version features a stunning nickel finish with oak and scroll engraving.

828 U SILVER SRP £2,695

BLACK

The same premium grade milled aluminium and internal steel locking mechanism as the silver version, but featuring an attractive, subtle, black receiver.

828 U BLACK SRP £2,295

828U FEATURES • Cryogenically treated barrels, incorporating Power Bore technology, with carbon fibre top rib.

GMK Ltd For further product information and details please call GMK Ltd on 01489 587500 www.gmk.co.uk

BEN0719828RAN

• Available in multi-choke 26", 28" and 30" (Sporting 30" only) barrels with left hand and short stock options available.

• Easily adjustable for drop and cast.

DOG OF THE WEEK In association with Orvis For all things dog, Shooting Times recommends Orvis.co.uk Outdoor outfitters, instructors and apparel makers since 1856.

Darcy English Springer Darcy goes crazy when she sees owner John O’Neil walking down the stairs dressed in his full shooting gear. Aged seven, she is not the greatest swimmer — but she gives it her all if she has picked something.

Photographed by Lee Benson

6

20.01.20 Issue 6,177

The hunger game Last week, at breakfast before a challenging day of taking on some of Yorkshire’s highest pheasants, I had a conversation about racehorseowning syndicates. It interested me so much that I ate almost nothing.

At about 10 am, a gnawing hunger set in and during the drive before elevenses, I’d have gladly swapped my gun for a bowl of porridge. Just before the sausages came out, the game cart drove past with braces of birds hung smartly with twine.

As I watched it disappear down hill and into the distance, my mind turned to all the superb game recipes we’ve featured throughout the season, including the spicy partridge and cheese empanadas in this week’s issue (see p46).

Over the next 20 minutes of sating my hunger with bullshot and chipolatas, I wondered whether we are sometimes guilty of not thinking of everything we shoot as being food. Perhaps every once in a while, it’s a good thing to head into the field on an empty stomach, because there is nothing like salivating as a covey of partridges passes to reinforce the point that game birds are never targets but fine fare for the table.

issues for £6

*

For less than the cost of a driven pheasant, get the best blend of shooting, news, product reviews and keepering advice, delivered every Wednesday

JANUARY SALE

shootingtimessubs.co.uk/jansale20 0330 333 1113

Quote code: AYP9 Lines open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 6pm (UK time)

FREE

Digital game cookery book

**

Cast aside that flabby chicken and get more game on your table

* After your first 6 issues, your subscription will continue at £24.99 payable every 3 months by UK Direct Debit, saving 30% on the full subscription price of £35.75 . This price is guaranteed for the first 12 months and we will notify you in advance of any price changes. Offer closes 3 February 2020. ** New subscribers only. Subscription must be purchased online. Terms and conditions apply. For full details, please visit: magazinesdirect.com/terms

14

Poachers turned gamekeepers A beaters’ day on wild greys

18

Woodcock in North London Two birds for the table

22

Mopping up at Sansaw Hall Young Guns chasing ducks

26

Savouring the single barrel Blackpowder and conservation

29

A hard day’s night Round-the-clock pest control

32

Time to rest and relax Downtime for trainer and dogs

36

Leading the charge A new electric quad bike on test

40

Reasons to be cheerful Laurence Catlow raises a glass

Patrick Galbraith, Editor

Follow Patrick on Twitter @paddycgalbraith

Contents NEWS & OPINION

REGULARS

06 NEWS

12

COUNTRY DIARY

10

25

GAMEKEEPER

LETTERS

FEATURES

40 CATLOW

14

GAME SHOOTING 42

18

WALKED-UP WOODCOCK

22

SPECIES DAY

26

GAME SHOOTING

29

GUNDOGS

44 VINTAGE TIMES 46

RECIPE

48

SPORTING ANSWERS

AIRGUNNING

53

CROSSWORD

32

GUNDOGS

54

PRODUCTS

36

QUAD BIKE ON TEST

55

A SPORTING LIFE IN AFRICA

58

SHARPSHOOTER

4 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

NEWS Shooting organisations must continue to explain the benefits of our sport

‘We need to know when to fight and when to change’ Shooting groups are optimistic about future as season closes but say it’s vital to keep up education so the public understands the sport

S. FARNSWORTH / ALAMY

W

ith the game season ending, we asked three of the UK’s shooting organisations to look back and tell us what the big issues were and what to expect this year.

Liam Bell, chairman of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, said it had been a challenging season, citing issues such as the Welsh general licences and firearms licensing, which remained “at the top of the priority list”.

He also highlighted conservation work as a key factor. “We need to ensure gamekeepers can continue to do the best possible job for shooting and conservation,” he added.

“The results of our recent wildlife and conservation survey will be published shortly.

We look forward to working

with any new team at Defra, whose review of game bird releases on protected sites will keep us busy.

“It will be interesting to watch the progress of the British Game Alliance and to continue the discussions around lead shot.

with yet more challenges to come from shooting’s antagonists,” he said.

“We are in a golden era of knowledge with more information available for wildlife managers than ever before from a host of shooting

“Shooting’s future lies in being progressive and standing up for our activities” “The NGO has exciting plans for 2020 and a busy show schedule. We have projects under way highlighting keepers’ expertise and promoting some great examples of practical conservation work across the country,” he concluded.

At the GWCT, Austin Weldon mentioned the same themes.

“The season stands out as one marked by political uncertainty,

6 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

and wildlife organisations, but if we don’t follow the best practice recommendations and deliver net biodiversity gains on our shoots, then we face an uncertain future.

“The GWCT advisory service has created a suite of opportunities through courses, such as our BASIS-accredited game managers’ course and shoot managers’ assessment.”

BASC’S Garry Doolan was optimistic about the future.

“A new decade, a majority government and Brexit will provide shooting with challenges — but also reasons to remain optimistic,” he said.

“Shooting’s future lies in being progressive, standing up for our activities while being assured that our actions remain constructive. Public attitudes are changing and the challenges of 2019 have taught us that we need to know when to fight and when to change.

“British game meat has never been in a stronger position thanks to the efforts of the British Game Alliance, BASC’s own Taste of Game and other initiatives. BASC membership continues to grow. This year we will be undertaking more events and opportunities for everyone to learn and enjoy shooting.”

Matt Cross

Email your stories / STeditorials@ti-media.com

Wild Justice legal challenge Anti-shooting campaign group Wild Justice has launched another legal challenge to shooting.

The move had been expected after the organisation, spearheaded

by Chris Packham, made a fresh appeal for funds on social media.

The new attack builds on a challenge to game bird releases launched in 2019. It is focused on the release of non-native game birds in 2020 in and around Special Protection Areas and Special Areas of Conservation.

Lawyers for Wild Justice have argued that because an assessment of the possible impact of game bird releases has not been conducted for every protected site, the secretary of state should use a Special Nature Conservation Order to block releases.

Weekend Twitter poll What constitutes a high pheasant?

13% Thirty yards plus 61% Forty yards plus 26% Over fifty yards follow us @shootingtimes

Respondents: 243

To do this week

Wild Justice is trying to block game bird releases in protected areas

Caroline Bedell, BASC’s executive director of conservation, said: “The shooting community should not be panicked by this latest cynical action by Wild Justice.

“This is a short-sighted attack that risks causing

long-term damage to environmental protections afforded by the EU Birds and Habitats Directives.

“The Government should not have to be deviating from its work to mitigate vexatious actions by anticonservation organisations.”

February is

S H O O T traditionally one

Sab sparks fury over ‘tracker’ A countryside group has called for a change in the law after police refused to prosecute a hunt saboteur who allegedly fitted a GPS tracking device to a hunt supporter’s vehicle.

The saboteur was observed by the vehicle’s owner interfering with a Land Rover and trailer shortly before Christmas.

When the owner, 68-year-old Mary Wynne-

A saboteur admitted fitting a device but police say it wasn’t a crime

Jones from Market Drayton, checked her vehicle she found what she claimed was a tracking device.

However, the police have decided to take no action – even though they confirmed the saboteur had admitted planting something.

The letter to Mrs Wynne-Jones stated: “As the female made it quite clear the alleged tracker was NOT placed there to commit theft, no crime has been committed.”

Chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, Tim Bonner, said: “The repercussions go way beyond hunting. Anyone could so easily be the victim of stalking. This is a shocking violation of privacy which could put people in serious danger. Action needs to take place to address this loophole.”

of the best months for pigeon shooting.

Speak to farmers in your area about opportunities to protect young crops from marauding bands of woodies and keep an eye on Shooting Times for expert advice on how to target them.

Don’tstopfeeding, evenwhenthe seasonisover.Remaininggamebirds aredependentonfeedingandlarge numbersofwildbirdswillalsousegame birdfeedtosurvivethehungergapin winter.Feedingshouldcontinueuntil abundant natural food is available.

FEED

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 7

NEWS EVENTS DIARY

The new agriculture bill aims to overhaul farm subsidies and promote conservation

30 JANUARY BASC GAME DINNER Kilpeck Inn, Hereford, bit.ly/kilpeckgame 30 JANUARY WELSH BIG FARMLAND BIRD COUNT TRAINING DAY Cruglas, Swyddffynnon, Ystrad Meurig, Ceredigion bit.ly/welshbirdcount

30 JANUARY FISHING FOR SCHOOLS — TALK WITH FOUNDER CHARLES JARDINE Farlows, Pall Mall, London 14 FEBRUARY COUPLES’ VALENTINE CLAY DAY Fauxdegla Shooting School, Llandegla, Wrexham bit.ly/valentineclay 22 FEBRUARY SCBC LADIES’ CLAY SHOOT Doveridge Clay Sports, Ashbourne, Derbyshire bit.ly/SCBCclay

S. ALLAN / ALAMY

11 MARCH GWCT ROADSHOW Dower House & Spa, Bond End, North Yorkshire HG5 9AL gwct.org.uk/roadshows

‘Habitat managers will be rewarded’ New bill to replace EU’s Common Agriculture Policy promotes conservation — but not all are convinced The Government’s new agriculture bill has met with mixed reactions from the shooting and conservation communities.

The new bill, which only applies to England, sets out the proposed scheme of subsidies that will replace subsidies under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy after Brexit.

as carbon storage, clean air and water, healthy soils, public access and biodiversity.

Richard Leach, UK sales manager with leading game-feed manufacturer Keepers Choice, told Shooting Times: “There is much in the new agricultural bill that is encouraging. We are particularly heartened

“Game initiatives will play a full part in the rural economy” The new system will be introduced over a period of seven years from 2021. Crucially, ministers plan to remove the need for land to be farmed for it to qualify for subsidies and dismantle the system that favours large land holdings over smaller ones.

Instead of paying farmers to farm, money will be paid for delivering ‘public goods’ such

8 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

that matters such as habitat management and biodiversity are going to be properly rewarded.

“The bill recognises the importance of conservation, and suggests that game and stewardship initiatives will play a full part in country life and the rural economy. The proposed legislation also has the potential to spread the message to a wider

audience about the contribution of countryside pursuits to the environment in general.”

However, conservationist, farmer and shooter Graham Denny was less convinced. He told Shooting Times: “It looks good for big estate farmers who can afford the machinery costs to convert to minimum tillage systems. Those are great on a large farm with massive rotations but small farms are still best for wildlife.”

He said that eight years ago the Rural Payments Agency had deducted cash from his payments because he allowed scrub on his land — even though it helped create a nationally important population of turtle doves.

“Wildlife will still lose out until the Government changes the policy on scrub and recognises that the provision of this type of habitat is a public good,” he said.

Matt Cross

Email your stories / STeditorials@ti-media.com

Terriers win praise after killing 730 rats on farm The Suffolk and Norfolk Rat Pack has won plaudits from the national press after cleaning up 730 rats in a day from a single farm.

The squad of terriers and their handlers killed the rodents on a badly infested pig farm near Eye in Suffolk.

The feat won praise from a range of newspapers

that often oppose hunting, including the Sun, the Daily Star and the Daily Mail, as well as website Unilad.

People reacting on the story were also overwhelmingly positive, with one comment on the Daily Mail website saying it was “nature at it’s best. No pollution, no chemicals.”

Terriers from the West Midland Rat Pack on a pest-control task

A spokesman for the Tweed Valley Rat Pack, which operates in southern Scotland, explained the value of terriers in controlling rats.

“Environmental impact is negligible due to the reduction in rodenticide use,” he said. “Barn owls, kestrels, along with other predatory birds and mammals, all benefit.

“A good terrier pack should remove about 75 per cent of the population, which will provide cost savings compared to a purely rodenticide-based regime.”

The feat has been described as a record but does not match the tally of terrier Jacko, who in 1862 killed more than 1,000 rats in just over 90 minutes.

Trophy export story inaccurate A quick fact check by Shooting Times has found serious problems with a story in the Daily Telegraph that claimed hunting trophies of buzzards and cranes had been exported from the UK. The story reported that “data from the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) shows that hunters are exporting the bodies of rare birds as trophies from Britain to the US, including buzzards and cranes”.

A review of the CITES export database by Shooting Times revealed that no wild cranes have ever been exported as hunting trophies from the UK. A similar search for the genus Buteo, which includes all British buzzard species, showed that three buzzards listed as trophies were exported from the UK to the

USA, one in 2009, one in 2006 and one in 2004.

Natural England did not issue licences to kill buzzards until 2015 and the record does not state the origin of the trophy, suggesting these were either historic pieces of taxidermy or trophies from elsewhere passing through the UK.

The Telegraph toned down its story online after being contacted for comment by Shooting Times, removing the reference to cranes.

A story about puffins being shot by trophy hunters from the UK was debunked

by Shooting Times last summer (News, 7 August).

NEWS IN BRIEF

GunsOnPegs in charity boost GunsOnPegs has launched a new campaign, Feed One, to raise money for the Country Food Trust.

Throughout 2020 the company will donate the cost of one meal to the charity for every enquiry made to shoots by Guns though the GunsOnPegs website or app.

GunsOnPegs aims to feed 10,000 people in 2020.

The Country Food Trust makes quality game-based meals that go to people who cannot afford to feed themselves or their families. The trust currently produces two products, the Country Casserole and the Country Curry, both made with pheasant.

Ash archive aims to defeat dieback An ash archive has been opened in Hampshire in an effort to undo some of the damage done by ash dieback disease. The archive contains grafts of trees that have shown indications of resistance to the disease. The next steps for the project are to monitor tolerance levels of the trees under real-world conditions and continue to refine the archive by removing any trees that are damaged by the disease and replacing them with newly identified tolerant trees from the wider countryside and other trials.

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @SHOOTINGTIMESUK The Telegraph story alleged that crane trophies had been exported

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 9

LETTERS LET TER OF THE WEEK ISSN: 0037-4164 Shooting Times, TI Media Ltd, Pinehurst 2, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF.

For editorial enquiries: STeditorials@ti-media.com 01252 555220 For picture enquiries: max.tremlett@ti-media.com Subscription hotline: 0330 333 1113 help@magazinesdirect.com Editor Patrick Galbraith Deputy editor Ed Wills edward.wills@ti-media.com Brand assistant Sarah Pratley 01252 555220 Group art director Kevin Eason Art editor Rob Farmer Picture editor Max Tremlett Chief sub-editor Sarah Potts Deputy chief sub-editor Nicola Jane Swinney nicola.swinney@ti-media.com Sub-editor Richard Reed richard.reed@ti-media.com Digital editor Charlotte Peters charlotte.peters@ti-media.com www.shootinguk.co.uk Managing director Kirsty Setchell Group managing director Adrian Hughes Classified advertising Will McMillan 01252 555305 will.mcmillan@ti-media.com Display advertising Rebecca Norris 07929 369204 rebecca.norris@ti-media.com Charlene Homewood 07815 712678 charlene.homewood@ti-media.com Laurence Pierce 07971 605143 laurence.pierce@ti-media.com Group advertisement manager Stuart Duncan stuart.duncan@ti-media.com Advertisement production Tony Freeman tony.freeman@ti-media.com Innovator (for loose and bound-in inserts) 020 3148 3710 Can’t find ST? 020 3148 3300 Back issues 01795 662976 support@mags-uk.com

Shooting Times is the official weekly journal of BASC and the CPSA BASC Marford Mill, Rossett LL12 0HL Tel 01244 573000 CPSA PO Box 750, Woking, GU24 0YU Tel 01483 485400

D. MOORE

Wereservetherighttoeditletters.Nolettershouldexceed250 words.Letterswillnotbeusedunlesstheauthorisprepared tohavetheirnameandcountyofresidencepublished.

Lettersshouldbeaddressedto:TheEditor,Pinehurst2, FarnboroughBusinessPark,Hants,GU147BF,oremail STletters@ti media.com.Pleaseincludeadaytimetelephone number and postal address.

This week’s cover image was captured by Sarah Farnsworth

Because ladies love wildfowling too It’s really exciting to see that women are being actively encouraged to get into shooting, and as someone who has been wildfowling for two years regularly, I was asked to speak to the women attending an Introduction to Wildfowling event in Essex, hosted

by BASC and Blackwater Wildfowlers Association.

After the ladies had spent the day covering a variety of topics, including range judging, quarry identification and some practice at clay targets, I was asked to talk about my own experiences of the sport and to provide some reassurance that wildfowling is for everyone.

While I was more than happy to share my enthusiasm for the beauty and magic of the marsh, especially at sunrise, I discovered that was actually required was more practical help and the provision of spare equipment. The women attending this course were keen to try something different from what they were used to,

but were coming from a driven game background, with smart coats and gun slips.

Obviously, you don’t want people to have to buy equipment for a one-off event, but what hadn’t been considered was that smart gear will be ruined in mud. BASC had kindly provided waders, but Saturday evening found me gathering up spare wildfowlingsuitable coats and gun slips to be used on the marsh the next morning.

Other things to consider is that waders and other outdoor clothing tends to be designed for men and may not fit a woman’s figure. Similarly, how often do you see children on shoots in ill-fitting hand-medowns that mean they don’t enjoy it as much because they are uncomfortable?

The Sunday morning’s flight was the coldest one there had been for a while. With a high tide, it was definitely a new experience, for me as well, on ground that I hadn’t been

to before. This included wading through water topping a shingle beach and with a bridge partly under water.

The women got well acquainted with brent geese and were able to listen to, and eventually see, mallard, wigeon and teal. Some greylag passed out of range behind and the odd shelduck was mixed in among the flighting teal to challenge newly learned quarry identification skills.

The mentors from Blackwater Wildfowlers were excellent, both patient and knowledgeable. The attendees enjoyed the morning and confirmed they would definitely be looking to do more wildfowling in the future.

I would encourage others to take people wildfowling at any opportunity but don’t miss the little things that you take for granted — and remember that marsh mud really does get everywhere.

Anna King, by email

IN ASSOCIATION WITH BROWNING The winner of Letter of the Week will receive a Browning Powerfleece. Warm and practical, it is ideal for both the peg and the pub and is available in sizes S-5XL. For more information visit www.browning.eu.

Colour dependent on availability.

WHY SIDE-BY-SIDE Like your correspondent Mr Norris, I too miss Gough Thomas’s articles (Letters, 15 January). How about reprinting some of them?

One in particular that I recall gave a list of reasons to shoot with a side-by-side rather than with an over-and-under, though I can only remember about three of the 10 that I think he listed.

As a member of the former minority category, I would thoroughly enjoy bringing it to the attention of the over-and-under shooters in my syndicate.

N. Bylo, by email

10 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

The Editor responds: We are looking into the possibilities of reprinting some of Gough Thomas’s pieces, as there clearly is an interest out there.

More recently, we ran a powerful argument in favour of the side-byside written by Simon Reinhold, who works for Holts Auctioneers (Why we’re on the side of the sideby-side, 6 March 2019).

CARELESS DOG OWNERS I have been helping my siblings with their horses and single sheep, as my brother is recovering from two operations.

Over the past few days, a yearling roebuck has been coming out during the day, in full view of the public from a bridleway. I have done my best to keep the deer out of view and into the wood; my presence is enough to put him into cover — until a day last week.

A dog must been out of its owner’s control because I found the deer with the skin stripped off a back leg, the muscle torn and bleeding from the mouth. I took the necessary steps.

It was the third deer this year to be killed by uncontrolled dogs.

Do their owners not care?

M. Crooks, Northumberland

Email your letters / STletters@ti-media.com FIRST-CLASS SERVICE I thought readers might be interested in my story, considering the reports of poor service from various firearm licensing departments throughout the country.

On 13 January I took my old .22 rifle to Gilsan Sports near Richmond, where it was declared beyond repair, so I bought another rifle. They kindly filled in all the paperwork for me, which I posted to North Yorkshire Police firearms department that morning. At 10am on 15 January, I received my new certificate.

This was first-class service and many thanks to the North Yorkshire firearm department.

M. Benson, North Yorkshire

THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING

HARK THE PINTAIL Mike Swan said that pintail were very quiet ducks and he had never heard them call (Can you ID that duck?, 15 January).

I can tell you that the drake pintail have lowpitched garbled whistle, and the ducks have a low-pitched call like a hen teal but not as sharp – that is the best way for me to describe it.

Over the years I have been in close proximity of pintail while out on punt-gunning and shoulder-gunning forays in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s

through the shoot. I’m so glad the Guns bagged two woodcock!

There was some chatter on Twitter recently, from the usual suspects, shouting down a conservationist and shoot captain who tried to argue that shoots were harbouring populations of woodcock and snipe by creating the habitat hat these birds favour.

Had they read Mr Bell’s nspiring series, it might have changed heir minds.

He points out they had seen woodcock n double figures during the day, yet only accounted for two of their number.

At this time of year, as every shooter should knows, any woodcock shot are likely to be migrant birds, rather than resident breeding ones. And all shoots protect their resident birds by not shooting The shooting community is more than any woodcock before capable of self-regulation on woodcock I have been following Jack Bell’s interesting series about his wild bird shoot with great interest. In the most recent instalment (Woodcock odyssey, 22 January), I was really rooting for him, enjoying the build-up as he and the Guns made their way

in and around the Mersey estuary. During those times it held the biggest wintering population of pintail in Europe; in November 1980 the figure was estimated at 18,450, which represented more than three-quarters of the British population.

P. Culley, by email

NEXT WEEK IN

BAG THE BIRDS How to build a big bag when roost shooting pigeons.

ON OF THE MARSH ike Swan goes fowling the footsteps of enham Jordan.

the end of November/beginning of December. This shows that the shooting community is more than capable of self-regulation.

As Mr Bell says at the end of his evocative article, it is rarely about shooting significant numbers of birds, but improving habitat for our beloved waders that will both boost local ecology and sporting interests.

Our opponents might scoff at this, but Mr Bell’s Craigenputtock project is the proof of the pudding that’s in the eating. In this case, I hope, literally — both snipe and woodcock are delicious!

Pam McIntosh, by email

GAME TO EAT An Italian restaurant owner heads out on a species day to feed hungry gameloving customers.

HUNT FOLLOWING How wonderful to read a huntsman’s point of view (Kennel Diary, 22 January).

It gives a gentle nudge to encourage farmers and gamekeepers to enjoy a day with hounds. Followers are eternally grateful for permission granted to hunt over others’ land — it is much appreciated.

C. Breen, Cheshire

‘‘The wildlife of today is not ours to dispose of as we please.

We have it in trust. We must account for it to those who come after.’’ King George VI

TOP SPANIELS All the action from the IGL Spaniel Championships at Blenheim Palace.

... AND MUCH MORE!

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 11

Jamie Blackett

Country Diary

Veganuary is gaining traction, with the usual suspects lining up to push the vegan agenda on television — when will the madness end?

J

Cattle and sheep are blissfully unaware of all the arguments that their stomach gases cause

The only silver lining in this poisoned cloud is that it has allowed farmer-hacks like me to earn a few quid selling articles critiquing the propaganda. This has meant having to sit through Meat the Family, an ethically dubious reality TV show in which small children are made to raise baby farm animals as pets then decide whether to eat them. Then another where a team of

“Farmers can skive off for a few days’ shooting without being made to feel guilty about it” fanatics led by animal rights activist Joey Carbstrong attempted to turn Merthyr Tydfil into Veganville. The Welsh didn’t take the veganists to their hearts.

They even managed to yoke the Corbynista George Monbiot to the capitalist cause. His impassioned plea in Apocalypse Cow to save the planet by embracing laboratory food would result in taking incomes from the many (poor farmers) and giving them to the few (rich food-tech billionaires). But dear old George appears not to have noticed the irony.

12 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Earlier this month we settled down to watch a documentary called How to Steal Pigs and Influence People. Oh well, the madness won’t last forever. The cattle and sheep are blissfully unaware of all the arguments that their flatulence causes and I’m sure sense will prevail in the end.

January has also been the month when we finally stopped talking about Brexit — what a relief that is — but also when we committed to leaving the EU. Despite what the metropolitan elite are saying, this is not going to have much effect in cities; but boy does it have the potential to unleash some big changes in the countryside. Escaping from the Common Agricultural Policy, and possibly from European environmental directives, brings both opportunities and threats. The RSPB and others are lobbying hard to move things in their direction.

The only consolation is that we now have more countrymen in the cabinet to look after our interests than at any time since Mrs Thatcher. I’m not sure whether to crack open the champagne or console myself with a dram at midnight on the 31st.

Jamie Blackett farms in Galloway.

He runs a small private shoot and was one of the founders of the Dumfriesshire & Stewartry Foxhounds.

ALAMY

anuary used to be one of my favourite months. My natural indolence is nurtured by a slowdown of work on the farm. The cattle have settled into their winter routine. Rather like children at school, calves have already had whatever was going to give them pneumonia. And their mothers are still a few months away from calving again.

The arable job has been well and truly put to bed; there is no point fussing about the fields, nothing can be done until the soil dries out anyway. And the apparatchiks of the ‘green state’ generally leave us alone.

Winter is still a novelty; it’s one that will wear increasingly thin but for now we can savour frosty mornings and flocks of birds, easily visible, chattering on bare branches.

It is a time when farmers can justifiably skive off for a few days’ shooting without being made to feel guilty about it.

The pheasants may have been thinned out but they are stronger and wilier, twisting and turning in the air to find a gap in the line. The hunting always used to be better in January as ‘travellers’ leave their own territories in search of mates then run like stink back to where they came from.

But Januaries ain’t what they used to be. Apart from the obvious restrictions on hunting — come on Boris, we need to get the ban repealed — we now have ‘Sanctimonuary’, as I call Veganuary.

This used to be a harmless sideshow when anaemic-looking yoghurt-knitters crawled out of their cat sanctuaries to share veggie recipes on daytime television shows. Since then the food industry has cottoned on to the huge profits to be made from processing vegetables into burgers — why? — and the advertising industry has moved seamlessly from selling Christmas fare to pushing plant-based diets during primetime.

For country people, this has meant the New Year hangover is exacerbated by a blizzard of media initiatives to rob farmers of their livelihoods and replace our green and pleasant land with scrub from ‘wilding’. Channel 4 appears to have had a particularly good bung from the global food conglomerates in return for pushing veganism in reality television shows.

Fieldsports action Every Wednesday

Subscribe to SHOOTING TIMES and never miss an issue of the UK’s best fieldsports magazine

FREE

Digital game cookery book

**

Cast aside that flabby chicken and get more game on your table

6

Issues for £6

*

shootingtimessubs.co.uk/jansale20 * After your first 6 issues, your subscription will continue at £24.99 payable every 3 months by UK Direct Debit, saving 30% on the full subscription price of £35.75 . This price is guaranteed for the first 12 months and we will notify you in advance of any price changes. Offer closes 3rd February 2020. ** New subscribers only. Subscription must be purchased online . Terms and conditions apply. For full details, please visit www.magazinesdirect.com/terms.

Driven grey partridges

Poachers turn gamekeepers Serious enough to be safe but raucous enough to be fun, beaters’ day is always greatly anticipated, says Richard Negus

T

he tap, tap of sticks reached my ears from the seemingly impenetrable undergrowth ahead. A hen pheasant took to the wing and made directly for me in a passable impression of the lark ascending, such was her lift. She set her wings and soared in the washedout January sky, the frosted sparkling light turning her mottled plumage the colour of a Rich Tea biscuit.

I mounted my lumpy Lincoln, trying to get on the line, when my

and experienced; they are strong on the wing and completely aware that men with guns spell danger.

While the feathered participants are understandably serious about the proceedings, those of a two-legged variety have something of the endof-term high jinks about them.

‘Catweazle’ is not a nickname I would ideally have chosen. However, ‘Hardy’, the keeper at Benningham Hall (Keeper of the month, 21 August 2019), is a man whose wit is as quick

S. FARNSWORTH

“The birds are wily and experienced; they are strong on the wing and completely aware that men with guns spell danger” concentration was broken by Paul ‘Hardy’ Hardcastle’s East Anglian twang: “Catweazle, that’s yours.”

I duly missed her with both barrels.

I heard him again, muttering this time: “Bloody useless b*gger.”

Such are the delights of a beaters’ day. The birds are wily

as his birds and twice as cutting as his well-managed thorn hedges. His comment on my somewhat unkempt appearance resembling the 1970s TV hedge wizard also highlights that, like all good keepers, he is very observant.

The shoot is in the heart of Suffolk, an excellent example of agriculture,

Beaters’ day dawns and a Gun takes an early shot as the sun burns off the winter mist

14 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

shooting and conservation working hand in hand. Hardy rears and puts down a healthy head of pheasants and grey partridges each season.

The latter add to the very healthy wild population that inhabit the farm’s 2,000 or so acres.

Thick hedges It’s little wonder the greys love this place. Every hedge is as thick at the bottom as it is at the top, thanks to judicious laying. Tussock grasses, clumps of low bramble and teazles cluster in every field corner. Cover crops still stand proud but their heads dip under the weight of seed.

In the past few years, an additional 11 per cent of the farm’s acreage has been taken out of cultivation to provide more habitat. If you buy a day here as a team of Guns, you pay for the day, not the number of birds. The simple reason for that is you have to be a very good shot to connect with a covey of Hardy’s greys; his pheasants don’t wait about either.

Driven grey partridges

Keeper Paul Hardcastle (right) explains where the birds are likely to break cover

Being a beater at Benningham is physically arduous; they sorely deserve their day on the peg. Grey partridges require a lot more walkingin than pheasants. Buster, who is one of Hardy’s stalwart beating team, carries a pedometer. It indicates he usually walks at least 12 miles in a day, often more. When standing on a peg here, it is quite normal to be waiting eagerly for a quarter of an hour while the dots on the horizon eventually appear as fully formed beaters.

The beaters will flag-in miles of cover crop, oilseed rape and sugar beet, flushing coveys as they go. On the second drive I watched one such covey take off in front of the beating line a good mile and a half away from

the line of Guns. The birds crisscrossed the contours of the gently rolling landscape, flitting over the tops of the hedges, passing over the Guns with only one of their number falling to a shot. They didn’t stop flying until they were easily another half a mile to our rear.

Elemental The grey partridge is an amazing bird and rivals the grouse as the ultimate sporting challenge for any Gun. The beaters here are all true countrymen and women and there is a real veneration for the grey. To be a member of the Benningham beating team is to be part of something elementally Suffolk.

The bag included grey partridge, redleg and hen pheasants

The beaters’ day is when, metaphorically speaking, poachers become gamekeepers. Unlike teams of paying Guns, beaters know intimately where the flushing points are. They are more than au fait with how the vagaries of wind, position of the sun and temperature affect the behaviour of the birds. No one present needs reminding as to which peg is a hotspot.

With all this inside information, you would imagine a beaters’ day would be a slaughter. Far from it; the birds are now wise and standards of marksmanship can vary hugely.

For some beaters, this might be the sole day in the season they pick up a gun, far preferring to work their

Beaters push through the cover crop on the edge of a field to flush the partridges

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 15

Driven grey partridges

“The grey partridge rivals the grouse as the ultimate sporting challenge for any Gun” dog and wield a stick or flag for their sport. Some are remarkable Shots, hardened wildfowlers or the sort who notch up triple-figure bags of pigeons in the spring and summer.

Because Hardy releases greys on his shoot, he is keen that their numbers are, if needed, thinned out, particularly this late in the season.

This ensures wild birds have the space to nest and brood. Birds that are already paired up are strictly left alone, but coveys are fair game.

The fourth drive of the day consisted of a small mixed broadleaf cover sited in the middle of a sloping field of stubble and volunteer rape.

The beaters could be seen more than a mile away, appearing and disappearing like wraiths as they blanked-in fields of stubble. Before them a covey of greys flushed, hugging the gentle uphill slope, popping up over the hedges, then as one swooping back down to shoulder height. From our pegs their flight looked slow and steady.

Starburst Greys are deceptive birds. No sooner did they reach the broadleaf cover than their seemingly sedate flight revealed itself to be approaching 60mph. They starburst over the cover at double head height and, for a fleeting moment, every peg had halfa-dozen grey partridges over them.

My friend Ian ‘Pinhead’ Lange had joined me for the day and I’d lent him

A Gun shoots a marauding pigeon while they are waiting for the off

my gun for this drive. I claimed it was to observe proceedings for literary purposes. In truth I hoped to witness Ian miserably fail to connect with a Benningham grey, then laugh at him.

Too good Grey partridges are low-flying birds and because of a stop it was unsafe for Ian to shoot out in front in textbook manner. Waiting for them to scream overhead forced him to play a game of catch-up that he was more or less destined to lose. He missed the tail end of the mini covey behind and, as I looked up and down the line, Ian’s story was repeated by every Gun. The birds were simply too good.

A shout went up; the beating line had reached the cover. Pheasants and redlegs flushed in waves and the beaters’ day team acquitted themselves admirably. Those who had brought their dogs discovered that their beating companions, so steady in cover, ran-in like whippets

Guns swing into action as a covey of partridges appears in the distance

16 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

when asked to become peg dogs. The swearing from Hardy was as creative as it was explicit.

It is vignettes such as these that make a beaters’ day such fun: serious enough to be safe, raucous enough to differentiate the thing from a ‘normal’ day’s shooting.

My gun now back in my care, the final drive took place as daylight was fading. Birds flew for home with continued vigour. Hardy marshalled the drive with his usual mixture of humour and barbed wit. A cock bird erupted to my left from a thick hedge screened by some willows, so I had to strain to get a bead on him.

I fired more in hope than expectation and was delighted as he folded his wings, dying in the air.

I looked around for plaudits. Pinhead was looking the other way, the other Guns were busy, but Hardy had seen it. “Finally, Catweazle. Even you can hit one if you blaze away enough.”

A beater’s life is a hard one.

1959

JOH

CELEBRAT

S

ADE

2019

JOHN FORSEY GUNS PRESENTS: RIZZINI REGAL ROUND BODY ACTION. SUPERB ENGRAVING AS SHOWN. 30” BARRELLS, SOLID GAME RIB WITH MULTI CHOKES, 2 ¾ CHAMBERS. HIGLY FIGURED SELECTED WALNUT STOCKS, YOU MUST SEE THEM. AVAILABLE FROM STOCK: 12 GAUGE, 20 GAUGE AND 28 GAUGE. PRICE FOR ANY GAUGE £4,960 ALSO AVAILBLE ON FINANCE FROM £162.02 PER MONTH OVER 36 MONTHS – CALL TO DISCUSS

RIZZINI REGAL ‘DELUXE’ A ROUND BODY ACTION WITH ENGRAVED SIDE PLATES, EVEN BETTER WALNUT FIGURED STOCK. TRIGGER GUARD & STRAP. FULLY ENGRAVED, PRINCE OF WALES STYLE PISTOL GRIP WITH END CAP FULLY ENGRAVED. AVAILABLE FROM STOCK: 28 GAUGE, 20 GAUGE, 12 GAUGE, ALL 30” BARRELS PRICE £5,775 - FINANCE AVAILABLE SEE THESE GUNS AT THE BRITISH SHOOTING SHOW FEB 14TH-16TH AT THE NEC 32/34 PARK VIEW R WELLING, N.W. KENT DA16 GUNSHOP LOCATED ON M

22 www.johnforsey.co.uk johnforseysales@gmail.com 221 2. PLENTY OF FREE PARKING. CLOSED SUNDAYS.

Walked-up woodcock

A wing and a prayer We often think of woodcock as haunting Britain’s wildest places but Tim Maddams finds some for the pot just beyond London’s suburbs

S. FARNSWORTH

I

love eating woodcock but in recent years I have, like most Guns, reined in my enthusiasm for this wonderfully tasty bird.

I have my own set of rules that work in terms of aiming to be sustainable and very careful with woodcock.

I never shoot the inspiring waders on driven pheasant days, with the exception of one shoot where I am told there are no resident birds and the migrants have yet to offer me a shot in six years of shooting there.

I will shoot woodcock in the far north if rough shooting and I will shoot one rough shooting in the counties in which I most often find myself — Devon, Dorset and Somerset — but only one per year from each.

With these thoughts chasing around my head and Radio 4 warning of the impending Storm Brenda, I trundled my old van towards an unlikely place to shoot woodcock — Hertfordshire, and not just Hertfordshire but less-than-fourminutes-from-the-M25 Hertfordshire.

Had I not been on my way to meet Shooting Times’s pigeon guru Tom Payne, I might have been even more sceptical than I already was.

Woodcock like it quiet and wet.

I arrived a little late at Tom’s and apologised to the gathered team.

Orders were issued and, as most of the team set off into the growing wind on foot, I was told to “get in the Land Rover” by the ever charming Tom, who wanted to fill me in about the slice of woodcock nirvana at the back of his cottage.

“It breaks my heart, Tim,” he began as we bumped up the lane past a few dog walkers, who seemed to dismay Tom. “We used to shoot this little patch of woodland about twice a year and once shot more than 17

Tim Maddams waits for the chance to bag a woodcock but on this occasion he was unlucky

18 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

woodcock in one morning. We get nothing like that now.

“The muntjac have moved in and made tracks in the bracken, which have led the dog walkers to believe they are paths. They have deviated from the footpath route and, despite regular requests, seem determined to let their dogs run wild in the wood.”

Noisy hum I began to see Tom’s point but I am an argumentative soul and like to pick holes in things. I quizzed him as we came to a halt as to how much the forestry would have changed as the trees matured — perhaps the ground was no longer suitable for large numbers of woodcock. The M25 is noisy, a constant hum, and that’s not to mention the myriad light aircraft that buzzed overhead that day. Not exactly woodcock paradise.

Tom gave me a long look. “If you were a migrating woodcock coming here to hang out for a few months, and the first two days you arrive you are disturbed by dogs, you are likely to move on,” he said. I can see his point.

As we got ready and the rest of the team wondered whether we would even see a woodcock, the ground looked perfect at first glance. But everywhere were the not-so-subtle

Walked-up woodcock signs of humans at their lazy worst, crisp packets, sweet wrappers and the almost inevitable odd pile of fly-tipped rubbish were all in evidence.

However, Tom is an enthusiastic host and we were here to shoot, so we lined out in the wood and began our sporting manoeuvres.

After 100 yards the unlikely occurred and a shout of ‘Woodcock!’ went up from the team on my right.

The bird flew fairly straight and though the woods, right to left about 35 yards ahead.

Commando-style drop This offered a good chance for the Gun to my right, Adam Godley, but his 20-bore barrels both failed to connect. Tom was standing to my immediate left so I decided not to have a shot, despite his commandostyle drop to the ground to get out of the way.

We continued in this fashion around the woods and soon encountered a pheasant or two.

Again, I thought how much woodcock hate disturbance and wondered if the pheasants were encroaching on their lives as well. A few were smartly despatched by Brian Robertson and swiftly retrieved by Darren Hanible’s well-behaved cocker Benjy.

Shooting Times deputy editor Ed Wills also connected with a smart hen pheasant, which his equally lovely cocker, Bubble, retrieved.

Matt Freeman pauses proceedings while a horse rider goes past

We then all lined out over a very promising piece of ground that pushed out towards the edge of the wood. It looked perfect for woodcock, with lots of bracken, minimal evidence of footpaths and a few big rhododendrons and laurels.

Sure enough we had only just set off when Matt Freeman to my left called up a woodcock. I must have almost trodden on it but had not heard it take flight.

No sooner had we set off again when a muntjac raced back though the line. At the same time, a flurry of shots at the far end of the line was punctuated by a cheer of success.

I was to discover later that two

woodcock had been shot at by three Guns, none of whom, it seemed, was quite certain who had shot what.

With the birds safely in the bag we headed back towards Tom’s Defender. As we reached the end of the wood, a gnarly old cock pheasant broke cover and turned over the Guns, heading out the back of the woods. I let it decide its line, brought the barrels into play and smartly shot the trees either side of it.

I endured the ridicule over a glass of raspberry vodka before I set to work in the kitchen. Granted, two birds weren’t going feed us all, but it was my job to show everyone how to cook woodcock properly.

“A flurry of shots at the far end of the line was punctuated by a cheer of success”

Gun Matt Taylor brings down a hen bird in a difficult shot through the trees — the day’s shooting would ultimately produce only two woodcock for the pot

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 19

Game Cookery

Ingredients 2 OVEN-READY WOODCOCK, GUTS IN BUT HEAD AND WINGS REMOVED

ROASTED WOODCOCK, CELERIAC AND CARROT POTTAGE

½ PACK BUTTER SALT AND BLACK PEPPER A LITTLE THYME, ROSEMARY AND SAGE

THE METHOD Serves 2

POTTAGE 3 CLOVES OF GARLIC, PEELED AND CHOPPED

TO ROAST THE WOODCOCK

¼ OF A LARGE CELERIAC, PEELED AND DICED QUITE SMALL

1

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C, rub the woodcock with a little oil and season well with salt and pepper. It is a good idea to make sure the birds are not fridge cold when you start, as this will help you to better judge how cooked they are as you go along.

2

Heat a small ovenproof frying pan over a moderate heat and begin browning the birds, starting them on their backs. Once they have taken a little colour, turn them first to one side and then the other, keeping the breast meat away from the heat but browning the skin on the sides. Only when you are happy that the back and sides are nicely golden should you flip them on to their breasts.

3

Briefly colour the breasts and then flip the birds back on to their backs and put into the oven for between 5 and 8 minutes, testing them regularly. Watch out for the breasts firming up and/or the guts popping out — both good indicators that the birds have had enough heat.

Remove them to a warm plate.

2 LARGE CARROTS, PEELED AND DICED QUITE SMALL 2 SHALLOTS, PEELED AND DICED VERY FINELY

and the rounded flavour of the sherry vinegar starts to come thorough.

A LITTLE OLIVE OIL SHERRY VINEGAR

3

Once you are satisfied, add enough hot water to just about cover everything in the pan and simmer, stirring occasionally until all the vegetables and the rice are tender.

Turn off the heat.

TO SERVE

1

Carve the legs off the birds and return them to the warm plate, adding any juices from the plate to the pottage before doing so. Cut the breasts from the birds, taking care to leave as little meat behind as possible.

2

Use a teaspoon to scrape the guts from the inside of the woodcock and remove the gizzard from the rest of the offal. This is small, about the size of a marble, and quite hard; if you

FOR THE POTTAGE A pottage is a collection of vegetables and grains, in this case rice, cooked in a little fat and water with herbs and seasoning.

1

Add all the remaining butter to a casserole dish and, when it starts to foam, add the rosemary, thyme and sage then the chopped vegetables and garlic. Sweat for a few minutes until just starting to tenderise. Season.

2

Sprinkle in the rice and again sweat for 5 minutes or so before adding a dash of good sherry vinegar.

Make sure you continue to cook the pottage or it will end up tasting acidic; keep cooking until the acidity drops 20 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

A SPRIG OF FRESH PARSLEY 1 LEMON cut it open you will probably find it full of green, crunchy stuff. Chop the rest of the offal and add to the pottage.

3

Season the pottage one last time, adding the finely chopped parsley and a squeeze of the lemon as well.

You may wish to add a drop of hot water if everything is beginning to tighten up a little.

4

Slice the woodcock breasts and arrange the meat over the pottage, either in the pan or in a nice serving dish.

The last word Everyone seemed to love this woodcock dish. As I said fond farewells to the lucky ones who were staying behind for a pigeon flighting session, I began to wonder about woodcock. As Guns we often take for granted that the birds’ popularity as a quarry is down to their reputation as hard targets and their wild mystique. When the first woodcocks were hunted, it would have been for the simple and honest reason of survival, and what a happy survival that must have been, because the flavour of woodcock is among the finest in the world.

As I headed for Devon in the teeth of a gale I had one final thought about woodcock. Despite my desire to be very selective and only to take a few birds, I would find it very hard to go without should the science tell us there is not a sustainable surplus, because they taste far too good. I am sure I will manage, though. After a I have been living withou salmon and tuna for mo than a decade now.

A dish fit for a king — roasted woodcock pottage

Pin feathers were used by Rolls-Royce to paint the gold stripe on its cars

Species day

A shot of adrenalin

Woodlands, wetlands and lakes provide a superb setting for building a mixed bag on a ‘mop-up day’ in Shropshire, says Simon Garnham

M. BEEDIE

A

fter a distinguished war — fighting tours in Afghanistan and Iraq — James ‘Tommo’ Thompson left the Royal Marines to take over the family estate.

As you might expect for a commando-trained Mountain Leader used to operational service at 10,000ft, he set about phase two of his career with energy and in 10 years has transformed the business. He and his wife Asa have established a profitable and ever-increasing dairy herd and have built a sustainable business park, as well as raising four strapping sons.

While the estate develops on hard-headed practical lines, the shoot retains an informal feel. And as a former colleague and godfather to Tommo’s eldest son, William, I was

delighted to be invited to the family’s ‘mop-up day’ in late January with the rest of the Garnham gang. It’s a highlight of our shooting year.

With connotations of thin pickings, ‘mop up’ doesn’t tell the full story of what can be a hugely enjoyable occasion. Often such days are cocks only, when gamekeepers try to rebalance the ratio or introduce new bloodlines, leading to inevitable mishaps in low winter sunlight and much leg-pulling.

Skill and fieldcraft Birds are wary, which adds excitement. Instructions are whispered, doors of shoot vehicles are shut with caution and building a bag takes skill and fieldcraft. On a mop-up day, quarry species can be varied,

William Beharrell’s nine-year-old Lab Amber on her way back from retrieving a hen pheasant

22 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

with woodies and squirrels providing as much fun as wily pheasants.

Paying Guns can get lucky with the chance to exceed agreed bags when keepers want to minimise wild stock and possible infection or simply to improve their averages.

In Shropshire, squally clouds loomed ominously as Guns gathered for breakfast at the Thompsons’ family home, Sansaw Hall. Tea, toast and old friends, as well as glorious views of a watery sun rising over lush parkland, meant I can’t have been the only team member tempted to stay by the fire rather than face the leaden skies and chill.

But the next generation ensured we were soon in ambush around Boathouse Lake. A pair of battlehardened greylags honked a hasty

Species day

William Beharrell takes a shot at a high-flying bird

retreat and half-a-dozen mallard, sensing danger, escaped the trap. The lake is fringed with imposing Scots pines and rhododendron, so Guns and beaters can get within 50 yards of it unseen.

The piping whistles and contented quacks told us that teal and more mallard were in residence. Their spring was the adrenalin shot we needed to remind us there was work to be done and it was a wake-up call when only one mallard was picked for more than 30 shots fired.

Tommo’s youngest, Morgan, claimed the handsome drake as his — though this seemed improbable given that Morgan was armed with a wooden crossbow to defend himself against his brother Frank’s cap gun.

Several of us were reminded of the pitfalls of late-night drinking, being yards behind the flush or only able to watch in wonder as teal became pinpricks against the gunmetal sky.

On to the Reservoir drive. Only four beaters were needed for a show of purely wild birds. Guns crept

more cautiously this time and were rewarded with several minutes of spectacular and challenging shooting.

Dave Jones, an old friend of Tommo’s from Reading University, pulled down a handsome drake teal that fell cartwheeling from at least 45 yards up. Laura Windsor sent a mallard into freefall with her second barrel.

Then it was time for experience to step back and youth to take over as parents handed on to their offspring.

Archway Cottage is one of many mixed woodland areas planted for shooting and hunting by Tommo’s Victorian forebears, some of whom can be seen in paintings or photos around the family home. One picture stands out — when Sansaw hosted Edward VII on a shooting expedition.

Magnificent The sport is clearly in safe hands with the current generation — 15-yearold Angus Hill-Trevor, under the watchful eye of father Iain, took a magnificent hen pheasant well behind him with the second barrel of his 20-bore Yildiz. Fellow schoolboy Rory Harrison accounted for a glorious cock pheasant just as

“We could only watch in wonder as teal became pinpricks against the gunmetal sky”

Dave Jones reachees for a shot on a high teal

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 23

Species day Will and Ed Prideaux in Lewis’s Lodge Wood

it set its wings at full tilt. The children were showing the adults how shooting should be done.

Enormous elevenses of soup, home-made sausage rolls and Wags Prideaux’s family secret fruitcake were followed by another spectacular show of wild ducks.

New Road Pool must have been home to more than 100 teal. About half of them relied on their incredible ability to gain height and were out of range in seconds. However, Wags’s son Ed stretched hard over his right shoulder to drop a drake well behind him to be retrieved by the family’s black Labrador, Toggle.

The other half relied on their speed to outpace the Guns but a delighted Freddie Thompson shot his first ever bird with one barrel as it rocketed off the pond away to his right-hand side.

The tiny teal gained speed and height before Freddie brought it spinning to earth to be retrieved by two-yearold Labrador Floki.

Freddie’s smile was enough to warm a chilly midwinter day as the little bird was returned to hand. This was definitely a moment for the family game book as another Thompson won his spurs on the red Shropshire soil.

Keeper Pete Howard and his team of beaters had their work cut out for drive five, Brooks’ Wood. A huge block of mixed woodland, with rides much loved by woodcock, was swept by a team of walking Guns and beaters. Jo Summers, the estate

impressive backdrop for a thickly wooded half-acre natural lake that provides superb cover. The geese slipped away unscathed but teal once more provided exceptional sport.

Lightning speed Seventeen-year-old Harriet Cuthbert, a sixth-former from Rugby School, accounted for a super teal and a hen pheasant under the supervision of her mother Antonia. William Thompson shot the bird of the day: a teal other Guns had chosen to leave as being too high. William’s 16-bore Holland & Holland, which he wields at lightning speeds, proved sufficient to send it plummeting to earth — much to his delight and the grudging respect of schoolfriend Will Beharrell.

So a wonderful day drew to a close.

There was just time to walk through

“William Thompson shot the bird of the day: a teal other Guns had chosen to leave as being too high”

Former Royal Marine commando James ‘Tommo’ Thompson heads for the next drive

cabinet maker, led the charge with Ted Shepherd acting as stop.

‘Woodcock forward’ set the Guns’ pulses racing but, typically wily, the mottled king of game birds jinked through the line only yards off the deck and restraint was the order of the day.

With another five pheasants in the bag, we returned to Sansaw for the climax of the day, Lewis’s Pool.

The house and grounds form an

24 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Lewis’s Lodge Wood where former Light Infanteer Rob Windsor broke his duck as a hen pheasant chanced her luck sneaking out from the side of the line. Rob was obviously chuffed to conclude proceedings with the final bird in the bag. The tally: 12 pheasants, two mallard and 19 teal.

All that remained was a huge meal at the pub, a touching speech from nine-year-old Frank and an evening debrief after a superb day’s sport.

Lindsay Waddell is a former chairman of the NGO and a retired gamekeeper

Upland keeper Land management is essential in order to conserve endangered wildlife — yet the media seems to focus on pressure-group propaganda

I

PA PHOTOS

f anyone had told you 20 years ago that a 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl would be known by more of the population than many world leaders, I doubt very much you would have believed them. Yet that is exactly what has happened. In less than two years, environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg has achieved what no one, except by notoriety, has done before.

Named in the top 100 in the world for having the most influence on the population, Greta has achieved it through social media. I’m aware I have visited this topic before, but if we do not get a handle on it, in the words of Private Frazer in Dad’s Army, “We’re doomed.”

A bit dramatic you may say, but I don’t think so. From pressure on African governments to action by councils and now universities in this country, social media is being used as a weapon to stop our sport.

On a personal level, I have no wish to shoot a giraffe or a number of other African species, but what I am aware of is that once the funding stream for their management stops, the animals themselves are doomed.

It has always been the case that no one cares for and manages a species unless they are getting something in return. There have been cases of very wealthy individuals who did it for personal pleasure, but they have been few and far between. The vast majority do it because they enjoy it, but also because it supplies them with a living.

In Africa, once local people lose the employment and the food that hunting brings, the poaching patrols cease and it’s a return to the days of simply killing animals to feed their families. It is also the end of sustainability, the keystone of any sporting enterprise.

That has been the case for 150 years on the grouse moors of this country, but that principle of sustainability is being discarded by those who simply bend to the whims of media pressure.

We have a raft of species heading for, or already on, the red list that are declining fast. However, some individuals, through the media, are trying to stop the management that has kept them there for a very long time.

A helicopter drops water on to smouldering land as firefighters tackle a large fire on Ilkley Moor

To the best of my knowledge, no one who has taken any of the decisions in the past few years to stop sport shooting on their land has any game management experience. Yet decisions are made based on the views of single-issue pressure groups, with potentially catastrophic consequences for wildlife: for example,

“David Bellamy blew our land management trumpet because he understood it” on Ilkley Moor, on public land in Wales and the grounds of the University of Reading (News, 27 November 2019).

I applaud the efforts of the moorland groups who are having some impact at local levels and it is there that it must start.

Convince the people who live locally that what you are doing is a good thing. Bear in mind most of those people now have no connection with your lifestyle, and they have no idea what makes these moors tick.

They have to be told, and in a manner they will take on board.

We no longer have a high-profile environmental standard bearer. The death

of naturalist David Bellamy in December (News, 2 January) was a sad day for moorland gamekeepers. He was the last of his kind; someone of public standing who blew our management trumpet because he not only understood it, but was willing to say so to the media.

I am aware there are others who hold the same views, but they seem unwilling to raise their heads above the parapet. They will say that some of the blanket bog they have seen on grouse moors is the best they have ever seen, but will they go back to their employers and say so? I doubt it.

It is not politically correct to challenge the myth that grouse moor management is bad. There is not the slightest doubt that there is a media bias against shooting, an example being the statement a few months ago that the worst summer fires were on moors managed for grouse shooting.

The British public knows only what it is fed and what the statement regarding moorland management did not say was that keepers had not been allowed to manage the moors in the manner they wished.

In many cases controlled burning had been more or less banned, so when a fire started during the summer there was little to stop it. The media did not report that.

Deliberate or not? Moorland groups must keep fighting their corner, because no one else is going to do it for them.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 25

Game shooting

One barrel is all you Using a single-barrelled shotgun focuses the mind and is the perfect firearm on a farm where con servation is key, says Simon Reinhold

H. LESSMAN

S

ingle-barrel, single-shot shotguns are not popular these days. They are looked down upon as somehow ‘less than’. When I began my shooting life under my father’s instruction, I was as excited as any 14-year-old could be. I had completed my three-year apprenticeship of various gun-, dogand bird-related tasks and my chance had come on the last drive of one of his small syndicate days.

I was confused and crestfallen when I was given only one 16-bore cartridge for my grandfather’s Belgian non-ejector. Without wishing to seem ungrateful, I felt I had to ask the question: “Why can’t I load both barrels?” My father’s response has stuck with me ever since: “Get it right with the first barrel and you won’t need the second.”

I still go back to this now when the wheels fall off in a pigeon hide or on

a peg. This can be through fatigue in the case of the former or a lack of concentration in the latter. I take out one cartridge to focus my mind on the task in hand, not relying on the second barrel.

“Having had a successful shot, my concentration level dropped and I missed three birds” You may have come across the more common single-barrelled guns because they can be picked up for very little money. Working guns such as an AYA Cosmos or a Harrington & Richardson were built to last for farmsteads and pioneers. They have no finesse — finesse was not required

26 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

on a frontier. Durability was the only thing that mattered.

Eccentric There were also some genuinely eccentric guns, special orders that have no reason to exist other than on the whim of a wealthy patron.

It is this category that the gun I used on a conservation-minded shoot near Hingham in Norfolk falls into — a 12-bore made by Stephen Grant on an Alex Henry falling block rifle action. It was made in 1873 for the Duke of Marlborough. I like to think he walked around potting the odd pheasant with a beautifully made and highly unusual gun. It is so unusual that it has a special place in the collection of Nicholas Holt of Holts Auctioneers and I am grateful to my boss for allowing me to borrow it.

My fellow Guns on a blustery day in Norfolk were all like me, enthusiasts

Game shooting

need

for more walking than shooting.

There was a knowing smile when I recounted one of my favourite shooting invitations; it simply read: “Come to lunch. Bring a gun.”

There are syndicates like this all over the country but one thing that stood out on this day was that five of the assembled company worked for Natural England (NE). They all believe that truly sustainable shooting and conservation can work in perfect harmony. Hearing NE staff publicly state that may surprise some, but I am convinced there is a silent majority in the country who understand the benefits that shooting can bring.

I was flattered that more than half the Guns, knowing I was bringing a single-barrel firearm, had brought single barrels themselves for the morning. Various types were on display including a pinfire and a classic Greener GP, a stalwart design of the British Empire.

As we walked to the first drive, Old Hall, with a strengthening wind at our backs, our sense of anticipation grew. A piece of wild bird cover was pushed into a small wood that was essentially an overgrown pit. The hen pheasant that resided there caught the wind and outwitted us all. But we were treated to the spectacle of five

Paul Osborn bags a bird with a blackpowder single-barrel gun

Simon Reinhold, Richard McMullen and John Ebbage walk the marsh full of snipe

A Labrador retrieves the first bird of the day

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 27

Game shooting pristine roe deer. Two jays also used their guile and found the gap to safety.

There was no instruction not to shoot woodcock, but the four we saw were all unsaluted. It seems we were all of the same mind.

The next marsh was lifting with snipe, all of which we left. As it was a Site of Special Scientifc Interest, I dropped the block on the Grant and it flicked back my lead cartridge to be replaced with bismuth. The marsh was so flooded from recent rainfall that only half of it could be walked because footbridges were submerged.

It would have been foolish to try to find the safe crossing points — it was clearly too wet for pheasants — but it led us to the next small wood.

“There could have been three or four big arable fields but little in that to nourish the soul”

Cormorants From the sound of the odd shot at a pigeon, teal and mallard lifted off the ancient mere adjacent to the marsh and the pigeons started to move. I got distracted by the slow procession of a group of cormorants steered by their paddle-shaped tails but soon refocused on pigeons.

Flighting pigeons is one of my favourite pastimes and I found myself going into ‘target acquisition mode’, scanning the trees for movement.

The fact I only had one shot meant my focus was greater than usual.

The first bird looking to land in the ivy-clad tree fell. Having a successful shot under my belt was perhaps why my concentration level dropped and I missed the next three.

Simon as a walking Gun bags a cock pheasant

On the way to the next wood, I was asked to be a walking Gun down the side of the young plantation that led towards the old marl pit which comprises its bottom half. We passed piled-up cuttings of the conservation headlands that will be used to seed other areas with wildflowers — the deep conservation theme of this shoot was becoming clear.

A Jack Russell, of no fixed patronage, proved an able guerrilla Kevin Goate takes a brief break on a folding seat

28 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

volunteer. He broadly knew the plan but had his own ideas as to how it might be achieved. It is him I had to thank because we got to the end of the young trees and the first of the cock pheasants made a break through my side then fell to my single shot. It was something of a relief that I had done everyone’s efforts justice, though other birds flew forward well.

After a pit stop, we headed towards two fields of wild bird cover.

Rory, the part-time keeper, said the landowner decided to move away from conventional farming not out of necessity but as a logical conclusion of a family conversation. The farm could have been three or four big, conventional, arable fields but in that there would have been little to nourish the soul. Instead, the landowner moved to a conservation model in conjunction with advice from Natural England.

Glory We lined the back of a whole field of wild bird cover and began to push it through — and the conservation value of this farm revealed itself in all its glory. It was described to me as “a piece that hasn’t grown very well” and clouds of linnets and yellowhammers lifted out of it. There were plenty of pheasants too but most escaped.

When we moved through deliberately wetted fields with clumps of brambles in the next drive, the truly wild birds briefly revealed themselves, all three hens nipping over the boundary 200 yards ahead on my side. A young plantation to walk through to finish yielded several pheasants and I was fortunate that both hens breaking out my side fell.

As I drove away, I realised that I was passing the farm on which I shot my very first pigeon with a childhood friend. It was a treasured memory and is now at the forefront of my mind once again. Using a single-barrelled shotgun does focus the mind, but perhaps on the fact that the success or failure of the shot is not the most valuable part of what we do.

Airgunning

Daylight rodentry Mat Manning sets up his air rifle with digital optics and heads out for some round-the-clock pest control on squirrels, rats and rabbits

M. MANNING

I

consider myself a traditionalist and will always believe that fieldcraft is the most important tool I possess when it comes to filling the bag. But I will concede that modern digital night-vision gear has made a big difference to my success rate when targeting nocturnal pests.

But it’s not just about after-dark forays; some of this equipment has a role to play during daylight sessions.

I use an ATN X-Sight 4K Pro scope for most of my night-vision shooting, pursuing either rabbits or rats.

Apart from producing a very sharp monochrome picture after dark, it also offers full-colour viewing by day.

While checking zero during a practice session on my backyard range, it occurred to me that this scope’s daytime image quality is more than good enough for tackling live quarry.

So I decided to take it out on my next grey squirrel cull to prove the point.

The best way to ensure straightforward shots at grey squirrels at this time of year is to set up a feeding station using a hopper loaded with peanuts; the second best way is to lurk around the pheasant

feeders. Both of these food sources offer the greedy rodents easy pickings and they struggle to resist them.

I chose the pheasant feeder option and headed out to a wood that has suffered a great deal of squirrel damage over recent years. Apart from stealing grain from feeders, the invasive rodents have destroyed acres of newly planted saplings by stripping the trees’ bark.

I dread to think what impact they have had on populations of songbirds and dormice that have been recorded in this wood. We have managed to hit their numbers back quite considerably but it’s an ongoing battle and they soon bounce back if you take off the pressure.

While making my way through the woods, I made use of another handy piece of tech. The Pulsar Axion Key

Mat uses the Axion Key thermal spotter to scan the trees for squirrels as he moves into the woods

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 29

Airgunning

This squirrel settled down to feed within range of Mat’s night-vision set-up and paid the price

This busy run beneath the release pen boundary fence was a clear sign of the presence of rats

is a relatively affordable thermal spotter that has proved very useful for picking out rabbits in the darkness.

It can also be used to locate squirrels up in the trees, though the ambient temperature needs to be quite low for their heat signature to show up. It was a chilly afternoon but I failed to spot any squirrels during my short trek.

Ratty activity What I did see were numerous signs of ratty activity along the edge of a release pen close to where I was planning to shoot. My wife was expecting me home for dinner and, though I didn’t have a late pass, I decided that it would be sacrilege not to hang around for a bit longer than planned in the hope of accounting for one or two rats after dark.

Back to the squirrels and I soon found a spot that enabled me to cover two different feeders; one at around 25m and one just under 30m. Rather than creating unwanted disturbance by setting up a hide, I simply tucked myself into the cover created by a fallen tree. Keeping still is usually as far as you have to go to avoid detection by grey squirrels, especially when they are distracted by the promise of an easy meal.

Squirrels tend to feed very hard during the approach of dusk at this time of year — probably because they

know they have to get through a long, cold night before they can eat again — so I had timed my arrival to give me about two hours before sundown.

Sure enough, the first hungry squirrel arrived around 20 minutes after I’d settled in and made straight for the nearest feeder.

Like most night-vision scopes, the X-Sight 4K is pretty heavy. Its weight can make off-hand shooting somewhat awkward, so I make sure I have my Trigger Stick Tripod with me when I’m using it. The extra support makes for rock-steady shooting and the first squirrel soon fell to a well-placed head shot.

I had to wait about an hour before another squirrel put in an appearance. This one was more wary and spent a considerable time darting about on the woodland floor before it eventually settled on the same feeder as the first. It proved to be a costly mistake as my tally was quickly bumped up to two.

Lined up That second squirrel was the last of the session, but my occasional scans through the thermal imager revealed that the rats were starting to move as the light faded. My chosen spot enabled me to cover the edge

A rat creeps out from the release pen for a free meal and is soon picked up in the night-vision scope

30 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Airgunning of the release pen where they were active from about 20m and I only had to shuffle around a bit to get properly lined up.

There were more rats about than I’d expected to see but most were crawling among a dense patch of laurel on the wrong side of the mesh fence. One eventually made the mistake of venturing out from a hole on my side. It was a fidgety customer but paused long enough for me to settle the cross-hairs and roll it over with a smack to the head.

I managed two more rats over the next hour and have since been in touch with the gamekeeper, who has granted me permission to target them from inside the feeder over the next couple of weeks. That should yield

Left: Mat retrieves his prize and boosts his day-and-night pest control tally to three

some more substantial numbers, especially as I’ll be taking some smelly bait along to help keep them still.

Satisfied with my modest day-andnight mixed bag, I decided to pull up stumps and head for home. I was already extremely late for dinner so it was a damage limitation exercise at this point.

Testing stalk

Worth being late for: Mat aims for a rabbit after a stalk during his homeward journey

As I reached the woodland edge, I couldn’t resist a quick scan to see if there were any rabbits out on the pasture and, sure enough, I spotted a pair about 150m away. It would be a testing stalk to get within range but I had the cover of complete darkness and a steady breeze creating plenty of background noise to mask the sound of my approach, so I decided to give it a try.

After some very slow and careful creeping across the field, I estimated that I was about 40m from where the rabbits were feeding so I switched on the X-Sight’s illuminator and peered

“The fidgety rodent paused long enough for me to settle the cross-hairs and roll it over” through the scope. One of the rabbits had vanished but the other was still out and closer than I had estimated, at what looked to be well under 30m.

I quietly swung out the tripod and then settled to my knees for the shot.

The oblivious rabbit was still feeding with its head low and frustratingly obscured by the tussocks.

I pursed my lips and made a squeaking sound. This ruse is always a risk but the rabbit obliged and sat bolt upright, ears twitching as it tried to locate the source of the sound.

Presented with a clear head shot, I steadied my aim and added a bunny to the bag. This made a trio of quarry and a very interesting day-and-night session. That was to be my last shot, though. I retrieved the rabbit and headed for home without delay. I was very late and needed to make amends in readiness for my planned return to the release pen rats.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 31

Gundog training

Dogs just wanna have fun At the season’s close, it’s good to unwind — for both dogs and handler — have a bit of a rest and enjoy some light training, says Ellena Swift

A. SYDENHAM / S. MAGENNIS

I

t is always a good idea to do two things when it comes to training your dogs at this time of year. One is to reflect on the season. What has gone well, what has not? What have you struggled with and what has your dog achieved? The second thing to do as the season ends is to relax and have fun.

If you are anything like me, despite taking my job and my training very seriously, it is important to remember

why we do it; enjoyment for handler and dog. So have fun! This past week I have allowed my dogs certain freedoms I would not normally allow, though I make sure the basics, such as steadiness, delivery, heel and so on, don’t slip.

I have allowed them a lot more freedom. I haven’t been as strict with direction and let them basically have a good jolly when hunting. They all had a fantastic final few days out bouncing

around, still doing their jobs. Nala is five and Keepa is three, so allowing these freedoms at this age and stage of training doesn’t do them any harm.

The final few weeks of the season are often the most hectic. My dogs are fit but tired — a bit like me — the season has taken its toll on mind and body, and we are all ready for a rest. It is not a good idea to stop exercise and education completely, but a gentle slowdown and break certainly are.

IN DETAIL

SIKA: TIME FOR A STRETCH WHILE MY PACK IS winding down and having some holiday time, it gives me the chance to reflect on the season and make plans for the future. Sika, the fabulous cocker spaniel, has had a fantastic first season. She is steady to fallen game, heels well and ignores all the excitement that a shoot day brings.

She has picked partridge really well and has started to get more confident picking bigger game such as pheasant and duck.

She has yet to pick wounded game but there is plenty of time to work on this next season.

She has basic handling skills in place and will stop and recall on the whistle. After her break I plan to start to stretch her a little.

She has plenty of drive on dummies, which makes training a lot easier for me. She can now start to train over much more challenging terrains and obstacles.

“The dogs all had a fantastic final few days out bouncing around, still doing their jobs”

Sika has had a fantastic first season — she is steady with retrieves, comes to heel well and ignores all the shoot day distractions. She is getting more confident with bigger game too

Some of Sika’s training has involved her working with two experienced ‘nanny’ Labradors

In association with Chudleys: over forty years of highly nutritious food for working dogs 32 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

www.chudleys.com IN DETAIL

NEW BROWNING WILDFOWLER SPECIAL

KEEPA: BUILDING UP CONSISTENCY KEEPA HAS DONE WELL THIS SEASON gaining his first field trial award and receiving his stud book number. He has gained some much-needed experience in the field when out working, learning how to follow the line of a wounded bird. He is getting more consistent and reliable at holding lines and understanding handling at distance.

As I’ve said before (When the penny drops, 2 January), Keepa can struggle holding an area when hunting. This is something we will continue to work on, always looking for different and varied exercises we can do to help. His season has been exciting and full on, meaning going back to train on dummies can seem a little dull. So a holiday will help him to wind down from all that excitement and then I can slowly begin dummy work again.

It is important that when I reintroduce dummies he is happy and excited to be back workingwith them.

So while there are a few areas on which we need to get training, the first couple of weeks on dummies will mean lots of positive easy marks and memories to get him running with gusto and confidence.

When I began this season I wanted Keepa to hold his own in novice level trials. He has done that several times and has been working at a very good level when pickingup. My goal for him next season is to achieve his first open award in field trials. He has the ability but now we need consistency. This is something that will only come with time, and patience and consistency from me. A dog cannot be consistent in its work if the handler is not consistent either.

Keepa has been a relatively slow-maturing dog, meaning I have had to adjust the level and intensity of his training to suit him. As frustrating as this can be at times, it is important to train a dog at their pace and not your own.

Hiding a few gadgets such as this disc will keep him focused

NEW MODEL 525, 30 INCH BARRELS

3 ½ MAGNUM CHAMBERS

STEEL SHOT PROOF, MULTI CHOKE PRICE £1,795 FINANCE TERMS: PAY DEPOSIT OF £179.50 PLUS 24 MONTHLY REPAYMENTS OF ONLY £80.87 INTEREST PAYABLE £325.54, TOTAL PURCHASE PRICE WITH INTEREST £2120.38 APR 19.90% TO APPLY FOR FINANCE PHONE US FOR ON LINE APPLICATION OR COME IN AND SEE US DIRECT SEE THESE BROWNING’S ON OUR STAND AT THE BRITISH SHOOTING SHOW, N.E.C. BIRMINGHAM FEB 14TH TO 16TH.

Gundog training

www.chudleys.com

IN DETAIL

TRAINER AND DOGS: SWITCHING OFF demanding, do not require the stamina of a full day’s work.

I allow mine to play on the agility equipment a few times a week. They all find this extremely good fun and enjoy the odd trip out. You do not have to compete or even take these rest activities too seriously for them to be of benefit to both handler and dog.

A simple ball retrieve is huge fun for a dog

Take your dogs on gentle walks, which should involve plenty of play and downtime for them

AS OF 2 FEBRUARY, my dogs will be dropping the gundog training for a few weeks and turning their paws to other tasks. Lots of gentle walks will keep up their exercise but start to slow it down.

Walks can involve plenty of play and downtime, which can be a big benefit for bonding and getting the dog to switch off.

Game playing will keep the dogs fit while giving them a break from the usual discipline

To help them to change from working to ‘holiday brain’, only walk them in areas where they are able to switch off, such as a field with little or no game or even somewhere like a park. If you are lucky enough to live near a dog-friendly beach, this can be a lovely switch-off for both handler and dog.

Occasionally I will even take them for a walk around a dog-friendly pet store, where they enjoy sniffing out all manner of treats. I allow some of my dogs to do other activities such as agility.

Many a working dog excels in other sports such as fly ball, agility or even something like therapy work. The challenges are totally different and, despite the fact they can be physically

“The season has taken its toll on mind and body and we are all ready for a rest”

BRIAR: WATCH AND LEARN BRIAR WASN’T ALLOWED the privilege of more freedom just yet. She’s not quite two years old and has had her first season watching, learning and doing the odd bit of work. At her age, when she is still very much mastering her job, it is very easy for her to learn the wrong things.

I find it is never difficult to encourage a gundog to hunt or to take more freedom when offered, but it can be extremely difficult to rein in a dog if this freedom is offered too early.

The younger dogs have to learn and earn their rights to get more freedom.

Even at home and in day-to-day life they earn certain privileges. The older dogs are invited on to the sofa whereas the younger dogs have to remain on their bed. When coming out of the truck the older dogs are invited first, ensuring the younger ones learn patience and self-control.

In association with Chudleys: over forty years of highly nutritious food for working dogs 34 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Subscrib to ge

6

ssues for nly £6 *

FOR LESS THAN THE COST OF A DRIVEN PHEASANT: No commitment to continue with our risk free trial Improve your shooting with our expert’s advice Find culinary inspiration n our weekly game ecipes

Subscribe online at

Quote code: AYP9

shootingtimessubs.co.uk/jansale20

0330 333 1113

Complete the FREEPOST coupon below

Monday - Saturday, 8am - 6pm (UK time)

THE DIRECT DEBIT GUARANTEE: This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits. If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit, Magazines Direct will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request Magazines Direct to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request. If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit

by Magazines Direct or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society. If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when Magazines Direct asks you to. You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.

Complete this coupon and send to: FREEPOST TI Media Limited (No further address needed. No stamp required – for UK only)

YES! I would like to subscribe to Shooting Times ■ UK Direct Debit: Pay only £6 for 6, followed by £24.99 every 3 months, saving you 30% (full price £35.75)

TOP OFFER

■ 1 year Cheque/Credit or Debit Card (52 issues), pay only

3. UK Direct Debit: Pay only £6 for 6 issues, continuing at £24.99

I would like to send a gift to: Please also fill out ‘Your details’ on the left. To give more than one subscription, please supply address details on a separate sheet.

Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss:

Forename:

Surname: Name of Bank: Address: Address:

£106.99 saving 25%, (full price £143.00)

■ 2 year Cheque/Credit or Debit Card (104 issues),

Postcode: Postcode:

pay only£199.99, saving 30%, (full price £286.00).

Account Name: Sort Code:

Choose from 3 easy ways to pay: 1. I enclose a cheque/postal order made payable to TI Media Limited , for £ ______ from my: 2. Please debit £

Your details: Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss:

Forename:

■ Visa

Surname:

■ Visa Debit

■ MasterCard

■ Amex

Card No:

Email:

-

Address:

every 3 months Instruction to your Bank or Building Society to pay by Direct Debit For office use only. Originator’s reference - 764 221

-

Account No:

Instructions to your Bank or Building Society: Please pay Magazines Direct from the accounts detailed on this Instruction subject to the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with Magazines Direct and if so, details will be passed electronically to my Bank or Building Society.

-

Expiry Date:

M M Y Y ■■■■

Signature: Signature:

Date:

Date:

(I am over 18)

(I am over 18)

Postcode: Home Tel No: (inc.area code) Mobile No.

By submitting your information, you agree to our Privacy Policy available at www. ti media.com/privacy/. Please keep me up to date with special offers and news from Shooting Times and other brands within the TI Media Limited Group by email, post, telephone and/or SMS. You can unsubscribe at any time.

■ Please keep me up to date with special offers and news just by email from selected companies. Your personal details will not be shared with those companies - we send the emails and you can unsubscribe at any time. Offer open to new subscribers only. Final closing date for all orders is 3 February 2020. *After your first 6 issues, your subscription will continue at £24.99 payable every 3 months by Direct Debit, saving 30% on the full subscription price of £35.75. This price is guaranteed for the first 12 months and we will notify you in advance of any price changes. Orders purchased for yourself will start with the next available issue - please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. The full subscription rate is for 12 months (52 issues) and includes postage and packaging. If the magazine ordered changes frequency per annum, we will honour the number of issues paid for, not the term of the subscription. TI Media Limited may cancel a subscription and provide a pro rata refund if it ceases to publish the relevant titles for any reason. For full terms and conditions, visit www.magazinesdirect.com/terms. For enquiries please call: +44 (0) 330 333 1113. Lines are open Monday - Saturday 8am - 6pm UK Time or e-mail: help@magazinesdirect. com. Calls to 0330 numbers will be charged at no more than a national landline call, and may be included in your phone provider’s call bundle.

YSS CODE: AYP9

Quad bike test

Eco Charger Eliminator 2 The drive to switch to electric vehicles doesn’t stop when the tarmac ends — Liam Bell tests the latest model of the Eco Charger quad bike

A

s someone who has admired Elon Musk’s Tesla cars from afar, I was delighted and a little excited to be offered the use of a fully electric quad for a week to field test for Shooting Times.

Things are moving on as far as the use and development of electric

vehicles are concerned. I feel that as things progress and new ideas and technology come to the fore, electric vehicles will become the norm. It might not happen for another 25 or 30 years, but it is most definitely coming.

The all-electric Eco Charger is the brainchild of Devon farmer Fred Chugg, who was looking for a more

economical and environmentally friendly way to run his quad trekking centre in the West Country.

He was spending upwards of £300 a day on fuel filling up the trekking quads and thought electric vehicles would be the answer. He couldn’t find anyone making or selling electric quads — so he started making them.

The Eco Charger is now so successful you can even buy one in Australia.

Same size

S. WALL

Liam’s underkeeper was impressed with the Eco Charger

PRICE£15,000

PROS: CHEAPTORUN, COPES WELL OFF ROAD

38 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

CONS: LIMITEDRANGE, COSTLY, HEAVIER THAN PETROL QUAD

Fred’s first attempt was the conversion of a 125cc bike in 2011. The one I tested, which has the equivalent power of 450cc petrol engine, has a British-made motor, uses gel batteries from south Wales and is put together in Weston-super-Mare, though the chassis is from Asia.

At first glance, the quad look likes any other. It’s the same size and design, with the same controls — it’s only when you start to look closely that you spot the differences. There are a couple of extra switches,

Quad bike test a charging point carefully sealed into an inspection panel in the front wing, the fuel filler cap replaced by an emergency stop button, and a digital power meter displaying the percentage of power left in the batteries where The charger the fuel gauge would be. simply plugs into Driving it for the first time the bike felt a bit alien. I simply selected forward or reverse, pressed the The roll bar can deform accelerator and off I went in total around a trapped limb silence. There was no noise until it started to pick up speed, and then all I could really hear was tyre noise and The load capacity is the same as a little whirring from the drive shafts. a petrol quad of the same size, but the It handled well, drove well and racks are a little smaller and a slightly pulled away as smartly as our petrol different design. Not an issue for feed quad. Top speed was a bit slower as you are governed by weight, but at 25mph; a little slow for the road, not as handy for odd-shaped loads perhaps, but plenty quick enough for that need strapping on. Fully loaded farm tracks and across country. it pulled up the banks and handled as well as any quad I’ve driven.

An add-on you can see in the Diff lock picture (above) is the Lifeguard roll Changing from two-wheel to fourbar, which has been developed in New wheel-drive required the push of a Zealand. We need quad roll bars in button, while the diff lock came into this country and it’s the first I’ve seen its own when I got bogged down on that’s impressed me. a ride in the wood — where I would It is essentially a spine of plastic probably have got stuck regardless vertebrae, strong enough to protect of what I was driving. the quad if it rolls yet capable of The footprint was no wider and the moulding itself around a trapped ruts in the wet bits no deeper than my limb so it’s not crushed. The YouTube petrol bike, despite this being 120kg videos are most impressive. heavier due to the gel batteries. You’ll The lack of engine noise was bliss. be able replace them with lighter I could hear the partridges calling, lithium ones in a couple of years.

The emergency stop button is easy to reach

The bike coped well on wet and muddy ground

TECH SPECS Powersteering Switchable4WD Switchableforward/reverse Difflock High-lowgearbox Shaftdrive Hydraulicfrontdiscbrakes Reardiscbrakes Adjustableshocks 15kwpermanentmagnetDCmotor Regenerativebraking Reducedmaintenancecosts Weight: 496kg 12-month guarantee, with a three-year option RRP £15,000 plus VAT (charger included)

pheasants cocking and anything and everything I usually miss when the quad and mule are being driven along by their petrol engines.

Under ideal conditions — and I am guessing that means unloaded and on fairly flat ground — the batteries are supposed to give you between 30 and 35 miles on a single charge.

Recharging Driving up the banks on wet ground, and at times fully laden, the charge indicator and range soon dropped, though the Eco Charger never ran out of power.

I appreciate the new lithium batteries will extend the range to 70 miles but I might have had to go back for a recharge had we been testing it in summer when we are covering much more ground.

The quad comes with a charger that simply plugs into the mains.

It charges at about one per cent a minute and will be 70 per cent charged from flat in an hour. I plugged it in over lunch if it was low, and left it on trickle-charge overnight to fully recover.

The good news is that it’s much cheaper than filling up with petrol and as long as you have an electricity supply you will never run out of fuel.

So how did the Eco Charger compare with our petrol quad? The short answer is well, though I have some reservations over the relatively short battery life and the cost. There are lots of positives, however— zero emissions, low noise, and low fuel and maintenance costs.

We may not be in the market for an electric quad just yet, but I am sure plenty of people will be and I am equally certain we will see more of them in the future.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 39

Catlow’s notebook

WITH LAURENCE CATLOW

LAURENCE CATLOW,A PASSIONATE SHOOTERAND ANGLERFOR MORETHAN 40YEARS, HASWRITTEN FIVEBOOKS ABOUTSPORT WITHROD ANDGUN.HIS NOTEBOOK RUNSINTHE FIRSTISSUEOF EVERY MONTH.

Time to raise a glass A flick through his game book prompts Laurence to reflect on the past decade and the days of superb sport that made it so memorable

P. QUAGLIANA / A. HOOK

S

earching through my shooting journal, I have concluded that I was much more useful with a shotgun 10 and 20 years ago than I am now. I do not believe this is the inevitable result of growing old — one of my friends, who is five years or so older, has been shooting better in the past two seasons than at any time in the dozen or so years we have shot together.

Several other friends who are well into their 70s are still pretty handy performers. I have told myself there is still hope of improvement and I did manage to shoot fairly efficiently last year. But this is all beside the point, because it was not the wish to compare past and present levels of competence that led me to consult my journal in the first place.

I turned to its pages because I wanted to find out what had happened on two occasions exactly 10 years apart. The first of these was 21 December 1999, which was the year

I started writing for Shooting Times.

I knew I was out shooting on the day in question and the relevant entry told me that five friends and I spent the day at High Park, shooting 17 pheasants, two woodcock, two rabbits and a jackdaw. My personal tally had been six pheasants for 13 cartridges.

Scrounging I could recall that the day had been soft and cloudy and I had brought the booze but had forgotten my lunch,

guests never made it to High Park.

Those who did were lucky to make it back home because there were heavy snow showers throughout the day.

In between these showers the sun shone and the sky was blue. All this I could remember. It was for the size of the bag that I needed my journal, which revealed that five of us shot 24 pheasants, one redleg, one pigeon and two rabbits. I killed six pheasants with nine cartridges and probably felt fairly pleased with myself.

“I shot two pheasants and felt relieved that my performance had not been worse” so had been forced to scrounge sandwiches from generous friends.

The second day left much sharper impressions. To begin with I knew that I had turned up with both crisps and sandwiches as well as port and sloe gin. I also knew that the land had been deep in snow and some of my

40 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

However, I recall feeling guilty because I had not cancelled the day before it started, saving my friends the hazards of travel along treacherous roads. The date was 21 December 2009 and you may well have jumped to the conclusion that 21 December is a special day for me.

Catlow’s notebook

Nine o’clock in the morning invariably finds Laurence feeding the pheasants at High Park

You also jumped to the correct conclusion that 21 December is my birthday and that those two occasions exactly 10 years apart each marked the beginning of another decade in the too rapid progress of my life.

You have probably also spotted the undeniable truth that 2019 happened 10 years after 2009 and could well be wondering what I got up to on 21 December just gone.

Booze and bait Yes, I did spend it shooting and I did remember both the booze and the bait, which is what we call our lunchtime snack here in Cumbria.

I spent the day shooting but not at High Park, where we almost always shoot on Tuesdays and which is now far too well run to accommodate an extra day’s sport barely a week after the last one. The very idea would give headkeeper Tony Smith nightmares.

My birthday was on a Saturday, though there had been a sort of official birthday five days earlier. I spent the day with the Mallerstang Mob, who produced a cake at lunchtime and a candle or two and some port and plenty of good cheer. For the record I shot two pheasants with six cartridges and felt relieved that my performance had not been worse.

Saturday, the day that marked the beginning of my eighth decade on Earth, was spent with my old and new friends of the Wyegill syndicate.

With the possible exception of High Park or Mallerstang, I do not think I could have spent it in a better place.

The weather was kind, producing less

Sherry has been a constant companion for Laurence and the second glass is always the best

than five minutes of rain and making several attempts at sunshine. The bag was 45 pheasants. I was almost completely out of it and did not make the most of the few opportunities that came my way, shooting a single pheasant with four cartridges.

We take our lunch in what was once the only classroom of the tiny village school. Shooters, beaters and pickers-up all sit together and enjoy each other’s company. It was only when all were happily engaged with their bait that I announced the day’s significance. Then I passed round two bottles of port and, finding that I had forgotten my crisps, began to delve Dog, gun and the great outdoors; what more do you need?

into my neighbour’s bag more or less with his permission. In the afternoon I gave my gun to a young friend and worked Zac instead of shooting. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Wild and reckless The evening — to begin with at least — followed its traditional course.

There were two glasses of sherry, the second perhaps marginally bigger than usual. There was pheasant casserole and half a bottle of red wine.

It was only when the wine was done that tradition — and restraint — were suddenly cast aside.

No sooner had I put down my glass and told myself that enough was enough when a wild and reckless impulse suddenly carried me away by half-filling the empty glass with a forbidden dollop of port. At the same time I insisted that it was an innocent birthday treat.

While sipping it, I hoped among other things that, if another 10 years found me still above ground, I would be able to spend at least a bit of my 80th birthday under the sky with a gun and a spaniel and a few friends; that I would manage to put at least one pheasant in the bag and be able to drink a glass of port with my bait.

The next morning found things back to normal and there was no port for breakfast. I did what I almost always do at 9am during the pheasant season — I went to High Park and fed our pheasants and was pleased to see a good number of them at home.

Prospects for the penultimate shoot were looking good.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 41

Gundogs

One hundred per cent spaniel

D. TOMLINSON

Not everyone loves a sprocker — but evidence suggests all working cockers may have some springer blood, reveals David Tomlinson LAST WEEK I WROTE an entire article about choosing between an English springer and a cocker spaniel without mentioning the ‘S’ word (We’re all cocker hoop, 22 January).

The sprocker is the interloper on the working spaniel scene and has fast established a reputation as a dog that that offers the best of both worlds — or more accurately, a great blend of the best attributes of its springer and cocker parents.

However, though the snappy name might be relatively new, the concept of crossing a springer with a cocker isn’t; it has no doubt happened ever since the two breeds were established at the start of the last century.

It may seem hard to believe now, but 60 years ago the working cocker was in trouble, falling in popularity in the shooting field because the existing dogs were simplynot very good.

It’s generally accepted that there was an infusion of suitable springer blood in what proved to be a highly successful move to restore verve and drive back into the working cocker.

I’ve never heard of anyone owning up

to performing such a deed and there’s no official record of it ever having happened, but I’ve met plenty of people who believe it is a fact.

I have also heard allegations as to who the principal perpetrators were: one was allegedly a leading cocker trialler at the time, but nothing has ever been proven. If springers were used the breeders involved did an excellent job, as working cockers today are terrific little dogs, well able to hold their own against the more powerful springers.

“Some claim that sprockers have been competing in cocker trials but there’s no check” I’d love to see a trial with a team of cockers competing against springers, as they once did, but I doubt the Kennel Club (KC) would ever agree to such a competition. One of the gripes of sprocker enthusiasts is that because these spaniels aren’t recognised by

the KC, they are barred from any official competition.

This is hardly surprising because the Kennel Club derives the bulk of its income from registrations. Sprockers can’t be registered because they are a cross-breed so the club gets no income from them. Understandably, it has no interest in promoting competitions in which they can take part.

DNA testing Some claim that sprockers — some of which are hard to distinguish from cockers — have been competing in cocker trials. A DNA test of winning dogs should be able to establish if this so-called ‘sprockergate’ is true, but the Kennel Club has yet to introduce such a check.

I can write with some authority on the subject of sprockers, as I’ve owned one since May 2018. My bitch, Emma, was purpose-bred by Anne-Marie Millard at Uggeshall Kennels on the Suffolk coast, using a small working English springer bitch and a working cocker sire.

Both dam and sire had field trial champions in their pedigrees, so came from proper gundog stock.

In association with Chudleys: over forty years of highly nutritious food for working dogs 42 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

www.chudleys.com DAVID’S VIEWPOINT

IGNORE THE HUNT SABS Why getting police involved might sadly be a bad idea

Y

ou may have seen the story in the papers about the chairman of the Barlow Hunt, Mark Davies, who was beaten up by hooded and masked hunt saboteurs on private land. When he reported the attack to the police he was the one who was arrested.

He ended up in court where he was eventually acquitted of assault. Not surprisingly, Mr Davies — who is himself a judge — has issued formal complaints to the Chief Constable of Derbyshire and the CPS in the East Midlands.

His story resonated with me and, I suspect, many other hunt followers who have had contact with both saboteurs and the police. In the years before the Hunting Act, I was a keen follower of the Old Surrey Burstow and West Kent foxhounds. The

Though Anne-Marie breeds pure springers and cockers, she finds that there is a strong and steady demand for sprocker puppies.

I’ve been asked why I decided on a sprocker and the truth is that after 38 years of the same line of black-and-white English springers, I fancied something different. I even considered a Spanish water dog, having seen some great examples, but spaniels are my first love.

hunt’s country comes right up to the M25, making it popular with urban warriors who regularly targeted it. The police used to attend meets but we often wondered why, so ineffective were they.

On one occasion I pointed out to a police constable that one of the masked saboteurs was carrying an offensive weapon. The policeman wasn’t interested but instead gave me what might be best described as a good going over.

It was a chastening experience and it was clear that either the particular constable had sympathies with the saboteurs, or else found me a much easier person to deal with than the masked yobs.

Perhaps I’ve been lucky but I’ve never yet come across saboteurs while out shooting or working my dogs. However, an encounter earlier this season with an unsavoury group of hooded saboteurs following my local hunt was a reminder that these people cannot be argued with and are best ignored. Any attempt to engage with them is almost certain to lead to a torrent of foul and abusive language.

A sprocker appealed for a number of reasons, of which the most important was the fact that it is an outcross — a mixing of blood, with the health benefits that provides. There’s a good reason why pet insurance companies prefer to insure mongrels to pedigrees, as the former are less inbred so tend to be healthier.

Derogatory I have heard the word ‘mongrel’ used in a derogatory way about sprockers, but it’s not appropriate. My sprocker is 100 per cent spaniel, so hardly qualifies as a designer cross-breed such as a cockerpoo or labradoodle.

Identifying a sprocker is tricky, as most look like either a cocker or a springer and there’s no sprocker type, as such. It would be impossible to write a breed standard for a sprocker, though you could for a cockerpoo.

Emma looks very much like her dam, with the same liver-and-white markings, so would easily pass for a very small English springer. There’s not a hint of her lemon-roan sire It can be difficult to differentiate between a sprocker from either pure-bred spaniel

It’s best to ignore masked yobs out hunting

My advice to anyone who comes across saboteurs while involved in a legitimate fieldsport is to say nothing and ignore them completely — something that can be difficult to do when under extreme provocation.

And as the Mark Davies case reminds us, it’s a mistake to think that the police will give you any support, so don’t expect or ask for any.

Email: dhtomlinson@btinternet.com

in her appearance, a reminder that the results of out-breeding are difficult to anticipate.

Curiously, she has remained very small and at 22 months weighs a mere 10.5kg, though she eats exactly the same as my 20kg English springer.

She is definitely more biddable than any of my springers, but that may be more of a comment about my springers than it is about sprockers.

Her temperament is delightful, as she is a bold and friendly dog, but again that’s what I would expect from either a well-bred cocker or springer.

She is a passionate and forceful hunter, her action more springer-like than cocker. Unlike my springers, she is not an enthusiastic retriever, but whether that has anything to do with her breeding is debatable. I have never had a dog so keen on jumping up as her, which I put down to her cocker ancestry.

Conclusions? Well, a sprocker does make an interesting and viable alternative to an English springer or a cocker, but don’t expect anything very different. If you cross a spaniel with a spaniel and you simply get another spaniel. Then again, if you like spaniels, you are unlikely to be disappointed.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 43

C

ATING OUR BEST WRITE R B E RS EL

It’s the fun of the hunt

The final week of the season afforded D. S. Barrington Browne the chance to track down a couple of wily old cock pheasants

B

S. FARNSWORTH/ A. HOOK / P. QUAGLIANA

eing a dog man I always enjoy the after-Christmas shoots rather more than those earlier in the season.

The hunting down of the cunning cock pheasant has a peculiar attraction all of its own. It tends to be more akin to foxhunting than any other form of shooting, particularly where the ‘hounds’ used are springers.

In fact, having hunted a pack of beagles, I would venture to suggest that hunting cock birds is infinitely more difficult, requiring a greater degree of hound knowledge and physical fitness, plus imagination.

In the final week of the season it is sometimes hard to get around your own bit of ground to make the last effort to shoot those that have outwitted you earlier on. However,

There was a loud squawk and out the Old Girl came with a very much alive, but well secured, cock

44 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

I saw my chance one afternoon and took it. Being on what might be described as a very rough shoot — close to town, riddled with public footpaths and very little game — I did not bother to ask anyone to come with me apart from my three spaniels.

There was the ‘old girl’ with a totally reliable nose but a little genuine deafness, her daughter, and a ‘problem child’ that I have been trying to encourage to enjoy the sound of shooting as much as the thrill of seeing birds move.

To start with, while walking to what I considered to be the most likely area, the dogs dashed into an enormous bramble bush and out shot a cock from the far side.

Likely places Needless to say, I was quite unprepared and off he went, disappearing through some trees without a shot being fired. I reckoned I knew where he might have gone and decided to ‘draw’ my way through other likely places to approach him downwind.

Dog Kennel Grove, being some tall trees at the edge of an old lake, was part of the draw and into this I put the dogs. Shortly there was a sharp cackle and up got another cock, only to be seen disappearing out the far side in the same direction as the first.

I was now coming to the area of the first cock. There was great excitement in some thorns on the far side of where I thought he had dropped. I managed to get a quick glimpse of a brush vanishing fast down the entrance of the main earth on those banks.

Then, as luck would have it, I saw that first cock get up. I could get a quick shot through the bushes, so

Vintage Times

“My heart missed a beat. I heard, and then saw, the old gentleman rise through the trees”

“There was a clatter of wings and away he went, out the far side of a thick hedge”

took it. His right wing was gone and he was a very strong runner. Without wasting a moment I sent the dogs and they coursed him into a maze of brambles. In they went in after him, even the problem child, and I fully expected them to come out with him, but after a few minutes of crashing and scratching they reappeared empty-mouthed.

Feathering I returned to the original bush from the opposite side and put the dogs in again. The old girl started to feather and then in she went with a bang.

There was a loud squawk and some more sounds of crashing timber and out she came with a very much alive, but well secured, cock minus his tail feathers. Much excitement ensued with mutual congratulations all round and a great sense of satisfaction that this was not a bloodless day.

Now for the other gentleman.

I thought he was quite close, but not as close as he turned out to be. Still on the crest of the wave from the first cock, I wasn’t concentrating and — you have guessed it — I heard a sudden clatter of wings and away he went out the far side of a thick thorn hedge.

I headed for the limit of the property, making good as I went, to try to cut off his escape route and work back to his most likely pitching place. It took some time and much exertion, practically running up banks, to get where I thought he was.

But he wasn’t. The only occupant was another fox, so at least there was more useful knowledge for the local Master of Foxhounds.

I walked back towards the car, a little depressed that I had lost that opportunity, only for depression to reach rock bottom as I heard him go again from a most unlikely spot. I gave him a parting shot, just for the hell of it, to show him I wasn’t going to lose face at this third outwitting.

But as on this occasion he took off in the direction of Dog Kennel Grove, I resolved to put the dogs in there

just before I got to the car. I walked smartly down the hill to the boggy bit where, all of a sudden, the daughter and the problem child started to feather keenly. The old girl came up and also hit off a line. I lifted them and cast them forward into an overground ditch.

They hit it off again and had they been foxhounds, there would have been a burst of music as they roared down the ditch. I wasn’t convinced it was a pheasant as the second fox had “Another cock disappeared in the same direction as the first”

come this way, and fox was the only creature, apart from moorhen, that I had never been able to check the old girl from rioting on.

Cast back However, after taking the line down the ditch for 100 yards towards the grove, they lost it. As they were hunting so well, I cast them back and saw them hit off where he had left the ditch. They flashed on across a patch of grass and into the bottom of the grove. I saw the two young ones go straight in along the edge of the wood just inside and I followed on the outside.

I then realised the old girl was not with them. She must have turned sharp on entering the wood, so I stopped to await results. Then my heart missed a beat. I heard, and then saw, the old gentleman rise through the trees at the back of the wood and this time he was coming towards me.

Up and up he rose, turning just to the side before reaching me. It was a high one and it was a good one, for he fell out in the field. And would you believe it, the problem child ran-in.

Thisarticlewasfirstpublishedinthe14 February 1970 issueofShooting Times.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 45

46 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Partridge

Game Cookery

This delicious and versatile meat-filled pasty from Jose Souto works equally well with partridge or pheasant and can be eaten hot or cold Recipe kindly donated by Jose Souto a respected chef and lecturer at London’s Westminster Kingsway College. Jose is the author of several acclaimed cookery books, including Venison, the Game Larder, and is active in falconry, shooting, wildlife husbandry, foraging and stalking.

Ingredients 1.5KG DICED PARTRIDGE BREAST OLIVE OIL

E

very continent seems to have its own version of empanadas; spiced meat wrapped in dough and baked, steamed or fried.

This version of the Portuguese, Spanish and Argentine snack comes from Jose Souto.

The word empanada comes from the Spanish em pan which means ‘in bread’.

Though my language skills are far from perfect, I do know what it takes to make a good one of these in the kitchen. This version works exceptionally well, even

if you do not have partridge. Pheasant is just as good and even mallard would pass muster if that is what you have in the fridge.

I spent some time trying to work out why I liked these so much, considering the spicing and the cookery method. Then I realised that it is the apparently out-ofplace cheese that hits the mark and makes these better than good.

Try making them yourself and you won’t be disappointed — another feather in the cap for Jose. Tim Maddams

SPICY PARTRIDGE EMPANADAS

1 LARGE ONION, FINELY CHOPPED 2 CLOVES GARLIC, CHOPPED 2 RED PEPPERS, CUT INTO STRIPS 2 GREEN PEPPERS IN STRIPS 1 TSP DRIED CHILLI FLAKES 2 TSP SMOKED PAPRIKA 1 TSP MIXED HERBS 1 LARGE TSP TOMATO PURÉE 3 TINS PLUM TOMATOES 100ML CHICKEN STOCK 500G GRATED CHEESE SALT AND PEPPER FOR THE PASTRY 750G PLAIN FLOUR 1 TBSP BAKING POWDER 1 TSP SUGAR PINCH OF SALT 120G LARD 2 EGGS

THE METHOD Serves 4

1

Season the partridge and fry in very hot olive oil to seal but not cook. Do a bit at a time so that the meat doesn’t boil. Remove from pan and leave to one side to cool, then refrigerate.

2

Lower the temperature, add more oil and sweat the onions and garlic until soft. Add all the peppers and cook for a further 10 minutes before adding the chilli, smoked paprika and herbs.

3

Cook for 5 minutes then add the tomato purée followed, after stirring well, by the tomatoes and chicken stock. Cook until the sauce has reduced by half and thickly coats the back of a spoon. Remove the sauce from the stove and allow to cool.

4

Put the dry ingredients into a bowl then rub in the lard. Mix the eggs into the cold stock and add to the flour.

Mix, knead to a ball then allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting it in half.

5

Grease a deep oven roasting tray and dust with flour. Roll out half the pastry to about 8mm thick and lay it in the tray.

6

Mix the tomato sauce with the partridge and spoon it on to the pastry, leaving an edge. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the tomato mix.

Brush egg wash all around the edges.

7

Take the other piece of pastry and roll it out a little thinner. Lay over the partridge and tomato mix, seal the edges by twisting or crimping.

8

Egg-wash the empanada and make a few holes to let the steam escape.

Cook at 180ºC for 25 to 30 minutes till golden and cut into slabs.

PHOTO KINDLY DONATED BY JAMES MURPHY STUDIO

180ML CHICKEN STOCK 50ML MILK AND 1 EGG FOR THE EGG WASH

DONATE NOW

The Country Food Trust has provided food for more than half a million people in need or in food poverty, supplying over 1,000 charities throughout the whole of the UK. In 2019 alone, the CFT delivered 20 tonnes of pheasant breast meat.

USE THE DONATE BUTTON ON OUR WEBSITE WWW.THECOUNTRYFOODTRUST.ORG — DON’T FORGET TO GIFT AID IT TOO!

TEXT FEED10 TO 70085 (TEXT WILL COST £10 PLUS YOUR STANDARD NETWORK CHARGE)

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 47

SPORTING ANSWERS The experts

The basics of heelwork, sit and stay are essential parts of training a young gundog

THE ULTIMATE SHOOTING QUIZ TEAM BILL HARRIMAN BASC’s head of firearms and global authority on guns MAT MANNING Airgunner and journalist from the West Country BRUCE POTTS

Shooting Times rifle reviewer and stalker DAVID TOMLINSON Highly regarded writer and ornithologist LIAM BELL NGO chairman, Shropshire gamekeeper and keen wildfowler GRAHAM DOWNING Shooting consultant and sporting author TONY BUCKWELL Veterinary surgeon with a special interest in gundogs

Cooling down a hothead GUNDOGTRAINING

TOM PAYNE Professional shooting instructor and avid pigeon shooter JEREMYHUNT

A. HOOK / K. NORBORY / M. MANNING / J.POTTS / S. FARNSWORTH / P. QUAGLIANA / GETTY IMAGES / ALAMY

Runs Fenway Labradors and a professional gundog trainer TIMMADDAMS Former head chef at River Cottage and runs a shoot in Devon SIMON WHITEHEAD Author, professional ferreter and rabbit controller IAIN WATSON Keen stalker and senior CIC international trophy judge

Contact the team Email: stanswers@ti-media.com By post: Shooting Times, Pinehurst 2, Farnborough Business Park, Hants GU14 7BF

My six-month-old Labrador has been a natural retriever since we got her at nine weeks old — always carrying things about. My son has been working with her but while he’s concentrated on her natural ability to hunt and retrieve he hasn’t done enough with her general obedience, so she’s turning into a bit of a hothead with selective deafness. Can I switch to some more formalised obedience work — sits and stays and heelwork — without undermining her raw but impressive working qualities?

You can definitely go back to some basic training without turning off her natural ability. The good thing is that you have a young dog that’s keen, but it looks like she’s taken it upon herself to do what she enjoys and is playing to her own rules, and that cannot continue.

I see so many puppies that have gone through some foolishly premature retrieving ability assessment by repeatedly allowing them an item to

48 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

retrieve when very young. I think it seems to put new owners’ minds at rest, confident in the fact that the new puppy will actually retrieve. But having established that is the case, there is no need to continue doing it.

The reason so many gundog owners struggle with young dogs is that they do not spend enough time getting a close bond with the dog, so the basics of good heelwork and steadiness are in place before the gundog work begins.

Having said that, I am not an advocate of applying strict obedience training practices to young dogs. I do not want a dog that behaves like a machine, but I do want a response from the youngster and for it to know we are a partnership.

I suggest you go back to some basic training; take the ‘fizz’ out of the dog and get her to start thinking about what you want her to do, rather than simply what she thinks she should be doing.

Her life as a working gundog will be about a lot more than just retrieving, so redress the balance. There’s still time to re-educate her, but keep off the retrieving for a while and start her listening to you and becoming more in tune with you as her mentor. JH

Expert tips and advice

Best way to hang birds

Native Britain

GAMECOOKING

Plants, flowers and fungi of Great Britain at a glance

I have noticed from many old paintings that birds are hung by their feet, not by their necks, as is the case these days. Can you shed any light as to why?

I can, thanks to Jose Souto for unearthing the practical historical reasons for this. Birds were once hung by their feet to improve the flavour of the bland breast meat by having it in contact with the guts.

These days, with tastes generally on the more sensitive side, and the fresh, sweet breast meat having the best value, the birds are hung head up. This means the guts hang down away from the breast meat and so do not affect its flavour too much. TM

Latin name: Pleurotus ostreatus Common name: Grey oyster mushroom Other names: Tree oyster

Historically, shot birds were hung by their feet to improve their bland flavour by allowing their guts to be in contact with the breast

Fibre wads for steel shot SHOTGUNS

The last time I bought any non-toxic shot must have been about 10 years ago when I was a member of a shoot. I am no longer part of that one, but I have a small rough shoot with three ponds on which I get the odd duck.

I am now down to my last box of cartridges and have been ringing around to get some more bismuth, but it seems only steel shot is available. Unfortunately, steel shot will damage my old gun.

The cartridge I require must have fibre wads.

Do you know if there is a cartridge with steel shot that has a fibre cup wad?

I know of two major cartridge makers that offer cartridges loaded with steel shot encased in a biodegradable cup wad, which will protect the bore of your gun from being scratched. Eley offers cartridges loaded with hydro-soluble eco wads, while Gamebore makes cartridges with a fully biodegradable fibre wad. BH

Two manufacturers now make cartridges with a fully biodegradable wad

How to spot it and where to find it: Despite its common name, the colour of the fruiting bodies of the grey oyster mushroom can be cream, silver, grey, brown or even blue. It is known as a bracket fungus as it grows like brackets on tree trunks — almost always deciduous — forming shelves that overlap each other. The caps are convex when young, slowly developing a central depression. They also have rolled-in edges, which uncurl as they age.

Interesting facts: The grey oyster is saprophytic — feeding on dead and decaying matter — but it is also carnivorous. It traps and ingests nematodes, small roundworms that live in the soil, to provide it with nitrogen and other chemicals.

The generic name Pleurotus is Latin for ‘side ear’ and refers to the way it is attached to the central stem; ostreatus is a reference to oysters. In shape, the fruit bodies often do resemble oyster shells and are said to have a similar flavour and texture; it is edible but has a rather flaccid texture, which is not to everyone’s taste. Oyster mushrooms are, however, widely used in cooking, for which they are cultivated, and have the added attraction of being available all year round. A study has shown that consumption of oyster mushroom extracts can lower cholesterol.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 49

SPORTING ANSWERS

Whitening dirty skulls STALKING

A trio of grey squirrels picked off from a pheasant feeder during a winter’s morning

Vanishing squirrels

I have some skulls that have been left in my man cave too long. They still have a bit of mummified tissue on them, as well as looking a bit brown. I should have done something with them months ago but never got round to it. I would really like to whiten them but I doubt bleach will work. Any ideas you might have would be gratefully received.

The first step is to hydrate the skulls, because it sounds as though they may have dried out. Simply put them in a bucket of cold water, making sure the water covers the whole skull.

Then it’s probably a good idea to de-grease them, which will aid the

AIRGUNS

I have been controlling grey squirrels on a pheasant shoot. In the autumn I shot a lot of squirrels but now they have all but disappeared from their usual haunts. I am sure I haven’t shot them all — are they hibernating?

future bleaching and should help to get rid of any tissue that is still adhering.

Make up a mix using clean water to which you have added household washing-up liquid. It is probably best to buy your own bottle rather than raid the kitchen because you will need a fair amount and most likely will have to refresh the mix.

You may be surprised by how much discolouration is removed and by how dirty the solution becomes.

This process will take some time, so don’t expect it to be sorted in two days; it’s more likely to be two weeks. With the head de-greased and picked clean, you can go back to bleaching with your preferred strength of peroxide, and it might be worthwhile submerging the whole skull rather than wrapping it in cotton wool. I hope this helps. IW

You can hydrate and de-grease heads by submerging them completely in cold water

Though grey squirrels don’t like to venture out in wet weather, and sometimes lay up for a day or two when it is extremely cold, they don’t tend to hibernate.

The reason you are no longer seeing squirrels where you were shooting them in the autumn is because they have found another food source. You mention that you have been controlling the pests on a pheasant shoot, so they will almost certainly be targeting the grain hoppers. Squirrels soon realise that the wheat put out to hold pheasants provides a rich and easy food source at a time of year when it can be difficult to find natural pickings.

Wait in ambush close to feeders after sunrise or shortly before dusk and you will likely encounter grainrobbing squirrels. MM

Special subscription offer!

Save up to

ONLINE: Subscribe online at shootingtimessubs.co.uk/jansale20

*

30%

50 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

CALL: 0330 333 1113, Quote code: AYP9 7 days a week from 8am to 9pm (UK time) DIRECT DEBIT: Complete the coupon on page 35 *per quarter by Direct Debit

Expert tips and advice

First aid for field cuts

It is too much to expect a young dog to cope with both picking-up and beating

VETERINARY CARE

Can you advise what first-aid treatment is best applied should a dog cut itself while out working? A colleague’s dog was injured one day this season, luckily not too seriously, but it showed how we both needed to be better prepared in future.

Equip yourself with a first-aid kit, which should include some sterile bandages, adhesive medical tape and a small bottle of Betadine or chlorhexidine disinfectant solution.

First, put something on top of the wound and put pressure on it to allow the small vessels to clot and stop seeping blood. If the wound is small you can simply use your finger or a gauze square, but if it is large use a clean towel. The wound is likely to be contaminated, so it is not a problem if the towel is not sterile.

If blood spurts out every time the heart beats and you are not able to stop it, apply finger pressure to the point of bleeding, to minimise blood loss, and do whatever you can to get the dog to a vet.

Remove any gross contamination.

You can use the Betadine from your first-aid kit to clean around the wound, and clean drinking water to flush out the wound itself. Remove any gravel, twigs or other material.

Now use some dilute Betadine or mild chlorhexidine to clean the wound. Never clean an injury with strong disinfectant or hydrogen peroxide because this will damage the tissue and cause the wound to heal more slowly.

Finally, apply a temporary bandage. A gauze square will work fine on most wounds. Put a small amount of petroleum jelly like Vaseline to top of the wound then put your temporary bandage on top of it. At this stage you should be in a position either to continue working the dog or, if it is more badly injured, take it to seek professional attention. Otherwise, remove the temporary bandage when you get home so you can examine the wound properly and apply a clean dressing as necessary. TB

Getting rid of the shakes GUNDOG TRAINING

I have a young English springer. He is the first dog I have trained and we are at the end of our first season beating and picking-up. He’s turbo-charged, which has been a challenge for me as a novice, but his summer work on dummies was going really well.

But once we were on live game, things seem to be going awry and he is treating birds with less and less respect the more work I give him. We work on two big shoots and there are a lot of birds. He’s shaking some birds when he picks them and is also becoming more hardmouthed. How do I fix this?

I think you have probably dropped him into the deep end and he’s floundering. I would imagine there is a degree of panic on your part when he starts to make a hash of things and that’s only making things worse.

If you were committed to your two shoots, it would have been difficult to pull out during the season, but you should be able to adjust the work he does now. For a young and clearly rather hotheaded dog, it’s difficult to expect him at this stage of his learning to be in the beating line and then having to pick-up, so I would try to opt for one or the other next season.

So many young dogs are moved far too quickly on to live game from dummy training in the summer. I know it’s not always easy to get cold game to enable the transition from dummies to feather to be introduced gradually, but if you had been able to do that I think things would have been easier.

However, you should now be able to get plenty of training at home with cold game, which should be readily available to you at this time of year.

At home, and in a calmer situation, you will hopefully be able to provide a much more controlled environment and erase some of the buzz of the shoot day, which certainly wouldn’t have helped his overenthusiasm.

On future shoot days give him shorter retrieves and, if possible, in situations in which you have more control. I know this is not always easy.

Finally, you need to tackle his tendency to shake birds as he picks them, so in training do not start yelling at him and running towards him — that will only make things worse. Give the recall whistle firmly but get down on your haunches and encourage him towards you at his level — and do all this in a confined area.

Rather than throw the cold game, I would suggest placing it on the ground some distance from him so that you minimise his tendency to get overexcited at the prospect of a retrieve. JH

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 51

SPORTING ANSWERS

Measuring velocity

The lesser black-backed gull is now a common sight inland

RIFLES

I want to measure my air rifle velocity and .22 rimfire velocity to work out my trajectory.

For safety reasons, I think it would be best to measure this inside my barn. Can you recommend any good kit suitable for measuring velocity indoors?

Lesser is more inland WILDBIRDS

My great-grandfather was both a keen Shot and an observant naturalist, and his shooting diaries make fascinating reading. He notes with surprise seeing a single lesser black-backed gull inland, near Bury St Edmunds, in September 1938.

Today we see hundreds of these gulls inland throughout the year.

What has changed?

Historically, lesser black-backed gulls were once rare birds in southern and eastern England. In East Anglia they occurred on the

coast as scarce passage migrants and they were seldom recorded inland. However, after World War II numbers started to increase, and a major colony was established at Orford Ness in the mid-1960s. It remains an important breeding site today, though numbers fluctuate.

The one factor that seems to have had the biggest impact on numbers of this gull in East Anglia is the growth in outdoor piggeries. These provide ideal feeding conditions throughout the year, and many attract hundreds of these gulls. Instead of migrating to the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal for the winter, the gulls will remain in Britain. DT

Benefits of Clean ammo RIFLES

I am thinking of using some new CCI Clean-22 rimfire ammunition in my Remington 597 semi-automatic. Is this any good for vermin?

The new CCI Clean-22 ammunition is available as a high-velocity and subsonic round, so on that basis it can be used on vermin.

However, its solid round nose form means it is not designed to expand on impact. It is really designed for target work and in rifles such as your semi-automatic rimfire so that the repeating action works reliably.

The CCI Clean-22TM ammunition uses a new polymer-coated bullet that

is designed to reduce copper and lead build-up in your barrel and chamber area. This reduces the overall amount of residue deposited in these regions, which have long plagued rimfire users, especially those with semiautomatic rifles.

This polymer coating also reduces the dreaded lead build-up that affects accuracy and which seems to accumulate in sound moderators. The new Clean-22 bullets are said to reduce the lead deposits by 60 to 80 per cent.

Another benefit is the total encapsulation of harmful lead contact with the skin when handling the ammunition. This significantly cuts the risk of potential harmful exposure, which, in my view, is a very good thing. BP

52 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

I use a chronograph to test all my rifles. I have quite a few, but that’s just me — I like chronographs!

It is paramount to ascertain the correct and actual velocity of your loads; otherwise you must rely on what the manufacturer states on the box.

However, some chronographs need natural light to work, so sometimes it can be too dark, too cloudy or even too bright — even if you are outside — to get a correct reading. This means careful positioning or additional sky screens are needed to get a consistent reading.

The Chrony LED lamp is an add-on piece of equipment that replaces the sky screen. Instead of diffusing the ambient light, it replaces it with an LED array above each photo sensor. This means it can be used in any lighting condition.

For £99 you get two 14in diffuser panels — one front and one rear — all fully assembled. You also get a 120/220v AC adaptor. A car cigarette male plug adaptor or Ni-MH battery pack are also available as accessories.

It represents excellent value for money in time that would be otherwise wasted with false or odd results from dodgy lighting situations. BP

A chronograph can test velocity indoors

Expert tips and advice W S E E N RI E S

GAME BEYOND OUR SHORES

MOUFLON Themouflonisan ancestorofdomestic sheep,withitsorigins inAsia.Animalswere introducedtoSardinia, CorsicaandCyprus inNeolithictimesand smallwildpopulations stillsurviveonthose islandstoday.

Thoughthethree islandsmaybethe mouflon’sancestral Europeanhome, scatteredpopulations canbefoundacross muchofcontinental Europe,aswellas NorthAmerica, HawaiiandArgentina.

Mouflon favour steep

mountainouswoods, usuallylivingnearthe treeline,buttheyare supremelyadaptable.

Matureramsgrow hornsupto85cmlong, amuchsought-after trophy.Theewesare typicallyhornless, thoughonCorsicathey produceshort,horny stumps.Therutisin lateautumn,whenthe ramscrashtheirhorns inintensecombat.

Mouflonhunting(high seats,stalkedand driven)isavailable inmanycountries, includingItaly,Hungary and even Belgium.DT

TO CATCH A FISH Spider Soft Hackle This fly imitates any kind of active nymph so will attract fish when there is little or no bug activity. It has a long hackle collar and this ensures the fly will have

maximum motion in the current. These flies can also be greased up and fished like a dry fly on the surface, often drawing vicious strikes when used this way. EW

Crossword / Compiled by Eric Linden/1441 Across 1 The sporting terrier whose luck runs short, as follows (5) 4 Stranded like wildfowlers outmanoeuvred by the tide, phone disconnected (3-3) 7 Hunting gear makes a brief appearance in Casablanca, Morocco (4) 8 A stoat, for example, is united amongst the mildest disturbance (8) 9 See 3 down 10 The Italian gunmaker with old French money says hello (7) 13 There’s a lot of talk about hunting bunnies (9) 16 Whistle-blower calling the shots in clay shooting? (7) 17 The aural development of a member of the Bosis family? (5)

19 Get to grips when it’s finished to make allowances for pellet drop (4-4) 21 Irritation is a sign of fleas after seven years of marriage (4) 22 Get a dish from the top drawer, like a shot (6) 23 Possibly problematic plants found on weekends, from start to finish (5)

Down 1 A follower of rugby brings organisation to International Gundogs (6) 2 Something from the sweet shop giving colour to Labradors (9) 3 & 9 across Gun types are seen, I assume, to be repaired (4-5) 4 The acting group evaluate how to prevent dogs breeding (8)

Solution 1439 / 15 January 2020 Across: 4. Scurries 7. Eats 9. Grazes 10. Index 11. Sign 12. High tide 13. Silencer 15. Fern 16. April 17. Permit 18. Mesh 19. Ruminate

5 A smart item of shooting wear produces a real result! (3) 6 A pilot’s journey to the wildfowl pond (6) 11 French denial of the local species — a possibly invasive one (3-6) 12 How shot velocity is regarded (8) 14 One of the flinchinducing effects of shooting? (6) 15 Sporting double-takes that you can get your teeth into! (6) 18 A bird that likes to blow its own trumpet! (4) 20 The red mark in our sights makes a good point (3)

Down: 1. Frozen 2. FIAS 3. Red dot 5. Certificate 6. Stinger 8. Taxidermist 12. Heckler 14. Earths 15. Firing 17. Pump MYSTERY WORD: RIFLE WINNER: K. TAYLOR, KENT

Howtoenter To enter our crossword competition, identify the word in the shaded squares and you could win a Fur Feather & Fin Anti-Corrosive gun sleeve (suitable for barrels up to 32in).

Cut out this coupon and send to: Shooting Times Crossword No 1441, Shooting Times, Pinehurst 2, Farnborough Business Park, Hants GU14 7BF Name: Address:

Postcode: Tel no: Mystery word: Rules: Entries must be received by 5 February 2020.All usual conditions apply. Solution and winner will appear in the 12 February 2020 issue. Photocopies accepted.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 53

PRODUCTS

Visit us online / shootinguk.co.uk

From the gun shop ust-have kit on the shelf

1

1 KwikSLIP rifle cover RRP: £34.95 kwikslip.co.uk Thisriflecoverismadefromprinted PVC-coated,waterproof,ripstopfabric.It’s tough,durable,tear-resistantandeasily pedcleanwithadampcloth.Keypoints thedesignincludedoublestitchingto creaselong-termdurabilityineventhe rshestenvironment.TheKwikSLIPkeeps urrifleandscopesdryandwillfitany oderated rifle and combination up to 56in.

Quarter-zip jumper RP: 64.95 xfordshirt.co.uk isjumpercanbeworninanyfieldsports vironment.Itiscomfortableandperfect reverydaywear,aswellasonsmart casions.Withnumerousdifferentcolours offer,thesejumperscangowithany tfit,makingthemversatileand useful. ailable in sizes XS-XXL. Stornoway GTX boots RP £179.99 b.harkila.com Thesehigh-performance,lightweight bootsaremadeofleather.They alsohaveaGore-Texmembrane foroptimumwaterproofingand breathability.Foraddeddurabilitythere sastitchedrubberrandcombinedwith exiblefore-foot,whichensureshigh stabilityonunevenground. Available in dark brown, sizes EU40-48.

2

3 4

4 Aigle anti-fatigue hunting boots RRP: £180 aigle.co.uk Thesecleverbootsweredesignedto makeyourwalksoutsidecomfortableand pleasant.Theyarewaterproof,flexibleand resistantwithadjustablegussets,andthey havealsobeenfittedwithshock-absorbers to cushion and protect your feet.

5 Bisley shotgun cleaning kit

RRP: £34.99 sportsmanguncentre.co.uk Asweapproachtheendoftheseason, cleaningyourgunproperlyisessential.This boxcontainseverythingyouneedtomake sure your gun is in good shape next season.

5

54 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Aidan Hartley is a farmer, keen Shot and fisherman

A sporting life in Africa A visit to Somaliland is not a happy one — all game has gone and forests have been decimated

W

O. NIGHTINGALE

hen British hunter Harald Swayne set off inland from the coast of Somaliland on the Horn of Africa in 1887, he swiftly found herds of elephants. Within sight of the sea he shot his first tuskers. Everywhere he trekked, Swayne found an extraordinary abundance of wildlife, from lion and rhino to oryx and kudu — antelope species endemic to this part of Africa.

On the endless grasslands he encountered a new tawny-coloured hartebeest that moved in immense herds of several thousand animals. “When we shot one, the plain was covered with a line of swiftly galloping animals, a mile or two in length, half obscured in clouds of red dust and flying turf,” he wrote.

By the turn of the century, the new hartebeest species named for Swayne had dwindled to a few hundred in number, decimated not by hunting but the

rinderpest epidemic that raged across Africa during the 1890s. There were so many dying antelope the Somalis “went out daily and pulled down the sick animals with their bare hands in order to take the hides”, according to Swayne.

Later, the influx of rifles into the region encouraged locals to shoot the surviving elephants and rhinos for ivory and horn.

As a child in the early 1970s, I spent some holidays in Somaliland, where my father was working, and my elder brother and I acquired a pet warthog. She was every bit as good as a well-trained dog and accompanied us for walks out in the forested hills above Berbera, where we encountered a diversity of game species.

Much of the bird and plant life was unique.

Later in life I travelled Somalia as a war correspondent for Reuters from the 1990s onwards. While covering militia battles in remote corners of the country, we sometimes ended up sleeping in the bush.

Camels are almost the only animals you will see in Somaliland after decades of war

On those nights I occasionally still heard lions at night and saw game tracks — even elephants in the wildernesses of the south of the country.

I saw no ostriches but Somalis offered me their eggs for sale. Local people had gazelles as pets and elders wore leopardskin slippers. The weapons that poured into Somalia during the civil war destroyed much of what was left of the wildlife.

Recovering from war This month I am visiting Somaliland once more. I have found a country that is slowly recovering from decades of war and the people are very pleasant and interesting.

But as I move around the place — sandy plains with jagged hills — it is quite clear to me that almost no wildlife survives at all, of any species. Gone are the predators, the plains game, the elephants, rhinos, even the hyenas and jackals.

You see herds of camels but most of the forests, once a paradise of diversity for visiting botanists, have been cut down to make charcoal for export to the UAE, where they like to barbecue their goat meat on aromatic acacia coals from Africa.

Even the endless grasslands that Swayne and other early hunters described have disappeared because the rangelands have been burdened with too much livestock. The landscape looks Martian but covered with invasive plants such as cactus, while plastic bottles clog the wadis and plastic bags flutter in the scorching winds.

This sad picture of a once very wild Africa seen as a paradise for sport hunters and conservationists is to be found not only in Somaliland, but across most of the continent today. The mere concept of Africa being ‘wild’ is gone and with it the very last of the game, which remains only in old men’s memories. Today, wildlife survives only in parks — and hunting blocks where sportsmen are still allowed to shoot.

Reel Africa can organise fishing safaris on www.sportfishafrica.com and you can order flies from Gone Fishing on www.fishingfliesandlures.com

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 55

CLASSIFIED DIRECTORY

For all classified advertising enquiries please contact: will.mcmillan@ti-media.com or call 01252 555305 Game Bird & duck

BESPOKE REARING SYSTEMS MAXIMISED BIRD WELFARE - LOW MAINTENANCE - COST EFFECTIVE T: 01686 650 628 WWW.BETTWSHALL.COM E: richard@bettwshall.com

PHEASANT & PARTRIDGE, CHICKS & POULTS DUCK GROWERS HIGH QUALITY – GRASS REARED – NATIONWIDE DELIVERY – COMPETITIVELY PRICED T: 01686 650 628 WWW.BETTWSHALL.COM E: richard@bettwshall.com

Mallard that fly Days old - poults Charles Grisedale

Please mention

Charles.grised@btconnect.com

01974272634 07970746084

when replying to adverts

56 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Shooting AvAilAble

www.woodcock-hunting.com

CLASSIFIED DIRECTORY SituationS Vacant

for all enquiries please call 01252 555305 Miscellaneous

Dog FooD & EquipmEnt

Moorland Beatkeeper Required Bolton Abbey Estate Hard working and enthusiastic beatkeeper required to work as part of an established team. Must be self motivated with at least 4 years practical experience of grouse moor keepering.

An attractive package is offered to the right candidate.

Applications with curriculum vitae and details of current remuneration by email or in writing by Friday 7th February 2020 to: Head Keeper The Estate Office, Bolton Abbey, Skipton BD23 6EX, North Yorkshire estateoffice@boltonabbey.com

Food & drink

Islay Wines The only winery on the West Coast of Scotland.

Fruit and grain wines produced and sold by us, Kenny and Helen Carter on the beautiful Isle of Islay. Using brambles, rhubarb and barley, we create a range of 6 wines, including a mulled bramble wine.

We have a selection of wildlife labels, courtesy of well-known artist, Rodger McPhail as well as the Port Ellen lighthouse labels.

Triple 75cl packs as well as the quadruple 187ml packs are an ideal gift for those requiring something unique for Christmas!

Browse our website www.islaywines.com or visit our facebook page, Islay Wines, for further information.

Order via our website or call us on 01496 302353 Prices start at £3.80

Shooting AvAilAble

www.shooting.sh

Gunshop Guide - derbyshire

Please mention when replying to adverts

Range Of New & Second Hand Shotguns, Air Rifles & Sporting Rifles Range Of Shooting Equipment & Ammunition Large Range of Outdoor,Waterproof Clothing, Wellingtons & Boots Tel: 01332 862091

www.melbournegun.com

64 Church Street, Melbourne, Derby DE73 8EJ

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 57

Alasdair Mitchell

Sharpshooter

If, like many, you have endured Veganuary, you might not have been as ecologically virtuous as you think — it is truly a screaming paradox

V

egans to the left of us, vegans to the right, vegans everywhere.

There was a time, not long ago, when vegetarianism was seen as a slightly weird but harmless obsession.

But more recently, vegetarianism has become so commonplace that it is now rather passé. Instead, full-blown veganism is the coming thing.

Yet it is one of the immutable facts of life that no matter how good you are at something, there is always somebody better. You might be a good shot, but you will occasionally find yourself shooting next to somebody who is even better. In the same way, you might be a paragon of green virtue-signalling, but there will inevitably be somebody who makes you look like a smallminded, reactionary fuddy-duddy.

It may only be a small comfort but exactly the same applies to veganism. I say this because it is now being claimed that merely restricting your diet to plant-based food does not necessarily entitle you to claim that you are a good vegan. I learned this from an article in the Guardian — the publication that, shortly before December’s general election, exhorted its readers to put Comrade Corbyn in charge of the UK. For self-identifying progressives, you see, the ends justify the means.

The article in question was about the ‘veganic’ farming movement. Have you never heard of veganic farming? Really, do try to keep up; this is important.

Veganic farming is based on the premise that most vegetables produced for human consumption are ‘unvegan’. You read that correctly. Hideously unvegan vegetables are everywhere, apparently, masquerading as ethical, wholesome foodstuffs, when the

“Full-on organic farming avoids synthetic fertilizers in favour of wellrotted manure” reality is very different. You would surely avoid them, if only you knew better.

I can say without fear of contradiction that the nub of the veganic argument is crap. By which I mean the stuff more politely known as manure. Which comes from animals, of course. To be precise, from the digestive systems of domestic ruminants such as sheep and cows, which convert plant matter into readily bioavailable fertilizer. This is then widely

used by farmers to provide nutrients to help grow vegetables.

But this also means those same vegetables are produced with a byproduct of animal exploitation. So to the earnest exponents of veganic farming, the traditional use of manure stinks. And this applies most especially to organic farming.

The Guardian quoted Will Bonsall, a veganic farmer from Maine, US. “Most organic agriculture is focused on moo poo,” he warned. According to Mr Bonsall’s ideology, using any animal-derived products to boost soil fertility supports large-scale industrialised animal farming and is unethical. This is particularly true of organic arable farming because it relies on lashings of traditional farmyard manure.

Full-on organic farming is bad precisely because it avoids synthetic chemical fertilizers in favour of well-rotted farmyard manure from certified organic livestock.

How’s that for a screaming paradox?

Taken as a logical extension of the fashionable thinking underlying the concept of veganism, Mr Bonsall has an unassailable point. And in one sense, I am quietly pleased that the pious disciples of veganism are now being outflanked. What next — will somebody argue that ‘exploiting’ plants for human food or health is unethical?

DOG BY KEITH REYNOLDS

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE, ISSN 0037-4164, is published weekly, incorporating Shooting Magazine, Shooting Life, British Sportsman, The Angler’s News & Sea Fisher’s Journal and Field Sport, by TI Media Ltd, 3rd floor, 161 Marsh Wall, London, England E14 9AP, United Kingdom. © 2019 TI Media Ltd. Contributions are welcome but must be accompanied by a suitable stamped addressed envelope. Publication of accepted articles is not guaranteed, and the publishers will not be held liable for any manuscripts, photographs or other materials lost or damaged while in their possession, though every care will be taken. The Editor reserves the right to amend any such articles as necessary. Shooting Times & Country Magazine, as part of TI Media Ltd, is committed to supporting the editorial standards of Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Distributed by Marketforce (UK) Ltd, a TI Media Ltd company, 2nd Floor, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU Tel: +44 (0)20 378 79001. Printed by Walstead UK Ltd. Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom. Subscription rates for 52 issues: UK — £143.

Priority Service (5-7 days): Europe — ¤234, ROW — £199. The US annual subscription price is $305. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE, Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscription records are maintained at TI Media Ltd, 3rd floor, 161 Marsh Wall, London, England E14 9AP. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent. All prices include postage and packing. Enquiries and subscription orders: TI Media Ltd, PO Box 272, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3FS. Cheques payable to TI Media Ltd. Tel: +44 (0)845 845 123 1231, fax +44 (0) 1444 445599.

58 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE