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8 JANUARY 2020

January Why it’s the best month for shooting

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Lola Lola is very adept at hunting and beating but is still working on retrieving. In training, she looks at her owner in disgust when the dummy is thrown. Because, as far as Lola’s concerned, it’s not a patch on the real thing.

Owned and photographed Billie MacKay

6

08.01.20 Issue 6,174

My 2020 vision As I stood on the edge of my flightpond last week, watching a woodcock flit across the frozen water’s edge, I was reminded that as far as shooting goes, January is my favourite month of the year.

It’s become fashionable in some circles to tell anybody who’ll listen that you’ve given up shooting the bonny waders but it’s a bandwagon I don’t much like the look of. As the bird appeared again, silhouetted against the sky, I fired and watched it flare upwards before disappearing, unharmed, among the trees.

It would be dumb to suggest it’s OK to shoot migratory waders on a busy, two-days-a-week syndicate in November. But that’s very different from harvesting a brace towards the end of the season when the migratory birds have arrived.

In 2020 rather than giving things up, we would be better to start doing things that have been proven to support biodiversity. Let’s plant more hedges, dig out ponds and expand wetlands. There is every point in reinforcing the positive conservation impact land management carried out by the shooting community can have — and almost no point in ceding ground to activists who don’t know a muntjac from a Chinese water deer.

Patrick Galbraith, Editor

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16

The best time of the year Why January is so great for sport

19

Shooting over stately spaniels A fabulous day with a Clumber

22

You never stop learning Trainers need training too

25

Proof of the pudding Is your old gun able to fire steel?

28

Jackals in the African bush A quarry with the wiles of our foxes

30

Rabbits in the snow Tawny the lurcher gets stuck in

34

Substance as well as style Beretta’s new 694 is a masterstroke

46

A new flavour for pheasant Smoked breast with roast squash

Follow Patrick on Twitter @paddycgalbraith

Contents NEWS & OPINION

14

GAMEKEEPER

06 NEWS

28

SOLDIER PALMER

10

34

SHOTGUN TEST

FEATURES

38

CONSERVATION

16

WINTER SPORT

40 FORAGING

19

ROUGH SHOOTING

42

22

GUNDOGS

46

COOKERY

25

STEEL SHOT

30

48

FERRETING

SPORTING ANSWERS

REGULARS

54

PRODUCTS

12

58

SHARPSHOOTER

LETTERS

COUNTRY DIARY

GUNDOGS

44 VINTAGE TIMES

4 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

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JOIN US NOW Call 01833 660869 or visit www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk Moorland Branch Lowland Branch Deer Branch *Cover is underwritten by Builders Direct SA on behalf of MGAM Ltd, arranged through Lycett, Browne-Swinburne and Douglas Ltd. It is subject to the terms and conditions of policy number MGAM 009/18. **First year’s DD membership only.

NEWS The various agencies say they have proved that selfregulation works

Licensing threat hangs over Scotland’s grouse moors An overdue review of management practices recommends ‘seismic changes’ and the Scottish Government is keen to implement them

A. HOOK / ALAMY / B. PHIPPS

I

f the status of birds of prey on Scotland’s grouse moors does not improve, licensing must be introduced, recommends the long-awaited Werritty Review.

And the Scottish Government looks set to introduce changes more quickly.

The controversial report was commissioned by the Scottish Government in 2017 to look at the management practices on Scotland’s grouse moors and to advise on whether grouse shooting businesses should be licensed. The review was set up after a report by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) claimed that 40 out of 131 young tagged golden eagles had disappeared in suspicious circumstances between 2004 and 2016.

Among other issues it looked at illegal raptor persecution, mountain hare culling and the use of medicated grit.

The review group of six experts was chaired by Professor Alan Werritty of the University of Dundee. In his introduction to the report, he wrote: “The group was evenly split on whether or not to license grouse shooting.

MSP, the latter said the Scottish Government “will be looking at whether we move to regulation on a much quicker timeframe”.

The report made 24 further recommendations, including increased regulation on the use of medicated grit and the

“SNH claimed that 40 out of 131 golden eagles had disappeared in suspicious circumstances” “When, as chair, I sought to exercise a casting vote in favour of the immediate introduction of licensing, this was contested by two members of the group.”

Scottish environment minister Roseanna Cunningham and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon suggested that licensing could be introduced more quickly. Answering a question from Andy Wightman

6 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

introduction of a licensing system for muirburn. A code of practice with a requirement to report cull totals was recommended for mountain hares, and potential future licensing system for hare culling was also suggested.

While it advised against changing the legal status of any bird of prey, the report called on SNH to make greater use

of its licensing powers, “where particular species are perceived to be limiting the populations of red and or amber-listed ground-nesting birds, including red grouse”.

The recommendations of the review will mean a seismic change for grouse moors. In a joint statement BASC, Scottish Countryside Alliance, Scottish Gamekeepers Association, Scottish Association for Country Sports and Scottish Land & Estates said: “The sector has already willingly embraced change and improvements… further enhanced training and codes of practice covering muirburn, mountain hare management and medicated grit are the best solution rather than onerous licensing provisions and we will be seeking an urgent meeting with government to discuss these key areas.”

Matt Cross

Email your stories / STeditorials@ti-media.com

Support for Boxing Day sport There was the traditionally strong turn out at hunts and shoots across the country on Boxing Day 2019. The Countryside Alliance provided a list of almost 70 packs that would meet on 26 December.

The most southerly was the Four Burrow near Redruth in Cornwall and the most northerly the Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire near Glasgow.

Hunts were not restricted to the UK, with the Kerry Harriers meeting at Glin Castle near Limerick.

The largest turn out was for the Heythrop in Oxfordshire, which attracted an estimated 5,000 people.

What would you most like to be doing on Boxing Day? 24% Out with the hunt 27% Walking-up woodcock 41% Driven pheasants 8% Grayling fishing follow us @shootingtimes

Respondents: 169

The Avon Vale arrive in Lacock for the traditional Boxing Day meet

Boxing Day is a family shooting day and as usual the royal family set the tone.

Last year, in what was widely believed to be an example of Meghan Markle’s influence, Prince Harry did not shoot on Boxing Day. However,

this year Harry joined his father and older brother to shoot at Sandringham in Norfolk. HM The Queen, who is 93, and the Duke of Edinburgh, who was recently released from hospital, did not take part.

Police catch illegal coursers Arrests and seizures have continued as police crack down on illegal coursing.

In Cambridgeshire officers caught four suspects after a member of the public lent the officers a quad bike to pursue the fleeing poachers.

A few days earlier the force chased another courser using a drone after he abandoned his car.

The suspect was not found, but the car was

Weekend Twitter poll

seized. More cars suspected of belonging to coursers were seized by the force on Christmas Eve. Activities hadn’t started before officers swooped on the untaxed vehicles in Soham.

In Lincolnshire police officers confirmed that they now had access to DNA technology that would prove a particular dog had been involved in coursing. They also revealed that the Polaris

ATV they used to conduct anti-coursing patrols had evacuated a casualty and rescued the ambulance sent to collect him. The machine also pulled two police fourwheel-drive vehicles and an inspector’s Vauxhall Astra out of deep mud.

Lincolnshire police also seized vehicles including an untaxed car that was found to contain a supply of ball bearings and air rifle pellets.

To do S With the en game sea a few wee there’s n need to your gu away y With yo pigeon shooting can provi valuable service to farmers as well as excellent sport. Wildfowling below the high tideline also continues until 29 April. Now is a good time to investigate those opportunities.

With the leaves off the trees and hungry squirrels active, late winter is a good time for grey squirrel control.

Pheasant feeders often attract rodents and present excellent ambush opportunities, but a quiet sit in a broadleaved woodland may present more chances. Shotguns and air rifles are excellent tools for squirrel control.

WINTER

Hare coursing is now illegal under the terms of the Hunting Act and has largely gone ‘underground’

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 7

NEWS EVENTS DIARY

The public should be enlisted to help control deer numbers, says the SGA

16 JANUARY LADIES’INTRODUCTION TO DUCK FLIGHTING Main Road, Chelmsford Essex events.basc.org.uk 26 JANUARY BUTCHERY COURSE — BIRDS AND DEER Englefield Estate Danitylands, Common Hill, Englefield RG7 5JP po.st/butchery 31 JANUARY REALLY WILD DINNER & AUCTION Thornbridge Hall, Longstone Lane, Bakewell gwct.org.uk/events/ calendar/2020/january/ really-wild-dinner/ 31 JANUARY END OF SEASON (NI) For snipe, woodcock, golden plover, inland water fowl, pheasant and partridge (Northern Ireland only)

01 FEBRUARY

C. WARREN / ALAMY / REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

END OF SEASON For partridge and pheasant in England, Wales and Scotland 19 FEBRUARY PREDATION CONTROL LAW AND BEST PRACTICE COURSE Near Fakenham, Norfolk gwct.org.uk/events

Public ‘could help control deer herd’ New report by gamekeepers’ group says recreational stalkers could help manage deer numbers in Scotland Recreational deer stalkers should be given an official role in managing deer numbers on public land, according to the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA).

The proposal came in a report written by “the men and women who have culled around a million deer in the last decade”.

It mirrors a recommendation made in 2016 by BASC that “more use should be made

stalkers who had undergone adequate training would take responsibility for an area of nationally owned woodland in Scotland’s central belt.

Unlike the private contractors who carry out much of the deer control on the national forest estate, the recreational stalkers would not be paid. Instead they would take the venison as food for their friends and family. They

“Deer should be valued rather than viewed as a problem” of recreational deer stalkers to control deer in the public forest estate”.

The SGA report, Deer Vision — the 10 years ahead, launched before Christmas by the country’s stalkers and deer managers, includes a number of other suggestions as to how deer management can be improved.

Under the plan, recreational

8 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

would also rely exclusively on shooting during daylight.

The SGA plan would also involve the recruitment of a team of wildlife rangers who would manage a range of species, including predators such as foxes.

The plan was released as Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) announced that it had agreed to £10million worth of contracts for

private companies to help shoot deer in the country’s forests.

In 2016, responding to a consultation by Defra, BASC advanced a similar plan. The association argued that its existing deer management schemes in Dorset and East Anglia provided a template that could be extended to other areas.

The SGA report calls on the Scottish Government to develop a network of regional deer larders and outlines what is described as a ‘national asset’ approach to deer management, where deer are valued rather than viewed as a problem to be managed.

It also raises concerns about the growing use of night- and outof-season shooting to manage deer. West Highlands stalker Lea MacNally said: “These licences can be necessary. But they must be granted, by law, on the condition of ‘last resort’, when all other measures have failed.”

Matt Cross

Email your stories / STeditorials@ti-media.com

Only 29 prosecutions for wildlife crime in Scotland Twenty-four crimes against raptors were recorded in Scotland

Only 29 individuals were prosecuted for wildlife crimes in Scotland last year.

The annual wildlife crime report from the Scottish Government shows that, despite police officers investigating more than 200 offences, only 25 suspects ended up being convicted.

Fish-poaching offences were the most commonly reported wildlife crime, with police receiving 45 reports. They were also the

most frequently prosecuted offences, with a total of five fish poachers facing court.

Two criminals were sent to prison for wildlife offences. Among those imprisoned was prolific hare poacher Angus McPhee, who received 175 days in prison after being convicted for illegally coursing the animals for the 11th time.

There was an increase in crimes against birds of prey, with 24 crimes

against raptors recorded in 2017-2018, the latest figures available. Among those convicted was Keith Riddoch, an oil executive who was reported after mistaking a pheasant for a buzzard. Riddoch was found guilty and fined £500.

Included in the statistics were the crimes of Borders gamekeeper Alan Wilson, who narrowly escaped jail after admitting more than 20 wildlife offences.

Feed prices may be set to rise The prospect of a USChina trade deal creating additional demand is driving up feed prices as the season comes to an end and the hunger gap approaches.

According to figures from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), in December prices of delivered feed wheat rise to £151 per tonne in East Anglia and £155 per tonne in Yorkshire.

A squeeze in the global supply of maize caused by the Argentine government

raising export taxes may also push up wheat prices, as feed manufacturers buy wheat to replace maize in compound feeds.

However, US Wheat predicts the increase in global wheat supply will be greater than the increase in demand in 2020, which should help to keep prices under control.

The US-China trade deal may also have an effect on the prices of pelleted feeds in the coming rearing season. Soya bean prices

have already begun a sharp rise as US farmers and traders expect to be able to sell to China again.

The same Argentine taxes are also predicted to push up soya prices.

However, Liam Bell, chairman of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, said: “My guess is that pelleted feeds will go up again. Future traders get it wrong, and I’m not brave enough to call it.”

Feed barley remains cheap and abundant.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Anger as Apprentice star backs hunting Apprentice contestant Lottie Lion has faced a social media backlash after publicly supporting hunting.

The 19-year-old posted a photograph of riders and hounds with the caption: “Very proud to be a part of this community. Sad I am not on horseback this year.” Ms Lion had hoped to win Lord Sugar’s investment to set up a social club for rural women that would have included regular shooting events, but she was fired from the show before the final week.

Tom Adams to step down from BGA Tom Adams, managing director of the British Game Alliance (BGA), has announced he will be leaving the organisation. Tom helped to found the BGA, but some in the shooting world criticised his lack of practical gamemanagement experience. A wellplaced source told Shooting Times that “a number of people involved in the game industry would like to see someone with proven keepering experience as Tom’s successor”.

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @SHOOTINGTIMESUK Feed prices look set to rise due to a combination of factors, including a probable US-China trade deal

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

We do it for love of the countryside I am starting to notice a theme within our sport. Across all media it is implied that those of us in the countryside — shooters, farmers and all who live and work here — have ruined it and do not know what we are doing.

While wrapping Christmas presents with offcuts of wallpaper from work, I watched a family of local blue tits, which nests in an old work boot I put up on the telephone mast, eat the seed and fat balls I put out for them. They had to wait their turn after the spotted woodpecker that comes by, the robins, sparrows and coal tits all had their fill.

ALAMY

and it is now home to small mammals and all the insects vital to sustaining this life.

Later I’ll butcher the birds I shot last week on the farm not a mile from me to have for dinner this weekend.

I’d like to remind everyone not to listen to the naysayers. I, and countless others, do all this with no funding nor incentive other than the love of it. We are doing just fine and will continue to do so regardless of what a few prominent townies scream about us. Happy new year to all the countrymen and women who simply get on with it.

S. Hills, 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.

WITCHCRAFT I take it that Barry Stoffell was writing tongue in cheek (Taking the piseog, 4 December) about lucky charms. My son lives in Switzerland and we have explored together many isolated villages high up in mountain valleys, some of which are cut off completely when the snow arrives. Witchcraft sometimes occurs in these places, as evidenced by surreal

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 Danny Moore

They all waited in line on the shrubs I’ve planted, the lavender and flowering plants I put in specifically for pollinators, above the grass I don’t cut on my driveway, where I frequently find slowworms, lizards and the odd pheasant living and nesting.

Unfortunately, no pheasants hatched this year because the neighbours’ cat disturbed the hen on the nest.

Free of charge, I trimmed my neighbours’ hazel hedge by hand to help it thicken up for next year’s nesting season.

I used the offcuts to make a dead hedge up the side of my chicken coop for privacy,

Barry Stoffell is convinced wearing socks inside out is lucky. Or is he?

10 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

carvings in the blackened timber of ancient chalets.

One exception is a modern chalet in a more normal location where a chap lives who earns his keep by practising witchcraft quite openly.

P. Harrison, Cumbria

THE WORST PR Your magazine and letters pages have recently been full the threats to our port and the dangers rom within. I hope our readers all saw e idiot who attacked car full of hunt abs with a dead fox, mashing it repeatedly gainst their window.

Never mind how ovocative the sabs y or may not have here are 101 better o get even than this. oes our respect for q rry argument and forget the moral high ground

issue, this man has handed them years of free publicity in one go.

Forget the success stories of curlews or songbirds because this ignorant halfwit has undermined everything we have done and it was all over the national press to re-enforce every negative stereotype of hunts that has ever been made.

If the person who did this is a member of the hunt concerned or BASC or the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation or any countryside association, I hope he is booted out, never to be seen or heard of again.

He is a pathetic disgrace to the thousands of people who genuinely love the countryside and the wildlife within it.

M. Bryant, by email

DOING OUR BIT Is M. Boxall another Wind in the Willows dreamer? He defends hornets then watches no doubt enthralled as they kill “drunken red admirals”

Email your letters / STletters@ti-media.com WELSH QUARRY I was hosting a day’s driven shooting in Wales just before New Year. A friendly group of Guns with mixed abilities attended that particular day.

As always, I ran through the brief at the start of the day and ticked off the usuals such as picking up cartridges, safety and so on.

When I had finished my speech, one of the Guns — who didn’t shoot very often — asked whether he could shoot a jay. I replied that he couldn’t as they were only on GL004, which concerns conservation.

Unless we had witnessed a nest being raided on the drive there would be no benefit in pulling the trigger.

Thisconfusionneedstobe addressedatallshootsasallit takesisoneGunwhodoesn’t shootmuchandhasn’tbeen followingthesportreligiously tosendusintodisrepute.

Itisthedutyofthehostto make sure all Guns are aware

(Letters, 18 December) — which is rather like Chris Packham watching sparrowhawks eating songbirds alive.

I have several blocks of bird and insect plantings, 3m conservation strips round all my fields, five beehives and more sparrows and finches on the sunflower strip than he could count, plus a recently planted mixed woodland with more going in this winter.

Living on the edge of Rockingham Forest, I am plagued by buzzards that have decimated the rabbits and partridges and daily see the results of badgers digging out bees, mice and the nests of ground-nesting birds.

Is Mr Boxall another Packham, always telling someone else what they should be doing while sitting in front of a screen?

W. Fenn, by email

NEXT WEEK IN

Jays can only be shot under certain conditions in Wales

JANUARY GEM A successful farmer’s day shoot at Burghley Park with a mixed bag.

WHAT A SIGHT Your guide on how to identify ducks flying at dusk.

ofthelawandwhattheyare allowedtoshoot.Isuggest allmyfellowhostsmention outlawed species with greater

NO ANTIS FOR CHRISTMAS Like many, I suspect, I made the effort to attend the Boxing Day meet of our local hunt. It was the usual very jolly occasion, with children on hairy ponies bedecked with tinsel and all the adult followers turned out immaculately. The pub at which they traditionally meet handed round trays of sausage rolls — on which most of the foxhounds had at least one eye — and delicious fruitcake that is made by the landlady herself. In short, everything you’d expect to see at such a meet.

Except one thing. I didn’t see a single anti. This pack does, sadly, attract the usual rent-a-thugs hell-bent on disruption if not outright sabotage and we have in the past been forced to call

emphasisatthestartoftheday soweshallbeputinbetterstead fortheforeseeablefuture.

N. Maine, Powys

out the police — the local force is sympathetic, thankfully.

We often joke that the local hunt sabs don’t bother us during autumn hunting because they can’t be bothered to get up for the early starts. And perhaps too much liquid Christmas cheer kept them in their beds on Boxing Day. But could it be, possibly, that they have finally accepted the hunt keeps within the law so there is no further need for their tedious interference? I didn’t attend the New Year’s Day meet but someone told me they didn’t see any antis there either.

For the dawn of a new decade, the second since the pernicious Hunting Act came into law, perhaps the hunt sabs have turned over a new leaf and will leave us to continue our lawful activities in peace.

Name and address supplied

‘‘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

PIGEON SHOOTING Tom Payne heads to Scotland for his first roost shoot of the year.

FUNNY OLD GAME Matt Cross looks into the history of the gamekeeper in Great Britain.

... AND MUCH MORE!

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 11

Patrick Laurie

Country Diary

There is something vulnerable about our cherished owl species but it is balanced with beauty and style that is forever thrilling for us all

I

Gliding My short, hairy cows jostled around me as the hunter came closer. It had been a wet day and the moor was red and steaming in the dull sunset. Soon I could make out his yellow eyes and black bandit mask as he scanned the moss for mice. It was extraordinary that this bird may have come here from across the North Sea, bouncing and gliding above waves in the moonlight.

He might have come last year and found me feeding the same cows in the same place; perhaps this ocean-goer is disappointed by my failure to get out and see the world.

Dusk drew on and barn owls came tumbling out of an old ash tree where they nested in the summer. This is now a second brood for the year and, while it seems like an odd time for chicks, barn owls have been known to breed in all seasons. Success depends more upon the availability of prey and voles are abundant this year; we have juvenile owls in deep midwinter.

It’s encouraging that young owls are so curious and interested in the world. When I first started building owl boxes, I used

The long-eared owl is staggeringly beautiful and we know almost nothing about this British bird

to wonder how an owl could ever muster the courage to go inside something as unnatural as a box.

But young owls are endlessly curious and they turn up in all kinds of funny places when they first leave the nest. I find them in our pigsty and recently woke one night to find a youngster pecking at the glass of our skylight. If there is a well-placed box in their territory, you can trust an owl to find it.

There are too many chores and such little daylight at this time of year. My work

“I could make out the owl’s yellow eyes and black bandit mask as he hunted for mice” goes on into the darkness and I plod along the top fields tossing hay to the cows that are in calf again. There’s an old windbreak on the southern edge of this hill and I began to fell it for firewood a few years ago.

Now it’s looking a little bedraggled but breaking up the straight lines and uniformity of the block has given a real boost to the local birds. Long-eared owls often nest in there during the summer and

12 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

one of them coasted out above my head as I walked in the darkness. I could hardly make it out against the emerging stars but there was no doubting his identity.

If I had to choose a favourite British owl, it might just be the long-ears. They are staggeringly beautiful and I love the fact that we know almost nothing about them.

I’ve asked the best and brightest scientists to tell me about long-eared owls but once they have related the most basic details, the trail goes cold. At a time when every bird has a ring and cuckoos can be tracked across the globe, it’s nice to know that some birds still refuse to be understood.

Almost as a postscript, I pushed up a tawny owl as I coasted home on the quad bike. He had been up to some mischief in the verge, probably slurping down an earthworm or two. He trailed his long, fluffy legs below him as he vanished into the darkness and my tally was complete.

For more on owls, see p.38.

Patrick Laurie manages a conservation programme to promote farming and conservation with a particular focus on wading birds and blackgrouse, and he runs a farm in Galloway.

ALAMY

am starting to worry that I am addicted to owls. Everybody loves a barn owl and the eerie hoot of a tawny can always make you smile, but for me it goes a little further. I’m lucky to be farming in a place where four owl species converge and it’s easily possible to see them all in one evening.

The first owl came at 3pm, which amounts to evening in these brief winter days. I was out to feed cattle on the moss and a short-eared owl coasted towards me across the long, rippling grass like a ghost.

I’m forever thrilled by these birds, which balance beauty and style with a strange vulnerability. I was involved in ringing a brood of short-eared owls on moorland near Thornhill a few years ago and I was astonished by how small they are.

An owl might seem grand and haughty in the middle distance but you can hold him in the palm of one hand. He is an illusionist and most of his volume is simply a matter of down and primary feathers that hang around him like scaffolding.

Alex Keeble keepers in the Chilterns, having previously been headkeeper on an estate in the Cotswolds

Gamekeeper

Changing the order of drives late in the season can catch out warier birds; it’s a risk but if you want to show good sport, it’s worth taking

F

Anxious The topography of the field lent itself to reposition the game cover up a hedge line that sloped down to woodland, in the theory that additional birds could be blanked from the woodland into the cover and pushed back again. It was a very anxious time before we started the drive, double checking that everyone was in the correct position and hoping the birds were there in reasonable numbers.

Our first time through the cover produced some exceptional birds that performed as I assumed they would, flying high back to the woodland over the line of waiting Guns. The new drive had been a success. Experimenting with how to drive a cover differently or completely reshaping it is a risk either way, but taking the risk could make it all worthwhile.

Moving pegs during the season is a job that I regularly do after assessing the previous shoot day. Birds this time of year can change their roosting positions as the leaves drop and therefore their line of flight changes. The wind direction can have a

Moving pegs late on in the season may help you target birds that are leaking out from the sides

huge influence on their line of flight too, so this needs to be factored in as well.

Birds that usually head over the Guns will be depleted in numbers after being shot, so moving the pegs can help focus the shooting on birds that leak out the sides.

Changing the order of the drives late in the season can also help to catch out the wary birds; shooting drives that are close to others allow the birds to spook and run from the cover that is due to be shot next.

partridges return in a matter of hours if they have not flown too far from home.

Finding time to enjoy the Christmas period is a struggle for a gamekeeper because unfortunately it coincides at a point in the game shooting season when you cannot relax. Birds still need to be fed, gundogs require looking after and preparations are needed for Boxing Day shoots. A gamekeeper’s Christmas Day is very similar to that of a livestock farmer;

“Ten or 14 days’ rest was the optimum for pheasants but red-legged partridges return in a matter of hours” The general rule of thumb is that resting a pheasant drive for at least 10 days since the last shoot day allows the numbers to build back to a respectable level. I am sure different estates see variant results due to complex feeding regimes and released numbers, but on my current and last position 10 days’ rest was needed to build numbers back. Seven days will show a good number return but 10 or 14 was the optimum for pheasants; red-legged

14 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

though a whole day of work should not be needed, there are always things to do which will take a few hours.

In a classic gamekeeping fashion I am very fond — and very proud — of giving a brace of prepared pheasants as Christmas presents to family and friends. Gifting these birds helps to advertise quality game meat to people who are reluctant to buy them but relish having birds given to them fully oven prepared.

S. FARNSWORTH

or the first drive on our previous shoot day I conjured up the courage to shoot a new pheasant cover that I had reshaped from the previous season. I had watched the drive, noting that the birds fed during the morning then began to wander across the nearby fields during the day, so we planned to shoot it first thing.

The game cover is on the edge of the estate and is bordered by some stubble fields that were directly drilled with grass.

The weather was glorious so I had hoped the birds were making use of the stubbles and game cover. Its prior position didn’t enable me to shoot it last year, though plenty of birds resided within it. Its main problem was that the cover was on our boundary and, once driven, the birds flew back over the beaters towards it. The remaining birds that did fly out the front were very poor quality.

Unfortunately, due to shooting 200-bird days up until now, the drive hadn’t held enough game to risk shooting it until we dropped to 150-bird days.

Image © Richard Faulks

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Winter sport

Is January the finest month?

As far as mean temperatures are concerned this month is the new December — but this is good news for shooters, says Ed Wills

A. HOOK / M. AUSTIN / D. ROGERS / D. IRELAND

J

anuary, for most of the nation, is the cruellest month. From Stornoway to the Scillies people are in credit card debt doldrums, their clothes no longer fit and family relations — after all that lovely time together at Christmas — are invariably fraught.

For those like you and me, however, January is the most wonderful time of the year. The migratory ducks are arriving in force on our shores and the cock pheasants are strutting about looking delightfully plump. The pheasants in particular are stronger, faster, wilder, and fly much higher than those early birds in the first week of October.

There is more meat and fat on them, making them better birds for the table. Not only have they improved their physical stature through the season but their behaviour has changed too. They are now well aware of the flightlines that will outsmart the Guns and will readily take their chance to double back

if it becomes available. This makes them devilishly hard to anticipate and walked-up cock pheasants provide excellent sport.

Dr Joah Madden, associate professor of psychology at the University of Exeter, studied the behavioural aspects of pheasants in the season and found that shy birds manage to evade predators and Guns until the end of the season. So not all pheasants are ‘bird brained’; perhaps only the bold ones.

Control Not only are the birds more switched on, but the Guns in the line generally are too. January becomes the time to clear up loose ends and make sure that the cock pheasant population is under control. All too frequently, shoots do not focus enough attention on the male gender and the hen

The Guns tend to be more selective in January, which is good for the shoot as well as for morale

16 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

The weather in January is generally more wintry, with strong winds and even snow

pheasant suffers for it in the spring when she becomes overwhelmed by male visitors with only reproduction on their minds.

As a result, there is more selective shooting in January that takes a certain amount of concentration and no small amount of skill either. The day develops into a benefit for the shoot as well as for yourself.

Not only are the more experienced Guns called upon but the younger and less knowledgeable sportsmen are also offered a chance. These are the days for parents to stand behind their children and watch them experience a day’s shooting for the first time.

To see someone succeed in downing their first bird is a sight you won’t forget in a hurry.

The young, in their Christmas holidays, get a first taste of the fieldsports life and it will never leave them. Once you have walked that hedgerow with a terrier to flush a partridge, or pushed through some

Winter sport bracken in the search for a rabbit or perhaps a woodcock, you will yearn for more.

The last month of 2019 was the wettest December ever recorded, with reports of floods almost every week. Whether or not this is due to climate change, one thing is certain: the seasons are shifting and January is becoming the new December, with colder weather, stronger winds and possible snow.

Scientists from University College London have forecasted an average temperature of 3.9°C in January 2020.

This is more than three degrees lower than the average temperature in December. Because of this climatic shift, woodcock are becoming more frequent into the first month of the year as they have no need to migrate till later on.

Because we all want to preserve the population of our resident birds, we tend to leave woodcock throughout the season, adhering to the GWCT’s advice. But when the clock strikes midnight and the New Year starts, woodcock are definitely back on most of our quarry lists. Their jinking action, shifting through the trees, makes them devilishly tricky to shoot.

I recall shooting my first woodcock on a frosty January morning when I walked-up a woodland with a couple of friends. The woodcock decided at the very last moment that he should probably flee, giving me a lot more

time than usual to swing my gun on to him. I plucked and roasted the woodcock for breakfast the next day.

Thrilling fishing The rivers are largely left untouched in the winter for some reason. Even in January they hold thrilling sport.

The grayling, or the “lady of the stream”, has been known to grow to more than 10lb. With every pound of weight, this fish fights harder than most and is tricky to fool with a fly. Not only are grayling tough fighters but they are also

“Pheasants are stronger, faster, wilder and fly much higher than those early birds in the first week of October”

You can fish for grayling — the lady of the stream — in January

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 17

Winter sport beautiful fish. Their colourful and prominent dorsal fins stand out in the cold wintry landscape.

Fieldsports artist Rodger McPhail painted a January scene with a grayling breaking the surface. When I asked him why not paint a cock pheasant or duck arriving on a pond, he shrugged and said: “They are all part of a January scene but each part has its own beauty.”

With the brown trout and salmon season closed, the banks are left to the few with a good sense of sport to cast a fly and bring a fish home for supper.

As the winds increase and the rains become sleet, the wildfowl begin to seek shelter and sustenance in the wild places that only true fowlers know. The wildfowler looks at the howling gale and horizontal rain and rushes to get his waders on.

Real McCoy I rang Richard Negus, a regular fowler on the Alde, and asked when I should come to Norfolk for some sport. “January is best,” he revealed.

“There are plenty more birds in the sky and gone are the lazy days for flightpond idlers — January is for the real McCoys.”

January on the foreshore is a crowded place. The migratory birds squeeze in to create this mix of colours and sounds echoing across the estuaries and coastal marshes of the country. The birds are a memorable sight as they take to the air at the dawn chorus and flight across

to have a clear shot at a pigeon coming into roost or a pheasant escaping out the side.

Walking through woods in January is another of my favourite hobbies.

The sight of an unfrosted squirrel drey or flighting pigeon always lifts the spirits.

“January is best for wildfowl; gone are the lazy days for flightpond idlers” the brightening sky in formation. The wildfowler crouches in frozen mud as the formation draws ever closer, for that one chance to bring something back to the table.

It is a cherished sport that is even more special in January, when the harsh conditions and increased numbers of wildfowl on the foreshore give many a greater chance of success.

The same harsh wintry conditions that strip the leaves from the trees leaving them bare and naked give us some sport as well. Though the landscape may seem harsh and rather empty to some, I am overjoyed to see the first leaf fall in autumn. It is the first sign that winter is on its way and creates gaps in trees that allow a Gun

With all these opportunities available to sportsmen in January, most species days take place at this time too. The organised — or relaxed — day brings the varied mix of the month’s sport into focus and shows you just how much can be enjoyed if you look for it. Without really even trying you could have 10 species in the bag and have enjoyed the most thrilling sport.

Gone are the days of roaring stags and cackling grouse. These are the greater days of jinking snipe through bogs, high curling pheasants, woodcock hiding in brambles, lofty pigeons in woodlands, whiffling geese on the foreshore, and duck tearing down on to frosted ponds.

Woodcock shooting in January is focused on the migrant birds rather than our resident population

18 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Rough shooting

A wander in Clumberland Charles Hartley recalls his best sporting day of 2019 — a rough day out with his Clumber spaniel, Bertie, and plenty of species on offer

S. GARNETT

M

y day-to-day life is set far from the field. I work as an auctioneer where the start of the pheasant season and end of the grouse is dominated by major sales and deadlines. But as November crashes into December and Jack Frost grabs a firm hold, exceptions must be made.

One of my permissions sits in a wonderful no-man’s-land, nestled between the overgrazed fields below and the keepered moor above. It represents an undulating steep edge filled with damp sedge, anklegrabbing bracken, sparse patches of heather, stunted trees and the chance that anything could happen.

Once a season when the weather is particularly bad, my Clumber spaniel Bertie and I hit this ground in a one-man-and-his-dog bid for the ultimate rough shoot.

The species list is as varied as the terrain, with grouse, pheasants, woodcock, snipe, woodpigeons, rabbits and grey squirrels finding their way into the bag over the years.

Both outstanding days and empty

bags have been had. The aim of the mission is never wholesale slaughter; more a tale of quality over quantity, with a single good bird enough.

Painful frost Usually the worse the weather, the better the sport, with the best days being thick with snow or painful with frost; the theory being that many of the moorland species drop on to the sheltered edge in tough conditions.

As the end of the grouse season was fast approaching, I was forced out into upsettingly comfortable conditions, with only a minor frost to speak of.

‘go-back’ of a grouse out of sight, the shotgun action clicked shut and dog was unleashed.

Bertie zigzagged back and forth, bulldozing his way through the dead bracken with his nose pinned firmly to the floor. The noise of breaking stems and large snorts of air expelled through his thick nose were more reminiscent of a wild boar than a spaniel, but this is what I love about working a Clumber.

As a breed the Clumber is a force of nature, with a great nose and stocky shape perfect for thick cover.

These attributes are combined with an often stubborn nature that will

“It is a tale of quality over quantity, when a single good bird is enough” Though this left me a touch pensive, I couldn’t help but silently hum with excitement as the internal dynamo within my spaniel picked up energy on our march towards the hill. We paused for a moment on the boundary on to this utopia, silently watching and listening for telltale signs of life. With a single

make them push through almost anything. Bertie quickly built up a head of steam, needing to be reminded of my presence to stop him from working too far ahead.

Uncharacteristically, he did not need reminding again, poking his head out of cover every 20 yards to check I was keeping up. We

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 19

Rough shooting

Bertie the Clumber spaniel follows his nose, quartering left and right as he scents some quarry

dropped into a boggy patch of sedge that often holds the sharp excitement of snipe, but no wee birds gave up their hiding place. All of a sudden Bertie went quiet, stopping with his nose lifted into the wind that streamed across the bracken ahead.

Feathery noise He ploughed in, quartering left to right as he thrashed through the undergrowth. Stopping, he tasted the air once more, making a 20° line change, bringing an eruption of feathery noise as a cock bird launched into the air. My footing was good and

was working with greater purpose.

We headed on to steeper ground punctuated by hawthorn. Following his nose Bertie ran parallel to me in the gullies that cut deeply into the edge of the hill. There was a sudden burst of movement from the ground ahead; instinctively my shotgun came into my shoulder once again but, as senses focused, a hare ran into the clear and my barrels stayed silent.

This permission used to be owned by the man who introduced me to fieldsports. His rules were simple and as brown hares once struggled in these parts, they were strictly off

20 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

wood dominated by pine that was mangled and stunted in growth after a lifetime struggling above the treeline. Fallen branches provided fantastic cover within a bed of long grass and pine needles. We delved deeper into the tangle when all at once a woodcock erupted at our feet, between man and dog. I turned to follow it as the internal moral debate began but, before I could check its passport to see if it was a migrant, the bird had made the decision for me.

His flightpath was too close to my dog for a safe shot and, once clear of Bertie he swung over a stone wall, dropping immediately over the other side and out of sight. Nothing gets the blood pumping like a woodcock in the air, shots fired or not.

Fever pitch Dropping out of the wood, we headed back into the thick bracken on a wet 45° edge. Bertie methodically moved from cover to cover, checking for game until it was obvious he was on a scent. His tail went from a fast wag to an out-of-control spin as the sound of his nose hit fever pitch. I had

most likely to take flight. “In, in, in!”

I shouted, sending him crashing into the branches. A hen pheasant rocketed into the air ahead of the dog’s nose but she broke left, leaving me looking the fool with nothing but hawthorn between me and her.

Bested At this point I knew I had been bested.

We had covered the ground well and though we had not seen our grouse today, I knew we would be back another year. The bag ended with one pheasant and a brace of deflated birthday balloons found caught in the tangle above. The bag may have been small but it represented a meal hard won and happily gained.

I am a great supporter of driven shooting but if you can end a hunt looking as bad as the game you’ve harvested, you have earned the life you have taken because nothing worthwhile should ever be easy.

This wonderful morning ended with a double helping of food for a tired Clumber and pheasant breast on buttery toast for his proud owner.

Bertie races up the hill, hot on the scent

The spaniel doesn’t move until he gets his next order

Gundogs

Training the trainer Whatever sport you take part in, you need to keep training.

Ellena Swift decides to get some practice in

I

t always amazes me when people are surprised that I go for lessons myself. Gundog training is like any other discipline — you never stop learning.

Sometimes when clients come for lessons they almost seem ashamed, as if it were an admission that they have failed. What they don’t realise is that the best trainers in the world continue to seek help from other experts.

Anyone who competes in a sport involving dogs — field trials, agility, flyball or even heelwork to music — will know that dogs keep you humble.

You can never profess to know it all nor be the perfect trainer. All we can do is strive to be better and continue to improve our dogs.

With this in mind I enlisted the help and guidance of some extremely experienced and knowledgeable trainers and organised a small walked-up day on our shoot at home.

Experienced trainers

A. SYDENHAM

We had six Guns shooting, three of whom were also handling and working their own dogs. One was the A-panel retriever judge and renowned trainer and handler Barry Cooper. He has an absolute wealth of experience and what he doesn’t know isn’t usually worth knowing.

The second expert was Andrew Rooney of Drumindoney Gundogs, who has trained several Irish field trial champions and represented Ireland in team competitions.

The final trainer was Nathan Laffy, who recently competed the youngest dog at the 2019 IGL Retriever Championship. Not only was this Right: Retriever judge Barry Cooper brings down a bird for Keepa to pick-up

22 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Gundogs Right: Andrew Rooney (left) and Nathan Laffy work to drive up some birds for Ellena

an achievement in itself but he also received a diploma of merit and was the Guns’ choice. All three handlers can offer plenty of guidance and advice when it comes to my own dogs.

A common criticism of trialling dogs is that they do not work in a real shooting scenario. This was a real rough shooting day with a variety of dogs hunting ditches, hedges, briar, game cover and woodland to flush birds for the Guns.

It was wonderful not only to see trialling spaniels hunting in front, but also two field trial champion retrievers — one golden retriever and one Labrador. I also used my ever reliable border collie, Laddie.

The day started along a thick bit of woodland, hedge and ditch.

Various game was flushed and shot. Fortunately, the Guns shot consistently well all day, meaning there was ample opportunity to test the dogs and handlers.

Varied terrain Keepa began with a long mark up a field. Though it was a relatively simple retrieve, it was still a good distance.

He ran out with drive and pace and retrieved it efficiently to hand.

I then stayed towards the end of the drive with Barry cutting off any birds attempting to fly the wrong way.

We shot a few and everyone picked on varied terrain.

We then moved on to a field of mustard. The Guns again showed a few birds for us to pick before moving on to a small belt of trees.

We ended the day taking up a long thick patch of cover that led into a large wood. The variety of ground the Ellena directs Keepa to retrieve a fallen bird as the experts watch

“Keepa needs not only to understand my command but believe that listening to me is his best chance of finding his retrieve” dogs got to work on was really good, each offering their own challenges.

Keepa picked a variety of quarry over the day, including a woodcock, two pigeons, a magpie and two pheasants. Each species offers its own challenges and he handled them well.

I spoke to each trainer at the end of the day to get their feedback.

Nathan has seen me and Keepa a few times before and he rates Keepa’s natural ability. However, he noted that when handling him on retrieves, we aren’t as neat or accurate as we need to be. When I am directing

Keepa, he doesn’t always believe me. He needs not only to understand my command but also to believe that listening to me is his best chance of finding his retrieve.

Marking skills To that end I need to tighten up my handling when picking-up. As some readers know, I have recently had a baby so have done very little training with my dogs.

I have also become a little relaxed when out picking-up, allowing things to slip. So if Keepa hasn’t taken the line that I want, I’ve let it go rather than correcting him.

Another thing that Nathan mentioned, which Andrew also noticed, was my marking skills. It’s important to have a good marking dog when picking-up, on peg or trialling.

However, the ability of the handler to mark is of equal importance.

I am frequently sending Keepa and asking him to hunt 15 to 20 yards out of the area where the bird is actually situated. What this means is that Keepa is eventually finding the bird but not where I told him to hunt. As a result, he is not convinced the bird is where I told him it would be and

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 23

Gundogs

Ellena encourages Keepa to make a woodcock retrieve while Andrew Rooney looks on

doesn’t have confidence in me to hold a tight area and hunt hard.

Andrew noticed that I often run when I cast and handle my dog. It’s really easy to panic, particularly in competitions. This in turn rushes the dog so he isn’t getting time to process the last command before I have given him the next one.

Andrew advised that with each retrieve I should step back and take a breath. Keepa is still a relatively young dog and rushing him will do no favours to either of us.

Thick cover Barry also commented on Keepa’s natural ability and attributed a lot of this to him learning his trade pickingup. However, he did note that while the dog is fearless and very driven in cover, in more open areas he is reluctant to hold and properly hunt an area. He chooses to favour thicker cover where he probably feels he is more likely to find game.

While Keepa is correct that thicker cover is more likely to contain more scent, he must also learn to hold an area, whether it is thick cover or grass. As most who have working dogs know, a bird is very easily lost in something a simple as a stubble or a grass field. But pinning Keepa down on such terrain is difficult.

Barry suggested keeping him ticking over this season and then, come spring, really tightening up his hunting and handling. By next season he will have not only the experience, natural hunting ability and drive

but also the confident and accurate handling we need.

Towards the end of the day, Keepa had two pigeon retrieves. One was a long way up the wood in some thick cover and another was over a fence and outside the wood on an arable field.

Long retrieve These two retrieves highlighted well what the trainers had said. We managed the long retrieve across the wood extremely neatly. Keepa took a good line and held the area I asked him to hunt, making a very tidy and efficient retrieve.

With the second one, he took a good line out of the wood and over the fence. I moved to where he could see me and attempted to handle him to the area of the fall.

Nathan Laffy walking-up through thick cover

24 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

He pulled a bit towards the wood and I rushed my handling commands, meaning he rushed what he did and began to ignore slightly what I was asking.

He was again pulling me about rather than holding the area, because in his mind he was more likely to pick-up in thick cover. He did pick the pigeon but had that been a wounded bird it had would have had enough time to move, which might have meant we would never have found it.

It’s clear Keepa has bags of ability and now has the experience he needs with game. We have a lot of homework to do as a team. However, I really feel if I can knuckle down and improve my own handling and marking, we could be a formidable picking-up and trialling pair. Bring on the next training session.

Steel shot

Steel-proofing for a Spanish side-by-side

If you have a cherished side-by-side that you want to be eco-friendly, it is possible to get it modified to take steel shot, says Simon Reinhold

A

D. ROGERS / D. IRELAND

nyone with even a vague interest in live quarry shooting will be aware that there is an ongoing conversation about the continued use of lead shot.

The centre of gravity of this debate has recently shifted away from lead’s toxicity when scattered into the wider environment. This is because two major supermarkets have announced their future intention only to sell game shot with non-lead alternatives.

Despite them selling a relatively small percentage of the UK’s shot game, I suspect it is an insight into what their consumer research has been telling them. Major supermarkets do not take decisions on gut instinct. And as a consequence, we must all take note.

The shooting of game is not an end in itself, it is the beginning of the process of a meal for family

and friends. If it ends up solely as a by-product of a rural entertainment industry, we are lost. There is a great deal of misinformation about the use of steel shot. It is little wonder that the average shooter is now hopelessly confused by conflicting advice.

Proof mark To understand your position as a side-by-side user — and I suspect you are rather fond of using your elegant, possibly handmade shotgun — you must first know that there are currently two types of steel shot.

These are standard steel and high-performance steel. Highperformance steel can only be used in barrels that have been proofed for its use. There is only one proof mark that need concern us here and it is the fleurde-lis stamp — the

“There is a great deal of misinformation about the use of steel shot”

Prince of Wales’ crest. Some people mistake the proof mark of two crowns above SUP for ‘superior proof’ to be a steel shot proof mark.

It is not, and I have seen this mistake made even by experienced members of the gun trade.

Standard steel can go through most nitro-proofed guns, even a side-by-side. Standard steel is 32g

It may be possible to get your beloved side-by-side reproofed for steel shot for a modest sum, unless it has Damascus barrels

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 25

Steel shot Is it time to choose steel over lead shot?

or smaller and shot sizes up to and including English No4s. BASC stated recently and in public that standard steel can go through any choke, but I would be reluctant to test this theory for several reasons.

Too much choke First, there is a modern tendency to over-choke our guns for normal game shooting, which is unnecessary even with lead. With steel, there is little need for anyone to use tighter than half-choke. Steel pellets do not deform on their way down the barrel so pattern better than lead. The exceptions to all of this are Damascus

is directly proportionate to the weight of the gun. A 32g load through a 6½lb side-by-side is not an enjoyable experience. There are very few 28g 12-bore steel loads around.

There are two more drawbacks for side-by-side users. There are only two biodegradable wads for steel on the market: Eley’s newly launched Pro Eco Wad, and Gamebore’s Silver Steel.

Both are high-performance loads that are unsuitable for a nitro-proofed side-by-side.

Many traditional side-by-sides are chambered for 65mm cartridges but there are no 65mm steel loads on offer. It is possible to get your

“Many traditional side-by-sides are chambered for 65mm cartridges but there are no 65mm steel loads on offer” barrels. If you have a Damascusbarrelled gun, even a nitro-proof one, I would advise against steel.

BASC advice has changed.

Previously it was no tighter than half-choke for steel shot. Now it is no tighter than half-choke for anything larger than BB shot. This is as a result of continued research by cartridge manufacturers.

A major drawback for potential side-by-side users of steel shot is the limited choice of shot weights. Recoil

gunmaker to bore out the chamber to 70mm but such a barrel alteration will require the gun to be reproofed.

What we are looking for is a standard performance 28g No4 for pheasants or No5 for partridges with a bio-degradable shot cup that will adequately protect our barrels from scoring. I hope it is not too far off.

The alternative is reproofing to high-performance steel. And it is possible. There are some key questions, though: can a gun not

26 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

NEED TO KNOW Cost of gun

£50+25percentbuyers premium,£65

Work required

Raisesmalldent Tightenaction Polishbarrelsandchambers Adjustrear trigger-pull, £160

Re-black barrels

£120

P&Pbothways toProofHouse

£40

Proofing charge

£70

TOTAL

£455

designed for high-performance steel be modified and reproofed to shoot it safely? Can this be achieved for less money than buying a new Turkish gun with the fleur-de-lis proof mark that will shoot high-performance steel out of the box?

And lastly, how do you actually go about submitting one for proof if you are not in the gun trade?

The gun I have chosen has been a stalwart of the foreshore for more than half a century — an AYA 12-bore boxlock non-ejector. It satisfied the criteria I set after taking advice. It must be: a) affordable; b) strongly built, preferably 3in magnum to start with; c) have open chokes (choke alteration would have increased costs); d) have relatively clean barrels.

Inspection My advice on this subject came from gunmaker Scott Wilson, who is also gunsmith in residence for Holts. “To answer your first question — yes, the Proof House will accept guns not made for high-performance steel shot for reproofing to take it. The barrels must first pass inspection, though, and if they are too tightly choked they will be rejected straight away,” he said.

“This AYA is true cylinder In both barrels. The barrels have been shortened and the choked parts cut away, but some small dents will need to be raised. It will also need to have the action tightened a bit and the bores and chambers polished.

“The gun will need to be struck off and filed up because with some Spanish guns the exterior surface of the barrel can appear rivelled [a rippled appearance] even though the bore is good. This may not be the case with other AYAs in better

condition, so striking off for proofing and then re-blacking may not always be necessary. The cost of that would be about £160. The cost of re-blacking is about £120.”

So far, so affordable. Then there is shipping to and from the Proof House — it should be around £40 — which can be arranged through your local registered firearms dealer.

Saving If you already own the gun there is a cost saved, though the cost of the work required may vary. Holts’s last sealed bids auction had more than 3,000 lots to choose from. This gun cost me £65 including commission — one of the many bargains to be had.

Once it gets to the Proof House the work Scott put into preparing the gun for reproof shows its value.

The technicians at the Proof House will examine the gun to see if it is in fit condition for the rigours of the reproofing process — it is not without risk. This will focus mainly on the condition of the barrels but also how tight the barrels are on the action.

Both barrels are then fired with a charge 30 to 40 per cent higher than standard. Each barrel will have several such shots down it. After this, the gun is then thoroughly reinspected for any damage. What they are looking for is any distortion to the barrel tubes — bulges or rivelling.

It can be done and for reasonable money if you are particularly attached to a well-made side-by-side.

A cleanly despatched bird by high-performance steel with a biodegradable wad, from a nonejector gun, out of which you can pick the case for recycling later, might just be the ultimate in free-range, ethical meat. Change is not always something to be feared.

Below: The Proof House will carry out checks to ensure the gun is able to fire steel safely

Soldier Palmer

Jackals are as wily and cautious as their red cousins in the UK

The days of the jackal As foxing duty ramps up, Soldier Palmer recalls hunting jackals in the African bush that were every bit as wily as their red distant cousins

M. FRITH

I

t’s a fine time of year to be out after foxes in the frost. They’re starting to run together as the breeding season approaches and that can make for some exciting encounters at first light and in the dusk. Squeaking them in from deep grass is always a thrill and never fails to stir up memories of similar encounters that took place more than 15 years ago in the African bush.

Black-backed jackals are the South African equivalent of foxes — they’re wily, cunning and superbly adaptable. They’re just as likely to be found hunting for mice and chewing on carrion as any red fox in the world, but their extra size allows them to kill lambs without batting an eyelid.

I was working on a farm at the time and, while the business was largely geared towards cattle, sheep were an important part of the picture. It

made sense to keep the jackals under control and that duty often fell to me.

Many techniques for shooting jackals were copied from the US, where coyotes were the name of the game. I had to forget many of the lessons I had learned on foxes in the UK; you could blow a rabbit squeaker for weeks in the African veldt without ever seeing a single jackal.

Squeaking sweetly That’s not because our calls don’t work on jackals. The reality was that when hunting extensive areas of open ground, you’re often calling predators from a mile or more away. It doesn’t matter how sweetly you squeak if the jackals can’t hear you.

My boss invested in electronic calls with loudspeakers. These would be mounted on the roof of a pickup in a likely spot, often at the junction

28 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

between two dirt tracks. Jackals always seemed to prefer running along tracks and a good crossroads would give you four angles to watch.

The recorded calls were borrowed from the American west — cottontails and jackrabbits in every pitch of upset and melancholy — and blasted over speakers at a painfully high volume.

With the sun setting over the bush and the deep red African light spanning across miles of open country, it made for a grand spectacle.

Most of my African shooting was done with a .270 that covered everything I needed and a little bit more. For jackals, I often borrowed a .243 WSSM — the Winchester Super Short Magnum that had a round like a fat little barrel. This calibre was all the rage in the US at the time and I was really impressed with it, though it has now become almost obsolete.

Soldier Palmer speculative shot at 250 yards, only to turn and realise that a second jackal had come right in behind me from another angle.

I sometimes wondered if the loudspeakers actually made the call too noisy. It seems probable that some jackals were scared off by it, particularly if they were close by when they heard it first. Predators came from all directions and I tried turning down the volume on the caller as they came nearer.

challenge of a long shot. They thought that anything under 100 yards was unsporting and I often had to remind them this was predator control — a matter of protecting the sheep.

As I lie out and squeak for foxes this winter in the British countryside, fond memories come back to me. But there was one moment that stands a little higher than all the rest. I was out one night with the rifle, lying quite alone in the thick, prickly depths of the bush. Nothing had come in to my

“Jackals would come in so quickly they would raise a plume of dust behind them” That trick applies just as well to foxes as it does to jackals; making the call seem weaker and more puzzling when you know that you have something on the hook.

Canny juggling

I gather they have now stopped making the ammunition for the .243 WSSM, but that hardly represents the death knell for this round. If you have a WSSM, the chances are that you’re the kind of person who is loading your own ammunition. Whatever its shortcomings, that rifle was the perfect tool for jackals. It seemed to shoot flat and fast at a decent range with little in the way of recoil.

Plume of dust The electric call would scream away and I would watch the far horizon for signs of interest. Sometimes jackals would come in so quickly that they would raise a plume of dust behind them. You’d notice them at 800 or 900 yards simply because there was a smudge of red in the twilight.

It was only when you shifted to binoculars for a closer look that you could see the predator beneath the dust, pounding towards you like an arrow with his tongue hanging out below him.

It made good sense to keep an open mind at times like that. The jackal you had seen might not be within range for another few minutes and who was to say that he was the only one in the area? I learned this the hard way once or twice, reaching out for a

But even with canny juggling and a fair measure of caution on my behalf, suspicion would usually get the better of incoming jackals. They would slow to a jog at 400 yards, then drop to a curious walk. They were obviously puzzled. Many would sit and watch and most of my shots were made between 200 and 300 yards, at which range a jackal can seem very small.

They might weigh two or three times more than a red fox but viewed front on at 300 yards, there is precious little to work with.

Perhaps it would be possible to summon a jackal to close quarters but I never learned how to do it. Besides, I was often accompanied by local friends who seemed to relish the

call and I was ready to head home.

I stood up from my prone position and switched off the loudspeakers, dusting off my shorts as I did so.

In that moment, I knew I was not alone. A figure stood 30 yards behind me, tall and rangy as a calf. The blood drained out of my limbs and my hackles rose. There was a hyena, backlit by the setting sun.

There were no spotted hyenas in that part of South Africa; I had accidentally called in a brown hyena.

They’re harmless and shy, but I didn’t know that. And what brown hyenas lack in savagery, they make up in terrifying ugliness. He looked like cross between a pitbull terrier and a scarecrow, with bandy legs and eyes sunken into his head like a shark.

We stared at one another for a moment, then he was gone like a ghost. If there is one thing I’m eternally grateful for, it’s the certain knowledge that brown hyenas are hard to find in Britain.

Electronic calls were amplified through loudspeakers mounted on the roof of a pickup

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 29

Ferreting

Full team on snow patrol It might not be everyone’s idea of perfect weather but Simon Whitehead and friends enjoy a great day out rounding up bunnies

C. MCCANN-MCMILLAN

I

t was a glorious morning to be outside. The low winter sun glinted on land decorated with a light dusting of snow. Sheep sheltered against the stone walls, but rabbits abounded. It not only looked cold, it was bitterly cold.

All we needed to make the perfect Christmas card was a robin perched on a spade.

Archetypal ferreting weather this may be, but we still had the small yet important job of persuading the local rabbits to swap their warm and cosy warrens for the biting wind and snowcovered land of the north.

I wasn’t alone; joining me were Torchie — knitter of nets, designer of the Clayton net harness — Ashley and Jordan. The latter two are keen sportsmen who like to shoot, but love to go ferreting more. They had just travelled hundreds of miles up country to sample a day out on a completely different landscape — and hopefully harvest a good number of rabbits in the process.

Warrens I like to put on a good day, so for this reason alone I paid a little more attention to my reconnaissance

Simon’s working ferrets have plenty of drive

a couple of days earlier. I had walked miles looking at rabbit warrens. I was checking where they were moving to, which warrens were waterlogged and trying to second guess how the weather forecast could affect us.

It is one thing if I go out and struggle, but quite another when someone has travelled hundreds of miles and is relying on me to do my homework.

I saw a good number of scuts disappear along an old disused railway line and I instinctively knew this was the perfect place to start.

Once we had arrived, we got the kit out. To my left were three men

“Tawny’s body has changed to give the extra oomph to accelerate and catch her rabbits on almost vertical fields”

30 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Ferreting wearing net harnesses, to the right, a collection of Nelson long-nets. I wanted to make an impression, not only on my guests but also on the local rabbit population, so these long-nets would be essential.

If we had to walk miles, it would have been different story but as we were only a hop, skip and burrow away from the trucks, using multiple baskets wasn’t an issue.

As Ashley and I dropped the long-nets, Jordan and Torchie laid a scattering of bright yellow purse-nets.

The plan was simple. Surround a large area, work up methodically and if we needed to revisit a sticky warren we

could without re-laying nets. I find that sometimes when you do this the rabbits come out of their stop ends because they believe the coast is clear.

ABCOFFERRETING In this column, Simon outlines the essentials of good ferreting

Resident rabbits My ferrets meant business. From the moment they went under the snowcovered ground, until the moment they were boxed up, all they had on their mind was bolting rabbits. Keen — possibly too keen at times — their drive was proving to be too much for the resident rabbits and this brought the spade out. Fortunately, the excavations were measured in inches and not feet and we soon started to

Tawny is not to be denied as she bags her bunny — the rabbits are no match for the speedy lurcher

ARE YOU REALLY FIT TO FERRET?

F

erreting is like every other country pursuit. It gets you out, exercising, making decisions, multi-tasking and improving your life skills along the way. The main bulk of this activity is practised in the colder months of the year.

There is one common denominator — be it shooting, fishing or ferreting — that will always make the difference between success and failure, a good day or a bad one. It doesn’t cost you anything to learn nor possess, unlike the clothing that we need to keep us warm and dry. This is your fitness.

We don’t function at our best if we are wet and cold, and I am always talking and writing about how to prevent this. We mustn’t forget that when we are tired and weary, we tend to make the wrong decisions at the most inappropriate time, because our brains are tired too.

When you take a closer look at what ferreting entails, it is, or can be, a very physical pastime. You are out in the winter weather, your body has to bend down, lift, dig and move about. I know we are all different but the decisions we make are all dictated to by how we feel at that particular moment.

A tired and weary body will not let your brain function at the same speed or intelligence as a fitter body will. That affects not only your enjoyment of your rabbiting but also how successful you are at it.

I am not advocating that we start a ferret boot camp before the season but when you look at our continental cousins, and how seriously they take physical and mental fitness, it really does put us to shame. When we run dogs or work ferrets, we don’t have unfit animals — they are fit for the job at which we want them and expect them to thrive. So the same should apply to those of us who are in charge of such magnificent creatures.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 31

Ferreting make inroads on our spare game carriers resulting in a few braces from stop ends.

Drifting in between us all was Tawny. She has been on top form and, after getting to grips with life on vertically challenging fields, her body has changed to compensate for the extra oomph it takes to accelerate to catch her rabbits. The long-nets may have given us confidence but to Tawny they were merely a way of stopping her from getting her prize.

I am sure she plays a game with us all in how many rabbits she can catch just before they hit the nets.

Accident Behind her — but not in terms of speed — was Torchie. The last time he was ferreting with me he had an unfortunate accident while stooping down to try to catch a rabbit and broke his ankle. If that weren’t painful enough for all concerned, we were a good half a mile from any track on the upper moorland. For this reason I placed him on the safe side guarding the long-nets and constantly reminded him of the trouble that I would be in if he went back to Sheffield injured.

Ashley gets stuck in, releasing a bunny from the net to add to the bag, which was building nicely

Rabbits really don’t want to bolt as freely into the snow. It may be because of their low centre of gravity — with the slippery snow they slide and cannot get the usual purchase on the ground to propel those powerful hind legs. Add to this equation a powerful ginger lurcher called Tawny and they weren’t going to get very far.

The wind started to bite hard at our exposed skin. The ground was only frozen down a few inches so digging a foot down into the warrens was

offered so much after what I had seen but, as we found out, delivered little.

Rising river I had planned for us to finish the day alongside the riverbank. A good number of bunnies ran in the other day but two days can be a very long time for a rabbit. With the river rising, the water coming off the hills and running through the warrens, the rabbits moved on to pasture new, drier and warmer.

“I am sure Tawny plays a game with us all in how many rabbits she can catch just before they hit the long-nets”

Though there was some digging to be done, the ground was only frozen a few inches down

a relatively quick and easy process.

Both Jordan and Ashley were getting stuck in — they were not spade-shy nor backwards in coming forwards to get into the thick of the action.

We didn’t really take much notice of the carriers slowly but surely filling up because we were enjoying ourselves too much.

As we stopped for a little sustenance to replenish the energy we had used, the second part of the farm

32 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

The ones that were at home were not for turning and this defeated our attempts to beat nature with a ferretfinder and spade. The cold doesn’t care who learns its lesson.

As the light faded we stopped before we tempted fate. With four carriers full of large and healthy rabbits, two happy ferreters, plenty of tales to tell and another satisfied farmer, it was definitely a good day in the office.

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Shotgun test

Beretta 694 Beretta’s latest gun is generating lots of interest in both trade and the shooting community.

Mark Heath finds out what all the fuss is about

N

ormally when a new product is going to hit the market you get the pre-launch ‘coming soon’ marketing. There’s no such approach with the new Beretta 694 — it’s as if Beretta has been running a black ops mission to design a new clay gun.

The new gun is aimed at the competition shooter and bridges the gap between the 692 and the premium DT11. But now it’s been launched it seems to be very much in fashion and is generating a lot of interest within the trade and shooting community alike. So what’s all the noise about?

The 694 is a serious competition gun and not merely a rebadging of a current product. It has had some significant re-engineering which makes it significantly different from any other Beretta on the market.

It also means it should stand the test of time and tens of thousands of cartridges. And if it’s good for competition shooting it may well be

The solid action gives a smooth operation and minimises wear and tear on the gun

an excellent choice for partridges and pheasants, especially those in places such as Exmoor that tend to be slightly higher. But do get some flush-fitting chokes, otherwise your extended clay chokes might be a talking point over dinner.

Anyone who thinks this is simply a style makeover for the 692 would be very much mistaken. First, the technical dimensions: the stock length of pull is 14 ¾in to the mid-point with the customary additional 1∕8in at heel and ¼in at toe, so fairly standard fare. The drop measurements, however, put the comb quite high at 1¼in at the comb and 1 7∕8in at the heel, with an 1∕8in cast-off at heel.

Adjustable stock There is also an adjustable stock option for a little more money. The stock is a new design with a tighter radius favoured by many clay shooters, and the shoulders of the stock are designed to give better peripheral vision of the target. The butt is finished with the Micro-Core recoil pad. The overall weight of the gun on arrival was 8lb 10oz, but closer examination revealed 3oz of the B-Fast weights in the stock.

The barrel weight was 1,590g with the 32in barrels, a good weight for the competition circuit, but is it suitable for the towers? We shall see. The fore-end is a slim design with steel as opposed to

34 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZ

“Though aimed at the competition shooter, this gun could easily make a high-bird gun for Exmoor’s finest” aluminium ironwork, complete with two fixings — the traditional loop and an interchangeable rear loop that will enable a simple change of part to keep the gun tight.

A lot of thought has been given to the integral strength of the foreend unit by the use of a doll’s-head shape that sits in the wood to create additional strength.

The now familiar Steelium Plus barrels are present, together with HP Optima chokes, and the B-Fast balance system will help you set up the gun to your preferred balance point to assist handling. There’s the familiar three-position adjustable The sleek lines and action of the 694 show it’s made for business

Shotgun test

NEED TO KNOW Manufacturer

Beretta, Italy

UK distributor

GMK

Model

Beretta 694

Bore

12-bore

Maker

Benelli, Italy

RRP

£3,325 standard gun £3,645 adjustable stock

trigger and a tapered rib. There are two choices of barrel length, 30in and 32in, with 3in chambers in the sporting version. So if you intend to shoot clays and/or high pheasants, all the cartridge options are covered.

Strength The barrels are 18.6mm diameter with Beretta’s HP tapering, designed to optimise the patterns. The ejection system has been designed to ensure reliability — it’s a straight sliding system with a retaining disc, which should have greater strength even than the old 680. There are larger hinge-pin surface areas than on other Berettas, which gives a smoother operation and reduces wear.

Significant effort has gone into the design of the action and fixing of the trigger mechanism to create an incredibly strong unit — the trigger mechanism fits into the base of the action through a very strong tongue.

The gun is well presented in a premium case, complete with five chokes, a stock key and two pads. Lefthanded options are also available.

Mark Heath puts the Beretta 694 through its paces

CONCLUSION In the 1980s and 1990s the Beretta 682 was incredibly popular and successful on the competition circuit at every level. At the top level, George Digweed and Barry Simpson won numerous championships with it. The mid-range Beretta competition guns, with some exceptions, haven’t had the same level of success since then. The 694 has the potential to put a gun in the mid-price category in the right hands back on the podium — perhaps it’s the 68 series for today. Impressive.

Action/barrels

TheSteeliumProbarrelsaretriedandtested,and thepatternswith bothfibreandplasticwadsaretrulyexceptional.Theinnovation thathasgoneintothedesigntoprovidestrengthandlongevityis wellthoughtout.

20

20

Triggerand ejectors

Excellenttrigger-pullsaidedbyaverycomfortablestockradius.The ejectorsonthe692hadafewproblemsthatwerecorrectedbyan upgrade.Thedesignoftheejectorsonthe694appeartoberightfirst time,withsubstantialthoughtonthedesign.

20

20

Stock

Thisgunisdesignedtoworkhardandthereforedoesnotfeature highlyfiguredwoodwork,thoughit’spleasantontheeyeand selectedforstrength.Thedimensionsareexcellentforanoff-theshelfgun,andthegripisincrediblycomfortable.

19

20

Handling

Veryimpressive.Iwasabletoshootextremetargetsboth deliberatelyandwithspeed.Aforgivingguntoshoot.

20

20

Value

Therightpriceforagunwithalotofpotential.

19

20

98 100

SCORE

Clearly a lot of time and effort has gone into the design of this gun but does it do the job expected of it?

Out onto the shooting ground with a variety of 24g and 28g cartridges, both fibre and plastic wad from a variety of manufacturers, to put through the half and three-quarter chokes.

Exceptional Starting with a looping target and long battue it was immediately apparent that the patterns produced were very much up to the job, with some exceptional breaks. I moved on to some long, fast-crossing mid-range targets with the same result.

It was becoming very apparent that the handling of the 694 was a step up. I decided to give it a test on the legendary West London high tower on the side that presents the highest target at around 130ft, with a trap that can push a target beyond 60 yards.

Using everything from a 24g to 36g cartridge, the breaks on the long-range targets were stunning; the targets absolutely evaporated.

The handling — which is important to both competition and game shooter — is critical. Though aimed at the competition shooter, this gun could easily cross the divide and make a high-bird gun for Exmoor’s finest.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 35

Conservation

Northern Nature Notes W I T H L I N D S AY WA D D E L L

Little owl, big character Little owls are often thought to be native but were introduced in 1879; the future of the remaining 6,000 pairs depends on conservation

ALAMY,/ GETTY IMAGES

A

s I popped my head over the wall to have a look at one of my new DoC traps the other day a little owl flew off right under my nose. It it struck me that, while many other animals and birds are considered alien, the little owl is one of the introduced species that we seem to have adopted as one of our own.

There hasn’t been much said about this diminutive owl since Athene noctua was introduced into the British Isles in 1879 at Stonewall Park, Edenbridge in Kent. This release was followed by others as landowners brought more of the little birds over from Europe. It is what was done then. We moved plants, animals, fish, birds — you name it, we moved them.

Not all releases were successful but the little owl obviously found this island to its liking and in the space of 30 years or so it had marched, or flown, north as far as Derbyshire. It must have found the grim north a little more difficult as it took it until 1958 to make it over the Scottish border, where its progress north has rather ground to a halt.

It is a very widespread bird in terms of the range it inhabits in the world —

from Europe as far east as China and as far south as north Africa. Though it is noted as being a low-altitude, almost agricultural and woodland landscape bird, its success as a species is probably due to the range of habitats it will use, from grassland to arable, and in this country at any rate, up into the fringes of the uplands.

Drop in numbers I noted from my reading that it has suffered quite a drop in numbers in this country — down nearly a quarter at the last census, between 1995 and

2008. This does not surprise me because agriculture had taken quite a turn to intensification during that period and habitat and food supply will have been adversely affected.

The moorland fringe, though, will have proved something of a refuge, as much of that fringe land will still be suitable for foraging and rearing its young.

I said it was small, and indeed it is at only 21cm to 23cm long with a wingspan of roughly 54cm to 58cm. It’s a light, as well, weighing in at around 200g. Its diet is, to say

Little owls can make their nests almost anywhere, from a crevice in some rocks to a hole in a tree

38 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Conservation

“It has suffered quite a drop in numbers — down nearly a quarter at the last census”

The little owl has a wingspan of roughly 54cm to 58cm

the least, varied, with a range of invertebrates, small mammals and small birds all being taken. It is worth noting that in keeping with most birds of prey little owls were disliked by gamekeepers, particularly those who specialised in grey partridge.

It was the case, or so it was said, that the owls simply picked off the young as they foraged. I noted on one website that, following one piece of research, birds were not considered part of their diet. On another site, however, it was stated they were removed from two offshore islands when it was found they were impacting on the populations of storm petrels and Manx shearwaters, both very small birds. So it would appear they will eat small birds when the need arises.

Undulating flight They have an almost tawny owl plumage, maybe a little more grey, but then I have seen large variations in the colour of tawnies, too. The flight is very woodpecker-like, undulating as it goes, which sometimes is not very far.

The owl will alight from a tree and go perhaps only 30 yards or so and land on the ground, crouching down and ‘hiding’ rather like a rabbit.

The nest can be almost anywhere; a hole in a tree, a rabbit hole, a crevice in some rocks. Indeed, more or less anywhere hidden and dark where the female can lay her clutch.

This can consist of anything from two to eight eggs though, as you might expect, the average is in the middle of that at around four. They hatch after roughly 28 days and are nurtured for another seven weeks until they fledge.

They are not really long-lived birds but as with many others, the smaller they are the shorter the lifespan. That means the average is around three years, but they have been recorded making 16. As with many other introduced species it would appear they are here to stay and the future of the fewer than 6,000 remaining pairs is linked to how we manage our countryside.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 39

Foraging

Root for your liver Burdock is a vital source of carbohydrate but a study has shown it can also help to protect the liver from alcohol, says Tim Maddams

GETTY IMAGES

T

he long, mild and extremely wet winter is playing on and on here in my little corner of east Devon. As the water pours from the springs at the very tops of the hills, I struggle — like many others I suspect — to spend as much time outdoors as I would like.

As I sit at my desk and look over the sodden valleys and swollen streams, I wonder if it is even worth the bother of filling the duck feeders on the ponds. With this much water about it, is unlikely to be the best of winters for a little flightpond action.

Then I remind myself that I am not merely feeding the ducks and other birds so I may shoot them. They have all become used to a ready feed on offer at the ponds and to remove it merely because I am unlikely to shoot many of them is not only short-sighted but ethically dodgy.

Properly chastised, I heave my sorry self from the desk and pull on wellies, still-damp waterproofs and a soggy cap. Then just as I am about to unleash the dogs and head to the ponds to fill feeders and replace

batteries I remember — in a flash of inspiration — spotting some burdock heads in the hedgerow that leads to the first pond.

With this in mind I set forth armed not only with the world’s most disobedient Labrador, sacks of wheat and 12v batteries, but also with my trusty spade and, most importantly, an intent — the desire to find food for myself and work up a bit of a sweat in the process.

Burdock is one of the most frustrating plants to harvest, but one that is very much worth the effort.

it looks a bit like giant wild mustard and very little like a dock. However, once it has flowered and died back burdock does have burrs on it — massive ones that are very tricky to remove from the Velcro straps of your favourite shooting coat.

Identification By this time of year all you have to identify the plant is a series of long, straightish stems jutting up from the dormant hedgerow, adorned with a collection of these burrs. But that is all you need, for we are not interested in

“Most interestingly, burdock could help treat liver problems and has been shown to protect it from damage by alcohol” Burdock is, as many Shooting Times readers will know, a considerable and formidable plant. It grows away, almost unnoticed, along the hedgerows and field and woodland edges most of the spring and summer.

Arctium lappa is its scientifc name and

40 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

the leaves, we are not interested in the shoots or indeed the flowers — what we want lies beneath.

The roots of the burdock are very special. In Asia they are still a much sought-after vegetable and, indeed, are cultivated in vast fields to supply

Foraging this demand. In Japan to this day the wild harvested roots are seen as the best, highly valued for their earthy, nutty flavour.

The problem is one of effort — digging down and extracting the long, carbohydrate-rich central root is a labour of love particularly in sodden ground. But the rewards are worth it.

These days we tend to take carbohydrates for granted. But in times past they were expensive and hard to come by, especially for impoverished peasants living off a meagre strip of land. This is why burdock was held in such high regard. The carbohydrateladen roots provided energy in abundance at a time of year when there was very little else on offer.

Burdock burrs are a familiar sight in winter – especially to dog owners

Medicinal There are different reasons for gathering the burdock today. Also known as beggar’s buttons and the thorney burr, it is often sought for its reputed medicinal properties.

Some claim that burdock is beneficial for digestive health, lymphatic disorders, blood cleansing, rheumatism and as a powerful antioxidant.

Most interestingly, perhaps, burdock could help treat liver problems. A study on rats in 2002, Hepatoprotective effects of Arctium lappa linne on liver injuries, published in the Journal of Biomedical Science, showed it could protect the liver from damage by alcohol.

In his 17th century book The English Physitian, the celebrated herbalist Nicholas Culpeper advised the seeds of the plant for kidney stones: “The seed is much commended to break the stone, and causeth it to be expelled by urine and is often used with other seeds, and things to that purpose.”

Gathering burdock may be a pain but it is one that is really worth it when you get it into the kitchen. It is always nice to have something a bit different on the table and burdock can certainly provide that.

Then you have the kudos of having an unusual foraged food item on your supper table — you can invite all your new-to-foraging friends over for a meal and astound them with your knowledge. You can, of course, drink plenty of your hedgerow wines

because your liver will be protected — at least, that’s what I tell myself.

The main reason, though, is that burdock root actually tastes good — a sort of earthy cross between potato and salsify. It works very well baked, sliced and cooked like potatoes, fried like chips, pickled or puréed.

Alcoholic You will no doubt be familiar with the soft drink dandelion and burdock, but not many of you will be aware that this modern carbonated soft drink was once a fine alcoholic beverage.

Dandelion leaves and flowers were fermented together with burdock, and sometimes with the addition of honey, through the Middle Ages and beyond. Once again it

underlines the importance f a useful carbohydrate, in this ase providing the oomph to get strong fermentation going.

Digging up burdock root a challenge. Perhaps that is little understated but it is true if you have access to a small echanical digger you will have othing to worry about, but if ou do not arm yourself with spade and, having identified our plant simply dig down the em and keep on going, taking re not to sever the root from e stem. Once you feel you have ough root, simply break it d extract it from the ground. member that it is illegal to root any wild plant without rmission from the landowner occupier.

Once you get home you will need to wash it and give it a good scrub to remove as much earth as possible. Ideally you do not want to peel the burdock as the skin has most of the flavour, so stick with scrubbing and rinsing. Once scrubbed clean you are pretty much ready to go. The roots store well but just wash them as you come to use them.

Lastly, here is an idea that I have not yet got round to trying. I’m going to use burdock to thicken a pheasant stock — a bit like making a soup but more of a purée — then I am going to serve it with some lightly cured roasted pheasant meat and some sea beet foraged from the shore. I may even have a glass of wine, just to see how my liver feels…

Burdock root makes a delicious vegetable or thickener for pheasant stock

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 41

Gundogs

Pinky the Hungarian vizsla retrieves her first pheasant

HPRs have a field day

D. TOMLINSON

David Tomlinson watches some talented HPRs on a training day in Norfolk and finds no lack of owners looking for help and guidance NEVER BE PUT OFF BY a name. I was reminded of this last month, when I joined members of the Norfolk & Suffolk HPR Field Trial Club for one of its monthly training days.

Contrary to what the name might suggest, only a minority of the club’s members aspire to trial their dogs.

What all the handlers I spoke to had in common was a determination to train their dogs to the best of their ability, and to discover their full potential as dogs that hunt, point and retrieve.

All the continental HPR breeds are, without exception, goodlooking dogs. This leads to many unsuspecting people buying them as pets, unaware of their new puppy’s potential, not to mention its drive and determination.

Though the Norfolk & Suffolk is a true field trial club, organising several trials a season, it’s also happy to help any HPR owner train their dog to the

gun, even if they have no intention of ever competing with it.

More than 30 handlers from all over East Anglia had come to Rectory Farm, Fundenhall, a few miles south of Norwich, for the Sunday training session. With so many dogs to cope with, the participants were divided into five groups ranging from puppy to advanced, with each group given its own trainer.

help the novice handlers discover the pointing potential of their dogs.

Getting a pointer to point is not always as straightforward as you might expect. Yes, it is something that should come naturally to any of the continental breeds, but some individuals have to be helped or encouraged to do so.

Finding wild game to point on a training day would be a real

“Getting a pointer to point is not always as straightforward as you might expect… some individuals have to be encouraged” None of the trainers were professionals, but all were experienced handlers happy to put something back into the sport they love. Their enthusiasm was typified

by David Short, who had driven more than 90 miles from Canvey Island to

challenge, so the club had brought along several caged domestic pigeons to help. The pigeons, secure in their cages covered with brushwood, proved to be the perfect quarry, with each dog led by David towards the hidden bird.

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

THE POINT OF ANTLER CHEW Why antlers make the best toothbrush for your dog

I

’ve always been fascinated by antlers. I acquired my first set of red deer antlers during a family holiday in Austria. They were bought from a shop in Salzburg and were a fairly modest 10-pointer. But transporting the antlers home to England in my father’s Ford Zephyr was a challenge. I ended up sitting on the back seat with the antlers on my lap, facing towards me. It was before the days of seat belts, so I might well have been impaled if we had made a sudden stop. Fortunately we didn’t.

Though I’ve shot roe and muntjac, I’ve never shot a red deer, so the antlers I have acquired subsequently have come from a variety of sources. My favourite

Alison Turner had driven from Bacton in north Norfolk for the day with her Hungarian vizsla, Pinky.

Alison didn’t aim to turn Pinky into a gundog but she wanted to train her to a standard where she could be taken shooting. Pinky had never pointed a bird before but, with David’s encouragement, she did so for the first time.

Retrieving game While dogs and handlers in the advanced group took turns at pointing, others were given the chance to retrieve cold game under the watchful eye of Charlie Grewcock, who had a brace of pheasants for the dogs to practise with.

All the dogs I watched had retrieved dummies before, but for several this was the first time they had been asked to retrieve feathered game. None declined the opportunity, but several were reluctant at first, and were then so pleased with themselves they were reluctant to return to their handler. “Turn your back, walk away,” instructed Charlie, and this was usually enough to encourage the dog to take the bird to its handler.

Some dogs got the idea immediately. Sioux Fisher’s German longhaired pointer Pilgrim was so fast with his retrieve that I had to ask if

set, a handsome 14-pointer, came from Somerset and were given to me by a friend who hunted with the Quantock Staghounds. The stag was found in Crowcombe Park and killed at East Quantoxhead. A typical West Country head, it lacks the bay tine — the second tine after the brow.

I added another set to my collection came from a day’s picking-up on the Euston estate in Suffolk. A friend was working his spaniel next to me and found a shed right antler. Minutes later, working my own spaniel, I discovered the left.

Finding the pair so close together was a stroke of luck. I subsequently mounted them on a false skull. Another 14-pointer, these antlers are large and heavy and typical of the big stags to be found in this part of East Anglia.

Antlers are pure bone so much tougher than horn. I’ve recently been reminded just how tough they are by a red deer brow tine, complete with coronet, that a

he could have another go, as I hadn’t been quick enough to photograph him. He was more than happy to do a repeat performance. I discovered from Sioux that Pilgrim was really her son’s dog. She wasn’t a novice gundog handler, as she had a pointer of her own, plus an English springer.

Large Munsterlanders are sufficiently rare that I was prompted to ask Hannah Patrick why she had one. The answer was simple: her bitch Wrenna was home-bred and Hannah’s mother owned both the mother and grandmother. Wrenna acquitted herself well on retrieving, but Hannah said the three-year-old

Trainer David Short encourages a vizsla to point a pigeon on the Norfolk training day

David’s red deer antlers found at Euston

friend gave to my spaniels. They love it but despite many hours of chewing and chomping it remains largely intact.

It is, however, serving its purpose as quite the best tooth cleaner possible and much more effective than brushing the dogs’ teeth. If you’ve never tried your dog on an antler chew I strongly recommend it. You can buy them for around £5 or you can beg one from any stalker.

Email: dhtomlinson@btinternet.com

was destined to be a tracking dog because “she has a great nose”.

Despite the infectious enthusiasm of the many handlers I chatted to, there was a tinge of sadness to the day, as it was to be the last training session to be held at Rectory Farm — hosts Lucie and Johnny Hustler are moving to New Zealand in April.

First female winner Lucie is famous not only for her Aytee kennel of German shorthaired pointers, but also for having won the HPR Championships in 2015 with her bitch FTCh Aytee Isadora. Having won, Lucie became the first female handler to lift the trophy.

Furthermore, in both 2018 and 2019 the championship was won by FTCh Aytee Jumbo Jet of Islasbraw (Lewis), owned and handled by Darryl Elliot. Lewis was bred by Lucie and his wins have been a great source of pleasure to her. “You can’t believe how satisfying it is to see a dog you’ve bred do so well,” she said.

Any HPR handlers interested in joining the Norfolk & Suffolk HPR club should contact membership secretary Sara Jenkins on email at nshprcmembers@gmail.com. The club organises monthly training days for its members, along with tests, trials and social events.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 43

C

ATING OUR BEST WRITE R B E RS EL

The first crowdfunding Economic upheaval has forced some traditional squires to let their shoots to syndicate — and sadly often not for the better, says David Imrie

S

yndicate shoots are quite common now. This is one result of heavy taxation among our landed proprietors, and without syndication many of our best sporting estates would simply not exist as game preserves.

But it would be wrong to assume that the commercialisation of something that was once produced gratis by squires for their guests is invariably praiseworthy.

When sport is bought at so much per season, at so much per week or so much per brace, a tang of the marketplace enters into the transaction, and part of that delightful casualness vanishes which once characterised the shoots of wealthy landowners.

GETTY IMAGES

Variety of forms Syndication in this connection has a variety of forms, the most usual of which can be found where seven or eight sportsmen combine to rent a shoot on an equal-payment basis.

In a deal of this kind the owner pays the keeper or keepers, but all other expenses incurred during the prosecution of shooting are the responsibility of the lessees.

There may be, in addition, on moorland shoots, an agreement that binds the syndicate to kill only a limited bag for the lump rental, but which gives them the option of killing

“When sport is bought, a tang of the marketplace enters into the transaction”

more grouse at so much per brace if the keeper thinks that the moor will stand this extra shooting.

In another form one man rents the shoot and takes in Guns for long or short periods at so much per head. By this means he may be able to get his personal shooting free or, in certain favourable circumstances, he may be able to make a profit.

This sort of commercialisation has been practised by landowners themselves, who often throw in board and lodgings with the sporting fee, and so disguise from outsiders the fact that their shoot is not run on oldfashioned lines. It is hardly necessary to point out that this sub-syndication

44 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

allows the principal also to sell the game for his own benefit.

In still another form, two or three wealthy men rent a shoot, then invite their friends to have a day with them occasionally as non-paying guests.

I imagine that this arrangement often has a business significance unconnected with sport; but from the game preserver’s angle it is neither better nor worse as a transaction than other kinds of syndication.

Nevertheless, I once had experience of a small syndicate which did no good to a shoot, apparently because the members were not bound in writing to stop when the headkeeper gave the order to do so.

Vintage Times The result was that the game stock dwindled until at the end of the threeyear lease it was very low indeed.

This deplorable state of affairs had, of course, nothing to do with the type of syndication; it was rather the consequence of ignorance, and I feel that the headkeeper ought to have been firm before the deterioration went so far. But that attitude would undoubtedly have made him unpopular with his employers.

They began shooting seriously only after they retired from the management of a manufacturing firm, so that they might have four days’ exercise per week with sport thrown in.

Long leases During the close season they paid no attention to their shoot, probably because they had no interest there, except as a place on which to fire cartridges legally.

Despite this example, which I know first-hand, a shooting man with whom I had some conversation

“A man who pays for his shooting is determined to get full value”

for his money, even at the expense of a possible successor. That, he declared, is, was and always will be ordinary human nature.

I did not attempt to argue with my friend, but it occurred to me his opinion did not fit every set of circumstances. I once knew a real sportsman who rented a poor shoot adjoining one where pheasants were

“Almost any shoot is better in the hands of the squire. His roots are there. Shooting with him is a way of life, not a hobby” recently did not believe that this lenient view of syndicate members was often justified. He regarded them on the whole as a necessary evil that could be held in check by strict agreements and long leases, but emphatically not without them.

His theory, right or wrong, was that the man who pays for his shooting is generally determined to get full value

“The principal can sell the game for profit”

reared in thousands, yet he refused to let his keeper throw down feed to attract game to his ground, though there is no law to prevent anyone from indulging in this form of greed.

I am prepared to believe, however, that most keepers, given the option, would rather serve a squire of the old brigade than a syndicate that might have different members every season, apart from the principal.

This is, of course, mainly a matter of psychology. In the squire he has one boss only, who is likely to be as interested in leaving a breeding stock of game as he is himself, and who can accept a poor season philosophically.

But in the syndicate he has several bosses who expect him to produce the goods every time, and who will be keenly disappointed if their calculations at the end of the season reveal that they have paid so many pounds sterling for every bird shot.

Even the least mercenary chap is usually guilty of doing this kind of arithmetic and the keeper is aware of it, though nothing may be said.

The fact remains, however, that the squire’s parties, which are generally composed of different members for each shoot, are a good source of revenue for velveteens, whereas members of a syndicate are not.

My own opinion — which may have a slight bias — is that almost any shoot is better in the hands of the squire himself, if he has the cash to carry it on properly. His roots are there.

Shooting with him is a way of life, not something taken up as a hobby.

Though he likes a good season, he is not unduly worried if he has to curtail his sport to benefit the breeding stock. Unlike some ‘amateur’ shooters he is keenly aware that birds do not appear from nowhere but are produced from eggs.

In short, the squire is as much a part of the game preserve as game.

Unfortunately, the economic upheaval of two decades has hit many a squire so hard that he cannot conduct his shoot in the manner approved by his father and grandfather, so he does the next best thing. He lets it to a syndicate rather than see it become derelict. And, with certain differences, it takes on something of its former vigour.

There can be no doubt that syndication saved shooting as a sport when it was really tottering immediately after World War II.

Misleading Anyone who intends to rent a shoot on behalf of a syndicate should satisfy himself that he knows a great deal about it; for though no agent is likely to mislead him, he may in his eagerness mislead himself.

Therefore he ought to have the game book figures for as many years as possible. If they are fairly good right up to date, he can be assured that he is taking over a going concern. But if they have dwindled steadily for a long time he can be equally assured that he and his confederates will have to pull the shoot round, perhaps at considerable extra expense.

Further, if a neglected shoot was once notable for pheasants, he ought to find out whether the coverts are still in reasonable shape. In any case, he must realise that game shooting in this country is not cheap.

This article was first published in the 6 January 1961 issue of Shooting Times.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 45

46 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Pheasant

Game Cookery

However much you love game meat, when there is an abundance you need some new recipes to tantalise the taste buds, says Tim Maddams

B

ottom-line time. Mostly, no matter how much we enjoy our varied sport, we will find ourselves in the thick of it with pheasants.

It’s not a bad thing, there is lots of tasty meat to keep us all fed in the weeks ahead, but keeping things interesting can be a bit tricky.

I have dedicated my next three Shooting Times recipes to the pheasant breast — there is nothing wrong with the thigh meat and I will come to that later, but for now it’s breasts all the way.

Most of us eat rather a lot of it and it is always a challenge to come up with new,

cabbage lifts it up and the green sauce stops it being too rich or flat.

You could amp up the Alsace by swapping the squash for sauerkraut and adding a creamy mustard sauce, but I prefer a lighter version. The choice is yours — whatever you prefer.

different ways of cooking it. More often than not, I will have skinned the birds and removed the useful breast and leg meat as I go along. The freezer will steadily fill up with vacuum-packed pheasant protein and over the winter we will eat our way through this tasty bounty.

“The magic is curing the pheasant to produce a new level of smoky nirvana” The magic here is curing and smoking the pheasant breast to produce a new level of salty, sweet, smoky nirvana that has hitherto been the stuff of local legend.

This little version has a rather Alsace feeling to it. I like the combination of the smoky pheasant breast with the sweet and tangy roasted squash, while the pickled

SMOKED PHEASANT WITH ROAST SQUASH AND GREEN SAUCE

TO SMOKE THE PHEASANT If you do not have a hot smoker, a couple of deep baking trays and a wire cooling rack can be pressed into service but you will need to seal the edges with foil to stop all the smoke escaping. You will also need some good hardwood shavings — I have used a mix of oak and beech. You can use all sorts of hardwoods but avoid pine for flavour reasons and yew because it’s toxic. Depending on shape, size and how hot your smoking chamber gets, it can take between 8 and 12 minutes to get a good smoke.

Ingredients TO MAKE THE CURE : 100G PURE DRIED VACUUM SALT 100G GOLDEN GRANULATED SUGAR 20 PEPPERCORNS, CRUSHED 3JUNIPERBERRIES,CRUSHED

A. SYDENHAM

4 FRESH BAY LEAVES, CHOPPED

THE METHOD Serves 4 TO CURE THE PHEASANT 1

You will need 4 good pheasant breasts, well trimmed ready for the cure.

2

Place the pheasant breasts in a non-reactive container — you can use ceramic or stainless steel, but not aluminium.

3

Season the breasts liberally with the cure mix and leave for 30 minutes. The breasts should then be rinsed, dried and left exposed to the air on a rack to become a little sticky – this creates a layer of altered protein called a pellicle that will act as a surface for the smoke particulates to cling to.

4

Once the pellicle has formed, load the pheasant breasts into the hot smoker and set it over a heat source (see left).

5

If you are not sure that the meat is fully cooked, fry the breasts for a few minutes in a little hot butter over a medium heat on the stove.

THE REST 1

Cut the squash in half once you have given it a good wash – I have used a spaghetti squash but you can use whatever you can get hold of. Place the halves cut side down on a baking tray with some olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme.

Bake in a hot oven until tender and then allow to cool. Scoop out and discard the seeds, scrape out the flesh and season it well, add any oil from the tray and perhaps a little finely chopped garlic, and pop on the stove to keep warm.

2

Make a drop of herb dressing by blending 2 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of capers, the juice of one lemon, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a good sprig of parsley, another of mint and as much olive oil as it takes in the blender.

3

I like pickled cabbage fresh and crunchy so all I do is shred the cabbage as finely as I can and season well with salt and pepper. I then simply dress it very lightly with red-wine or cider vinegar.

4

To serve, slice the pheasant, place it alongside a little of the roasted squash and drizzle with the green sauce.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 47

SPORTING ANSWERS The experts THE ULTIMATE SHOOTING QUIZ TEAM

The little snipe are worth their weight in gold — and wonderful on toast

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 TOM PAYNE Professional shooting instructor and avid pigeon shooter JEREMYHUNT Runs Fenway Labradors and a professional gundog trainer

S. WHITEHEAD / A. HOOK / M. MANNING / D. TOMLINSON / J. HALL / P. QUAGLIANA / ALAMY

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

The perfect snipe on toast GAMECOOKING

Some people say I should remove the guts from snipe and others say I shouldn’t. How should I prepare snipe for cooking?

Though they are small, snipe are absolutely delicious to eat and should be regarded as a real delicacy.

Removing the guts is entirely down to personal preference, but I never gut a snipe. It’s simply not necessary.

My procedure is to pluck the bird completely, removing the lower legs and the top wing joint with a pair of kitchen scissors. I pluck out the head and neck, leaving the head on. Then I twist the head round and pierce through the abdomen with the long bill, pushing it right through like a skewer just forward of the legs. This creates a neat carcase for cooking.

48 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Next, I toast a slice of bread on one side only. Placing the bread, untoasted side uppermost, on a grill pan, I put the snipe on top and cook it in a high oven (220°C) for 10 minutes. The snipe will be perfectly roasted and a little pink inside, which is just how it should be. The juices should have started to flow out of the abdominal cavity and into the bread, which should now be crisp on top.

Snipe on toast is the perfect breakfast dish, served intact in all its glory straight from the oven. Use a sharp knife to remove and enjoy the breast meat, savouring the toast that has been flavoured with the cooking juices. Then remove the legs and eat the thigh meat using your fingers.

If you are a real fanatic, then remove the wings and eat the tiny amount of delicious meat from the wing joints too. GD

Expert tips and advice

Which sight is the best?

FOXCONTROL

I cannot decide between the Pulsar Thermion XM38 or Trail XP38 thermal sight for foxes. Can you offer me any advice on which of them is best?

I am being asked more and more about thermal imagers and thermal firearm sights. These heat source imagers/sights should not be relied on to supersede any stalking skills but they are incredibly useful.

The Trail from Pulsar is a thermal gun sight and, depending on the model, offers a 640 x 480 pixel thermal sensor with a 17 m resolution. This means it has a very good image quality, detection

range and a wide field of view. It retails now for £4,469.95. The XM38 is the new entry-level Thermion gun sight that retails for £2,979.95 and has a more conventional-looking scope body for easy rifle mounting.

This model has a smaller sensor of 320 x 240 pixels but a finer 12 m resolution. This means more magnification, finer reticle sight adjustment but not quite as bright or vivid an image as the Trail XP38. There is a Thermion XP38 that retails for £4,139.95 with the larger sensor but the magnification is reduced.

I have used both but the Thermion XM38, for a little under £3,000, is all you need if you keep the ranges less than 200 yards where safe to do so. BP

Native Britain

Plants, flowers and fungi of Great Britain at a glance Latin name: Oxalis acetosella Common name: Wood sorrel Other names: Cuckoo bread, fairy bells, gowk meat, lady’s clover, hallelujah, sleeping beauty, sow trefoil, stabwort

Stags with broken antlers STALKING

I’ve noticed that a lot of the red stags we take from our forestry permission have broken antlers, either with tines missing or with one of the beams broken above the first tine. Do you know why this might be the case?

There could be a number of reasons for this. The most likely would be to do with the animals sparring or squaring up to each other as the build up to the rut gets under way.

You don’t say anything in your email

about the age profile of the deer, but I suspect that you are seeing the damaged antlers in younger age class animals whose antler structure will be thinner and lighter and which, with the naivety of youth, might be more likely to spar with each other — unlike their older herd mates that have learned from the past. Other possible explanations might involve a lack of minerals leading to antlers being brittle, but I would think that was a long shot.

If the animals are mature ones a bit of a rethink would be in order, but I would favour deer-to-deer contact as offering the most likely explanation. IW Immature stags might damage their antlers sparring with each other

How to spot it and where to find it: You will find this low, creeping perennial herb in woodland, on hedgerows, banks and any moist, usually shaded, habitats. It has longstalked, light green leaves that are divided into three leaflets and white flowers, veined in lilac or purple.

Wood sorrel is one of very few plants able to thrive in the deep shade of conifer plantations.

Interesting facts: Despite the name, wood sorrel is not the same plant as common, wild or sheep’s sorrel (When sorrel seems to be the hardest word, 11 December). It is, however, equally edible, though its generic name means ‘sour’.

It contains oxalic acid, which is found in many vegetables such as spinach and kale, and is toxic in large quantities because it inhibits the absorption of calcium. People with gout, rheumatism and kidney stones should avoid eating it.

Those little flowers have appeared in works by the 15th century Renaissance painter Fra Angelico and it was said that St Patrick used the plant’s trifoliate leaves to illustrate the Holy Trinity. It has since been dedicated to him and is one of several known as the shamrock, the symbol of Ireland.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 49

SPORTING ANSWERS

DNA testing Right cartridge for CWD VETERINARYCARE

RIFLES

I am aiming to have all the necessary health tests done before letting my bitch have a litter of puppies. I have already had her hips and elbows X-rayed and her eyes tested but I am confused over the various DNA tests. Should I have her tested?

The advantage of DNA testing is that not only does it determine if a dog is affected by an inherited disease but also the likelihood of it passing it on to its offspring. Owners can make choices regarding dogs to use to avoid breeding affected puppies.

For most genetic diseases, both parents need to be affected for the puppy to show signs of the disease.

If only one parent is affected the puppy will be a ‘carrier’. Carriers are clinically normal and apparently unaffected but they can pass it on to their offspring. If both parents are ‘clear’, all puppies of that mating will be unaffected by the disease.

When deciding on which DNA tests to carry out, remember that if your bitch comes from a clear line — that is, if there is reliable evidence that her immediate ancestors were tested and found to be clear — there is little point in testing for that disease as she will also be clear. As long as you mate her to a clear stud dog, there is no chance of passing the disease on to her puppies.

In general terms, if a DNA test indicates that your bitch is either affected or a carrier, you need a very good reason to breed from her. Most people would avoid breeding from an affected dog, particularly in a breed that has an existing large population.

If, however, there is good reason to breed from a carrier, it should only be bred to a suitably tested stud dog shown to be clear of the disease. TB

Can you recommend a good cartridge to use when shooting Chinese water deer please? I am thinking of buying a new rifle and want to make sure I get the right rifle/cartridge combo.

Both Chinese water deer (CWD) and muntjac have a minimum legal requirement when it comes to rifle calibre and cartridge used. In England and Wales, the minimum calibre of .220in is required and a muzzle energy not less than 1,000ft/lb ,with a soft or hollow-nosed bullet not less than 50 grains. This means that .22 centrefire cartridges such as the .222 Rem, .223 Rem, .22-250, .220 Swift, .22 PPC or

.22 BR (to name a few) are all legal to shoot CWD. These are commonly used for fox/vermin control, too, so if you have a .22 centrefire fox rifle in any of these cartridges and use the correct ammunition, there is no need to buy another rifle.

Otherwise, I’d buy a .243 Win, 25-06 Rem, 6mm or 6.5mm Creedmoor rifle. A rifle chambered for any one of these cartridges is all legal with the correct ammunition for roe or larger species of deer.

Bullet choice is also key. Light and fast means a flatter trajectory. Faster expanding bullets might waste a bit of the carcase, while heavier, slower bullets cause less meat damage. I use the latter more for woodland scenarios at shorter ranges. BP

The minimum cartridge for shooting muntjac or Chinese water deer in England and Wales is .220in

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Expert tips and advice

Don’t eat stressed meat Is it time to upgrade?

GAMEKEEPING

FERRETING

I am an advocate and user of the original Mk1 ferretfinder, but mine are now so old and overused that they are all starting to break. Is it worth upgrading to the newer Mk3 version instead?

This is like Marmite — you either love the Mk3 or hate it. In the right hands a piece of kit will do the job that you want it to. However good it may be, there will always be someone who will tell you that something else is better. It is what you are comfortable with and confident using that matters.

I am a huge fan of the Mk3 ferret-finder. This is because I rely on it; it has a greater range and is designed and built with cutting-edge technology. It can be noisy but I use this sound as a depth gauge.

The Mk1 was designed in the 1960s with technology that belongs in a museum — but it still works. The difference I see is the ability to track your ferrets deeper, further away and without picking up interference from metallic objects such as fencing. Whether you are using a Mk1 or Mk3, your mobile phone will cause a degree of interference if it is too close.

If I were thinking of buying a replacement, I would stick with what I am used to, trust and can operate. It is your ferret’s welfare at stake if you cannot use whatever ferret-finder you choose competently. SW

I was speaking to a friend about deer stuck in fences, and he said the venison was worthless and not worth eating because of the stress the deer had been under while it was stuck. Do you agree?

I would agree with your friend.

The meat of stressed animals is tough and differs in tas te to the meat of an unstressed animal — a point not lost on local butchers when they were allowed to slaughter their meat on site.

There will also be bruising to the meat if the deer has been stuck for some time, and very possibly some internal bleeding as well, which will further taint the carcase. A deer stuck in a fence is best despatched and the carcase removed and disposed of properly.

Animals found already dead should, of course, never be eaten. LB

Deer caught up in fences should be despatched and disposed of; their meat will not be edible

Rough guess at buzzard ID BIRDS OF PREY

Can you verify that the hawk in my photograph is a roughlegged buzzard and not a common buzzard? I took the picture close to Halvergate Marshes, Norfolk, in November.

The bird is indeed a rough-leg. The best diagnostic feature is the distinctive white inner tail — it shows bright white both above and below — contrasting with the dark rump and tip of the tail. Common buzzards sometimes show a similar feature, but it is never as white nor as contrasting.

Unlike the common buzzard, whose plumage is highly variable, there is little variation in that of the rough-legged

buzzard so most adults look similar.

All have the white tail and most show a distinctive dark carpal patch — the carpal is the equivalent of the wrist on the wing. The bird is slightly bigger than a common buzzard and has longer wings.

Their behaviour is also different — a hunting rough-leg hovers frequently.

Common buzzards will also hover occasionally but their hovering is rather clumsier and less skilled than that of the rough-leg.

These handsome birds are scarce winter visitors to Britain. They favour grazing marshes in eastern England and will often remain faithful to the same wintering site until the spring, when they migrate back to their Scandinavian breeding grounds. DT

The white tail of the rough-legged buzzard is a distinguishing feature

The latest ferret-finders are far superior to older ones — but it is about personal choice

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 51

SPORTING ANSWERS

Can’t find what he’s looking for GUNDOGTRAINING

A good pair of gloves can enhance your airgun shooting, not only by keeping you warm but also by aiding concealment

Fitting like a glove AIRGUNNING

I do a lot of airgun shooting but have never worn gloves because I like to be able to feel the trigger. However, I have really started to suffer with cold hands this winter and I think it is time to invest in a pair. Can you recommend any brands that I should consider?

I never used to like wearing gloves but they can make a huge difference to your shooting, not only by keeping your fingers warm when it’s cold but also by deterring biting flies during the summer and by keeping your skin hidden from

sight at any time of the year. If you’re on a tight budget, cheap cotton or neoprene gloves will do the job, but make sure they have rubber grip pads on them or they can make your gun feel slippery.

Trigger feel can be somewhat lacking through neoprene gloves, so look for a pair with fold-back fingers.

I have been wearing MacWet gloves for the past few years and can’t recommend them highly enough.

They come in a huge variety of sizes to match your hand perfectly and the long-cuff Climatec version will keep your hands nice and warm.

Best of all, these gloves are incredibly grippy and offer a remarkable degree of feel. MM

Do I need insurance?

LAW

Do you need specialist shoot day/shooting insurance to go shooting, or can you claim off your home insurance in the unlikely event that you need to?

This is a two-part question. First, it is not a legal requirement to have third-party insurance to cover you for shoot-related accidents and incidents to go shooting. But I do think it would be foolish to go shooting without it. As most shoot captains and sporting agents quite rightly ask for

proof of third-party insurance from their clients and syndicate members/ guests before allowing them to shoot, you may struggle to find shooting if you are uninsured.

Whether you are covered by your household insurance or not will depend on the exact wording of your policy. Because insurers are notoriously fickle and particularly adept at wriggling out of claims, my advice would be to join one of the shooting organisations that offers free insurance to members. You will be covered for your shoot days, and be supporting country sport as well. LB

52 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

I’m in my first season with a young springer dog as part of our shoot’s picking-up team, but his perseverance when looking for game is waning. This surprises me because he is a very switched-on young dog. I am working with a range of canvas dummies in our training sessions but am getting conflicting advice about whether I should stick to conventional green canvas dummies to make him have to work harder to find them, or go for the coloured or striped dummies to make his job easier?

Everyone has their own views on how much the more highly visible dummies make finding them easier. I think they do make it easier for the dog to spot, but the debate always centres on whether or not you actually want the dummy to be picked quickly because it has been seen, or do you want the dog to learn to hunt for it?

On a marked retrieve, coloured or striped dummies do help youngsters to locate the dummy once they are in the area — but how long do we want to train the dog to hunt by sight?

The youngster has to learn to mark the fall and if he is off the mark I would want a dog to learn to hunt with his nose rather than by his eye, so there comes a time when using dummies that are less visual helps to develop this skill.

Of course, the other argument says that when teaching a young dog to retrieve an unmarked dummy, a coloured dummy will help get a result quicker and therefore boost confidence in the initial stages.

I agree with that, but once again there will come a time when you need to switch to less visible dummies.

It is a good idea to avail yourself of a range of dummies and training techniques that will initially encourage the dog to get a result. But once that confidence is established, your young springer needs to learn that by getting his head down and using his nose he will also be able to find what he’s looking for. JH

Expert tips and advice B R I TA I N ’ S L O S T B R E E D S

OLD ENGLISH BULLDOG Bulldogswerebred forbaitingbulls,stilla popularspectatorsport twocenturiesago.Bull baitingwasexceedingly dangerousand requiredadogthatwas aggressive,aswellas beingfastandathletic.

Thebreedisthoughtto havedescendedfrom themastiff,butatouch ofgreyhoundbloodwas likelyintroducedtoadd speedandagility.

WhentheCruelty toAnimalsActwas broughtintolawin1835, bullbaitinganddog fightingwereoutlawed.

Thislawnotonlymade the old-fashioned

bulldogredundantbut alsomarkedthestartof itsdecline.Ithadgone beforetheendofthe 19thcentury.Itsloss isn’tonetolament: oldEnglishbulldogs wereexceedinglyugly.

Contemporarywriters describethemasdeepchestedandmuscular, withabroadhead,short noseandundershotjaw, thislastgivingthem“a fierceanddisagreeable aspect”.Theyweresaid tobeextraordinarily courageousand preparedtoattackany animal.Theyboreonlya passingresemblanceto the modern bulldog. DT

TO CATCH A FISH Willie Gunn It is debatable to say that this fly catches more salmon than any other but we can safely assume that it is a popular companion to have by the river.

The name came about when Willie Gunn stepped into a fly shop and saw one being inspected for approval and said “By gum, that

looks bonny. If I had a choice, that’s the one I would use.” The shopkeeper replied: “You must have it then and we will name the fly the Willie Gunn.”

Not a bad day to walk into a fly shop. EW

Crossword / Compiled by Eric Linden/1438 Across 6 A smoother hare runs wild in red grouse habitat (7,5) 8 Method of payment required for the cartridge wad? (7) 9 Once cases are used, money is gone (5) 10 Turn sort of leery without the right cartridge firm (4) 11 Gunmaker Paton fixed wardrobes from the inside (6) 14 An ancient document is a decorative example of gun engraving (6) 16 A letter from Greece about a Fabarm model name (4) 19 A motorist goes topless on the waterway (5) 20 Religious symbols

appear as a clay travels left to right (7) 21 Fishing spot region bringing us home to the Patterdale (4,8)

Down 1 A strapping type of household animal is the breed for speed (7) 2 A German’s confused about positions on the shoot (8) 3 What gives colour to swans — that’s the spirit! (5) 4 One helping set up pigeon decoying hides makes the Nile predator trim (9,4) 5 Metal shot coating for a member of the constabulary, informally? (6)

Solution 1436 / 27 December 2019

Across: 6. Arable 7. Feral 10. Obedience 11. Gut 12. Tick 14. Captains 16. Migrants 17. Hens 20. Rut 21. Perimeter 23. Fawns 24. Glossy Down: 1. Layout 2. Face 3. Plain 4. Beretta 5. Hang fire 8. In tatters

7 Martin gets the bird when we rub down gun wood (4) 12 A maker of gloves comes from the sika’s family (8) 13 Hounds male choir members around the treetop (7) 15 The Conservative leader causes a stink on wildfowling waters (6) 17 Japan’s chief is sick of the ferret (4) 18 Gets a big kick out of those made for walking (5)

9. ATVs 13. Cage trap 15. Camping 16. Mark 18. Sprays 19. Smell 22. Test MYSTERY WORD: LITTERS WINNER: E GEORGE-WILLIS, WILTSHIRE

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 1438, Shooting Times, Pinehurst 2, Farnborough Business Park, Hants GU14 7BF Name: Address:

Postcode: Tel no: Mystery word: Rules: Entries must be received by 15 January 2020.All usual conditions apply. Solution and winner will appear in the 22 January 2020 issue. Photocopies accepted.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 53

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54 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

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Alasdair Mitchell

Sharpshooter

Early outings with steel shot have produced no ill effects as far as the shotgun is concerned — and they seem to kill more cleanly than lead

I

am attempting to shoot this season without using lead ammunition. The first setback concerned my non-lead rifle ammo: I haven’t got any. At least, not yet. It has been promised, but has yet to show up. I live in hope.

I did manage to get non-lead shotgun cartridges, however. It took about five weeks from ordering to get some Eley VIP Steel with 32g of steel No5 shot with the new Pro-Eco wads. I am using them in an English side-by-side bored improved cylinder and quarter-choke, with 2¾in chambers.

Missed shots So how have I got on with steel shot? Well, I haven’t noticed any increased recoil. Nor have my gun’s barrels split apart like a peeled banana. I cannot see any bulges or marks on the inside of the barrels. This is as expected, because the shot is encased in a biodegradable shot cup and the pressures are well below the maximum indicated by the gun’s proof marks.

I admit that I did seem to miss more shots than usual on my first outings. I’m not sure if I was simply a bit rusty at the start of the season or took a while to get used to a different amount of forward lead, or something.

However, once I got into my stride, all turned out well. When they connected, my steel shot loads performed every bit as well as lead.

Indeed, though it is early days yet, I have an inkling that my new steel loads are killing even more cleanly than traditional lead. I don’t know why this might be so, but that’s the impression I get. Certainly, I see no reason to go back to lead. Not for shotgunning, anyway.

“I am all for modern technology when it comes to keeping warm and dry in the worst weather” I was lying on a patch of cold, damp peat as we waited for the hind to stand up and present me with a shot. It had already been about 40 minutes and I was getting cold. Really cold. My fingers were beginning to go numb inside my inadequate shooting gloves.

We had been on the go for the best part of four hours by this stage, starting with a steep climb out of the glen before plodding

across a high-altitude plateau. Now we were lying flat and a squally north-east wind was blasting spicules of snow into our faces. My body warmth was draining away rapidly.

Shivering, I looked over at David, the stalker, as he peered through his binoculars. I noticed something odd: there was a tiny red light glowing on the back of his hand. What the hell? It emerged that he was wearing electrically heated gloves.

The amount of warmth could be adjusted.

I was impressed.

There is an old army saying: “Any fool can be uncomfortable.” I am all for modern technology when it comes to keeping warm and dry in the worst weather that nature can throw at us.

And at my age (and weight) I need all the help I can get. Having kit that keeps you warm doesn’t detract from the skill and fieldcraft needed for hill stalking, nor the physical effort needed to get to where the deer are.

I recall that the excellent Richard Negus reviewed an electrically heated Härkila gilet (The heat is on, 6 November). Having now seen electrically heated gloves in action, I am seriously interested in the whole concept. Who knows, it might just pave the way for me to enjoy many more years on the hill.

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.

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58 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE