G R E E N S P O R T: I S YO U R S H O O T S U S TA I N A B L E ?

25 SEPTEMBER 2019 Since1882

How to
mark hit
birds
Making sure
everything
gets picked

DUCK FLIGHTING
FINDING FORM
Testing steel
shot on teal Top tips to
recover when
you start
missing

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 DOG OF THE WEEK
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Outdoor outfitters, instructors and apparel makers since 1856.

Dobby
At 10 weeks old, Dobby likes ducks but the sound of geese scares him. Beyond wildfowl, he’s very keen on
watermelon and is developing a love of chasing stones. He can’t wait to grow up and get out on the duck ponds.

Owned and photographed by Abigail Smith

 25.09.19
Issue 6,159 £24.99
The season offers
thrilling sport and
A common bond challenging birds. Follow
Some years ago an it in Shooting Times for
Ayrshire man told me less than the cost of a
he no longer wears
breeks to his syndicate driven partridge
but changes when he
shootingtimessubs.co.uk/50AF
gets there because he worries about
“getting flak from the antis” when 0330 333 1113 Quote code: 50AF
SAVE
he stops off for a sausage roll. Lines open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 6pm (UK time) UP TO
A fortnight ago, his words came
back to me when I was wandering
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a little Lancashire village called

Chipping. Out of the corner of my eye
I noticed a middle-aged man making
a beeline for me. Having readied
myself for a diatribe, I was startled
when he asked who I was shooting
with and speculated about how the
bright, still conditions might cause
the partridges to fly.
After a brief chat, I made it
a mere 20 yards before being No bird left unpicked Glorious grouse and terriers
accosted by an elderly lady who
16 How to mark shot game
20 Shooting over unlikely dogs
wanted to chat about spaniels.
That evening as I drove home,
I thought about the Ayrshire man’s
words. Sure, there are a number of
people who want shooting banned
but, out in the real world, ordinary
people with a love of wildlife so often
understand and support shooting.
It’s crucial we aren’t fooled into
thinking we are taking part in some
fringe pursuit when the reality is The right time for teal The Moby-Dick of Lyme Bay
that it’s the balaclava-wearing,
23 Does steel shot cut it?
26 Reeling in a monster mackerel
eco-illiterate activists whom the
ordinary public hold in contempt.
Patrick Galbraith, Editor

Follow Patrick on Twitter

@paddycgalbraith

Contents When the wheels come off Stainless steel American hero
29 Finding form again mid-drive
32 Testing the Remington Model 700
NEWS & OPINION 14 GAMEKEEPER
06 NEWS 32 RIFLE TEST
10 LETTERS 36 CONSERVATION
FEATURES 40 ON YOUR SHOOT
16 FIELDCRAFT 42 GUNDOGS
20 WILD SPORT 46 COOKERY
23 DUCK FLIGHTING 48 SPORTING
26 FISHING ANSWERS
29 SHOOTING SKILL 54 PRODUCTS
REGULARS 55 GUNROOM
12 COUNTRY DIARY 58 SHARPSHOOTER Smooth operators The world’s finest sandwich
36 Conserving reptiles on your shoot
46 Pulled venison in brioche buns

4 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

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 NEWS
Make your voice heard on
future of general licences
Shooting bodies call on members to take part in a new consultation
on general licences just announced by Defra and Natural England
A
consultation on the
future of the general
licences in England
has been launched
by Defra and Natural England.
The 12-week public online
survey follows a failed legal
action by Wild Justice in the
spring, which led to a temporary
suspension of the licences.
In a statement announcing the
launch, Defra said it was intended
to “ensure the licensing system
is robust, striking the right
balance between the protection
D. IRELAND / R. FAULKS / D. MOORE / ALAMY
of wild birds and the activities
that people such as landowners
and farmers need to carry out
for specific purposes, such as
protecting livestock or crops, or
for conservation purposes”.
Defra and Natural England
will also be conducting a series
6 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
of workshops with interested
groups to cover other issues such
as activity on protected sites.
Shooting and countryside
groups were quick to encourage
their members to get involved
with the consultation. BASC’s
head of policy and campaigns
“Everyone who shoots should
take part in this survey; your
evidence counts”
Dr Conor O’Gorman said: “We
would urge everyone who shoots
to take part in Defra’s survey.
Your evidence counts.
“We had a fantastic response
to the survey we ran over the
summer, which fed into our
response to Defra.
“Engaging in the process
is hugely important and the
more people make their views
known, the louder the voice of the
shooting community.”
The survey asks for people’s
views, with supporting evidence,
on what the general licences
should and should not cover
in three key areas:
To kill wild birds to protect other
wild birds and conserve flora
and fauna;
To kill wild birds to preserve
public health or safety;
To kill wild birds to prevent
The survey will pay a
key role in deciding
the future of the
general licences
serious damage to livestock,
crops, fruit and fisheries.
Tim Bonner of the
Countryside Alliance encouraged
members to submit their
views. “It is Defra’s responsibility
to ensure the new licences are
not vulnerable to the malicious
legal activism that caused so
much damage to crops, livestock
and threatened species earlier
this year, but we must take
responsibility for providing the
necessary evidence,” he said.
The GWCT has chosen to
develop its own survey, saying
some gamekeepers and farmers
feel the Defra survey contains too
many “irrelevant questions”.
The deadline for submissions
is 5 December, visit po.st/
Wildbirdsurvey.
Matt Cross

Crackdown on salmon fishing
A series of new salmon and
sea trout fishing by-laws will
come into effect in Wales in
the new year.
The restrictions include
a mandatory requirement
that any salmon caught by
rods and nets is returned to
Size restrictions are being introduced on rod-caught sea trout
Shooting no threat to habitat
Scientists from the GWCT
have found that managing
land for shooting does not
harm rare plants nor insects.
They surveyed 139 woods
in Hampshire and south
Wessex, the Anglian plain,
Breckland, the Suffolk coast
and the Suffolk heaths.
Game management did not
affect rare species that are
characteristic of open areas
in woodland.
The scientists found no
difference in the numbers of
ancient woodland species
such as woodruff and
bluebells in woods used for
game shooting and those not
used for game shooting.
The number of woodland
butterflies, such as the
gatekeeper, was also not
affected by management
for shooting.
Lucy Capstick, a research
ecologist at GWCT and lead
author on the paper, said:
“Overall, game management
Email your stories / STeditorials@ti-media.com
the river; a ban on treble and
double hooks on lures; a ban
on treble hooks with a gap-
size larger than 7mm for flies;
and a ban on barbed hooks for
salmon and sea trout.
Use of worms to catch
salmon will be banned and
Scientist say game shooting’s effect on rare wildlife is ‘benign’
did not have a consistently
negative effect on species
of conservation concern,
with the abundance of
butterflies and richness
of ancient woodland
indicator species unaffected
by game management.
Weekend Twitter poll
use of shrimp and prawn bait Do you always wear a tie on a driven day?
will be restricted. A size limit
of 60cm is to be introduced 75% Yes
for rod-caught sea trout,
with some rivers introducing 20% No
mandatory catch-and-
release. Others will bait 1% I wear a turtleneck
fishing for sea trout before
5% I like cravats
1 May. Net fishing seasons
are to be changed on a river- follow us @shootingtimes Respondents: 189
by-river basis.
The decision to ban
worm fishing comes despite
strident opposition from
some anglers. Giving To do this week
evidence to an inquiry, Welsh
angler Andy Nicholson
claimed the by-laws would
have a negative effect.
“The elderly and the
disabled will be seriously
discriminated against… the
elderly generation and new
salmon worm anglers will
simply be lost forever. A way
of life, heritage and legacy,
along with ancient angling
history, will be obliterated.” On many rivers, it is
C A S T the middle of the best
time of year to catch a salmon. Why not
use up the last of your annual leave by
heading north and taking a day on a
great river such as the Tweed, the Tay or
the Beauly? To find available fishing,
visit fishpal.com.
Sit quietly and
L I S T E N listen. The red
deer rut is getting under way — time
spent listening out for the unmistakable
roar of rutting stags can provide a
memorable experience and can give
useful information about where deer
are located – particularly if you manage
or shoot in large areas of forestry where
deer can be difficult to see.
“We suggest that the
effect of game management
on ride communities is benign
and that factors other than
those examined in this study
— such as deer browsing —
also need to be considered
by woodland managers.”
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 7
 NEWS

EVENTS DIARY

2 8 -2 9 S E P T E M B E R
SOUTH YORKSHIRE
SHOOTING SHOW AND
GAME FAIR
Doncaster Racecourse,
Leger Way, Doncaster
southyorkshire
shootingshow.com

9 OCTOBER
WADERS AND HILL
FARMING EVENT
Falnash, Teviothead
07500 300374
awplaurie@hotmail.com
Geese and ducks have started to
10 OCTOBER arrive in large numbers in Scotland
and northern England
LADIES’ CLAY
SHOOTING
DEVELOPMENT DAY
Fennes Shooting School,
Bocking, Essex
basc.org.uk/events Wildfowl arrive
in huge numbers
A full moon and north-westerly winds bring arrival
of migratory ducks and geese to northern areas of UK
Pink-footed geese have been migration conditions. These Siberia, particularly around the
18 OCTOBER
sighted in significant numbers conditions allowed the geese to Ob and Pechora rivers.
DEER STALKERS’ by wildfowlers and birdwatchers. rapidly reach eastern Scotland, Suffolk wildfowler and Shooting
EVENING Reports of skeins of geese where goose guide John Martin has Times contributor Richard Negus
Moulton Community arriving began to emerge from now spotted greylags, Canadas, said birds were not expected to
Centre, Moulton, the Highlands, with Shooting whitefronts and pinkfoots. arrive till much later. In recent years
Northampton Times readers in the Inverness Wigeon numbers have also a change in the habits of wintering
basc.org.uk/events area reporting a considerable seen a significant jump. Roughly wigeon has been observed by
night-time movement of geese 200,000 wigeon spend the winter scientists — the birds, which are
on 14 September. in the UK, with birds coming from strongly associated with coastal
23 OCTOBER
habitats, have been increasingly
IMPROVE YOUR “Conditions allowed the geese to found inland. The trend is expected
SHOOTING DAY to continue this season.
Fauxdegla Shooting rapidly reach eastern Scotland” There have been isolated
Ground, Denbighshire reports of an early arrival of teal this
basc.org.uk/events Goose guides on Orkney found two separate populations. The year, with more than 500 counted
pinks alongside greylags feeding northern English and Scottish at the Wildfowl and Wetlands
on grassland and barley fields on birds which have begun to arrive Trust’s Caerlaverock reserve at the
16 NOVEMBER
S. PLUNKETT / P. QUAGLIANA / ALAMY

the 15th. in force come from Iceland, and beginning of September.

GAME NIGHT AT The arrivals began as an area
THE MUSEUM, of low pressure moved across
Museum and Art Gallery, Iceland, creating strong westerly
The Strand, Derby and north-westerly winds. These
01283 810910 winds, combined with a full moon,
created a brief period of optimum
typically migrate at similar times
and under similar conditions
to pink-footed geese.
However, the birds that winter in
southern and eastern England tend
to breed in Scandinavia and central
However, collated figures from
birdwatchers and reserves across
the country show lower than
normal numbers of birds for the
time of year.
Matt Cross

8 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE


Land managers meet to
discuss wader protection
Shoot managers,
gamekeepers and farmers
are invited to a free half-day
event at Falnash Farm near
Hawick on 9 October to
find out more about wader
conservation in the uplands.
Much-loved birds such
as curlew have declined by
almost two-thirds since the
1990s and the breeding
population of lapwings has
halved. Without urgent
action, many of these
species could soon be lost.
The Falnash event will
have a specific focus on
action for wading birds, with
discussions on hill grazing,
rush management and
bracken control.
There will be a visit to the
hill ground, and attendees will
Game charity gives 1m meals
The Country Food Trust,
which provides game-based
meals to people in need, has
hit its target of supporting
1,000 charities and is on
Email your stories / STeditorials@ti-media.com
be encouraged to have their
say and share ideas.
Advisers will be present
to help identify funding for
future work and there will
be an emphasis on ideas
that not only boost farm
productivity but also extend
Curlew have declined by almost two-thirds over the past 25 years
track to provide one million
meals. The Country Food
Trust was founded in 2015
to combat food poverty
by helping to feed many of
Free meals are provided
by the Country Food Trust
a lifeline to fragile wild bird
populations. The event is
being organised by Working
for Waders, a grass-roots
organisation working with
farmers, gamekeepers and
land managers to turn around
wader declines.
the 14.2million people in the
UK who are in need.
The charity distributes
pheasant-based meals in
sealed packages that can
be stored for up to a year
without needing to be chilled.
They can simply be heated
and served along with rice
or potatoes and vegetables
to offer “something that
is protein-rich, delicious
and nutritious”.
Tim Woodward, chief
executive of the Country
Food Trust, said: “I am really
delighted the food we
have produced has been
distributed so widely to so
many people in so many parts
of the country by so many
amazing charities. Our job at
the Country Food Trust is to
make delicious and nutritious
food for those charities,
as they do their vital work
helping the huge number of
people in food poverty.”
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 9
NEWS IN BRIEF
Calor pulls funding
for LACS centre
Calor Gas has pulled funding for a
League Against Cruel Sports ‘education
centre’ at the controversial Baronsdown
sanctuary after pressure from
rural organisations and fieldsports
enthusiasts . The project had been
awarded £5,000 but, after an outcry,
the funding offer was found to be
“non-compliant with the Calor Gas rural
community fund rules”. Calor said it
“regrets any offence this oversight has
caused” and was planning “a thorough
review of due diligence processes”.
‘Extinct’ deer
species may
have survived
A species of deer believed to have
become extinct may have survived.
The wild population of Schomburgk’s
deer was believed to have been hunted
to extinction in 1932. However, a set of
antlers believed to belong to the deer
was found in Laos in 1991. Photographs
of the antlers have now been analysed
by an expert who confirmed they
belonged to a male Schomburgk’s deer,
suggesting a small population may
remain in the Asian country.
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM
@SHOOTINGTIMESUK
 LETTERS
LET TER OF THE WEEK

You really can pay for what you watch

ISSN: 0037-4164

Shooting Times, TI Media Ltd,

Pinehurst 2, Farnborough Business Park,
Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF.

Alasdair Mitchell repeated Thus, if you feel strongly the other terrestrial
the myth that if you have about the BBC’s coverage catch-up services mean
equipment connected to of shooting, or its insistence that, should I wish to watch
receive terrestrial television, on letting Chris Packham television instead of going out
For editorial enquiries: you must own a TV licence pontificate unopposed, or shooting, I have literally years
STeditorials@ti-media.com
01252 555220
(Sharpshooter, 11 September). indeed any other issue, simply of content available to watch,
For picture enquiries: It’s the act of watching live stop watching live TV and at my convenience.
max.tremlett@ti-media.com
Subscription hotline: television, rather than the paying for the licence. There The column also made
0330 333 1113
help@magazinesdirect.com
equipment owned, that is no need to sell your television a reference to radio. BBC radio
requires a licence. Even the or cut cables to your roof- might be funded by the licence
Editor Patrick Galbraith
Deputy editor Ed Wills BBC’s enforcement division, mounted aerial. fee but, for the avoidance of
edward.wills@ti-media.com
Brand assistant Sarah Pratley TV Licencing, attests to this We dropped live television doubt, if you listen to it, you
01252 555220 on its website: “If you watch more than two years ago and are not obliged to have
Group art director Dean Usher or record live television as it haven’t missed it. The choice a TV licence.
Art editor Rob Farmer
Picture editor Max Tremlett is broadcast, or use iPlayer, available from the likes of M. Janes,
Chief sub-editor Sarah Potts
you need a TV licence.” Netflix, Amazon and all by email
Deputy chief sub-editor Nicola Jane Swinney
nicola.swinney@ti-media.com

IN ASSOCIATION WITH BROWNING

Sub-editor Richard Reed
richard.reed@ti-media.com
Digital editor Charlotte Peters
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The winner of Letter of the Week will receive a
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marketing board and a much- September 2020, as it is now too
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WE SHOULD ALL needed assurance scheme. late for this season.
Laurence Pierce 07971 605143
laurence.pierce@ti-media.com BE IN THE GAME If we always do what we always J. Wilkins, Lancashire
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Advertisement production
Game Dealers Association always got. It’s time to move ROCKET FUEL
Tony Freeman (NGDA) failing to endorse the on and embrace the future.
tony.freeman@ti-media.com
British Game Alliance (BGA) with I. Shenkman, chairman, BGA I really enjoyed Tim Maddams’s
Innovator (for loose and bound-in inserts)
020 3148 3710 sadness (News, 18 September). piece on the making of gin and
Can’t find ST? 020 3148 3300 We have been relentless in our DON’T DUCK THIS other drinks to be consumed on
Back issues 01795 662976
support@mags-uk.com efforts to engage with the NGDA shoot days (Be elder and wiser,
but have found the ‘collective CHALLENGE 11 September). It reminded me of
body’ reluctant to embrace David Tomlinson condemns the a trip to visit the cabin on the side
Shooting Times is the official weekly journal change. Who welcomes change? shooting of reared tame ducks of a large loch in Invernessshire
of BASC and the CPSA We have since re-doubled off a pond or lake as “arguably where my deer stalking friend
BASC Marford Mill, Rossett LL12 0HL
Tel 01244 573000 our efforts to engage with the the least challenging quarry you lived. It was quite a walk from
CPSA PO Box 750, Woking, GU24 0YU
Tel 01483 485400
processors individually, both can encounter on these islands” the car park to his home-made
members and non-members of (Viewpoint, 4 September). cabin with my two dogs, their
Wereservetherighttoeditletters.Nolettershouldexceed250
words.Letterswillnotbeusedunlesstheauthorisprepared NGDA, where we have met with His comment is similar to food and mine and a sleeping bag.
tohavetheirnameandcountyofresidencepublished.
Lettersshouldbeaddressedto:TheEditor,Pinehurst2, significant success. To date 17 one written by Richard Negus My friend produced a demijohn
FarnboroughBusinessPark,Hants,GU147BF,oremail
STletters@ti media.com.Pleaseincludeadaytimetelephone individual processors support (Sporting or greedy?, 6 March), full of home-made hooch. It was
number and postal address.
the BGA. Naturally we hope to which I also challenged (Letters, drunk from half-pint mugs and
win over the balance in time. 17 April). Don’t these fellow tasted absolutely great.
The BGA was set up to create contributors realise what After a while the dogs wanted
an assurance scheme for game damning, erroneous evidence to go out so I took them out, but
in the UK and quite separately to they are feeding to those who discovered that I needed to hold
act as a marketing board for the oppose our sport? on to the grass to stop myself
same, returning a value for game I wrote to Richard to invite him falling over. I asked my friend
by stimulating demand. The and the Editor to a September what it was we were drinking and
recent sale of 250,000 pheasants duck shoot to witness the he told me it was home-made
in Hong Kong was an early win excellent and challenging sport of elderberry and rowan berry wine.
(News, 4 September) and some early released and well-managed I asked what strength it was
more homebound wins are to ducks. I did not receive a reply. and it was thought to be stronger
PA PHOTOS

This week’s cover image was

captured by Sarah Farnsworth come soon. It does seem odd not I now extend the invitation to than whisky. It was beautiful to
to endorse and embrace a free include David Tomlinson for drink and I slept like a log that

10 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE


TROPHY HUNTING
AND TOLERANCE
My Facebook feed over these
past few weeks has been
littered with posts about
so-called trophy hunters,
usually in some part of Africa,
posing with lions, leopards,
elephants and buffalo. Ever
since outcry about Cecil the
Lion, shot by an American
dentist in 2015, trophy hunting
has been a hot topic.
Of course, most of us are
aware that managed trophy
hunting is beneficial not only to
the local economy but also to
the game animals themselves
(News, 11 September).
I understand that people
who don’t know much about
conservation, and perhaps
have not been brought up with
a shooting background, find
such sport distasteful. If you
post anything on Facebook,
Twitter or Instagram you are
laying yourself open to attack,
as another trophy hunter,
Larysa Switlyk, found out last
year (News, 21 November).
Ms Switlyk, who likes
to describe herself as a
‘hardcore huntress’, initially
gained support from British
night. I will always remember that
weekend stay in Ken’s cabin.
J. H. Fletcher, Northumberland
WEASEL WORDS?
Twenty years ago, the Welsh
people voted for devolution
— only just. I was one of them.
Unfortunately, devolution has
given us in Wales so far perpetual
one-party politics — a Senedd
(Welsh Assembly) dominated
by the Labour party; in effect
a political dictatorship.
As far as the proposed change
to the general licence 004
(News, 18 September) in Wales
is concerned, do not expect the
Welsh government to be swayed
‘‘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
Email your letters / STletters@ti-media.com
fieldsports enthusiasts for
her openness about what
she did. However, a decision
to market a line of T-shirts
that mocked her critics was
widely condemned.
Some would say she
deserved all she got. I have no
desire to hunt any game, big or
small, though to paraphrase
Evelyn Beatrice Hall, I would
defend to the death the right
of anyone to do so — so long
as it is properly managed
and regulated.
What has shocked me is the
rebarbative comments such
posts attract on social media.
The shooting of Cecil the lion by an American dentist sparked outrage
by an evidence-based process,
nor logic, unless it suits its own
narrow-minded agenda.
Take the recent ban on
pheasant shooting on public
land in Wales (News, 13 March).
Despite all the evidence gathered
by Natural Resources Wales
(NRW), which concluded that
pheasant shooting should
continue, the then Welsh
environment minister Hannah
Blythyn still banned it. Her reason
was that the Welsh government
does not support pheasant
shooting. The Labour party has
often boasted that it is the party
of the country. It has NEVER been
the party of the countryside.
M. Thomas-Palmer, Pembroke
While Ms Switlyk received NEXT WEEK IN
plenty of compliments for her
kills, she was also told that she
‘was not welcome’ in Scotland,
she should be hunted and
shot, she was ‘utter scum’ and FOLLOW THE LEAD
if she died the ‘world would be Is it time we stopped using
a better place’. And those are lead shot?
the most printable ones.
As this country tears itself
apart over Brexit, insults are
constantly being exchanged
on both sides and it seems
to be getting increasingly
unpleasant. Whatever
happened to the great
British tolerance?
K. Hollings, by email
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Are snipe Britain’s greatest
game bird?
BOLT A BUNNY
Going on a ferreting
expedition in Norfolk.
CONSUMING LEAD
I find it extraordinary that lead
shot is a “major cause of bird
deaths” (News, 18 September).
Though I don’t shoot, my parents
and older brother do and my
grandfather was once an ultra-
keen wildfowler.
He always ate what he shot — MOOR THE MERRIER
even wigeon, which he said wasn’t Richard Negus explores
his favourite — and must have how a Durham grouse
consumed a fair amount of lead moor is an integral part
shot in his time. He lived to be 96 of the local community.
so it didn’t do him any harm.
That said, as there now
appears to be viable alternative
to lead, my family plans to change
to steel shot.
Hannah Williams, Dorset
... AND MUCH MORE!
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 11
 Richard Negus

Country Diary
Harvest should be a time of celebration — but in deepest rural Suffolk
it means the arrival of criminal gangs intent on illegal hare coursing

T
he buzzing started in late July.
By mid-August my local Farm
Watch WhatsApp group was
working my mobile phone into
a vibrating frenzy. As soon as the combine
harvesters roll, so do the criminals.
Suffolk has one of the lowest crime
rates in Britain, but that all changes at this
time of year. It is a rural, farming county
that is home to diverse flora and fauna.
It is the fauna that attracts the criminals,
in particular the hares that abound here.
As soon as the crops come off the fields,
teams of criminals and their lurchers arrive
from Kent, Sussex, Surrey and even as far
as Wales. I think it is important to avoid
the word poachers, as this imbues these
individuals with an aura of romanticism
they ill deserve.
These people are not merely hare
coursing; the police have ascertained they Negus Junior makes nest boxes, working his way up from simple ones to Brunel-worthy designs
are part of organised crime groups. They
are responsible for farm vehicle theft, He told me the Central Suffolk read my piece on Paul ‘Hardy’ Hardcastle
property and crop damage, dangerous Farm Watch WhatsApp group provides (Gamekeeper of the month, 21 August)
driving, violent assault and intimidation. intelligence that not only aids local policing and became very enthused about the
The National Farmers Union (NFU) but also leads to prosecutions of offenders wild-haired grey partridge guru’s hobby
estimated that in 2018 alone the cost of by forces throughout the country. There’s of nest-box building.
rural crime in Suffolk came in at a shade no doubt that rural community groups are
under £1.2million. A vital role in the very effective at spotting things that look Nest boxes
fight against this scourge is played by out of place and we know that if something To my delight the boy has now shunned
the region’s farmers, keepers and pest doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t. evenings spent watching television or
controllers. Using their observational skills, Brian was at pains to stress that he crashing cars on his game console. Instead
local knowledge and the power of social would always rather receive a call that turns he is to be found banging away in my shed.
media, they aid the police in apprehending Armed with a handful of my surplus tools,
these violent individuals. “As soon as the off-cuts of gravel board and other assorted
Despite recent cuts we are well served recycled timber, he has already built an
by the Suffolk constabulary. Sergeant crops come off the array of nest boxes of numerous designs.
Brian Calver has been a copper for 21 He started on simple postbox-fronted
years. A local lad, he volunteered to join the
fields, teams of designs suitable for robins or blackbirds,
rural crime unit two years ago. I enjoyed
a lengthy chat with him about the serious
criminals and their moving on to an intricate treecreeper box
and a tawny owl nursery. His latest effort of
issues facing our community, fresh from lurchers arrive” a kestrel box is an edifice worthy of Brunel.
placating my wife who had been forced off I fear, however, his measurements may
an isolated lane by a careering van filled out to be a false alarm with good intent, have been out. If you know anyone looking
with men and lurchers. as opposed to missing an opportunity to for a condor nest box, please contact me
Sgt Calver is a huge exponent apprehend a criminal. If anybody wants to via Shooting Times.
of ‘target hardening’, be that securing share intelligence with the police regarding
gateways into fields, marking plant and those actively involved in rural crime
Richard Negus is a professional
machinery or installing Bisley alarm mines anywhere, you can contact Crimestoppers
hedge layer and writer. He lives in Suffolk,
and camera systems. He acknowledges anonymously, tel 0800 555111. is a keen wildfowler and a dedicated
the valuable support he and his team On a lighter note I have discovered that conservationist with a passion for
receive from those of us who live and my writing is having a positive effect on the grey partridges.
work in the countryside. young — specifically my son. Negus Junior
R. NEGUS

12 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

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 Lindsay Waddell is a former chairman of the NGO and a retired gamekeeper
Upland keeper
With the EMBER study and edicts from Natural England, damage is
being done that means we are at risk of losing our cherished uplands
I
f any of you thought that fake news
and misinformation were only found
in politics, you were wrong. I have
never seen so much of it regarding
grouse shooting in the run up to, and on,
the start of the season this year.
One contributor even stated that part
of the management for grouse shooting
was to drain the moors, then insinuated
that this had contributed to the fires we
had earlier this year (News, 3 March and
8 May). The fact that the drainage was done
by the farming lobby, paid for by Defra
and its earlier counterparts, had obviously
passed them by.
Not only that, but the said drainage has
been blocked up by the moor owners over
the past 40 years, to the point that any sign
of it has more or less gone. Salvo after salvo
is being fired at driven grouse management
all on the back of carbon capture.
Yet, as I headed over the border for
a holiday in Galloway, what did I see? Acres
of peat still being scraped from the ground
for what I can only presume is horticulture.
Any noise from the environmental lobby
about that one? Not a jot. While the Scottish
government is so critical of shooting, how
can it allow that to continue?
Scientifically flawed
The carbon debacle does not end there, as
the recent criticism of the EMBER (Effects
of Moorland Burning on the Ecohydrology of
River basins) has shown (News, 21 August).
This report, which has been the basis of
much of the current Natural England (NE)
policy towards burning and cutting, has
been criticised as being scientifically badly
flawed, and many of the results unreliable.
Where, then, does that leave NE’s upland
policy? In tatters.
I have had conversations with other
gamekeepers who have been discussing
their agreements with NE staff. When they
raised the vexed question of bird densities,
it seems NE’s position is that it would not
matter if birds such as curlews and merlins
declined in number because they are
artificially high as a result of the current
management. No consideration appears
to have been given to the fact that these
birds are at almost non-existent levels in
14 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
Merlins are boosted by moor management but
they are almost non-existent in the lowlands
the lowlands and the uplands are merely
redressing the balance.
I also wonder how that statement
would sit in law alongside the statutory
designation for the sites and the required
management to maintain it. It is one case
a moorland owner may well test in court
in due course, or even en masse.
Will Chris Packham and Dr Mark Avery
act or are they happy to see repeated
what happened at Langholm to the
merlin population after the removal of the
“Mile upon mile without a break will
mean that any fire will be impossible
to stop until it runs out of fuel”
gamekeepers for the second time? It has
declined from double figures nesting on the
ground to one in a tree in just a few years.
Ground-nesters have been predated along
with most of the harriers and that, sadly,
is what passes for ‘natural’ these days.
Many of the species are red-listed
or schedule one — meaning they are of
concern — yet NE seems willing to sacrifice
them. It seems to be unwilling even to
allow cutting as an alternative to burning
on much of the land, but NE continues to
do so itself to restore bare peat.
This method requires removal of all
the vegetation and litter layer, which is
then taken and spread on naturally eroded
surfaces called peat hags. If cutting is
so damaging that it cannot be used to
maintain very vulnerable bird populations,
how can it be justified for any purpose?
These are serious questions about the
long-term use of the uplands. A few years
down the line it will be downright dangerous
for the farming community to gather the
moors on a quad bike if it means driving
through 2ft to 3ft of heather.
Utopian dream
The sheer amount of biomass available
for fire will also be alarming. Mile upon
mile without a break will mean that any
summer fire will be extremely difficult, if not
impossible, to stop until it runs out of fuel.
It would appear that NE does not want
farming or grouse management on these
places. The whole mindset of stopping
management with some utopian dream
of returning them to nature is without
basis. We have been creating these moors
for thousands of years by clearing the trees
and grazing.
We now treasure them and if we want
them and the birds that inhabit them to
be there for the future we must continue to
manage them. We are already seeing large
numbers of alien spruce trees colonising
the moorland edge. If the trend continues
they will take over vast tracts of moor.
It happened in the lowlands with lowland
heaths and has become a never-ending
process of cutting to keep the open land.
Recently, many of the trusts managing
these areas have resorted to grazing once
more to keep the balance. NE must take
note before it is too late.
ALAMY
 Fieldcraft
Full marks
Connecting with a bird is tough enough but marking where it falls —
particularly if it’s pricked — can be even harder, says Richard Negus
I
attended the pre-season
meeting of one of the
wildfowling clubs of which I am
a member. I find these occasions
an unexpected joy. Important topics
are discussed. Reports from the
club’s wardens on the general well-
being of the flora and fauna, ponds,
splashes and sea walls on their patch
are given. This minutiae of marsh,
mud and wildfowl is for me, and the
other ruddy-faced brotherhood of the
foreshore, the very essence of being.
One topic briefly debated from
a question raised by a member was:
“Should having a dog be a mandatory
requirement for those shooting?”
After a brief discussion it was agreed
that on some parts of our club’s land
it was essential, but in others it was
permissible to shoot without.
TAYLORMADE PHOTOGRAPHY / J. HALL
For those who do shoot without
a dog it was universally agreed
imperative that shot birds were
properly marked and picked as
quickly as possible. Marking birds
while wildfowling is no mean feat.
You are largely shooting in the gloom
16 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
or under the moon. The weather will
(with luck) be foul, horizontal sleet
and a gale for preference.
This combination of low light
and precipitation plays tricks on
the human eye, particularly when
judging distance. Allied to this we
frequently have the waving seas of
reeds, tracts of tidal mud or plains
of samphire and ooze on the saltings.
These places are by their very nature
devoid of obvious features. So how do
you mark a downed duck or a grassed
goose effectively?
“It is noting these minuscule changes that
help in marking where a bird falls”
The more you practise, the more
accomplished you become. It is
imperative therefore to build a depth
of knowledge in wildfowl behaviour,
both while they are in flight and when
they are shot. This will boost your
ability to mark your birds effectively.
My chief area of expertise is that
of the ‘blank day’. Therefore on those
rare occasions when I am in the
right place at the right time — and
I remember to shoot straight — I am
more desperate than most to ensure
I mark what I hit, and know where
to send my dog to retrieve my bird.
Last season I shot on one of the
chains of drained marshes that
border the Acle Straight near Great
Yarmouth. I spent three hours of
tantalising yet fruitless waiting while
the pinkfeet in their massed yodelling
ranks flew like wreathed smoke far
away to seaward.
Norfolk reeds, Phragmites australis,
border these grazing marshes like a
whispering football ground terrace,
yet they are no mere monotone mass.
There are perceptible differences
in their colouration, angle and
striation caused by winds and rain,
agricultural activity or the passage
of feet of beast or man.
 It is noting these minuscule
changes that help in marking where
a bird falls. I was about to pack away
my kit when a solitary quack and a
whisper of wings sounded from over
my left shoulder. Streaking in low
came a pair of mallard — the lead bird
sped out of shot but I got my bead
on the white-edged speculum of
his wingman. With one loud boom
from my ugly Hatsan, the mallard
plummeted from the sky, bumping
out of sight in the reeds 60 yards away.
Dead in the air
When you shoot a mallard square
up the backside they drop very
quickly, dead in the air. I use RC Steel
Atomic Magnum No3s for much of my
fowling, a cartridge that hits hard.
I watched this bird’s descent, noting
it fell somewhere past a circular gap
low down in the reeds. While I had
marked the line it had gone in on,
I was unsure quite how far it would
have tumbled along that line.
This is where your hearing comes
into play when marking wildfowl.
I had heard no telltale splash, which
meant it must be on dry land either
in the neighbouring field or secreted
somewhere in the dense bank on
my side. Mabel, my cocker, would
answer this question far better than
any hypothesising by me. Hauling
For many
wildfowlers,
the use of a
trained dog
is a must for
finding the
downed bird
Image © Richard Faulks
version_3_2018/9
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Fieldcraft
myself out from my hide we went off
to hunt. The little dog, her tail a blur of
wagging joy, slid through the deer run
in the reeds. After a few minutes of
crashing and snuffling she reappeared
a few yards away from where I stood
gently clutching the duck. I physically
patted her and metaphorically myself
for a job well done.
Where you actually shoot a bird
will have a dramatic effect upon how
it falls and consequently how you
mark it. I shoot very few right-and-
lefts; I am too busy watching to see
if my first bird is dead and where it
lands to have time to think about
shooting a second.
A duck hit in the head plummets
to earth with barely a flap, similarly
so with a heart shot. However, no one
with any honesty can claim they are
aiming with deer stalker precision at
wildfowl. I shot at a teal two seasons
ago at Burgh Castle. A pair appeared
over the sea wall and surprised me.
The first rocketed away before I had
a chance to shoot but I got the second
as it jinked directly overhead.
Stutter
I feared I had shot slightly behind,
yet the bird stuttered in flight. To
my disappointment, the duck then
appeared to carry on its way. I
watched it fly for another 100 yards
or so over the bank of reeds only to
see its wings cease flapping and it
arc down on to the grazing grounds,
apparently dead.
Being dogless at the time,
I immediately headed off in the
direction of its fall. My marking
Chilli the Labrador returns from a tricky blind retrieve to return the hefty goose perfectly to hand
18 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
A long water retrieve, bringing back a mallard
proved accurate and I found the teal
drake some 200 yards away from
where I had shot it. The frothing blood
at its beak indicated a lung shot that
had caused its erratic fall and death.
Shooting and marking ducks is
one thing; doing the same with geese
is something utterly different. The
goose is a big bird. Feel its breastbone
and it is anvil hard. The neck is sinew,
gristle and cartilage, the heart and
lungs lie well back in its pear-shaped
body. A guaranteed kill is only
achieved by a head shot or by stilling
your goose fever and ensuring you
only shoot at geese that are truly in
range so you hit a vital organ.
A pinkfoot or whitefront
is capable of migrating thousands
of miles. Its wings are designed for
economical flight, so even a well-shot
“The little dog,
her tail a blur of
wagging joy, slid
through the deer
run in the reeds”
goose will often continue to glide for
a considerable distance.
By watching the behaviour of shot
geese — largely through observing
better Shots than me — I have started
to glean where the killing pellets have
hit. Last season I shot a very good
greylag out of a skein in the company
of my friend Deadly Darren and his
superb Labrador, Chilli.
The goose was obviously a head
shot and fell to earth like a stone,
its neck swinging like a robber on a
gibbet, as birds shot like this do. The
goose landed with a splash in the river
Waveney. While to the uninitiated the
river looks torpid and calm, in reality
it possesses a current of sufficient
strength that could prove dangerous
to my diminutive cocker, particularly
when retrieving something as
weighty as a greylag.
Floating goose
We noted the current’s flow, which
was still coming in on a turning tide.
Unable to spy the goose itself due to
the wall of dense reed and willow that
fringed the banks, we hurried along
the towpath until Darren considered
we would be sufficiently downstream
of the floating goose.
Knocking a path through the reed
wall, Darren sent Chilli out on a blind
retrieve. He had marked the goose to
perfection, his always enthusiastic
Lab swam out, caught sight of the
goose bobbing towards her from
a short way upstream and made
a perfect retrieve.
That, I would suggest, is an object
lesson in how to mark a bird when
fowling. You have to use your eyes and
ears. An in-depth knowledge of the
challenging land and waterscape over
which you are shooting is essential.
Ally all of this to a bit of common
sense and a decent dog and life is easy.
My hope is that this season I will be
marking more birds than marking
blanks in my game book.
Richard’s follow-up piece on marking
pheasants and partridges will be in our
23 October issue. Don’t miss it.
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 Wild sport

Secrets of grouse in
An annual pilgrimage to the Highlands takes
Richard Hardy into a mysterious landscape
where rocketing grouse can be
flushed by eager terriers

O
ur long August journey
north starts among the
arable plains and burned
harvest of Wessex. We
then tear though the industrial hives
of the Midlands, onwards to pause
for diesel and dog food in the Lake
District before the long drag through
the borderlands of heather and wind
turbines. Then we take a neat right
and left up between Edinburgh
and Glasgow until the sharp turn at
Perth, where the road slows and trees
rapidly outnumber the continental
tourist coaches with their lurid livery.
From here on progress is stately
rather than rapid, with the ground
slowly becoming more open and
increasingly rugged. Familiar names
pass and the excitement builds —
Dunkeld, Pitlochry, Dalwhinnie,
Tomatin pass before finally Inverness
has come and gone in the amber
blinking of the low-fuel warning light
and we are on the Black Isle with An unorthodox pack, each of the dogs
‘only’ 100 miles or so to reach our worked to their particular strengths
Highland destination.
on the exposed west coast, only Mother Nature’s secrets in this, the
Enigmatic a handful of miles from the sea, can most wild of places.
I’m a southerner born and bred on the really surprise in both the ferocity It was rapidly apparent that 2019
trout and partridges of Wessex, so the of gusts and the rapid changeability could be a bumper season. Grouse
grouse is an unknowable element in of the weather. were present in many of the known
the strange and mysterious Highlands We spent our time relaxing, spots, though our Highland coveys
— terrifically fast, exceptionally well catching up with friends and are usually small. Counting five or six
camouflaged and highly enigmatic tentatively walking the areas that birds would indicate the larger end
— as I am only in their world for a few we know to regularly hold grouse, of the scale. The grouse themselves,
short weeks every year. allowing the terriers to work and particularly in August, are on the
I feel absolutely engaged in the flush coveys as we rebuild smaller side. They appeared to be
year-round struggles of my wild a patchwork of knowledge. both numerous for this locale and
pheasants, water voles and brown
trout, but can only dip into the “The first tumbling of an exploding
distant world of the grouse two
or three times a year. Every visit ball of feathers caught my breath”
requires the time and effort to catch
up with the news from an old friend Without keepers on the ground in very good condition. We could
before the next inevitable separation, or any regular shooting activity, the harvest a few brace confident of doing
but the distance only serves to fuel picture of grouse-breeding success this isolated population no harm.
my obsession and I long for the slowly appears over a period of A plan was formed. Monday was
moment of our next encounter. days as if from a thick Highland fog, forecast to be drier, with enough wind
M. FRITH

The first few days of our time were miles and miles of walking slowly to keep the ferocious midges at bay
wet and extremely windy. August exchanged for fleeting glimpses of but not enough to supercharge any

20 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE


a windswept world
flushed grouse downwind and out
of range in a second.
The flat plain above the river would
be our starting point. We would climb
higher above the long loch and finally
walk over the summit into the hidden
bog where grouse and roe deer rub
shoulders. A tantalising possibility
that would demand enough room
in my rucksack for my tiny break-
barrel rifle to be stowed.
Phoney war
At 9am we were off, the terriers
jumping from the pickup sniffing the
air and instantly spotting the shotgun
under my arm. Their tempo increased
in the knowledge that the phoney war
of counting was over and we were out
to do the real thing — gun-shy is one
thing my dogs are not.
We surged across the single track
of tarmac and on to a large plain of
roughly 250 acres, flat and relatively
featureless, mostly brown and
yellowing rank grass, some taller
vivid green rushes with isolated
islands of heather. Stretching out into
the distance, a dozen of the crofters’
sheep observed the unusual scene
and trotted into single file to move
away from the oncoming disturbance.
I slipped cartridges into both
chambers, checked that another
dozen or so were safely in my pocket
and started to walk towards the
remains of a low stone wall at the
perimeter of the most promising area.
For the first 20 minutes my
canine companions rushed forward,
noses up, pulling many yards ahead
and pushing me to walk faster
than I would ideally like. But that
must be factored in when working
an unorthodox pack — we were
deliberately not covering the most
fruitful ground yet, and they would
soon settle into good working form.
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 21
Wild sport
After about a mile we turned back
towards the road and, crucially,
into the breeze. I set a rough line
back across the plain at 45° and the
terriers started to quarter the ground,
noses down, finally concentrating
and straining for the merest wisp
of feathered scent.
Youthful enthusiasm
Our route meandered from one
heathery outcrop to the next,
dogs sweeping side to side each
in their own characteristic fashion
— young Briar darting from place to
place, bouncing over the heather, his
shorter legs made up for by endless
youthful enthusiasm. Slower and far
more methodical was Barley, nose
down and utterly reliable, his white
stern providing a direct readout of
scenting conditions.
The elder statesman Pip was rather
more detached, usually taking an
Wild sport
Elder statesman Pip only moved when he
thought something was worth the effort
overview of his staff from near my
feet, only moving forwards when it
was really worth his effort.
First contact was a snipe, flushed
from far left by Briar. It looped away
and over the wall into far wetter
ground, my knot of terriers looking
distinctly disappointed their efforts
hadn’t been rewarded with a gunshot.
They slowly turned back to the job
in hand and onwards into a likely
looking patch of flowering heather.
Dancing tails
Suddenly the noses were down,
jammed into the peat. Pip had moved
up to join his brother and son, all
three tails were dancing furiously,
and the increase in their activity was
mirrored by a surge in my attention.
I looked for a patch of drier ground
and made sure my feet were in solid
contact, rotating slowly left and right
to check safety and sight lines
as I noticed Barley pause
before hurling himself
under a slightly overhanging
heather frond.
From the unseen end of this
tunnel a single grouse exploded
into the air, leaving behind a couple
of feathers floating in the breeze.
It was too fast and too low for a safe
shot. The dogs chased for a few yards
right-handed but I stayed absolutely
still — previous experience has taught
me to whistle the dogs back to search
on as the rest of a covey will often hold
very tight.
22 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
The terriers trailed back
but their noses were soon
back into overdrive.
Within seconds Pip
had spilled a brace
from within the same
lump of heather.
Both turned left and
gained speed with each
wingbeat, presenting a
perfect target against the
cloudless sky. Lift, push
and prod off the safety…
The first tumbling of an
exploding ball of feathers
caught my breath —
and in that moment
of hesitation, the second
curled off into the distance
and out of sensible range.
More coveys were found
and the bag grew steadily; it
seemed that the sporting gods
were smiling as I climbed higher
into the valley above the long loch,
pausing for lunch below a waterfall
with a panoramic view out to sea.
Up ahead was a spot that seemed
to hold a few grouse in most weather
conditions — an old stone grouse butt
hinted at the time when two keepers
were employed and 100-odd brace
were shot every year over a week
in September by family and friends.
Times and priorities have changed
but the habits of the grouse are more
constant. The refreshed terriers
lifted a covey of seven away and out
of sight, their natural speed aided
Another singleton
flashed past, a blur of
brown, red and black
“Times and
priorities have
changed but the
habits of the grouse
are more constant”
by an increasingly strong wind at this
higher point.
We walked onwards to another
recognisable feature where the
crofters had dug peat to fuel winter
fires, leaving a scar about five
yards wide and 30 yards long. This
depression had been recolonised by
a shock of purple heather and it often
held a few grouse, providing a little
shelter from the rapidly approaching
rain visible on the horizon.
Fluffy spats
I took up a good position on the
downwind side and pushed the
terriers forward one last time. First
one grouse away and down but I held
my nerve, another singleton got away
and flashed past in a blur of brown,
red, black, then the incongruity of his
white fluffy spats. Finally, a superb
group of four was abroad, but this
time swinging low and fast across the
wind, hugging the contours to drop
down towards the long loch.
I was in the perfect position,
picking the lead bird and then
dropping back to the second. Push,
prod and bang, barely stopping for
a heartbeat to register the drop,
I settled on to the third bird and did
precisely the same before doubt had
a chance to cloud the reflexes.
With a left and right in the
bag plus the few brace from
earlier, terriers and human were
simultaneously overtaken by both
a sense of place and overwhelming
tiredness. We turned
back towards the
truck and in
the final act of
good luck on this
exceptional day
the heavens opened
just after its shelter was
reached. The mysterious
Highland grouse had given up
some more of their secrets but
the roe remained steadfastly
enigmatic. They would have
to wait for next time; today
was a red-letter day on the
grouse alone.

Only time will teal
An invitation to shoot a flightpond is always
a delight but will they come in or will Patrick
Galbraith have a wasted journey to Scotland?
W
hen our grandfathers
were boys, Britain was
a liquid landscape.
In the paintings of
artists such as Constable and in the
poetry of Keats and Wordsworth,
ponds and lakes feature as focal
points of the rural idyll. After World
War II, however, in an effort to boost
agricultural productivity and farm
our way out of rationing, wetlands
were systematically drained.
According to recent figures
published by the GWCT, more than
60 per cent of British agricultural
land has now been drained.
Sadly, I don’t have the time nor
resources to undertake a study that
would prove it, but I suspect the vast
majority of ponds and splashes dug
out post-1945 have been constructed
by those who want to flight a few
ducks. People I have shot with
north of the Border this season have
collectively built nine ponds in the
past five years.
One of those is Gary
I. NICOLL
Bruce, a plain-speaking
Fifer who spends his
Tommy (left) and
Gary Bruce set up
one of the hides near
the water’s edge
season chasing wildfowl across the
country. A fortnight before I was due
to head up to flight his pond near Loch
Leven, I received a slightly panicked
phone call. Gary reported that the
birds didn’t seem to be behaving
like they normally do and he simply
“It wasn’t clear
what the ducks
didn’t like but
something piqued
their suspicions”
um riess ire is a u one an as
I tore up the M74 past Abington,
with blustery September showers
turning the bleak hills grey, I couldn’t
help thinking that we might be in
for a cheerless duck-free evening.
On arrival, though, Gary
was looking chirpy. He
explained that they’d
solved the problem.
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 23
Duck flighting
Gary (right) settles David and Patrick in the
hide so they’re ready for the flight to start
For the first time, they’d splashed
out on some automatic feeders rather
than feeding by hand.
Initially, they set the timer for
9.30am. Unfortunately, the canny
ducks had worked this out and
were fluttering in for brunch at
mid-morning before disappearing
off elsewhere. Accordingly, when
Tommy Gray, a keen local Shot,
turned up each night to stand a few
fields away and count the birds, there
appeared to be precious little activity.
After a bit of thought, they changed
the timer so it went off at 7.30pm,
which is when Tommy used to feed
by hand. Within a couple of days, the
ducks resumed their usual pattern
of flooding in across the fields at dusk.
That evening, Gary had generously
decided to leave his gun at home and
had invited the legendary gillie Davey
Godfrey of the Tay’s Cargill beat
Duck flighting

Davey’s shot at a mallard

hits the sweet spot

along to shoot in one hide with me. As ducks circle round the
On the other side were his guests, pond coming in to feed,
Craig and Gavin Mason. Patrick lines up a shot
Davey is just coming to the end
of his 18th season on the Tay and
still enjoys the odd cast. Pleasingly,
far from fitting the archetype of the
dour gillie who has already damned
your chances of getting into a fish
before you’ve even got your rod up,
Davey is optimistic about Scottish
salmon fishing.
He explained that records show
things were much worse in the 1920s
than they are now and only really
recovered in some places, in terms of
back-end fish, in the 1960s. In other
words, wild fish stocks come and go.

Remarkably simple
Cutting Davey’s reassuring reflections
short, Gary came over to tell us how
the ducks would come in. “What
they’ll do is move up the loch,”
he explained enthusiastically.
“Then they’ll circle round and
you’ll get a shot at them as they
fly away from you.” The old hand
made it sound like it was going to be
remarkably simple but I had every
certainty that it wouldn’t be.
Davey — rolled up cigarette in his
mouth — was in the midst of telling
me about the time he appeared in
“Teal in twos and threes flitted above us,
barely visible against the charcoal sky”
Vogue with a pair of tweed breeks on, discussion about whether they were
wielding a double hander, when the or weren’t in range, Craig brought one
whistle of wings sounded on the wind of them tumbling to the ground with
above us. On the other side of the his first barrel.
pond, Craig and Gavin were crouched For the next 10 or 20 minutes,
down in their butt, ready for action. groups of birds appeared out of the
Suddenly, silhouetted in the gloom towards the loch. They grew
darkening the sky, a pair of mallard bigger and bigger until they were
were drifting overhead. While almost upon us, then flared at the last
Davey and I were deep in whispered minute. It wasn’t exactly clear what

24 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

 Duck flighting

they didn’t like but something was

piquing their suspicions.
As the evening grew darker,
the birds began to commit more
confidently, presenting Davey
with the opportunity to fold a high
mallard. After he had taken his shot,
a number of birds flared away and
I connected with a straggler.
Eley had kindly given me some
of its new VIP Steel Pro Eco cartridges
for the evening. Utilising non-toxic
shot and dissolvable wads, the
offering from the Spanish-owned
company is said to be the most Visability was low but there was just enough light left for the Guns to shoot the incoming teal
environmentally friendly squib
on the market. It’s all well and good across and then clapped, causing the pond was exceptional and he had
pattern plating cartridges and getting two teal to leap into the air and fly more than delivered. Between the
nerdy about propellants, but the almost straight upwards. four of us, we had managed a mixed
proof really is in the pudding. I found Frustratingly, I gave the first far back of 13.
that even a relatively diminutive 32g too much lead but Davey brought the The following day, after plucking
No5 was perfectly capable of killing other crashing down into the reeds. the brace of mallard I took home with
oncoming ducks in the air. Just as light started to fade, a final me, I drove to Dumfries and caught
flurry of birds circled the pond and the 9.01am back to London. There are
Leaping upwards Craig and Gavin took their chances. few things I enjoy more than watching
As dusk turned to darkness, teal in A shout from Gary telling us that the countryside rush by from the
twos and threes started to flit around it was time was followed by Snipe the window of a train. As we crossed
above our heads, barely visible Labrador and Meg the spaniel leaping Cumbria, I looked out and thought
against the charcoal sky. Gary, who into the water to retrieve the fallen. about how few ponds I’d passed.
was on the other side of the pond, As they swam and picked, more If every Shooting Times reader who
was trying to catch our attention. birds emerged out of the darkness has a few acres decided to follow in
On succeeding, he indicated that then flared into the night. Gary was the footsteps of Gary Bruce and build
he’d seen two birds drop in just evidently delighted. Almost a year a flightpond, our countryside would
behind us. “Get ready,” he called previously he had assured me his be a much richer place.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 25

 Moby-
Dick the
mackerel
There are some big mackerel in Lyme Bay and local fishermen report
some mighty runs. So where the hell are they, wonders Nick Fisher
I
t was pretty much the first thing
anyone around the harbour
asked. “Any mackerel about?”
To which the normal
response was a grim shake of the
head. Two mackerel-tripping boats
went out one sunny day in early July
with 10 people on board each,
three times. That’s a total
of 60 mackerel-hungry
anglers fishing Lyme Bay
for an hour each. They
spent 60 man-hours of
frantic feathering to catch
not one single mackerel.
Nothing, anywhere.
It was like a post-apocalyptic
scene. A fishless sea; empty nets,
empty buckets. And a big, fat, scary
unanswered question: Where have all
P. QUAGLIANA / ALAMY
the mackerel gone?
My friend Matt blames the Spanish.
Other people blame global warming.
I don’t know who to blame.
26 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
By all accounts the Spanish
trawlers hammered the mackerel
shoals out in the Western Approaches
early in the season this year. They
caught hundreds of tonnes of
mackerel that would normally
migrate along the Channel to
become our summer fun.
At the same time, the
Scottish pelagic trawler
“I would much rather land this once-
in-a-lifetime mackerel than any bass”
fleets are saying they’ve
never seen such mighty
fecund runs of mackerel in decades.
Scottish mackerel fishermen have
experienced some of the most
abounding shoals in recent memory.
Which would, I guess, support
the theories about warming water
temperature in the south, causing
most of the mackerel population
to migrate north.
Short supply
Whichever theory you support, the
fact of the matter is that mackerel
around Lyme Bay are in short supply
this year. Up until late July, my best
mackerel catch for the day didn’t even
reach double figures.
Yet a mere two years ago, 10
minutes of mackerel fishing was
about all I’d need to last the week,
for dinners, for bait and even to put
a few trays into the smoker.
So numerous were our mackerel
three years ago that Tom in the tackle
shop heard tales of anglers catching
up to 400 in a session.

Nick displays a lovely cod caught at the end of
the day — an ‘accidental fish’, but who cares?
You could argue that if anyone is
stupid enough and wasteful enough
to kill 400 mackerel in one day then
it’s no wonder there are none left.
Either way, things didn’t look good
for my favourite fish.
I eat more mackerel in a year than
any other fish… And I eat an awful lot
of fish. Mackerel is my number one,
all-time, desert island fish. One thing
I do know for certain is the lack of
mackerel has nothing to do with a lack
of food for them to eat.
Bait fish
My echo sounder is on fire with the
orange glow of bait fish. Every time
I caught a pollack or bass, it would
spew up handfuls of anchovy-
sized fish. Therefore lack of food is
definitely not an issue. If anything,
catching the bigger, wilier fish such
as bass and cod becomes harder
because there is so much natural food
in the water — these fish were already
well fed and hardly likely to look at
a rubber lure or a flashy feather in
the place of a real meal.
Then one day in early August
I nosed my Offshore 25 out of the
harbour, youngest son Patrick and
Live ragworms can be very effective for
pollack but also reeled in a big mackerel
spaniel at my side, and I knew the
mackerel had arrived.
I knew, not because anything in
the sea had changed, but in the air:
the birds. Gulls wheeling and calling,
diving and splashing, or even simply
sitting on the surface. Rubbing their
fat little feathered bellies full of fish.
When a big shoal of mackerel
arrives, it’s a dynamic force, a game
changer. They hunt those balls of bait
fish that I’ve seen on my sounder,
corralling, marshalling, forcing the
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 27
Fishing
tiny fish to the surface where they leap
out to try and evade being munched
from below. The jumping attracts
the seabirds. The big ones dive in to
swallow their own gullet full of bait
fish. Then come the smaller birds that
pick up all the undevoured pieces.
Frenzy
Scad mackerel, herring and even
garfish move along with the shoals
of mackerel to join in the frenzy,
while bass, dolphins, tuna and
sharks — porbeagle, thresher and
blues — follow the shoals to feast on
the mackerel. Suddenly, the sea that
for months felt like a sterile desert is
transformed into a churning washing-
machine cycle of life and death.
So photographer PQ and I thought
we’d go and try to see if we could
catch a bass, or perhaps a cod now
the mackerel had arrived. Apart from
filling our frying pan with mackerel,
we wanted to hunt the prime fish that
had arrived to hunt for them.
With so many real fish to eat it can
sometimes be hard to attract a bass’s
attention with a rubber lure. They’re
already full of bait fish, so my plan was
to use ragworm as bait. The idea was
to tempt them with something they
haven’t seen every waking moment
for the past two weeks.
A huge school of mackerel at the
surface, feeding on smaller fish
and attracting the birds
Fishing

“This could well

be a double-figure
bass. The fight
was heavyweight
champion stuff”
The way the tide was running
I knew we’d be better to drift over
a wreck first. As the wind was against
the tide, it would slow us down,
allowing more time directly over the
wreck to give the resident fish plenty
of opportunity to see my worms.
I tried to very lightly hook one,
two or even three large ragworms,
so they’d flutter and wriggle as we To stop them sticking, the mackerel were barbecued on a silicone mat that left a mesh pattern
drifted. I normally don’t retrieve
them, instead letting them hang in half and fish on a smaller hook. had taken a shine to one of the tiny
seven or eight reel-turns above the But annoying little fish decided they fish as it was being retrieved. Was it
seabed, and raising them higher as could not resist my bait. a pollack, a bass? Another monster
I cross sunken structures to avoid Drop after drop I wound in a mackerel? Whatever the fish, it
getting snarled. double header of 10cm pout. By the was likely to be very lightly hooked
At the very first drift, my light 12lb fifth drop, I’d lost the will to live and because my bream hooks are small
rod doubled over into what turned out left my baits down even though and the hook was already in the small
to be a 44cm sea bass that fought like I knew they had hooked a brace fish’s mouth.
a demented Rottweiler. of tiny fish. I stopped breathing and my heart
When it was time to go home, ceased to beat as I gingerly wound
Snatching take I reeled in my now-wriggling line, my accidental fish to the surface while
On the next drift, I was electrified by rattling with tiny fish, as the sun peering over the side of the boat.
a snatching take from a big fish that set over Start Point, when bam — It was a cod — a beautiful, elusive,
dragged line off my reel as it dived, a small train hit my bait. Something setting sun-kissed cod.
dolphin-like, towards the wreck.
There was no question about it,
this was a big, angry bass, determined
to part company with my tackle at
the first instance. The quality of the
fight was undisputed heavyweight
champion stuff.
We all leaned over the gunwale,
expectant, excited, pumped as I tried
to coax my big bass from the depths,
the line squeaking as the fish kept
turning and diving under the boat,
causing almost coronary panic to rise
in my chest.
Then he rose into view. My double
figure bass turned out not to be a bass
at all but the biggest mackerel I’ve
ever seen.
It was the stuff of Captain Ahab’s
dreams. The minimum landing size
for a sea bass has increased over the
years from 36cm to 42cm. My mighty
mackerel measured in at a leviathan
44cm. As a fisherman I would much
rather land a once-in-a-lifetime
mackerel than a bass.
I anchored at a large reef on our
way home from the wreck. The reef
is a good location for black bream
so I decided to cut my big ragworm As the sun slides towards the horizon, Nick begins to reel in his line, wriggling with tiny bait fish

28 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE


Going back to
getting it right
It happens; one moment things are going
well and then suddenly, we can’t hit a thing.
Tom Payne looks at how to find form again
T
hroughout the course of
the season, but especially
on those first few days on
the peg, it is highly likely
that the wheels will come off. Even if
you’ve been perfecting your shooting
at the clay ground over the summer
months, it can still happen. If you’re
unlucky, you can find things go awry
for the whole day.
Top sportsman don’t always have
a great game and it can be the same
S. FARNSWORTH / C. WARREN / A. HOOK / G. GUNN
in the shooting field. You hear many
shooting people going on about it
all being about the company and
camaraderie. However, the reality
is that people often end up in a very
lonely place when their shooting
doesn’t quite go to plan.
You know, too, that you will have
to endure a lot of leg-pulling from
ST YLE, TECHNIQUE,
friends at lunch or in the pub. I’ve
had to become battle hardened over
the years because everyone wants
to see the pro miss.
For the majority of us, who shoot
on those 50- to 150-bird syndicates
and farm shoots, things can be
really challenging because you may
not have many opportunities. So if
the wheels do fall off it can be very
difficult to get them back on. At
least on 200- to 400-bird days you
can afford to suffer a slump in form,
knowing that there will be plenty
of other sport that you can use to
redeem yourself.
Fundementally, finding form again
takes a calm approach and a confident
belief in your ability. These are some
common faults and solutions to get
you folding those birds again.
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 29
Better shooting
STRUCTURE
When things go wrong, bad habits
can be formed in almost desperation
Fault
When the wheels fall off on a drive,
it is not uncommon for the shooter
to try some other technique of
killing a bird. It’s as if by trying
different methods, the form will
miraculously come back. All basic
technique and structure to the way
someone shoots disappear and
they find themselves in a moment
of madness.
What you tend to see is the
beginning of bad habits and
shooting in desperation. The Gun
searches for the bird and simply
hopes they will start bumping into
game again. No footwork, poor
body shape, no connection to the
bird from bad gun mounting is
never going to work. I can’t stress
how bad this is — when you find
yourself in a hole, stop digging.
Solution
It always comes down to having
style and technique with shooting
well, and having a structure with
how you attempt various shots.
We are not robots and we miss,
that’s life, but move away from
good technique and you will stay
in the gloom. Get the basics right
and your form will come back.
Better shooting
B I R D S E L E C T I O N , K N O W Y O U R D I S TA N C E S ,
U N D E R S TA N D Y O U R K I L L I N G Z O N E
It is all too easy to
panic and make poor
bird selection
Fault
Panicking and making poor bird
selection and being unaware of your
killing zones are very common. It’s
amazing how many Guns panic when
there are a number of birds coming
over them. This causes confusion
and rushing.
Not understanding where you
are comfortable killing birds and
misreading distances are also
common. Shooting at birds that are
too far generally happens when
a Gun is over-eager, or it can happen
through frustration.
It’s not only birds that are too far
that will knock your confidence, but
the do-I-shoot-or-not bird. Because
doubt creeps in, the shooter doesn’t
shoot the bird with conviction and
this can cause a sometimes
embarrassing miss.
“You only have
two shots so the
best possible
outcome can
only be two”
30 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
Solution
With regards to picking a bird,
this comes down to staying calm.
Remember that you only have two
shots so, regardless of what’s above
you, the best possible outcome
can only be two. Your focus should
always be on the bird you have
selected. Shoot that bird before you
worry about the second and do not
change your mind at the last minute.
This is disastrous.
Understand and know your
distances. You should always
shoot within your ability but if you
start shooting at birds that are
on the limit of clean kills, you are
simply relying on a lucky golden
pellet. This is where your fieldcraft
on the day is so important; being
able to read the drive, read the birds’
flight and being aware of where you
know you can consistently kill the
birds will dramatically improve
your consistency.
Focus on what you are doing,
not what everyone else is up to.
Fieldcraft is the final piece in the
jigsaw to shooting a variety of game
well in a differing situations and over
differing topography.
T H E M E N TA L S I D E
OF SHOOTING
Confidence and a positive mental
attitude is so important to shooting
game well and to the best of your
own ability. To be able to put a miss
or a run of misses behind you is
easier said than done.
There is a lot we can draw on
from world champions when it
comes to the art of keeping your
head. The pressure that these top
Shots deal with on a competitive
level should be admired but there
are lessons to be learned, too.
Former FITASC world champion
and top-level clay coach Ed
Solomons says: “When it starts
to go wrong, most people panic
and speed up. All this does is take
you to the wrong spot faster. Take
a few breaths, even if it means
letting a good bird go by as you
do so. Engage your brain.
“Go back to basics and focus
on the process of shooting, not
the outcome,” he recommends.
“Footwork, visual discipline and
making slow controlled moves
will get you back on the right path
and allow you to build back up to
a positive rhythm.
“Faith in your style and
technique and an ability to move on
quickly without getting frustrated
are key. Remember that style and
technique are everything; develop
those and your shooting will
develop too. It will become far more
consistent and your confidence will
grow,” he counsels.
“My friend and top game Shot
Simon Ward always said when you
have a bad patch, take a breather,
trust in your ability and think, ‘The
next bird is really going to get it’.”
If you find yourself getting frustrated,
take a breather and trust in your ability
 STANCE, GUN MOUNT,
ADDRESSING THE BIRD

Your stance and

footwork are the
building blocks
to any shot

Poor body position causes bad gun mount and poor

connection with the bird, resulting in misreading the
all-important line of the bird. Go back to a good stance,
as this gives you a platform to build on.
Do not start moving and mounting as you will only
make your gun mount worse and pull the muzzles away
from your chosen bird. Remember your stance and
footwork are the building blocks to any shot.
Once you have picked your bird, set yourself up for
the shot. The heel of the stock should be under and
moved away slightly from the armpit. Hold the muzzles
of your gun relative to the direction and height of the bird
you are shooting. This will enable you to mount the gun
smoothly into the back of the bird, read the line correctly
and get your timing right. All of which will enable you to
move smoothly through the bird and make a confident
shot when you feel it is right.

Fault
Stopping your gun and forcing the shot is very common.
What generally happens is when a shooter goes
through a spell of missing, they start using the gun to
work out where they are. The first thought turns to lead
and the shooter tries to force the shot and measure
the distance. This is the cause of the gun stopping
or slowing down; it will also pull you off line.

Solution
If you keep dropping the ball, you don’t start staring at
your hands or put your hands in the rough vicinity of the
ball. What we do is watch the ball harder to help us catch
it. The same applies to shooting. Watch the bird harder
during the shot, regardless of whether you shoot with
both eyes open or one eye closed; 90 per cent of your
vision stays on the bird, the other 10 per cent is aware
of your gun in your peripheral vision.
As soon as you look at the end of the gun you will stop
— this is known as checking your swing. Watch the bird
through the whole shot until you see it fold in the air — in
other words, watch your bird die.
 Rifle test
Remington Model
700 Mountain SS
Remington’s Model 700 is one of the most copied guns in the world —
and not without reason. Bruce Potts tests the latest stainless steel design
T
here is a perception with
shooters that bigger is
better but I’m not so sure
about that — after 40 years
of stalking and shooting, I like to
be as efficient as I can. That means
packing as little as I can get into hand
luggage on an overseas trip, to smaller
capacity cartridges, smaller sound
moderators and definitely carbines
or lightweight rifles.
It’s the first shot that counts and a
nimble, agile rifle, even when a scope
and moderator are fitted, really helps
these days.
Stock
The Mountain’s synthetic,
weatherproof stock has a great feel
to it. It maintains its structure under
compression so that, regardless of
hard use, recoil and temperature
change, your zero stays the same.
For this model, Remington
uses the excellent Bell & Carlson
Aramid fibre stock, with a weave of
Aramid fibres adding strength yet
maintaining a light weight. Overall
the rifle weighs a little over 6lb.
I like the solid feel of these
stocks with their stippled, grippy
surface texture. The black
background colour and grey
spider’s web are really appealing.
The beauty is not only skin deep
J. POTTS
because the stock also hosts an
integral aluminium chassis that
32 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
Ready for ambush — calling in the roebuck
the action is bolted to. Again, this
enhances accuracy and consistency,
and stops warping caused by
extremes of temperature.
I have used these stocks on custom
rifle projects and had excellent
results, though the length of pull
is a little short at 13.5in. Two sling
“A handy little rifle that even with a scope
and moderator will not weigh you down”
swivel studs and a SuperCell recoil
pad complete the stock.
Barrelled action
Keeping to the Mountain’s lightweight
theme, the barrel is stainless steel for
anything the environment can throw
at it. It is profiled to a No2 style to
reduce weight and shortened to
22in. This means a muzzle diameter
of 0.568in with a 14/1mm thread,
while the outside diameter (OD) at
the fore-end is 0.578in with a starting
OD of 1.2in at the receiver — so a very
pronounced decrease in rifle barrel
diameter to reduce weight overall.
What does this mean in real life?
You have a very handy little rifle
that — even with a scope and sound
moderator — will not weigh you down
on a long trudge up a hill.
It does mean, though, that the
barrel heats up quickly, which may
affect accuracy. It’s free-floating from
the stock, which certainly helps in
this regard. Heat is no concern on this
model, as once sighted-in it’s the first
shot that counts. With a second or
third shot, I had no zero nor change
in accuracy.
The action is Remington’s timeless
Model 700, introduced in 1962, which
I have written about on countless
occasions. Remington got it right
first time, which is why it’s copied
so often. A really solid, reliable bolt
action that has a short lock time for
accuracy, strong lock-up for safety, a
bit of a weak extractor, in truth, but
overall all good design — especially
 Rifle test

NEED TO KNOW
Name Model 700 Mountain SS
Manufacturer Remington Arms
Type Bolt-action Sporter in
stainless steel
Barrel length 22in
Overall Length 41.25in
Calibre Various, 25-06 Rem to
.308 Win
Stock Bell & Carlson synthetic
Weight 6.2lb
Trigger X-Mark Pro externally Remington’s own 140-gr Core-Lokt cartridges produced groupings around the 1in to 1.25in mark
adjustable single-stage
Magazine Floor-plate, four shot I shot six to seven rounds before Reloads
Contact Raytrade Ltd 01635 253344 the point of impact wandered, so in Reloads genuinely do help with
any real hunting situation that’s not slim barrels because you can make
Price £1,380
going to be a problem. a load that matches your barrel timing
The Remington 140-gr Core- (vibrations), thereby enhancing
in stainless steel for the type of hard Lokt rounds shot 2,757fps for accuracy to find that all-important
life this rifle will probably have. The 2,364ft/lb energy, with three-shot sweet spot.
trigger is the X-Mark Pro version that groups hovering around the 1in to The best load I had was the Sierra
is adjustable, but leave it alone; as set 1.25in mark. The heavier Federal Pro-Hunter 140-gr with 42.25 grains
on this rifle at 3.85lb, it was fine for 150-gr loads produced 1.25in groups of Alliant RL-15 powder to produce
real hunting and cold hands. at 100 yards and 2,655fps for 2,348ft/ 2,791fps and 2,422ft/lbs with
The floor-plate magazine lb energy. 0.95in groups.
system works well and holds four I also had some Barnes A lighter Nosler 120-gr Spitzer
7mm-08 rounds that the test rifle was V0R-TX bullets with a tipped TSX bullet achieved 2,978fps and 2,364ft/
chambered in — five and 10-round boat-tail design. They have superior lb energy, again hovering around
aftermarket magazines are available. ballistic coefficients and expand the 1in mark for accuracy with 44.25
I can’t emphasise enough how light controllably, as well as being grains of RL-15.
the Mountain is with its 22in barrel. environmentally friendly with their I am compiling a ballistics test
I owned a laminated LSS version in lead-free, copper construction. These media log for bullets, so for this hunt
.260 Rem some years ago for roe on shot two bullets touching, then the I wanted to use those 140-gr Barnes
the hill. Why did I ever sell it? third off to the right 1.25in — but those rounds and see how they performed
first two were spot on. in real life.
On test
I decided against a moderator to save
weight and fitted my favourite Kahles
CSX 1.1–5x aluminium-tubed short
woodland scope.
The 7mm-08 Rem case is basically
a .308 Win necked down to 7mm and
provides a flat shooting, mild recoil
round, perfectly suited to this rifle.
I fitted a one-piece Weaver-type rail
to the action top and Leupold 30mm
quick-detach release mounts.
I had a few factory loads. With
a slim barrel it’s essential to allow
the barrel to cool between each
grouping for the best results. That’s A good crisp bolt
action is a feature
in a sighting-in and testing routine,
of the Remington
where you are shooting relatively
Model 700
quickly compared with hunting.

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 33

Rifle test

IN THE FIELD

The roe buck, cleanly

despatched with the
Barnes VOR-TX
copper bullets

We were at the end of the roebuck
season and that meant a few trips
to Scotland to use the Mountain
in its intended environment. The
lighter weight and slim nature of this
rifle is a real bonus to a hunter on the
move, especially manoeuvring up
and down steep gulleys to overlook
deer tracks and feeding areas.
I fitted a smaller Kahles scope
to save weight — its wide field of view
traversing a steep gully area. I set up
under the sloping canopy of an up-
ended conifer so I could not be seen
from behind if he went that way, and
the wind, to some degree, would be
absorbed by the earthy stump.
To add a little enticement I also
used a few muted calls as a lost
roe kid to bring in its mother, with
hopefully a buck in tow. It was a long
wait, but sure enough a lovely buck
came strolling down the gulley
track. That Remington was in the
shoulder and the reticle tracking
his vitals, the rifle nestling into my
shoulder perfectly.
As soon as he passed the brush
a short whistle stopped him long
enough for the Barnes bullet to find
its mark. A couple of bounds and he
was down, with minimal venison
wastage from the all-copper round.

“The lighter weight CONCLUSION

and slim nature of Another great rifle from Remington — you don’t have to change things to be better.
That M700 short action is time proven for accuracy, strength and reliability.
this rifle is a real I am warming to the 7mm-08 cartridge, too, and the Mountain is lightweight,
bonus to a hunter lovely to look at and Scottish weatherproof. The synthetic stock is a bonus when
you’re stumbling over tussocks, wading through peat bogs and bashing branches
on the move” through forestry. You don’t need a big rifle to shoot better — if it’s purely for hunting,
a lightweight is plenty big enough.
and excellent optics are perfect for
close-range forestry work — and I left Accuracy Shoots perfectly first time to point of aim. 18 20
off the sound moderator.
With no real crops left on any Handling Lightweight and great handling characteristics. 18 20
of the fields, it was a case of waiting
patiently, starting high and slowly Trigger Good factory trigger. 17 20
working my way down. I’ve had
luck before in the late season, with Stock Perfect design and weight for this style of rifle. 18 20
nice bucks still showing themselves
Value Good value lightweight hunting rifle. 18 20
because there’s a lull before the red
deer rut and fewer people around. SCORE 89 100
I was up at daylight and had
spotted some nice fresh slots

34 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

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 Conservation WITH MIKE SWAN

The long and DRMIKESWAN

ISHEADOF
EDUCATION
ANDTHE

short of it
SOUTHERN
REGIONAL
ADVISERFOR
THEGAME
&WILDLIFE
CONSERVATION
TRUST
Looking after reptiles and
amphibians is an important
part of the conservation
process. But you can
help them to survive

S
ince I was eight years old,
I have been fascinated by
reptiles and amphibians.
It was then that my family
moved from the Kent coast to heathy
west Surrey, where snakes and lizards
abounded. Catching and keeping
lizards and slow-worms would be
frowned upon these days — and all
our native reptiles are protected
A. HOOK / P. QUAGLIANA / ALAMY / GETTY IMAGES
under the Wildlife and Countryside
Act 1981 — but back then they offered
a fascinating new interest for me.
Catching them in the first place
was not without its sporting element.
Common lizards are quick, so
pouncing on them when they were
basking in the sun was never a racing
certainty, and if your shadow fell
across them you were scuppered.
They were sometimes easier
to catch when lurking under one
of the sheets of corrugated tin that
littered the local military training
area. However, lifting the sheets was
held a hint of danger, for many would
have an adder coiled up underneath,
as well as a lizard or two.
Slow-worms were a special interest
and I still love the feel of their smooth,
shiny skin when I find one in the
garden (Pretty legless, 14 August).
Those who have never handled one
before are often surprised that they
are not slimy, as well as by the way
in which they use their muscular coils
to push against your fingers as they
slide forward.
Keeping a pair in a vivarium for a
full year and seeing them complete a
full breeding cycle and produce their

young was quite special. Tiny golden

baby slow-worms are beautiful.

Vulnerable
A couple of decades ago, we at the
GWCT had a visit from the British
Herpetological Society to discuss
concerns over declining reptile
Common lizards are quick so pouncing on one while it basks in the sun is never a racing certainty populations and the possible impact

36 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

 Conservation

of game birds. Before you dismiss this,

let me explain: our six native reptiles
are all fairly small and their young
are produced in late summer and
autumn, just in time to coincide with
pheasant releasing.
We all know that pheasants will
eat creepy-crawlies, not least worms,
which are the alternative host of the
common pheasant disease gapes.
Newly hatched reptiles are not
dissimilar in size or appearance and
there is no doubt that a poult would
eat one if it came across it. Anyway, Pheasant poults will happily eat worms and young reptiles are similar in size and appearance
when we got into discussion with the
herpetologists, it became clear they simply lift when you are passing to see all need water to breed, so ponds are
had no accurate means of surveying what is lurking underneath. It is not potentially very valuable, especially
numbers but there were perfectly uncommon to find toads and newts in relatively dry country. Clearing out
plausible perceived declines. We under them too. any overgrown pools is likely to be a
must accept that increased releasing significant help and letting in a bit of
of pheasants could be a factor. Late releases extra sunlight will boost productivity
Our two rarest reptiles are I am normally not much in favour and bump up the invertebrates that
confined to dry sandy habitats, with of late release dates, but if you do feed the tadpoles.
the smooth snake found only on have reptiles — particularly common Creating a new flightpond is likely
heathland in southern England, while lizards — choosing a later release to be especially valuable. On my own
the sand lizard has a slightly wider date for your pheasants may just little shoot in Dorset we made a pond
distribution that includes sand dunes make a difference. Common lizards in 1997 and had frog tadpoles in no
as well as heaths. Fortuitously, we are viviparous, giving birth to fully time. Toads and newts also colonised
rarely release game in such habitats, formed young, since the eggs are and all three are very much a feature
every year, with the feathery gills
“Adders can bite back with a vengeance, on newt tadpoles always arousing
curiosity when young people go pond
which might persuade a pheasant to let go” dipping. Remember, though, that
some newts are protected by law, and
so the risk to these two species is incubated and generally hatch inside that includes disturbing them.
probably small. If you had a colony the female. Peak hatch is in July, so Most summers our pond nearly
of either on your ground, you would a late August or early September dries out and I think this helps. We
surely know about it. release might just give them time to have been studious in not introducing
This leaves us with the grass grow and disperse to relative safety. fish that would predate both tadpoles
snake, the adder, the common lizard, Sadly, the same does not apply to and adult newts, and I suspect that
and the slow-worm. While far from slow-worms, which are viviparous but the limited water supply means that
immune from risk, newly hatched with peak hatch in September, which the pond gets too warm for any fish
grass snakes are about 18cm long, makes late release unlikely to help. that might colonise naturally. Mind
so perhaps big enough and quick For most of us there is probably you, I have my doubts about how
enough to stand a fair chance of rather little that we can do to enhance often fish eggs survive the journey
escaping from an encounter. reptile populations; it’s really a case on the legs of water birds — is this a
of you get what you are given. Frogs, real phenomenon or a figment of the
Escape toads and newts on the other hand scientific imagination?
Adders start off a tad smaller but the
same perhaps applies. They can also Creating new flightponds
bite back with a vengeance, which will be a boon to frogs,
might just persuade a pheasant to let toads and newts
go. On the other hand, baby common
lizards and slow-worms are much
smaller and therefore much less
likely to escape.
If you do not know which species
of reptiles you have on your shoot,
a few reptile mats would be a good
idea. These are simply corrugated
sheets scattered around in quiet
sunny places. Reptiles love to hide
under them, soaking up the heat
while hidden from sight, so you

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 37

 On your shoot
Go green and
squeaky clean
Being truly green and ensuring our shoots
fully embrace environmental issues is vital
to the future of shooting, says Liam Bell
A
will to increase
or maintain areas
biodiversity, as well as the
very real need for modern
progressive businesses to be able
to prove their green credentials,
is affecting us all.
Shoots, regardless of size, should
be able to act accordingly. There
is always something we can do to
improve things and help reduce any
negative effects we might be having
on the environment, however small.
For those of us who release
birds, the release pens and stocking
densities are as good a starting
point as any. A release pen should
look pretty much the same when
the birds are released after three or
A. HOOK / M. SWAN / TAYLORMADE PHOTOGRAPHY / R. FAULKS
four weeks inside as it did when the
poults went in. Yes, the herb cover
will be flattened a bit, and yes, you’ll
be able to see where the birds have
dust-bathed and where the feeders
and drinkers have been. These are all
things that will disappear between
now and next summer.
What you don’t want, of course,
is the ground to be so scarred that
it never really recovers. Nor do you
want to see sections of wood fenced
Keeping the ground inside and outside the release pen in good condition should be part of the job
40 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
off as pens become little more than
vast chicken runs if stocking densities
are too high, with little or no natural
habitat left, and the bits that are too
seriously damaged and degraded
to make a proper recovery.
The same goes for the area
immediately outside the pen.
The eight to 10 yards outside it will
never be pristine, but it shouldn’t
be completely wrecked.
Recycling waste
Pens that don’t recover properly
post-release either need extending,
the habitat inside them improving,
or the number of birds put into
them reduced.
Old batteries, plastic feed bags
and rusty wire look unsightly and
can soon be tidied up and put with
the farm waste for collection and
recycling. Unused feeders and
drinkers can be stored and the pens
themselves can be smartened up and
put to bed until next year.
There should be no litter, no
pollution risk and, importantly, no
negatives if someone unconnected
to the shoot should come across the
pen. What’s more, if a pen is next to
Simple things such as
picking up used cartridges
make a big difference
invisible off season, it is less likely to
be marked by undesirables who could
come back next year when it is full.
Game crops have the potential to
deliver our biggest biodiversity gains.
Do we need to plant so much maize?
Maize is great for holding pheasants
and partridge, but it is also good at
attracting the unwanted attention
of rooks, jackdaws and rats — many

of which will hang about after the
shooting season, causing problems for
our farmers and our farmland birds.
We have reduced our acreage of
maize over the past five to six years
for this very reason and replaced it
with an equally hardy mix of millets,
sorghums and cereals. The birds hold
the same, the feed bill is down a little
thanks to the millets and cereals, and
Growing cover crops such as millet boosts biodiversity and also helps to keep feed bills down
the clouds of finches and little brown
jobs coming off it on shoot days is
something to behold.
Kale is an equally good alternative,
especially in its second year when
it goes to seed and provides both
cover and feed. Admittedly it is harder
to establish, and weed control isn’t
as straight forward as it is with
maize. However, on the plus side
a good stand of kale will last two
years and can be planted as part
of a stewardship scheme.
If it is only used as holding cover
and it is not really needed for flushing
birds on shoot days, you may even get
three years out of the same patch if
you look after it.
On shoot days themselves, there
are little things shoot captains can to
“Maize holds pheasants and partridges but
it also attracts rooks, jackdaws and rats”
do make the shoot greener. They can
double-check the Guns are using non-
toxic shot on the duck drives and have
a few boxes of steel — with the new
bio-degradable wads — or bismuth in
the truck to pass round to the Guns
who have forgotten to bring any.
The new steel loads do work and
they are readily available. They are
not the steel loads of old that were
so ineffective that they put many off
using them. They are much improved
and at normal ranges every bit as
good as bismuth. There is no excuse
for breaking the law when there are
usable alternatives. Excuses about
range and pattern density no longer
hold any water and we do, of course,
need to stay within the law.
Hosts can also insist on Guns using
biodegradable wads. Amazingly,
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 41
On your shoot
there are still people shooting game
with plastic wads, though I don’t
really know why when even the
perceived advantages of plastic over
fibre are so infinitesimally small.
Syndicates keen to reduce plastic
use that are already recycling empties
and don’t like seeing wads scattered
between drives can easily add a fibre-
wad-only clause to their contracts
when signing up someone new.
I doubt there will be any objections
and, if there are, an explanation of
why will suffice.
Fibre-only shoots
A friend of mine runs a very
successful commercial shoot. Guests
and clients are told the shoot is fibre-
only beforehand, and any that turn
up with plastic-wadded cartridges are
pointed in the direction of the Gun
bus where they will find fibre ones
for sale at cost. Guns rarely complain
and those who do soon settle down
when their cartridge-to-kill ratio stays
the same.
There are lots of other little things
we can do. We can make sure we don’t
scar the ground with machinery;
we can stop using straw in ancient
woodland; we can make sure we don’t
over-shoot our migrant birds; and the
list goes on.
Being able to show a biodiversity
gain and having squeaky-clean
green credentials will ensure game
shooting’s longevity. We are all game
shooting ambassadors. Little tweaks
can and do make a difference. We
should all play our part.
 Gundogs
Rain is a trial too far
The pointer and setter trials were plagued by dreadful weather and
a lack of birds, leaving no clear winner, reports David Tomlinson
LATE SUMMER IN EAST
Anglia was hot and dry,
but autumn arrived
with a vengeance on
6 September, the day I drove up to
Sandringham for the Pointer Club’s
last open trial of the year.
HM the Queen’s Norfolk estate
has hosted the event for more than
a quarter of a century — this was the
26th running. It makes an ideal venue
for a trial, with its sweeping fields
of stubble and an abundance of wild
game. It also provides a ground that
is ideal for spectators because it’s rare
for competing dogs to be out of sight.
The pointer and setter trialling
season is a long one, starting on the
grouse in March, concluding in north
Norfolk in September with a week
of trials on partridges and pheasants.
Unlike spaniel and retriever trials, no
birds are shot, though pointed birds
are saluted with a gun when flushed,
D. TOMLINSON
to test the dogs’ steadiness. Many of
the dogs competing at Sandringham
had been working on the moors on
In association with Chudleys: over forty years of
highly nutritious food for working dogs
42 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
August grouse, while others had days
on the moors to come.
There was an almost full card
for the trial, which meant nearly 40
dogs running, though the number of
handlers competing was considerably
fewer as several were handling more
than one dog.
All such trials start with a draw to
establish the running order — the dogs
“Days like this are
scarce and there’s
nothing handlers
can do but shrug
their shoulders”
always run as a brace. As the draw was
made the sky became increasingly
threatening: it was clearly a day
for winter shooting coats. I was
inexcusably lightly dressed, having
not anticipated quite how much the
weather was going to change.
Terry Harris’s Champion
Stake winner, Koram Gemma
Sparkfield, in the sugar beet
And change it did. The trial had
barely got under way when the first
of the day’s rain came sheeting down
from the north. This wasn’t a summer
shower but had a real wintry bite to it,
making the swallows skimming the
stubbles look strangely out of place.
Spectacle
However, a drop of rain doesn’t stop
a trial and there was plenty of action
to watch. I hadn’t been to a pointer
and setter trial for some years,
and as usual I was stunned by the
sheer spectacle of the dogs as they
quartered across the stubbles.
The judges for the day were Carole
Brown, field trial secretary of the
Pointer Club and a past winner of the
Champion Stake, and John Naylor,
also an A-panel HPR judge. It isn’t an
easy job because both judges assess
both dogs, depending on where they
are running.
In contrast, a judge at a spaniel trial
only assesses one dog at a time, which
is the dog running in front of them.
 www.chudleys.com

DAVID’S VIEWPOINT

OLD TOYS ARE With them were a rubber pheasant

SO MOVING
Finding old dummies while
preparing for a house move
and a rubber duck, the former complete
with pivoting tail, the latter with flapping
wings, both of which I had completely
forgotten about.
Somehow I couldn’t put these old
dummies in the pile destined for the tip.

H
ow many dummies does
a dog need? The Tomlinson
household is currently in a
state of organised chaos as we are on the
verge of moving home and most of our
possessions are packed in cardboard
boxes. Moving is a stressful business and
I’m sure that the spaniels — one of whom
was born in this house 13 years ago —
sense something is up.
But back to my original question.
Moving is the moment when you discover
how much stuff you have accumulated
that you don’t really need. I am good at
throwing things away, so I was surprised
to find a little stack of traditional sawdust-
filled training dummies tucked away in the
garden shed. Several hadn’t been thrown,
let alone retrieved, for years.
Unearthing them brought back memories
of much-loved spaniels, long since
departed, that spent many happy hours
practising the art of retrieving. Once
they are unpacked I will donate them
to the local gundog training club where,
hopefully, they might be put to good use.
It’s not only dummies that will be
moving with us: so too will be a number
of dog beds, though here we have been
a little more ruthless and only the best
have survived the purge. The wooden
dog kennel has been taken down in
preparation for the move, rendering
a considerable number of spiders
homeless. When it gets put up again
it will need some attention, including
new felting for the roof, together with
replacement roof timbers. But it’s
Old dummies can bring back happy memories
remarkably sound in view of its age, which
is well over 20 years.
A new home means a new challenge
and I’m sure that the spaniels and I will
enjoy exploring the countryside around
our new home when we move in. For the
next few weeks our possessions will be in
storage — an unsettling feeling, as it’s the
first time in my life I have been homeless,
though at least I have money in the bank.
Email: dhtomlinson@btinternet.com

The judges are watching to see how
each dog uses its ground and how it
copes with the wind. A stylish dog will
always score more highly than one
that looks less elegant. The handlers
are hoping that their dogs will find a
bird and hold the point. Eliminating
faults include flushing (bouncing)
birds without pointing them, running
in after the flush, giving tongue, not
backing their running mate’s point
or generally being out of control.
These dogs are running on the very
edge, which is all part of the appeal of
the sport. Stopping or turning a dog at
full gallop isn’t easy and even the most
experienced dogs have days when
everything goes wrong.
One thing that all pointer and
setter handlers have in common is a
sense of humour. Though there was
no shortage of game, it soon became
apparent that relatively few birds
were staying out on the stubbles
to be pointed and numerous dogs
had unproductive runs. There may
have been a lack of scent, too, as the
conditions were far from good.
There were few successful points,
which was frustrating for both dogs
and handlers and made the judging
much more difficult. However, I was
neither judging nor running a dog,
so I could simply stand back and be The weather didn’t help, either,
entertained by what I was seeing. for a brief hint of sunshine after lunch
There were four breeds in action: soon gave way to heavy, driving rain.
pointers were in the majority, along A third round was called for, still with
with English, Irish and Gordon several dogs in contention, but time
setters. There were some notably was running out and points remained
good runners, too, including Terry scarce, so frustratingly the day drew
Harris’s beautiful little pointer bitch to a close with no clear winner.
Koram Gemma Sparkfield — Scarlet Days like this are unusual but not
to her friends — who was fresh from rare with these trials. There’s nothing
winning the Champion Stake. more the handlers can do but shrug
their shoulders and look forward
Blisteringly fast to the next trial which will be in
Just over thr
blisteringly f
ground with An English setter makes a
the handlers spectacularly sharp turn
50 years of c
he had never
Scarlet wa
brace of dog
through to th
round. Frust
this round al
inconclusive
the dogs mov
the sugar be
hope of findi
I watched on
of grey partr
of one field. T
no intention
to be pointed

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 43

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46 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Game Cookery
Our deer provide meat that differs with each species but they are all
delicious and Cai ap Bryn’s sandwich showcases fallow shoulder
Ingredients
2KG OF BONELESS FALLOW
SHOULDER OR 2.5KG-3KG
WITH BONE IN
8 BRIOCHE BUNS
FOR THE BBQ SAUCE
2LARGEWHITEONIONS
4 GARLIC CLOVES
2½TBSP BROWN SUGAR
1TSPOFCHILLIPOWDER
2 TSP OF SALT
2 TSP OF WORCESTERSHIRE
SAUCE
2TSPOFSOYSAUCE
1½TBSP SMOKED PAPRIKA
1½TBSP SLICED JALAPENOS
1½TBSPDIJONMUSTARD
250G TOMATO PUREE
200ML OF VINEGAR
350ML OF PORK OR
CHICKEN STOCK
COLESLAW
1 WHITE ONION, THINLY SLICED
1 CARROT FINELY SHREDDED
½ CRISP EATING APPLE, SUCH AS
GRANNYSMITH’S,THINLY SLICED
¼ RED CABBAGE
1 TBSP CHOPPED PARSLEY
PINCHOFSALT
PINCH OF CRACKED PEPPER
2 TBSP OF MAYONNAISE
The pulled fallow sandwich
deserves a good beer and my choice
is the BrewDog Dead Pony Club —
nice and hoppy to complement this
delicious treat.
A. SYDENHAM
V
enison is a term I don’t
much like when it comes
to deer. We have six species
of deer in this country —
seven if you include reindeer in the
Cairngorms — all delicious and unique.
Muntjac, the smallest and sweetest
of our species, makes excellent mince
and pavés. Fallow is less gamey than
roe and holds a decent meat yield,
along with sika. Red — depending
on habitat and diet — can be stronger
but have great loins for a Wellington
or steak and the neck and shoulders
are great for diced chunks. Chinese
water deer have an almost lamb-like
consistency and flavour.  indulgence. Pulled fallow shoulder
They are all terrific but they should
all be labelled individually for buyers.
At this time of year, my busy season
for weddings and corporate events
slows down a little, so it’s a good time
for me to catch up on my stalking and
harvest meat for the months to come.
PULLED FALLOW SANDWICH
THE METHOD Serves 8
1 Slice the white onions, dice the
garlic and soften in a pan with
a dash of olive oil.
2 When the onions are soft add the
rest of the ingredients and simmer
for 10 minutes, stirring. Set the sauce
aside and leave it to cool down for
15 minutes.
3 Pour the mixture in a blender and
blitz until the marinade is smooth
with no lumps, this makes sure all
ingredients are dispersed evenly. You
can make this way in advance and
refrigerate or freeze.
4
Place the shoulder in a Dutch oven
or a deep oven dish. Pour over the
sauce and put the lid on or cover with
foil. Place the dish in the preheated
oven at 160°C for 4 hours.
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 47
Venison
This year I will select more than
50 deer over four permissions to keep
up with the population expansion.
The numbers have risen dramatically
over the past few years and the damage
to crops has been significant over the
summer. We will take the deer we
need ethically and promote a healthy
balance across the permissions. 
Next month there will be the fallow
rut. The bucks become fearless — if not
a little senseless and reckless — but it’s
a great time to spot them. The rut offers
an easier way to pick off the cull bucks.
This is a super recipe that can be
cooked and stored for a rainy-day
in a home-made barbecue sauce is
a taste-bud teaser, combined with a
toasted brioche bun and an apple slaw.
We believe that the fillets and loins are
the best cuts but we must not disregard
the shoulder — extremely versatile and
ideal for low and slow of cooking.
5 Every hour take out the dish and
turn over the shoulder. This will
help to keep it moist. Add water if the
liquor is evaporating too quickly.
6 Once done, remove the shoulder,
place the liquor in a pan and boil
to reduce slightly and thicken to a BBQ
sauce type of consistency but it might
already be thick enough from cooking.
7 Shred the meat with two forks and
stir it into the pan of sauce. I like
to shred the meat fairly thick, but the
texture is up to you.
8
To make the coleslaw, mix all the
ingredients together, cover and
keep in the fridge until needed.
9 Serve in the toasted buns, coated
on both sides with mayonnaise.
 SPORTING ANSWERS
The experts Reinforce your
hand signals with
voice commands
THE ULTIMATE
SHOOTING QUIZ TEAM
BILL HARRIMAN
BASC’s head of firearms and
global authority on guns

MAT MANNING
Airgunner and journalist from
the West Country

BRUCE POTTS
Shooting Times rifle reviewer
and stalker

DAVID TOMLINSON
Highly regarded writer and
ornithologist

LIAM BELL
NGO chairman, Shropshire
gamekeeper and keen wildfowler

GRAHAM DOWNING
Shooting consultant and
sporting author

TONY BUCKWELL
Veterinary surgeon with a
special interest in gundogs

TONY JACKSON
A game Shot, keen stalker and
former editor of Shooting Times
TOM PAYNE
Professional shooting instructor
and avid pigeon shooter
JEREMYHUNT
Runs Fenway Labradors and
a professional gundog trainer
TIMMADDAMS
Former head chef at River
Cottage and runs a shoot in Devon
SIMON WHITEHEAD
S. FARNSWORTH / P. QUAGLIANA / M. MANNING / B. POTTS / GETTY / ALAMY
How do I teach hand signals?
GUNDOGTRAINING
My previous Labrador was
a great picking-up dog, but
I didn’t really do a lot of formal
training with him. I wasn’t very
experienced, so he more or less
taught himself. My new youngster
is a different type of dog and seems
more willing to learn. I want to
be able to handle him on game at
a distance, but will I find training
him to hand signals a difficult job?
for your new dog. But there is also a lot
you can do for yourself. While hand
signals to achieve control at distance are
certainly not one of the early training
goals, the skill isn’t difficult to master
once you’re sure you have built a close
rapport with your dog.
Begin with the dog sitting with its
back to a hedge. At the start of this
exercise, place — rather than throw
— a dummy about 10 yards to the right
or left along the hedge. Position yourself
about 10 yards directly in front of the

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
I am a real novice when it comes
to training.
The first thing in your favour is
that you have a dog that is willing
to listen and learn, so you will be able
to capitalise on this. Secondly, you
know your own limitations and are
clearly ready to take advice from the
start and not blunder along until you
end up having to correct errors.
I would certainly join a gundog
training club where you will find ample
experience to lay the foundation skills
dog, affirm the stay command vocally
and with a hand signal, then gesture
with an outstretched arm and a vocal
command that instructs the dog to go
in the direction of the dummy and
retrieve it.
You can start to change the distance
and the direction of the placed dummy,
then progress to a thrown dummy. Over
time, when the dog is steady to the stop
whistle, you will be able to stop the dog,
throw a dummy and be able to handle
the dog on to a retrieve accordingly.
But don’t try to rush it. JH

48 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE


What happened to No7?
GAMEKEEPING
The old shooting books
recommended using No7 shot
for almost everything. Why has it
fallen out of fashion?
No7 shot throws a good pattern
from fairly openly choked barrels,
and works well up to 40 yards on
Mink release menace
WILD MAMMALS
When did mink first become
established in the UK?
Though the first escaped mink
were recorded widely in both
England and Scotland in the 1930s, it
wasn’t until the late 1940s that the first
reports came in of escaped mink
breeding near Blackpool in Lancashire,
an area that held a number of fur farms
at the time.
However, it wasn’t until 1953 that
these North American animals really
started showing signs of establishing
Non-native mink became widely colonised after deliberate releases by animal rights activists
smaller birds such as partridge and
pigeon. Pheasants have become bigger
and heavier over the past 30 to 40 years
and like mallard are, in the opinion of
many, too large a bird to be consistently
brought down by so small a shot.
No7’s lack of popularity may also
be partly down to the current fashion
for larger shot, longer barrels and
tighter chokes. LB
themselves here, with the first colony
reported from the Teign Valley,
between Chudleigh and Bovey Tracey
in Devon.
By the late 1950s, reports of feral
mink breeding in the wild were
becoming much more widespread.
They rapidly colonised many counties,
always spreading along watercourses
and river valleys. Their colonisation
was helped by deliberate releases from
fur farms by animal rights activists.
Tony Blair’s Labour government
banned fur farming in the UK in 2000,
leading to the last 11 remaining mink
farms being shut down. DT
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 49
Expert tips and advice
Native
Britain
Plants, flowers and fungi
of Great Britain at a glance
Latin name: Artemisia vulgaris
Common name: Mugwort
Other names: Wormwood, felon
herb, chrysanthemum weed,
wild wormwood, old Uncle Henry,
sailor’s tobacco, naughty man or
St John’s plant
How to spot it and where to find
it: A perennial herb, mugwort can
grow to 160cm high, with hairy,
purple-brown stems and long oval
leaves. It spreads by rhizomes
underground and can be invasive,
though it is most common on
wasteland, roadside verges,
woodland edges and ditches. The
flowers, which appear from May
to September, are disc shaped,
pale green at bud stage, maturing
to green or purple-green. Fruits
mature from August to October.
Interesting facts: Mugwort’s other
common name is wormwood, which
is an ingredient in absinthe, the
legendary hallucinatory drink. That
is Artemisia absinthium, though, not
A. vulgaris. Some 1,000 years ago,
mugwort was used to make an ale
called gruit. The drink was served
in a mug, which is probably where
the name came from; wort means
plant or herb in old English.
The scientific name comes
from Artemis, the Greek goddess
of the moon. In traditional Chinese
medicine, it is used for a procedure
called moxibustion — moxi meaning
mugwort — in which herbs are
burned over parts of the body. A
study in the Journal of the American
Medical Association found that
75 per cent of 130 foetuses in the
breech position reverted to normal
after treatment with moxibustion.
 SPORTING ANSWERS

Peas in Simple squirrel strategy

a pod AIRGUNNING

This summer I really struggled

outing, the noise and movement will
often send your quarry fleeing long
before you spot it.
FERRETING to keep up with grey squirrel Target an area where you know
control in the woods I shoot with squirrels are active, find a spot that
I have bred a fantastic litter my airgun. My results were fine gives you a clear view of some fairly
of albino ferrets. The only until the trees leafed up and made open trees and set up an ambush.
problem is that when I am it impossible to spot my quarry. You don’t need a hide — just wear full
handling them and sorting them Other than setting up feeding camouflage and keep still.
out for my friends, I cannot tell stations, which isn’t practical for It’s amazing how quickly squirrels
the difference between them. me, can you advise me on tactics? will venture back out after the
How do you overcome such disturbance of your arrival has passed,
a dilemma? My key piece of advice would be and you should be able to get a bead
to keep still. A lot of shooters make on them before they clock you lurking
Like peas in a pod, albinos are the mistake of staying on the move in the undergrowth. This approach
really hard to tell apart, when hunting squirrels and, though I doesn’t just work when the trees are
especially when young. This is, of would be the first to admit that a roving in full leaf — it’s a banker right through
course, the time when you must session can make for an enjoyable the year. MM
handle them, socialise them and
install the rudimental basics that any
good owner should install, so it’s
important not to mix them up.
Many years ago, I used to cut
the surplus hair square on the tails
to differentiate between male and
female when young, but this quickly
grew back. Another method was to
separate them into hutches so each
one got handled and played with.
Today there is a much better
method — and it is so simple. I am
amazed nobody told me about it
sooner than they did. Many years
ago, a friend of mine, a pig farmer,
told me how he used to mark his
ferrets. All he did was mark or
number his ferrets using the same
aerosol that he uses to mark his
livestock with. This spray is an all-
weather, long-lasting aerosol marker
for general use in livestock that
washes or wears off after a few days.
This gives me the chance to
mark my ferrets and handle them
or separate them. Once you have
decided which to keep or which
ferrets require a little or a lot more
handling, you can tell which is
which at a glance. This will make
life ever so much easier and I’m
sure, less stressful. SW If you wait quietly, grey squirrels will soon venture out from cover and reveal themselves to you

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50 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

 Expert tips and advice

Afghan Concern over eating greys

arms? GAMEMEAT

I’ve shot a few grey squirrels

prions — proteinaceous infectious
particles — a kind of wrongly shaped
protein that can damage other proteins
FIREARM HISTORY and I was going to eat them, and is thought to be a vector for passing
but someone told me they can carry on transmittable spongiform
I believe this is a Jezail mad cow disease. Is this correct or encephalopathy or TSE. So there is a
Afghan rifle (see below), but are they safe to eat? risk, but the advice is to eat squirrel that
I don’t know much about it. Any has been well cooked. This is especially
information you could provide First and foremost its important to important if you plan on eating the
would be a great help. I’d like to understand that bovine brain or the bones. If that has worried
restore it but I believe the action spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) you more than put you at ease, perhaps
is not British. affects cows, hence the word bovine in it is worth mentioning that I have eaten
the title. Squirrels are known to carry dozens of squirrels with no ill effect. TM
Your gun is not Afghan but
North African. These guns are
usually associated with the Kabyle
Berbers from the Algiers region. It
has a bone-inlaid ‘fishtail’ butt-stock
typical of guns from this region.
The lock is based on a European
snaphaunce lock of the late
16th century. This differs from the
true flintlock by having a separate
steel that opens a sliding pan cover
when the flint hits it. In a true
flintlock, both the steel and pan
cover are combined into a single
component called a frizzen.
It is likely that local artisans saw
these gunlocks through contact
with European merchants and they
became the standard form of gun
lock throughout the region, lasting
well into the mid-19th century. It is There is a small risk from eating squirrel meat but it is fairly safe, providing it is cooked thoroughly
not unusual to see a 19th-century
gun with a lock that wouldn’t look
out of place on an Elizabethan
musket. These guns were passed
from father to son until they wore
Bird of the week by Graham Appleton LONG-EARED OWL
out. Most are only fit for use as wall
hangers. This one would benefit from Moorland shooters and turning up in coastal
gentle cleaning with fine wire wool to coastal wildfowlers areas of the UK in the
remove rust and the stock being given may come across autumn. Many of these
a coat of French polish. BH short-eared owls in the migrants move inland
summer and winter for the winter,
respectively, but the sometimes providing
long-eared owl is more birdwatchers with great
enigmatic. These birds excitement if they are
are more nocturnal in found, gathered
their habits than together, in daytime
short-eared owls, which roosts. Most birds
I expect to see in the probably go unnoticed
half-light. Long-eared for the whole winter,
owls breed in but noisy mobbing
coniferous woodlands by smaller birds, upset
across the UK and our to find an owl in their
birds don’t move much patch, might give the
in the winter months. game away. Roosting
Thelong-earedowlisseldom Their Scandinavian birds are typically
seen,unlessbeingmobbed, cousins are more reported from thick
This old North African gun has a design that due to its nocturnal habits migratory, with birds patches of hawthorn.
dates all the way back to Elizabethan times

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 51

 SPORTING ANSWERS
Keeping it under wraps
RIFLES
I see quite a few carbon
fibre-wrapped barrels on offer
these days. What are they, and are
they accurate for a custom rifle
re-barrel project?
Carbon fibre has been used for
lightness in rifle stocks for some
time. It has also been successfully
used to wrap around a steel barrel
to lighten the overall weight. The
difference between a standard steel
barrel and a carbon fibre barrel of the
same outside diameter or profile can
be as much as 1.5lb in weight. Carbon
fibre barrels are a new design and
should prove interesting in the future.
Many firms such as Christensen
Arms, MTU, BSF and Proof Research
Post-Brexit gun permits
FIREARMS LAW
I have invited a German
friend to shoot with me in
December. As his journey to the
UK may occur after Brexit, how
will this affect the documentation
I need to arrange for him to bring
his shotgun to the UK?
Currently, the police refer to a
visitor’s European Firearms Pass
(EFP) in order to issue a British
Visitor’s Permit for a shotgun or rifle.
Though the previous Home Secretary
said he expected continued access
to the system of EFPs in the event of
a negotiated departure from the EU,
52 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
A carbon fibre-wrapped barrel
will heat up less quickly
make these barrels. They are used in
rifles that have a heavier barrel profile
but which require a lightweight feel.
Wrapping a slender steel barrel in
carbon fibre stiffens the overall barrel
without increasing its weight.
The barrel starts as a rifled blank
that is turned down to various
profiles depending on the intended
cartridge size. The carbon fibre wrap
is then applied to restore the original
barrel profile.
The advantages are obviously
weight saving as well as structural
integrity and thermal properties.
On very thin steel barrels used for
extensively mountain sport, accuracy
can be lost as the barrel heats up. But
wrap the barrels in carbon fibre and
they will heat up less quickly, hence
retaining accuracy. BP
a ‘no deal’ at the end of October now
appears increasingly likely, and thus
the UK may no longer recognise the
EFP of your German guest.
However, even if your friend’s EFP is
no longer recognised, the Home Office
has confirmed that any visitor’s permit
issued before Brexit day will remain
valid. I suggest you ask your friend to
send you a copy or scan of his EFP in
good time for you to apply for a visitor’s
permit on his behalf before 31 October,
remembering that some police forces
require a few weeks’ notice to issue
permits. When you receive the permit,
post it to your friend so that he has it
with him when he travels to the UK
with his shotgun. GD
Sika breeding
STALKING
We have a lot of sika in the area
we shoot. At what age will the
females be ready to breed? Some of
us think they will have to be three
years old while others say two.
Good question, with a bit of a
maybe yes, maybe no answer.
As with all species of deer and large
domestic animals, nutrition affects the
onset of oestrus, so body weight and
size will influence when the animal
is ready to breed. The environment
will also have an impact, so weather
conditions, disturbance and available
shelter will have to be factored in.
I understand that detailed studies
in Japan have shown that in general
sika hinds give birth when they are two,
but then might miss a year, resulting
in few three-year-olds having calves.
After that, birth rates increase again
in animals that are four years old and
above. The same research also showed
that hinds alternated between years
when they had a calf and ones where
they were yeld.
On the basis of that I would think the
supporters of the two-year-olds have it,
but with the proviso that the research
comes from Japan and this is the UK,
so things might be different here. IW
Research has shown sika hinds generally give
birth when they are two but then may miss a year
 Expert tips and advice

EXTINCT DOG BREEDS

ENGLISH WHITE TERRIER

Droppedearsorpricked toadistinctbreed,
ears?TheEnglishwhite settingitapartfromits
terrierwascelebrated drop-earedcousins,but
forhavingprickedears, itwasaninescapable
settingitapartfrom factthatbothdropped-
themajorityof19th- earandpricked-eared
centuryterrierssuchas puppiescouldoccur in Crossword / Compiled by Eric Linden/1423
thesmoothorwirefox thesamelitter. Across the outskirts of the 11 The top-order
terriers,theLakeland Crosseswithother 1 As suave as the fox Highlands? (5) batsman uses a
terrierandtheAiredale. breeds,includingItalian terrier (6) 20 Like some gilets found self-starting gun (6)
6 Evidence of gun testing in a safe hospital cell? (6) 13 Where pinkfeet breed
Thisfeaturewas greyhounds,werenot in the country on frozen
sufficient,accordingto successful,whileline is on the house (5)
7 Unearth rats that light
Down terrain? (7)
itssupporters,tomake breedingresultedin up away from home (5,3) 1 Benelli’s speciality is 14 One for digging out
partly detached by choice ferrets uses a notebook
theEnglishwhiteterrier hereditaryfaults– 9 Boots the football to the
in the South-East (5)
feet of deer (6) of transmission (4-9)
adistinctbreed. apparentlymany were 10 Finland’s capital 2 Head office gets to 17 New space, out east,
Forabriefperiod borndeaf. broadcasts game retake an unusual source primarily for the clay
of acorns (3,4) shooting organisation (4)
inthelateVictorian Judgingbythe events (5)
12 Stag snipers get in 3 Hunting garments are
era,theEnglishwhite survivingpictures,the trouble by unlawfully a plus when they come
appearedinshows, Englishwhiteterrier crossing the line (11) in pairs (4)
butitspopularitysoon wasanugly-looking 15 Warm up on hospital 4 Make a reservation right
land (5) inside the stream (5)
wanedandbythestart animal,sothere’slittle 5 A little bit of brass gives us
16 The corvid has a bad
ofthe20thcenturyit reasontolamentits image around Peru’s the ability to envisage
wasallbutextinct. eventualextinction. capital (6) a rosary piece (9,4)
18 One that echoes 8 An egghead in Utah’s
Fromthestartthe However,itis transforming Ithaca’s
of rifle type (8)
Englishwhite’sstatus undoubtedlyan 19 Deer found on home (3,3)
wasdisputed.Itsfans ancestorofthemodern
insistedtheprickedears bullterrier,another
Solution 1421 / 11 September 2019 4. Squirrel 5. Red 6. Larder
justified its elevation prick-eared breed. DT Across: 1. Hutch 4. Scroll 7. Flea 11. Chequered 12. Grassing
8. Rounders 9. Scale 10. Bracken 14. Grease 15. Skirts 18. Deer
13. Quartered 16. British 17. Bucks 20. All
19. Magazine 21. Rare 22. Redleg MYSTERY WORD: HARRIER
23. Rides WINNER: P. JEFFRIES, KENT
DIARY OF A Down: 1. Helice 2. Trail hunt 3. Hare

Howtoenter
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SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 53

 PRODUCTS Visit us online / shootinguk.co.uk

From the gun shop

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54 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE


Gunroom
The budget-priced Quackenbush Safety Cartridge rifle introduced
thousands of young men in the US to the basics of rifle shooting
The popular .22 Quackenbush Safety Cartridge rifle was used by generations of boys and young men in the US from the late 1880s to the 1930s
T
he concept of using a lockable
bolt to seal the breech of a gun
is ancient. However, the first
really efficient bolt-action rifles
only began to appear in the 1840s. In the
next four decades, efficient breechblock,
single-shot designs predominated but
by the 1890s it was a given that the only
feasible action for repeating rifles was a bolt
that locked itself off against the receiver.
The same was not true for many small-
bore, single-shot rifles. Bolt actions were
common but a significant number of single-
shots were still made with some form of
breechblock. I think the weirdest I have ever
encountered is the .22 Quackenbush Safety
Cartridge rifle, which was patented in the
US, UK and Belgium in 1886.
Remington
Henry Marcus Quackenbush (1847 to
1933) was a native of Herkimer in New
York. His brother and sister had scholarly
inclinations, but the young Henry enjoyed
tinkering with mechanical things instead.
He served an apprenticeship with the
gunmaker E. Remington & Sons, where
he acquired both gunsmithing and
metalworking skills.
His first patent was for an extension
ladder, which he subsequently sold for
$500. By 1867 this had given him sufficient
capital to leave Remington’s and set up
his own business in his home town. In
1871 he patented the Eureka air pistol that
established Quackenbush – universally
known as ‘HM’ — as the founding father
of mass-produced airguns in the US.
HM’s genius lay in designing and
building the machinery used to make his
inventions. The Americans have always
been good at mass production because,
unlike Europe, which had a huge pool of
skilled labour, skilled craft workers were
rare in the US, particularly in the early days.
One of the first people to start mass
production was Eli Whitney, who specialised
in machinery to produce agricultural tools.
Whitney built Sam Colt’s Walker revolvers.
Quackenbush was merely following this
industrial tradition when he designed the
machinery to manufacture his rifle.
The Quackenbush Safety rifle was one
of three such guns produced by the firm.
It was designed for the youth market,
being simple to operate and cheap to make.
“The Safety rifle was $7, bringing it well
within the range of any thrifty boy who
worked hard and saved his earnings”
It had a conventional barrel mounted on
a simple frame, which incorporated the
trigger mechanism, and a wooden stock
with a characteristic American crescent-
type butt-plate.
The breechblock was mounted on an
arm that pivoted through 90° to expose the
chamber for loading. Once a cartridge had
been inserted into the chamber, the block
was pushed back into position. The action
was then cocked by pulling a small knob
on the right side of the block to the rear.
When the trigger was pressed, the rifle
SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 55
Bill Harriman
fired in the normal manner. When the block
was opened, a mechanical linkage caused
the extractor to move to the rear and
extract the empty case.
The rifle could be easily maintained
because of its take-down format, achieved
by unscrewing a knurled nut holding the
barrel and action together. A screw in
the rear of the block allowed the striker
mechanism to be dismounted. The take-
down facility was doubtless popular as the
rifle could be broken down into two pieces
for ease of transport, whether in a backpack
or on the crossbar of a bicycle.
The price of the rifle was $7, bringing
it well within the range of any thrifty boy
who worked hard and saved his earnings.
Quackenbush Safety rifles seem to have
been made well into the 1930s. While the
company does not exist today, elements
of it are still to be found in other firms.
The world has always considered the
US ‘a nation of riflemen’, ready to defend
itself. Early in World War II, the Japanese
considered invading mainland America.
Admiral Yamamoto — who had studied
at Harvard — counselled against it, saying
“there is a rifle behind every blade of grass”.
It was cheap and accessible miniature
rifles like the Quackenbush that helped
to form that reputation.
CLASSIFIED DIRECTORY
For all classified advertising enquiries please contact:
ben.puckett@ti-media.com or call 01252 555305

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 Alasdair Mitchell

Sharpshooter
While we are mired in Brexit, the world keeps turning — geese arrive
on their winter migration and the shooting season comes round again

I
had just finished going round a good book by the fireside, with an old let’s look at Mark Avery and Chris Packham
the fields. After switching off the dog snoozing at my feet. Or, better still, as our mainstream foes.
quad’s engine, I suddenly heard listening to homecoming youngsters When I used to deal with Dr Avery,
them — pink-footed geese. Their recounting their own exploits in the field. he was head of conservation at the RSPB.
distinctive, melodic calls tinkled down from But I pray I shall still be able to hear the In those days, he struck me as dedicated,
the heavens. At first I couldn’t actually see first geese of the year coming in on high well informed and highly capable. He was
them, no matter how eagerly I scanned from the north. It is one of those things also good company, with a keen sense of
the backlight morning sky. Then I craned that makes life worth living. humour. Has he changed since? I don’t
my head back and there they were, right know. But I do know that not everything
overhead, extraordinarily high. Friends and enemies he says is wrong.
The skeins were travelling from the The Guardian recently ran an editorial I’ve never met Mr Packham. I object to
north. They had probably just arrived on comment that appeared to mock David paying for him via the BBC licence fee. But
their winter migration and were the first I’ve Cameron’s anguish over the loss of his six- I also know that he defended deer culling
seen this year. Their wonderful clamour was year-old son, Ivan. The offending item was and got some serious stick from hardcore
the sound of the seasons changing. swiftly removed from the online version antis for doing so. Some pretty extreme
Despite the petty travails and and the paper apologised. quotes have been attributed to him but I am
tribulations of mankind, the world keeps On a lighter note, Mr Cameron’s always wary of taking such snippets at face
turning and the sun still rises in the east and memoirs revealed that, when stalking, value, without seeing their original context.
sets in the west. The wild geese are back he would occasionally label a chosen stag What I am trying to say is that neither
again, heralding another shooting season. with an appropriate name, such as Boris. Dr Avery nor Mr Packham are mere
I haven’t got much shooting booked yet. Yet, as a general principle, it is not ranters. Their arguments deserve careful
It always amazes me how each season always wise to dehumanise your opponents. examination. I cannot agree with their
seems to creep up and find me slightly You only have to look at some of the overall conclusions, but I do wonder how
unprepared. Then I scrabble around with comments posted on raptor sites to see and why these two intelligent naturalists
dates, like a child rearranging morsels sheer nastiness of people-haters. But became our implacable enemies.
of food on a plate.
I sometimes wonder what I will do
in my dotage, when I become unable to
“Some pretty extreme quotes have been
tackle the rigours of the hill or the marsh. attributed to Chris Packham but I am wary
In part, I believe, I shall be able to relive
my memories, reading a game diary or of taking such snippets at face value”
DOG BY KEITH REYNOLDS

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58 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE