Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2016 i Sporting Gun

“It was the single-barrel Baikal that drew me into a sport I have enjoyed ever since” I’m very happy to welcome our former gun tester, Jason Harris, back to the Sporting Gun fold. Due to an expansion in his business, Rupert Blackwall was struggling to find the time to write gun reports for the magazine, so Jason has agreed to come back on a part-time basis. Jason will be doing a gun test for us every other month because, like Rupert, his day job at Trulock & Harris keeps him very busy. In the meantime, we are looking for another gun reviewer to share the work with Jason, so that we can bring you a test every month. We will keep you updated with developments on that front. Jason’s first…

The end of my first year at The Northern School of Game and Wildlife is marked with my return to college in September, and what a year it has been. Flat out from day one, The Northern School of Game and Wildlife has kept us learning and laughing while loving just about every day. Ending my first year with how it begun – loading, beating and picking up on the glorious grouse moors – is a gift that not many receive. I am lucky enough to be working on a driven grouse moor on the Bowland/North Yorkshire boundary to complete the “work related experience” unit of my course. Diverse grouse At the time of writing we are well into the 2016 grouse season; and the reports on success? Diverse is…

Once the cereal stubbles are opened up, pigeons flock in to feed. Dusk and dawn are the busiest feeding times, but it’s not just the woodies that are making the most of the last days of summer. Chattering bunches of mallard drop in to feed, often joined later by a few skeins of greylag and Canada geese. Like the woodpigeon they find safety in numbers, but with the added back-up of sentries constantly keeping watch. Pre season, weather permitting, I’ve spent many a twilight hour crawling along dew soaked hedgerow bottoms, crouching uncomfortably among saturated and hostile undergrowth, and playing host to all manner of flies and bugs while waiting for the chance of a few shots with the camera. From dawn to dusk With daybreak beginning to happen around…

In this Year of Our Lord 2016, the riflescope, or telescopic sight, is so commonplace that we hardly give it a second thought. However, although such sights were used by the military as long ago as the American Civil War (1861-1865) and afterwards by buffalo hunters in support of the government’s policy to bring the Plains Indians to heel by slaughtering their food supply, their everyday use on sporting rifles is much more recent. But let us start at the very beginning… Telescopes use a series of curved lenses to magnify the image passing through them. However, the lens itself is far older than the telescope, having been invented in Italy towards the end of the 13th century and used to make spectacles of a primitive kind for monks and…

‘ e need something on W nutrition!’ yelled Mr Clark, the Editor. My heart sank and my tummy rumbled ominously. Canine nutrition, quite simply, is a can of worms. Numerous theories are vociferously expounded. Millions are ploughed into marketing. Camps are divided between raw and complete. Owners obsess with protein content when energy is really the key. And so it goes on. And on. But at the end of the day, the proof of the pudding is in the eating… No one would argue with the fact that feeding the correct food is vital to maintaining health, it’s how to choose it that is difficult. Previous experience of a diet is helpful. Food manufacturers spend much on research and clinical trials but what suits one dog may not suit yours.…

In my head I have a monthly to-do list that helps me plan what I need and, more importantly, at what time of the year it needs to be in or out of the car. January: Beating stick, flags, wellies, overtrousers. February: Pigeon gear. March: Mole-trapping gear. Check, clean and buy new crow gear for drillings. April: Check all foxing gear. May: Get gear ready for laid crops. June: Get gear ready for stubble and car lamping gear. July: Make and mend all squirrel feeders and traps. August: Paint goose and duck decoys. September: Collect and repair all ferreting gear. November: Paint and pack away pigeon decoys. December: Relax. As you can see, with each of these tasks there is a multitude of smaller tasks that keep me busy throughout…

Ingredients ¾lb venison (I use either sirloin or rump) 3tbsp sunflower oil 1tsp salt Pepper 1 spring onion (cut into ½in pieces) 1 clove garlic (chopped) 3 green peppers (de-seeded and sliced) 3 sticks celery (sliced) ½pint chicken stock 2tsp cornflour ¼pint water 1tsp soy sauce How to cook Slice the venison. Heat the oil in a wok and add the seasonings, then when very hot sauté the meat for one minute, stirring constantly. Add the spring onion, garlic and green peppers, stir once or twice, then slowly add the celery and stock. Cover the pan, turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix the cornflour with the water to make a smooth paste, add the soy sauce and add to the meat. Cook gently until the gravy…

Ingredients Serves: 2 mallards (plucked and drawn) 300g risot to rice 100g butter, unsalted 2 banana shallots or 4 small shallots 4 glasses r ed wine 1 litre chicken stock 100g freshly grated parmesan 2tbsp vegetable oil 4 blood or anges 24 baby turnips 200g wild mushr ooms, preferably chan terelles Salt and pepper 1 Make the risotto first. Finely chop the shallots and sauté with a knob of butter until soft, but not coloured. Add risotto rice and cook gently for two minutes. Add red wine and cook over a medium heat, stirring continuously, until absorbed. This takes about two minutes. Next, add chicken stock a ladle at a time, allowing each to be absorbed before adding another. After using about 200ml of the stock, check the rice to…

“Every level of ability is catered for, from beginner to AAA Class shooter” Place: High Lodge Shooting Ground, Haw Wood, Hinton, Darsham, Suffolk IP17 3QT, tel 01986 784347. Easy to find? Throw away your satnav and road map… getting to High Lodge is a doddle. Entrance to the ground is well signposted and slap bang on the A12 Lowestoft to Ipswich road. It’s one mile north of Yoxford and Darsham main line railway station. Got a helicopter? Then you’ll be pleased to know the ground has its own landing pad! 9 Disciplines: Four Skeet and Trap ranges, but it’s High Lodge’s impressive English and FITASC Sporting facilities that are the real draw. Oh, and a high tower that must rank as one of the tallest in the country. No wonder…

I recently received an email from a person looking at my website. Nothing strange about that I hear you say. The message started with the usual: “Dear sir/ madam, I have been looking at your website and the assortment of control methods you employ to kill rabbits.” However, what came next came as a bit of a shock: “Why do you kill rabbits? Why can’t you have compassion for such creatures? What are your views on the growing human population and the destruction we cause – what methods of control would you use for such a species?” Initially I shook my head and wondered which one of my mates had sent it, but after telephoning a few of the likely culprits it was clear that it was a genuine email.…

The energy to power a gamebird’s flight comes from sugars (glycogen) in wing muscles. After death, glycogen is converted into lactic acid by enzymes, which are naturally present in meat. This lactic acid helps to tenderise the meat and adds flavour. However, when stress or prolonged violent flight occurs prior to death, glycogen stores are rapidly burned wup. With less glycogen available, not as much lactic acid is produced after death, leaving the meat tougher to chew and far less tasty (it will also spoil more rapidly). Food producers routinely “cheat” and add lactic acid to a wide range of foods including meat, poultry, fish, drinks and dairy products, in order to enhance flavour and extend shelf life. Safety: Following lengthy experiments with game, food-safety specialists recommend that shot pheasant…

MEET THE TEAM GUNDOGS: GRAHAM WATKINS A professional gundog trainer for more than 35 years and runs Gamegoer Gundogs. VETERINARY: NEIL MCINTOSH A practising vet in Scotland. TUITION: JOHN BIDWELL 6 times World FITASC champ and pro shooting coach. LEGAL: DAVID FROST Author of Sporting Shooting and the Law. TECHNICAL: MIKE GEORGE Engineering author with a deep love of gunmaking. PIGEONS: PETER THEOBALD Author of Woodpigeon: The Ultimate Quarry. STALKING: GEORGE WALLACE Former National Gamekeepers’ Organisation’s firearms consultant. FERRETS: ED COOK Professional rabbit catcher working over 30,000 acres. PEST CONTROL & WILDFOWL: TOM SYKES Passionate wildfowler and pest controller TUITION Tall orders Q I am fairly tall with a long neck and high cheek bones. I have had my gun extended for length on the advice of our club coach.…

If you were to look at the hierarchy of gundogs in the shooting field, you would more than likely consider dogs that work in the beating line at the bottom of list. But, in fact, they probably need to be the best trained of all the gundogs in the field and they certainly work the hardest. All breeds can work in the beating line but it would be hard to better a well-trained hard-going spaniel. Early training There are two main requirements to a good beating dog, they must hunt close and be totally steady to both ground and feathered game. If you plan to do a lot of beating with your dog right from the beginning, you should have encouraged and conditioned it to hunt close. One of the…

“The rat is a very clever creature and that is why it has been so successful” Last week I was talking to a good friend, who is a very keen wildlife photographer. We were discussing how difficult it has become to make a living out of taking and selling images of wild animals and birds, and how the professional photographers have had to diversify to make a living. Many of them are now running courses or setting up hides so “punters” can pay their money, turn up on the day and be put in a situation where they will almost be guaranteed shots of kingfishers, owls or ospreys. The point about this situation is that in years gone by the photographer would have to have spent hours scouting out suitable…

I’m pleased to say that Alfie is not used that often to track a wounded deer; our aim is to drop the animal on or near to the spot. Occasionally that doesn’t happen and a shot deer is capable of travelling some distance before it does drop even when the shot is bang on target. The buck we saw on our last outing for the rut was chasing a doe in a field that was about to be cut for silage. When the shot was taken the buck appeared to run and because we were in the wood we lost sight of it. My guest was concerned he had taken a bad shot. I thought not, but it could have been placed a little further back. Having lost sight of…

GUNS FOR SALE 28-bore hammer gun, double barrel, gc, reasonable offers. Tel 01162 669699 (Leicestershire). Beretta 693 Black Edition, 30in Sporter, very light use, lovely wood, mint condition, £2,850. Tel 07756 975153 (Nottinghamshire). Remington 3200 trap gun, 30in barrels, action and barrels as new, no scratches, no marks, stock has adjustable comb and rubber pad, fire-end has crack repaired on top left side (approx 1in long), fully ventilated barrels, excellent shooting, classic shotgun, pics available. £400. Tel 07890 601446 (Aberdeenshire). Browning 525, 30in barrels, 20-bore, two stocks, one adjustable comb 13in, one standard 14½in (repaired), cased with chokes and accessories, £699. Tel 01608 643002 (Oxfordshire). Benelli MK2, super black eagle camo, hard case chokes, £1,000. Tel 07788 630904 (Kent). Lanber 12-bore, 30in fixed choke, single selective trigger, reliable gun, £125…

WINCHESTER MODEL 23 Side-by-side classes in major sporting contests don’t seem to be as popular as they were, which is a pity because they formed a friendly link between clay and gameshooting. Nevertheless, using a side-by-side for club Sporting targets can be great fun, as well as sharpening up the reflexes ready for the autumn. Of course, if you want to take clays with side-by-sides seriously then you need a specialist tool for the job, and there are not many suitable guns on the market. But on the second-hand shelves there are some gems, and one such is the Winchester Model 23. The gun disappeared along with the much-loved Winchester 101 series of O/Us in the 1980s, but good examples still seem to be fetching premium prices. Basically, there are…

Whatever is a super-cheap gun doing in my fantasy gunroom? The answer is that I want my collection to reflect the market since Sporting Gun was founded in 1977, and in this magazine’s lifetime the humble Baikal has played a significant role. To me the Baikal is in the same league as a 1940s prefab or a 1950s Ford Popular. The prefab gave ordinary folks a taste of living in a dry, well-designed, warm house with an indoor toilet, a bathroom and a fridge, while the dear old Popular, with its crude side-valve engine and cart-spring suspension, gave working folks a taste for the style of motoring they had thought they might never afford. Working-class gun Likewise, the Baikal gave lots of ordinary guys a chance…

No fun at the fair > I was pleased to read the article in the October issue of Sporting Gun acknowledging Team GB’s Olympic achievements. What a pity the BBC could not devote more time to our sport. Even the news coverage was very brief. This was compounded by the BBC’s Countryfile Live event. No time was devoted to shooting or the real county events. Where were the foxhounds, the terriers, the ferrets, gundogs, archery, fly tying and casting? The event was more like an urban fair. Does any one at the BBC know what really happens in our beautiful countryside? It appears not. Peter R Johnson, Harrogate Ed – Thanks for your email Peter. I went to Countryfile Live and was also disappointed by the lack of anything shooting…

“Pigeons do not feed in any kind of pattern nor do they face predominantly into the wind” As you would expect, I spend a lot of time watching pigeons, from picking up flightlines to trying to find their favourite field at any given time of year. I get plenty of opportunity to watch birds on the ground, and to observe how they cover the ground while feeding. After 50 years of doing this, I can say with some confidence that pigeons do not feed in any kind of “pattern” nor do they face predominantly into the wind. Admittedly, they will approach the feeding flock heading into wind given the choice, but I have seen untold instances of birds hurtling downwind to turn at the last possible moment and land with…

Old-time poachers knew the value of a well-hung pheasant – they also knew the harsh penalty for being caught in possession. Their answer was to dig a hole and hang their ill-gotten game from a stick placed across the entrance. Logs or a heavy stone slab were used to cover the hole and conceal the ripening game from foxes, dogs and the village bobby. Of course in olden days, folk really did like their game “ripe”. Horror stories abound of maggoty game hung until head and carcase fell apart and the meat smelling worse than a keeper’s summer socks. I’m guessing that this fancy for high meat was partly down to taste, but mostly due to a lack of refrigeration in Victorian kitchens. Diners today (myself included) prefer a more…

WHERE THEY WERE SHOT 1 Name: Tom Healing Location: Chester, Cheshire Tom Healing and best friend Henry had a red-letter day on laid barley in Chester. Tom said: “After a few days watching a field of laid barley I gathered my kit, set up the hide and strategically positioned the decoys to make sure I dropped the birds on the flattened crop. (It sort of defeats the object of protecting the crop if you then go about doing more damage retrieving the bird). It was a big day for me and Hen with a final bag of 56 birds, four lost in the standing crop.” 2 Name: Tom Rampton Location: Felixstowe, Suffolk Here’s a photo of 13-year-old Tom Rampton on his first outing. Matthew Rampton said: “Tom Rampton, age 13,…

“The gun is relatively plain, but this is a gun designed to be used rather than cherished” Cogswell & Harrison (C&H) is a company with a wealth of history. It can be traced back to 1770 and is the oldest gunmaking firm to have evolved out of London. I use the word “evolved” because C&H has gone through many changes in its long history. More so since the mid-20th century and is now owned by the Brennan family who, while being based in Ireland, have a registered office in Hertfordshire. London origins C&H is probably the largest gunmaker to have started in London. There are a number of C&H shops in some of the best known London streets, including the Strand, Piccadilly and New Bond Street. To support this, there…

Idon’t know about anyone else but as September gets closer I start to get very restless. Normally I have a few days booked on a local flightpond, but this year due to the dry weather there was very little water and the chance of bagging a few mallard looked unlikely. A couple of the bigger partridge shoots locally had postponed their opening days due to the wheat not being cut in time, so I really was feeling a bit frustrated especially as I had not long got back from a rabbiting trip in Yorkshire and the dogs had performed really well. My regular shoots do not start until the middle of October so it looked as though I was going to have to be patient and wait a few more…

“Shape, shine and silhouette are, in my opinion, key things to consider when keeping out of sight” Over the next two months I will be looking at the different concealment methods that I use on the foreshore. In this article I’ll concentrate more on the techniques I use when travelling light, using natural surroundings with the odd trick or two to keep out of sight. Next month, we’ll look more closely at the use of hide equipment and how to deploy it in the field. Keeping out of sight is a golden rule when trying to get near any quarry species. Wildfowlers are often fortunate to have a cloak of darkness to help conceal them while out shooting, however, not all wildfowling is performed in the low light levels of…

Following on from my comments last month about a disappointing rut but having another week to go during the period, I can say it didn't improve. There was very little rutting activity observed. That didn't really surprise me to be honest because up in Northumberland the weather was wet, very wet. Although I have culled roe in the rain often, continuous wet weather and wind does tend to put a dampener on the whole affair, no surprise there then! Even so, the rut is taking place and there will be new kids born next June to prove it, but for us it was not as hot as the last couple of years. We had a great rut in 2014, wherever we went deer just appeared at the call and in…

EASY RECIPE Goose burgers Ingredients Goose breast Bacon – two packets Salt and pepper Mixed herbs Bread buns Lettuce Tomato This goose burger recipe is very simple, ideal for a family meal or perfect to freeze for summer barbecues. One large Canada goose makes roughly eight burgers, depending on the size. Take the goose breasts, with the skin removed, and slice into big chunks to make mincing easier. The same can be done to the bacon. Put the goose breasts and bacon through the mincer. Goose breasts are lean, so the bacon adds fat to make the burgers juicy and flavoursome. I use unsmoked bacon so that it doesn’t overpower the taste of the burgers. Once all the meat is minced, mix it together making sure that the bacon runs…

GUNS adj — adjustable ble — boxlock ejector blne — boxlock non ejector brls — barrels c/w — complete with cyl — cylinder db — double barrel dt — double trigger ej — ejector ex con — excellent condition fac — firearms certificate fc — fixed choke gc — good condition grd — grade hg — hammer gun imp — improved ltwt — lightweight m/c — multi-choke mod — modified o/u — over and under ono — or near offer ovno — or very near offer p/x — part exchange pa — pump action rf — rimfire rnds — rounds (ammunition) sa — semi-automatic sb — single barrel sbs — side by side sle — side lock ejector slne — sidelock no ejector sst — single selective trigger tge —…

Pests. If it’s not one critter, it’s another. From early spring through to May, carrion crows and magpies took up too much of my time. After that it was rabbits and pigeons. And as soon as the corn was safely gathered in, foxes. As far as I’m concerned – and I bet thousands of other shooters will agree – vermin control can sometimes be a real pain in the backside, but someone (are you listening Chris Packham?) has to do it. Without all the Sporting Gun readers across the land doing their bit, he’d find a lot fewer creatures to film for the enrichment of the viewing public. Except vermin, of course. The “baddies” out there that cause so much costly damage form quite a list, to which I’m going…