Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i Sporting Gun

Thank you for all your emails and letters about the new look of the magazine. I’m glad that you liked it, but if you think we can improve it in any way, just let us know. Sporting Gun will continue to evolve and I’m happy to say we have another new regular feature, “Keeper Profile”. Each month we will interview an exceptional keeper to see what we can learn from them. This issue it’s the turn of Liam Bell, the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation’s new chairman. Another one of our new sections, the reader gun test, has had a good response. We will be contacting all those who showed an interest and try to arrange a date when you can test some guns. Also, make sure you take part in our…

The doctor’s advice Dr Patrick Hook clearly accounts for a large number of foxes each year and I much appreciate the expertise that goes into each of his articles in Sporting Gun. I was interested to read about the rabbiting combination that his shooting partner Paul uses because I too have a .17 HMR paired with an Optisan 5-12x50 scope. However, he failed to identify the night vision (NV) attachment that fits on the back of the scope and works in conjunction with the Nightmaster IR illuminator, which is mentioned. I would greatly appreciate it if you could let me know the specific details of the NV equipment as I am in the market for just such an item. Gerry Eastham Patrick Says: Many thanks for your message. Paul uses…

My earliest memories of shooting are of times spent accompanying the grownups for an informal rough shoot on the family farm. Often on a Saturday afternoon, my father and a couple of other Guns would venture out with me as a diminutive beater/game carrier. On one notable occasion, after working out some rough hedgerows and strips of sugar beet, we reached a crop of what was, for me, shoulder-high, almost impenetrable soaking wet kale on the farm boundary, beside a boggy wood. The old farm Labrador flushed the odd pheasant or two, and disturbed several woodcock as we walked away from the wood. Oblivious to danger Cut off from cover, surprisingly, a few attempted to circle back low between the Guns, causing pandemonium. One of the Guns – who shall…

“There are some pieces of equipment I wouldn’t leave the house without” Anyone who controls rabbits will know that they tend to build their homes in places that are difficult to reach. During drier times, and in harvest, we can access most of the land by vehicles, however, during wetter periods we have to abandon the motor and take to the fields by foot. I know walking the fields isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I find lamping by foot quite enjoyable. Of course there are down sides to it, one of the biggest being the amount of time it takes you to cover each field. It can also be a real work out. On my last night out my fitness app logged 14,000 steps – with a bag full…

A funny old season; I shot far less than usual due to a neck injury, but compensated by getting out with a stick and beating on as many shoots as possible. In southern England, it was certainly a poor season weather-wise. Far too warm, but thankfully not as wet as the previous season. There was also a disturbing lack of wind on many days. Despite this I saw plenty of strong flyers, but many other birds would doubtless have soared higher with a strong breeze to tickle their wings. The balmy weather, combined with a wealth of natural food, had many keepers grumbling as their pheasants strolled off into bordering woods. There were far too few cold snaps to bring the birds “home” to their feed rides. Season's high points…

“The Chinese invention of gunpowder was a somewhat weird quirk of fate” In the ninth century the Vikings captured York and other major English centres of civilisation and were set to make a nuisance of themselves for the next 300 years. At the same time, the Chinese invented a relatively low-powered explosive, which would leave its mark on history. The Chinese invention of gunpowder was a somewhat weird quirk of fate, because what the alchemists were really seeking was a magic medicine which would ensure eternal life. Instead, they came up with a formula, which, over the years, was to ensure a premature death for millions of people. Now, there is no great secret to any of the more common recipes for explosives, which is why present-day terrorists can concoct…

“You will create future problems if you push too quickly” The causes First of all, this is a problem that can be overcome but it needs to be taken slowly and carefully because you don’t want to totally put the dog off entering cover. You haven’t mentioned whether you have a springer or a cocker spaniel and this can make a difference, springers tend to hunt a bit harder and generally do not need as much scent to get them going as a cocker does. They are also bigger, stronger dogs and therefore can deal with thicker cover, although cockers become very adept at getting underneath the bramble and they will use any rabbit runs to their advantage. So, let’s look at what can cause this problem and then we…

Alfie has put me in the dog house! Bess, our chocolate Labrador, is in season and that means that Alfie – poor lad – is back in the kennel during the day rather than in the house. To say he is miffed is an understatement. He is certainly not speaking to me and all of his effort when out of the kennel is stalking around, nose to the ground, seeking out every area in the parish where Bess had been and leaving his own scent – it is bedlam. So much so that we had a heart-to-heart chat yesterday where I made it clear that he could only come into the house after major surgery had been carried out, his tail stopped wagging at that point... I'm sure he understands…

INGREDIENTS • 1 large pheasant • 1 lemon • 3 sprigs of thyme • Salt and pepper • Oil • 2 cloves of garlic crushed  •½ small cabbage • Large knob of butter For the Madeira sauce: • 85g butter • 1 banana shallot, finely chopped • 1 garlic clove, chopped • 50ml Madeira • 100ml beef stock • 1tbsp chopped fresh tarragon For the rÖsti potato: • 1 large potato grated • 2tsp oil • 20g butter Cooking method 1 • Preheat the oven to 180°C. • Take the whole pheasant and stuff the cavity with the lemon cut in half, thyme and garlic. 2 • Heat a pan (which can be used in an oven) until hot and sear all sides, approximately four minutes on each side. • Take the pan and roast the pheasant in the oven for 12 minutes. 3 • Mix the grated…

Shooting’s massive contribution to the British economy has already been well stated. But it never hurts to keep repeating. Without the £2.5billion shelled out by shooters each year, many countryside communities would be in financial queer street. You only need to look at my market town to see what shooting brings to the area. From mid-August to the end of January, Helmsely heaves with shooters from all corners of the United Kingdom, Europe, America and even Australia. Every hotel and guesthouse bed is filled. Shops of every description do a roaring trade. And by the same token, hundreds of beaters and pickers-up locally use the money they earn to pay bills, buy groceries, fill up the car on a Sunday or, maybe, help fund a family holiday. Self denial Non-shooting…

Highlander origin Firstly, may I say how much I enjoy your magazine and particularly Mike George’s gun articles and answers. However, I would like to slightly correct Mike, if I may, on his reply regarding the Macnab Highlander range of shotguns in January issue, page 61. Sabatti did make some of the Highlanders i.e. the sporters and also the Lowlander, but most of the Highlanders were made by Battista Rizzini. I have a sideplated Highlander in 20-bore which is clearly engraved “B.Rizzini” on the action. I hope that Mike does not mind me pointing this out. Chris Skinner, via email Mike says: I don’t mind – in fact I value the information in your letter, Chris. When guns cease to be imported it is often difficult to trace the source,…

The Lincolnshire Fens can be a bleak place in winter and are renowned for being completely flat. You can see for miles, there’s barely a tree in sight, but the stark landscape is strangely attractive. As the landscape is so flat you can see anyone or anything coming, there’s no hiding out here. With this in mind you'd expect it's not the sort of environment to get good shooting, but you’d be surprised. The Lincolnshire Fens is well know for wild bird pheasant shoots and for how well they fly. Richard's day Richard Bailey’s shoot near Spalding is no exception. His shoot covers up to 400 acres and is run by Leon Smith, who also has the shooting rights over the farm. When Richard retired from farming he handed the…

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. RABBITS ED COOK Professional rabbit catcher working over 30,000 acres. PEST CONTROL & WILDFOWLING TOM SYKES Passionate wildfowler and pest controller…

“There’s something for everyone here, from beginners to experts” Place Manchester Clay Shooting Club, Botany Bay Woods, Grange Road, Eccles, Manchester. Tel 07761 409427 for bookings and enquiries or tel 0161 653 4438 for the main switchboard. E-mail info@manchesterclayshooting.com www.manchesterclayshooting.com Easy to find? Not at all bad, as long as you take directions from the website. From Junction 13 on the M60 follow signs for Eccles onto the B5211 Barton Road, then take Worsley Road for half a mile. Turn right onto Grange Road (next to the Grange Store Shop), pass over the motorway and take the dirt track for two miles, following signs for Manchester Clay Shooting Club. 6 Disciplines There’s near enough everything here you could possibly want. By my count there’s upward of 24 Sporting stands on…

“It’s nearly 2lb lighter than many steel-actioned O/Us, I sometimes wonder if these guns will float!” 1. In the workshop Although a 20-bore, the Hunter Light is an elegant gun that handles well and can cope with anything you put in it The B725 is a continually evolving platform that Browning is using to develop an ever increasing range of guns with. The 20-bore version has come out of the last two to three seasons. One of the later editions is the new Hunter Light. The 725 is the natural successor to the 525 series, which itself was preceded by the 425, the 325 before that and the Citori before that. The 525 remains in the range, and I hope it does for many years because it still has a…

“Geese were on the move and it was evident that they wanted our field” In the blink of an eye another year has rushed by and we are, once again, making our way to the Orkney Islands for three days of goose shooting. We first experienced the rugged wildness of the Islands three years ago, and have returned every year since to be looked after by Rob Frampton and his team of guides. Rob runs the Orkney Shooting Holidays outfit, and no effort is spared to make sure you get plenty of shooting. The Islands have a resident population of some 25,000 greylag, augmented by the same number of migrants in the autumn. Pinkfeet also arrive in September, but tend to move further south after a few days. Wigeon, in…

“Working together is the key to sustaining the hen harrier population” At the time of writing we are on the run in to the Christmas break at Newton Rigg; however this does not mean that we slow down our ever-busying schedule of events. This week saw the first woodcock shoot day held in Greystoke Forest this season. It is organised by the first year students in preparation for running the driven partridge shoot on the college farm in their second year. Respected bird The woodcock is widely respected in the shooting community for all the right reasons. The woodcock day has blended well with the Ecology of Game Unit of our course because we have been researching the ecology of the Eurasian Woodcock over the past few weeks. Considering the…

“HpRs move at pace, but once they wind game they will stop dead and go on point” The very first time I saw a German shorthaired pointer (GSP) working was about 25 years ago. I had been invited to photograph an HPR (hunt, point, retrieve) spring pointing test on the Waddesdon Manor Estate in Buckinghamshire, and the first dog to run was a white and liver-ticked dog called Swifthouse Basil. I was truly impressed by the dog's speed and pace and how much ground it covered in its hunting pattern. I was used to watching and working spaniels that covered 10 yards either side of me, Basil was covering at least 100 yards and going like the wind. He was working what is known as a back-wind, this is where…

“Guns must be stored securely to prevent unauthorised access” One of the most tragic events of 2016 was the murder of the MP, Jo Cox. She was shot with a sawn-off .22 rifle. Quite how the odious Thomas Mair came to be in possession of it is not known, but it is known that it was previously a lawfully held rifle that had been stolen. It is a timely reminder of what can happen if guns fall into the wrong hands – 635 guns were reported stolen or lost in 2015. Security Surprisingly the Firearms Act has nothing to say about the need for security. Evidently it was not thought something Parliament needed to debate and security requirements for rifles have, at least since 1937, been included in the standard…

Jack Pyke’s affordable and functional clothing has won a loyal following among British shooters over recent years. It may not be the first brand to spring to mind when choosing fine threads to wear on prestigious game shoots, but this company’s gear has a reputation for delivering durability and performance without breaking the bank. And for most of us, that’s a very good thing. If your shooting entails hauling yourself through brambles, scrabbling under fences and clambering into ditches and hedgerows to ambush your quarry, you don’t want the added worry of damaging clothing that cost a small fortune. The affordability of the Jack Pyke range means you can get on with the job in hand without fretting over the odd rip or scratch – this is stuff that can…

Last year I was on a successful duck flight on the river when I noticed a large number of pink-footed geese flighting in the area and dropping into the neighbouring marsh. After dumping my gear back at the car, I headed to the access point with my Lab, Goose, and my binoculars to see what was going on. The wonderful distinctive pink-foot call could be clearly heard as the geese fed and milled about on the marsh top, with small parties joining all the time. Keen to make full use of this situation, I phoned my brother, Jack, to tell him the news and discuss the best plan of attack, which was to intercept the geese the following morning. While on the phone I kept a keen eye on the…

Most folk these days are conscious of being environmentally friendly, which is one of the reasons why I don’t use gassing as a form of rabbit control. When I started my company 16 years ago, gassing was what most other commercial pest controllers offered, with little else in their armoury. Expensive Times have changed and landowners can now see the merits of using other methods. This is normally down to a variety of factors. Gassing is very expensive and I often wonder if it would be cheaper to keep the rabbits, and suffer the damage they cause, than pay for the service. The percentage removed is another consideration. Many gassing contractors only offer up to a 60 per cent success rate, which in my eyes is a very small portion…

“Glass balls were filled with feathers, powder or chopped paper” Another game season has finished. So what do you now do with the gun? Put it in the cabinet again until October; or keep using her? I doubt many Sporting Gun readers would dream of mothballing their musket, especially when some of the best shooting this island has to offer is about to kick off in the shape of woodpigeon. Getting under woodies at roost or on a spring drilling is the sport of Gods. No question about it. I suppose you could say pigeon shooting is the best of all practice to keep your eye in ready for another game season, come autumn, but this does the bird a grave injustice. If you want practice, try your hand at…

As both a challenge of shooting skill and a delicacy for the table, the Eurasian Woodcock is regarded by many shooters as an elusive and highly prized trophy. It is certainly one of the most mysterious birds among our quarry species. Most encounters with this secretive and interesting wader are of the bird on the wing. Disturbed from its daytime resting place, the woodcock suddenly springs up and jinks away in characteristic zig-zagging flight, making best use of nearby tree-trunks and other obstacles as a means of confusing predators, including man! Appearance Seldom is a bird spotted on the ground, its intricately patterned plumage having evolved to blend perfectly with its surroundings, the cryptic mix of reddish-brown upperparts, mottled with black, grey and buff designed by nature to melt effortlessly…

“With the plethora of choice today, there is no reason not to wear hearting protection” Silence may be golden, but it’s certainly not best achieved by damaging your ears – and with the plethora of choice in electronic ear defenders we have today, there’s simply no reason not to wear hearing protection. Numerous shooters complain of deafness, and, possibly the worse affliction, tinnitus – a constant ringing sound. The old ear defenders, which meant that you were cut off from the world, are no longer inflicted on us – today’s clever technology means you can not only hear ambient noise, but you can hear what a Gun at the other end of a line says, or the beater warning of a bird approaching. If you’re on a rifle range, you…

“Owners often just think their dog has a sensitive stomach” Last month we looked at disease conditions of the prostate gland, which obviously only affect males. Now it is the turn of the adrenals. When it comes to abnormalities here, complicated syndromes result. Females are over represented… What are they? The adrenal glands are small and bean-shaped and located just in front of the kidneys. Regulated by hormones produced in the pituitary gland in the brain, the adrenals are responsible for the secretion of two vital hormones – cortisol and aldosterone. Cortisol has hundreds of effects in the body and is vital in our response to stress. Aldosterone, on the other hand, is involved in maintaining blood pressure and balancing water and salt content. It does this by helping the…

“I have been really pleased with Ted’s persistence and tenacity” Age 9 months Countdown to first shoot 11 months and 26 days There are a lot of advantages of getting a new gundog pup early in the year. Ted was born in April and we bought him home in late June, so it meant that I was able to undertake most of his basic training during the late summer while the weather was still nice and dry. Now into the colder, wetter months, I have been taking advantage of the cooler days to get Ted’s nose down and to make his retrieves a bit more difficult. It's not what you’ve got... The well-known retriever trainer, Ricky Ross Moloney, once told me it really doesn’t matter what facilities you have available…

What seems like an age ago, I recall the Sporting Gun editor at the time phoning me after my second article was written, asking why I had stalked up the shaded side of the tree line to get onto a deer. My inexperienced reply was on the lines of, “isn’t it obvious?”. “Ah”, he said sagely, “it may be to you, but not to thousands of our readers!” The editor, who was Robin Scott, would often query “why” and that in turn made me take a much closer look at descriptions that seemed obvious to me, but may not mean much to the reader. I discussed last month about the whys and wherefores of shot placement, with regard to the chest or neck shot and this made me ponder about…

“Even with two thermal imagers the fox had seemingly vanished” One of the problems with shooting at night, of course, is that it’s inherently dark. While this usually works to our advantage when setting up and taking the shot, it can be a real problem locating your fallen quarry afterwards. I know that some people don’t bother – they pull the trigger and move on, however, that’s not acceptable to me. Those who’ve never tried it for themselves often find it hard to believe that you can lose a fully grown fox on what is seemingly a flat field. My shooting partner, Paul, and I went to a prestigious pheasant shooting estate recently. The keeper there was run off his feet dealing with all the things that a keeper does,…

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• MAX PRICE: £500 • TYPE: O/U • MAIN PURPOSE: Club clays • PREFERRED MAKE: I will take your recommendation Mike George’s buying advice I can understand you wanting something better than the old AYA. It’s not that there was anything wrong with it in its day, but it’s a non-ejector and it is many years since AYA stopped making non-ejector guns. So, not only is it getting a bit long in the tooth, but it is also a gun for field shooting, and you need a proven claybuster. As a field-shooting gun it will also be lighter than the average Sporter and therefore – if you haven’t noticed it already – the recoil will get a bit tiring over long strings of shots, such as you might encounter over a 50 or 100-target…

Imagine you had invented something that everyone was going to need, even if they did not realise it at the time it was invented. Good examples of this would be the zip fastner and the safety pin, even if the latter was practically given away by the inventor for $15 to pay off a debt! Revolvers In the world of firearms a similar “must have” invention exists – that of the bored-through or breech-loading cylinder for revolvers. Nowadays not so many of us humble UK citizens get to use revolvers, but in the past they were major pieces used by sportsmen, soldiers and law enforcement. Colt, a name that needs no introduction, had perfected the mass produced muzzle-loading revolver. People who needed a gun for whatever purpose were universally impressed…