Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2021 i Sporting Rifle

For at least 20 years, deer stalking has been one of the brightest stars in the shooting firmament. Its rise has tracked the steady growth in the range and population of our six native or naturalised deer species and has effectively resulted in the establishment of a new fieldsport. Until a few decades ago, mention of deerstalking essentially referred to one thing: the pursuit of red deer – primarily stags – in the Scottish Highlands. In the lowlands of England, a few enthusiasts stalked roe, often drawing on the rich traditions of woodland stalking that had been imported from continental Europe, especially from Germany by returning ex-servicemen. Fallow, too, were an important sporting quarry in some locations, especially in ancient hunting forests such as Epping or the New Forest, or…

The PARD name is one I have skirted for some time as they always seemed sold out due to popularity in either 007 or 008 formats. The former is a rear add on for a regular day scope and I hope to get one soon but my first assumption was that the 008 would be better suited for foxing. The NV 008P LRF is the top specification unit; with side mounted laser rangefinders, as well as onboard day/night digital imagery, with a reticle system to cater for most 24/7 pest control needs. The underside of the unit – all neatly packaged in a zippered Cordura type case – is an extended reach scope mount to ensure correct eye relief with the UK’s more common bolt action rifle format. This has…

I’ve now owned a .17 Hornet for over two years and in that time I’ve got to know it quite well. Of all the rifles I’ve owned this calibre has raised more questions than any other. My connection with the Hornet, both .22 and .17, goes back a very long time and in fact my very first sight of a “big” rifle was when I was about 13. After pestering a local keeper, he allowed me to accompany him on occasions when he was on his rounds. He had a .22 Hornet, I think it was a BSA, and I saw him shoot everything from rabbits to fallow with it. It seems to me that the .22 Hornet for some reason draws more people than any other calibre. Perhaps this…

Readers may remember a few months ago I reviewed the flagship model scope from Element Optics – the Element Nexus. This month I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing the mid-range option – the Titan. If ever a name suited a scope it has to be this one, as the Titan really is a giant of a scope in more ways than one. The Titan boasts a 56mm objective lens with a 34mm body tube to let in maximum light but its beefy image doesn’t stop there. Target style tool-free turrets offer 25 MOA (mRad version also available) of adjustment per turret revolution with a positive smooth click adjustment incorporating stainless steel workings to prevent the wear associated with the usual brass gearings through constant use. As with all the scopes…

Flickering fires and amber liquid are conducive to storytelling and the dimension of the yarns generally grow in direct proportion to the waning of the flames and increased intake of alcohol. Scotty was once heard to mutter, after enough home-brew rum to kill all the gorse up Deadman’s Gully, that his best shot ever killed two deer standing side-by-side. “That’s nothing,” boasted Cookie, “I saw three deer standing abreast on one dark one night and I managed to shot two of them with one shot.” “Huh, what’s so special about that?” guffawed Scotty? “I shot the first, missed the second because it was a bit skinny, and shot the third,” Cookie cackled. I thought for a moment, then I had my turn to boast. “I was once hunting the west…

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Jaeger bomb? With more lockdown restrictions in Ayrshire, Chris Dalton takes time to get to admire his new rifle from Haenel Jaeger Lay of the lamb As local foxes target newborn lambs, Mike Powell must be ever vigilant The buck stops here David Barrington Barnes admires all the benefits of stalking roebuck in Suffolk Sing for your supper Thomas Nissen hunts Sing Sing waterbuck and samples fried guinea fowl PLUS… besteverhunts Why We Shoot with Al Gabriel Great British Shooting Awards 2021 winners announced News, views and talking points SUBSCRIBE NOW Never miss a copy of your favourite shooting monthly again – subscribe to Sporting Rifle and save money every month, as well as getting the mag delivered to your door. With a quarterly subscription starting at £12, it’s…

The shocking cost of defending Wild Justice’s failed attack on the General Licences in Wales has been exposed, and highlights the mismanagement of funds that could have been used towards conservation efforts. The anti-shooting campaign group brought the action in the hope of having the licences declared ‘unlawful’ by the court thereby forcing their withdrawal. However the Judge rejected all of the group’s claims. In a subsequent costs order the group were ordered to pay £10,000, the maximum allowed under the Aarhus convention. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) explained that they were unable to calculate the full cost of defending the action due to the number of staff hours that were spent on it, however the external legal advice they needed and their court representation took £145,000 away from the Agency’s…

Sam Carlisle Head of shooting campaigns, Countryside Alliance Sam’s work involves running political campaigns that promote and defend shooting. He is a passionate shot, deer stalker and fly fisherman, who previously worked for DEFRA. Simon West Executive director, Gun Trade Association Simon’s role involves protecting, promoting and representing trade interests at home and abroad. He is a deer manager, game shot and runs his own business making live-fire cannon. Geoff Garrod Trustee, National Gamekeepers Organisation Geoff is head keeper at Audley End estate in Essex. He came to prominence through the pioneering ‘Keepers Diary’ video journals and regular appearances in the sporting press and The Shooting Show. Ian Bell Chief executive, British Association for Shooting and Conservation Ian joined the BASC team as CEO in 2018. He has a life-long…

Now I don’t think any of us in our wildest dreams foresaw the situation we were faced with for the opening of the roebucks in 2021 – the world in lockdown. 12 months ago, I spent most of April gardening on lockdown, rather than tending to my usual roe rounds. Anne and I were incredibly fortunate in that we live a fairly isolated lifestyle at Garryloop anyway; notwithstanding the regular group of stalkers that are generally flitting in and about the place. Stalking, however, was put on the back burner and replaced with a lot of jobs that I had been putting off – so there was some slight benefit from a pretty dire situation. As things started to settle we began to take advice and were asked to monitor…

A couple of firsts for me here; one being that this is the first T3 I have reviewed and the second is the fact that, despite shooting for more years than I care to remember, this is the first time I’ve tested and fired a .270Win. Removing the rifle from the packaging I was immediately struck by just how light it was. As the years pass I become more and more interested in the weight of rifles, particularly those that I am likely to carry up and down the hills of Devon. Weighing the rifle proved the point. Unscoped, it tipped the scales at a meagre 6.5 pounds – about the same as a shotgun – so it is easily a rifle that I can shoot freehand, should the need…

I arrived at the farm early; it would be another hour and a half before dusk but I wanted to get set up on the bank in the middle of the bowl at the end of the valley, where I knew I’d have a good view of the surrounding banks and field edges. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon – a welcome reprieve from what seemed like weeks of wet and windy weather – yet the temperature was little more than a couple of degrees above freezing. Shouldering the rifle in its drag bag, I ambled back down the track to a gateway which gave a good vista from the bank down into the bowl below. Through habit, I walked quietly up to the gate to see if there was…

Since 2014, Nosler have been prolific at delivering some of the hardest-hitting, fastest cartridges on the planet. They have become the daddy in this space. What is interesting is that they haven’t achieved this simply by whacking a small bullet in a giant case; yes, of course the case has to be bigger to achieve what they have, but there has been much more thought involved that that. The .33 Nosler, launched at the 2017 Shot Show, is another example of that. The cartridge is based on the same .404 Jeffery case as the .28 and .30 Nosler, but it wasn’t a case of simply necking up to take the larger bullet. According to Zach Waterman of Nosler, “The .33 needed a bit more neck length for proper tension, so…

PULSAR HELION 2XQ50F The new Pulsar Helion 2 XQ50F handheld thermal imager features the same look and feel as the previous version, but now comes with unprecedented sensitivity due to a new sub-40MK NETD thermal sensor with 384x288 resolution and 1024x768 HD Amoled display to deliver outstanding thermal imaging performance in a handheld device. RRP £2,339.95 Scott Country International 01556 503587 scottcountrvinternational.co.uk X-BOLT MOUNTAIN PRO BOLT-ACTION RIFLE There are several standout features found on these new rifles, among them is the carbon fiber stock that is now ¼ lb lighter than previous versions and the innovative new Browning Recoil HAWG muzzle brake that reduces recoil up to 77 per cent. Weather resistance is paramount with the stainless steel barrelled action available with either a Cerakote Burnt Bronze or Tungsten finish.…

It really is amazing how time flies! I well remember writing the 2020 April Almanac and thinking then that the forthcoming roebuck season could well be disrupted by the (then) new virus that was causing problems! Little did I know what was to come, and here we are twelve months further on in an even more difficult situation. I suspect that for many others like myself, life in rural areas has been better than those living in towns and cities, and whilst in some cases our lives and particular pursuits have been disrupted, anything must be better than being cooped up in a high rise flat. On the shooting front, things remain largely the same. In my own case the fox scene, after a very hectic mating season, has gone…

Questions have been raised about a leading rewilding charity’s deer management practices after a dog walker came across the carcasses of a hind and calf apparently dumped at a beauty spot in the Scottish Highlands. A dog walker came across the carcasses in the Nevis gorge near Fort William on 27 January. The animals appeared to have been gralloched and then left on the hillside. The Nevis gorge is part of a large estate owned by the John Muir Trust which includes much of Ben Nevis. “Every few years these things seem to happen on John Muir Trust ground. It is not isolated, sadly,” said Bill Cowie of the SGA Deer Group. The Trust angrily denied any involvement saying: “We were curious as to why these carcasses had been dragged…

I confess there are occasions when my attitude towards muntjac is comparable with that of Das Reich to the French Resistance. Currently, I am having my heels nipped by one territorial muntjac buck which occupies dense woodland behind one of my favourite fallow high seats. The culprit in question invariably lets me get half way up the ladder and then starts to bark. Once started he just goes on and on alerting the fallow for hundreds of yards in all directions. If I could only see him through the trees and brambles I would soon put a stop to that! When otherwise occupied muntjac are most interesting to watch and to hunt. That’s good for the likes of myself as an East Anglian deerstalker where muntjac are frequently present and…

FOXING Q Do you have any tips for late spring/early summer foxing and do you change any of your equipment at this time of year? A Mike says: Certainly, as far as I’m concerned my foxing activities change quite a lot as spring arrives – as does the behaviour of the foxes. For a start there is far more daylight activity at this time of year than during the winter months. On warm days a really quiet, slow walk round your land will sometimes find foxes lying out in the sun. However, I have found that the most productive time to be out after them from April is for a couple of hours from midday onwards, I have shot a considerable number around that time, possibly due to the fact…

A lot of people are moving to thermal riflescopes for fox shooting now, and with good reason. Fox shooters were quick to adopt infrared night vision when it became affordable, and that completely changed the game from the days of waving a lamp around. Now thermal technology has developed to the point where the quality is frankly superb, and prices are within reach of most well-heeled amateurs as well as professional gamekeepers and pest controllers. Thermal has several advantages over night vision, too – not least that it’s entirely passive. It requires no light of any sort, not even the infrared which is certainly visible to some foxes – even if they don’t all react to it. Provided you have good fieldcraft skills, so you don’t alert your quarry with…

As the optical powerhouses all shuffle back and forth in top place to offer first rate optics for poor light, colour rendition, ergonomics and then ballistic capability, Swarovski has at last come to the game with the addition of ballistics, as well as Bluetooth connectivity with their app, to set up and program for your rifle and ammunition. The EL range, seen here in 8x42 format, is also available with 10x magnification. Their ergonomic hand-sized, lightweight twin magnesium tubes lie parallel, spanned by twin bridges to accommodate for 56-74mm interpupilliary spacing. The twist up eyecups offer three extended lengths beyond the fully inward position, with slim rubber eyecups to sit in the orbits tailored to your eyes. Before we get into the electronics, as a reminder of the older EL…

The first few days of the hunting safari we spent in a smaller concession where we often came across fishermen or shepherds with small herds of goats out and about – but this was not the case in the second concession we visited. Here, it is a special privilege for hunters to be able to go into the bush, as none of the locals are in any doubt about the punishment for moving into the area: death! These harsh consequences have been introduced to stop poaching in this big game concession, and are crucial if the game here is to have a chance. With us in the 4X4 we therefore had, in addition to a few trackers, a state-employed officer armed with a fully automatic rifle and a license to…

KAHLES K525I The K 525i combines maximum optical performance and precision with unique handling and ergonomics. The new DLR (Dynamic Long Range) model is optimised for the high requirements of long range shooting, while additionally being equipped with an extra wide field of view, easily readable clicks, extra-long throw lever, and a parallax spinner. The newly developed SKMR4 reticle, in first focal plane, has also been tailored to meet the requirements of distance shooters. RRP £2,950 Kahles (Swarovski Optik) 01737 856812 kahles.at DS 5-25 X52 P GEN. II The dS 5-25x52 P Gen. II combines the optical quality of glass with the benefits of a digital scope. The scope calculates the correct aiming point at the touch of a button, taking into account the distance, air pressure, temperature, angle, magnification…

Speedy Pheasant Thai Field to fork Green Curry SERVES: 2 PREP TIME: 10 MINS COOK TIME: 20 MINS Ingredients 1 tsp vegetable oil1 red onion, chopped4 tbsp Thai green curry paste2x 400g tins light coconut milk2x tbsp fish sauce2x limes, zested and juiced1 tbsp brined green peppercorn, drained and rinsed200g green beans, trimmed and halved4 skinless pheasant breasts, cut into long stripsThai basil leavesCooked brown rice, to serveCoriander The British Game Alliance are a not-for-profit organisation that promotes the value of game and explores new markets at home and overseas…

RIMFIRE Brno .22LR bolt action with Leupold VX1 3-9x40 scope and Parker Hale mod. £200. Gavin Jones 01646 603814 07967 284704 (Wales) CZ452 American .22RF bolt action, 10-shot mag. BSA Sweet17 3-12x40 scope and mod (bipod not included). Good condition. With 500 rounds. £150. Selling due to retirement. Patrick Plavin 01303 863891 07934 597060 (Kent) BRNO .22 RF bolt action, five-shot magazine, ASI Super scope 4x40, wide angle image. All as new with silencer. £275 ono. Michael Darlison 01189 783202 miketat3@yahoo.co.uk (Berkshire) CENTREFIRE Sauer 202 Bolt Action .300 Win Mag. Synthetic stock, sling, bipod, moderator. Swarovski Habicht 4-16x50 scope. Sauer airline case. Bought for wild boar, used just four times. Plus 100 rounds Sako 220gn. £950 the lot. James Radcliffe 01924 402697 Jr_unionroad@btopenworld.com (West Yorkshire) Blaser R93 .308 black edition,…