Wildfowling gear has benefitted greatly from advances in materials technology in recent years. Decoy bags are now much lighter and easily washed than those of 30 years ago and neoprene…
Patrick Galbraith
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How to tell if your gun fits you
Tom Payne explains what gun fit means, going over the parts of a gun, terminology and which measurements are important. As he says: “Gun fit is a bit like having…
Every day’s a school day
We were huddled together in an old Dumfriesshire farmhouse kitchen, with rain bouncing off the windows. “Whether we hit 10 birds today or 100 matters not,” announced 14-year-old Charlie Hattam,…
Following in the footsteps of famous wildfowlers
You might not have heard of him but if you’re a member of BASC — and by my reckoning you ought to be — you owe a great deal to…
What do Guns really want?
In a West Country inn on a crisp autumnal evening, Tim Maddams, whom regular readers will recognise from our cookery pages, tells me that he thinks we need to kick…
Gameshooting in Wiltshire – sport as it’s meant to be
Say what you will but I don’t always wear a tie in the field, remember to fill out my game book, nor ever really use my side-by-side. I am not…
Your first day in the field
In the fourth part of our Shooting Times series on how to become the Shot you’ve always wanted, in association with Hull Cartridge, Tom Payne is looking at how to…
Getting your footwork right
In the third instalment of our series on how to become the Shot you’ve always wanted to be, in association with Hull Cartridge, Tom Payne teaches you how to up…
A good day’s ratting
It was about 4am with rain falling hard from the London sky and people spilling out of nightclubs on to the greasy streets. As I sat waiting for the red…
Would your gun cabinet pass the test?
A muscular man in the middle of the room swung a large hammer up over his head and brought it crashing down on a metal cabinet. It was not an…
A grand affair: the 33rd annual Woodcock Club dinner
I turned up a little late to the 33rd Shooting Times Woodcock Club dinner on 22 April. But the road that winds its way over the Quantocks to Crowcombe Court…
Interview with Sir Nicholas Soames, Conservative MP for Mid Sussex
Sir Nicholas Soames reaches into his pocket and pulls out a box of matches. I wait for the cigar to follow. It would suit him, sitting there, statesmanlike in a…