If you have never attempted plucking a pheasant before, let me suggest that you start outdoors. You’ll want a chair for the purpose, and a bin liner for the feathers…
Shooting Gazette

Crispy chilli duck recipe
This crispy chilli duck recipe is great for using up the breasts from the duck or goose that you waited for in the dwindling light of September or October. It…
What’s the best cartridge load for standard driven pheasants?
How should you tackle standard driven pheasants when you’re out in the field? The sort you’re likely to come across earlier in the season. What would be the best cartridge…
A dog handler’s view of shooting grouse over HPRs
A dogman's take on walked-up grouse shooting
What is the best shotgun cartridge and choke combination for pheasant shooting?
The right shotgun cartridge and choke combination for pheasant shooting could transform your days this coming season. There have been some major advances in shotgun cartridge technology in the past…
15 of the best pheasant shoots in the UK that will be open next season
We’ve searched out a number of the best pheasant shoots around that will welcome shooters from October, with social distancing measures in place. Tregoyd, Powys If you like the challenge…
20 of the best UK pheasant shoots that will be open this season
Tregoyd, Powys If you like the challenge of tricky birds on a variety of terrain then this shoot is one you should visit. Situated to the south of Hay-on-Wye in…
How game managers can get the best financial and environmental rewards from their land
It is very easy for game and land managers to get sucked into the minutiae of detail involved in day-to-day jobs and chores. It is these important details that make…
This family switched to eating game for a nearly a year. What happened?
Our wild game diet It has now been a year since my family last bought meat from a supermarket. The only exceptions are sausages and bacon made from free-range pigs…
British deer: A guide to identifying the six species found here and where to stalk them
The six species of deer to be found in England, their origins and locations.
How to choose the right cartridge for your shotgun
All a shotgun cartridge has to do is propel shot towards the target to hit it cleanly. But with all the different makes and models around it can be confusing. …
Tail docking: Key facts you need to know
Tail docking: It is one of the most emotive subjects in the gundog world, so education is key to knowing where owners, breeders and vets stand on tail docking.
Leading figures in fieldsports look back at 2019 and forward to 2020
Shooting Gazette asked a host of leading figures in gameshooting community for their reflections on 2019 in fieldsports, what they are looking forward to about 2020 and also the one…
Which is the best shotgun cartridge for hitting high birds?
I noticed something last season. I saw some fellow Guns shooting birds at extreme range – higher than 60 yards – and I was also successful with some of my…
Should a youngster have his or her own shotgun certificate?
Q: I would like to buy my son his first shotgun as a birthday present when he turns 14 this summer. Can he have his own shotgun certificate or is…
Would a working cocker spaniel be right for you?
Once upon a time everybody had a black Labrador. Then chocolate Labradors arrived on the scene. Now fox red Labs are de rigeur it would seem. Mind you, the dog…
A Gun’s view on picking-up on a shoot day
Picking-up: Guns should be allowed to go picking-up on shoot day.
How NOT to be asked shooting again
Bad manners in the field What time is this? Lateness is a serious sin. Mark you, earliness can be quite embarrassing if you stride into the kitchen roaring for coffee…
Should you ever smack a gundog?
Gun dog discipline: A light tap on the nose as a warning for one gun dog owner may seem tantamount to cruelty to another. Justin Clarke examines how to make…
12 bore vs 16 bore – the great debate
Which would be your choice in the 12-bore vs 16 bore conversation? Ask some people why they use a 16-bore and they say they “stumbled across one by chance” but…