Growing up in Surrey, snipe were rarely on my horizon. The heaths are mostly too dry for them and the arable farmlands were the wrong habitat. Clandon Park, where I learned the beater’s trade, rarely held one either. Even the Medway saltings, where my father initiated me as a wildfowler,…
Features
Game for lunch in a country pub?
One of the many good things about British Game Week (19-25 November 2018) is that it brings in new customers for venison, partridge, pheasant and duck. People who have never before savoured the delights of game but who after trying it realise what they’ve been missing out on. Converting diners…
How the American signal crayfish invaded British waters
Man’s stupidity when it comes to moving things around knows no bounds. He decided to bring the North American version of the crayfish to Europe and then to Britain to augment stocks of natives, which were suffering from crayfish plague. Little did the importers know the American signal crayfish were…
Christmas gift ideas for shooters and fieldsports lovers
Feathers – The Game Larder Chef Jose Souto is himself a keen stalker and shooter and his knowledge of the field shines out in this beautifully photographed book. Tempting recipes for pheasant, duck, grouse, pigeon, geese, woodcock and other game birds. RRP £25 Merlin Unwin Purdey Pocket Flask A neat,…
How about a hammer gun for the coming season?
A sealed bid auction ending this Thursday 5th July provides a unique platform for buyers to pick up a wide variety of sporting guns, rifles, antiques and associated (and sometimes completely unassociated) accessories and ephemera. Highest bid wins at full value Utilising the ‘sealed bid’ format, clients have a set…
Our reviewer tries out two top thermal imaging scopes. What did he discover?
The cost of a thermal-imaging scope could easily exceed that of your day scope or rifle. At the top end of its range, Pulsar offers two distinct options: the Trail XP50, which bolts to the Picatinny rail on a rifle for dedicated night operations, and the Core FXQ50, a handheld…
A visit to the Royal Oak, East Lavant
Much as I like my job, I’m still prone to a bout of the Sunday evening blues. Wondering where the weekend went and why I haven’t done half the things that needed crossing out on my to-do list. I think the cure for this is to start work on a…
Game meat is free range so does that mean it’s organic?
Only a tiny proportion of game meat is officially “organic”. Game meat is free range or wild, healthy and nutritious but the label “organic” was captured by the organic farming movement long ago. You can only use it when the meat has been produced under an accredited organic regime. This…
The rise and fall, and rise of roughshooting
The roughshoot has been sidelined by driven shooting. John Humphreys argues that this is a loss to the foundations of the sport in this country
Does a gamekeeper really need a degree?
This is my eighth season being a headkeeper on an estate in the Cotswolds. Having entered the gamekeeping profession full-time at the age of 23, my initial knowledge came from running a small shoot in Suffolk for a farmers syndicate and having a BSc (Hons) degree in conservation and environment.…
Eating game at The Sands End, Fulham
It was a dry evening and so my dining companion and I had decided to walk the three miles from my home to The Sands End pub in Fulham. As a result we were good and hungry by the time we arrived. Nothing like the anticipation of a good meal when…
Why you should date a shooter
Some reasons why a shooter should be top of your Valentine’s Day wish list “Men who shoot a lot often have dogs… seeing dogs working for their owners and the bond between man and dog is a very attractive quality. Building that relationship takes respect, discipline and patience…. all attributes…
10 reasons why shooting is better than rugby union
It's the oval ball's turn to take on the shoot day.
Beaters’ day shooting. Pegs or walk one, stand one?
Put them out on pegs, says Ben Samuelson Beaters’ day shooting is an absolutely sacred part of the shooting season, and is one of its great joys. Roles are reversed and one half of the shooting community gets a well-deserved treat at the end of the season. Patience is rewarded,…
Rabbits for the table – what’s the law on selling wild food?
A lamping expedition for rabbits in East Kent proved fruitful for Charlotte Lycett Green, who discovered a local demand for quality game produce
What better way to clear a farm of rats?
The first rats came fizzing out before anyone was ready. Even Jay, the very model of lurcher sharpness, was taken by surprise as the rodents fled their burrows and made for safety. The terriers, tied to a gate post outside, burst into a frantic chorus of yelps and whines as…
Plastic pollution in the ocean – what can we do about it?
I recently saw a shocking image highlighting one of the perils of all that plastic litter that is drifting around our oceans. The photograph, which showed the skeletal remains of a dead juvenile albatross — a decaying pile of feathers and bone with its body cavity crammed full of plastic…
Has commercial driven game shooting reached a watershed?
We all know the price paid by game dealers for shot birds has been historically low for many seasons, and maybe it always has been. Back in Victorian times the saying went: “Up goes a guinea, bang goes a penny, down comes sixpence.” However there’s now a new twist to…
