There has been talk for some time about the phasing out of lead in ammunition and going lead-free, but this is part of a drive to reduce lead pollution in general. A press release issued by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs back in March 2021 laid out…
Features
Britain’s best ever Shots: Reginald Rimington-Wilson
Something of an obscure figure in the annals of game shooting history, Reginald Henry Rimington-Wilson, commonly known as R H Rimington-Wilson, was regarded by his peers as the best grouse Shot on Earth prior to the outbreak of World War I. He was also considered to be the joint-second-top Shot…
A history of gamekeepers that went off to war
With conflict raging again in eastern Europe, we might do well to reflect on the tremendous contribution made to the defence of these islands by those involved in fieldsports. It may seem obvious that those practised in deerstalking or gamekeeping might make an ideal irregular military force, but it was…
Game: when eating it was regarded as an expensive luxury
If you have little or no knowledge of shooting beyond the past 20 years or so, you may think game has always been plentiful and relatively cheap. Not so. One of the main problems we have in encouraging the general public in this country to eat more game is the…
Grey partridge nesting: what makes the perfect habitat?
I parked the truck underneath a gnarled old oak that crookedly stands at the end of a hedge, a mix of elm sucker, maple and hawthorn. My eyes were on the bund that lay 50m away, made by piling subsoil from a pond creation into a 2m-high ridge on to…
How to play your part in boosting the feathered game market
Feathered game have from time immemorial given gratification to the palate of man,” began Mrs Beeton in her 1861 Book of Household Management. The chapter on cookery assures us that the eating of game has a noble pedigree, stretching back to Moses and beyond. (For the our archives of delicious…
Crop protection with Mat Manning
“You should have been here yesterday.” It’s an all-too-familiar phrase which, for anyone with a fondness for shooting and fishing, never loses its sting no matter how often you hear it. The yesterday in question was the day a farmer friend had called me to say a field of recently…
A guide to ageing woodcock
Ageing woodcock by examining their wing feathers is a useful skill to learn. It is a way we can help to discover more about the population trends of this migratory bird. (Read more about the elusive woodcock here.) Accuracy in ageing woodcock Features on feathers offer an accurate means for…
How to get the most out of fox calling
I looked at the subject of fox calling last summer, but as there’s only so much you can say in one article, I thought it worthy of further examination. In essence, when you’re luring foxes aurally you can either use a prey-distress sound or that of another fox. It is…
Jackdaw: facts about this intelligent bird
At first glance the jackdaw may seem undistinguished, but it is subtly handsome. (Read about another corvid – the jay – here.) The smallest native species of crow has a superficially black plumage and distinctly purple sheen to the black cap, while the cheeks, nape and neck are a greyish-silver.…
Why rights to roam are causing more accidents
As people are given ever wider rights to roam on land where there is livestock, is it any wonder that numbers of accidents are increasing? Rights to roam We are getting to that time of year when cows that have been overwintered in sheds are being let out into the…
Gunshop – Richard Negus talks about his favourite
In 1998, in a portable building on the outskirts of the small Suffolk town of Eye, a business opened selling cleaning products. We are not talking about the duck-shaped stuff that you squirt around the toilet bowl, more the caustic and potentially skin-removing variety that farmers and local authority workers…
How to make coffee, wine and more out of dandelion
As I have belaboured much in these articles, people often take exception to foraging on spurious conservation grounds. Yes, someone could help themselves to a lion’s mane fungus or eat toasted orchid bulbs, but easily half of the wild food that is collected in any quantity is a weed. The…
Can shoots survive as price hikes bite?
The Atlantic surface pressure chart is strangely fascinating. It’s produced by the Met Office to show isobars, depression and fronts. You can play a time-lapse of the charts over several days, watch the big winter storms spin their way across the Atlantic and try to guess from their trajectory where…
Spring pigeon shooting – Peter Theobald on the best drills
Come April, most of the fields due to be planted with spring crops should be drying out nicely and a lot of the lighter soils already sown. Indeed, I saw the first drills out on 28 January, admittedly after a prolonged dry spell. Because of a dry autumn in my…
Looking ahead to the 2022 Clay Shooting Classic
This summer, one of the UK’s finest clay breaking celebrations will return to Orston Shooting Ground. And you could be there. From 26-29 May top competitive shots and keen amateurs will head to the Nottinghamshire ground to face off against two 75-target English Sporting courses, four 25-target Sportrap layouts and…
Looking at outdoor phone cases? Here are our picks
When it comes to outdoor phone cases, you are simply asking for trouble if you’re out in the field for extended periods of time and you don’t have a serious phone protector. They are a valuable inclusion because they allow you to be able to use your phone without thought…
Trespassing vehicles – in the countryside, trouble often comes on wheels.
In the countryside, trouble often comes on wheels with trespassing vehicles. Serious acts of poaching, hare coursing, badger digging, illegal off-road driving, fly-tipping, farmyard thefts, hunt sabs… In all these cases, motor vehicles of some sort invariably feature. With the proliferation of smartphones, CCTV and trail cams, you might think…
Road to the Classic 2022: Clay shooting tips from professionals
The 2022 Clay Shooting Classic returns on the 26th May, and if you want to be in with a shot of winning the most prestigious independent clay shooting competition in the calendar, book your place here: https://competitionandeventsschedule.orston.com/ For more information, just call 01949851181, or visit: info@orston.com Clay shooting tips are always…
British Schools and Young Shots – looking ahead to the premier youth competition of the season
If you would like to enter, and we think you should, then there’s still time but don’t put it off for much longer. For those planning to shoot with a school team, it is especially important to book ahead, even if you don’t yet have full details of all your…