Patrick’s top tips for tracking foxes • Do your best to keep the wind in your face as that way you’ll be approaching from downwind • Avoid wearing anything perfumed, as it will signal your presence long before you arrive if it catches on the wind • Putting down smelly…
Popular reads
Why every shooter needs a pheasant crowner
The very simple designs are often the best ones and this applies to a new game processor. I went to meet Dougie Bell, who invented the pheasant crowner, and John Relph of T. W. Relph and Sons Ltd, which markets it in conjunction with Solway Feeders. The shining machine, fixed…
Why dogs love an AGA
Until recently I knew little about the extraordinary cast-iron cooker known as an AGA, but for the past three months I’ve lived in houses with AGA kitchens, so I’m now something of an expert. The AGA was invented in Sweden but since 1957 has been produced exclusively in the UK.…
Restaurant review: Le Bab
Shopping. Love it or hate it, sometimes you have to brace yourself and get on with it, especially in the run-up to Christmas. Personally I’m not a hobby shopper and one of the only things that makes a day of shopping bearable is the prospect of a delicious lunch. So…
Woodcock Club Dinner once again sponsored by Seeland. Could you be a member?
An esteemed and venerable institution of international renown, Tony Jackson looks back at the history and toasts the future of the exclusive Shooting Times Woodcock Club.
What traps will you use when the Fenn is no longer legal?
Keepers who have not already started changing are now giving serious consideration as to what trap they are to use next year when the Fenn is no longer legal. It is fair to say they are far from happy with the process that to date has left them with the…
How Extinction Rebellion is economical with the truth
London is now culturally another planet as far as this backwoodsman is concerned. Two lots of space cadets were there doing their level best to end life on planet Galloway: our elected representatives in the House of Commons and a bunch of misanthropes calling themselves Extinction Rebellion. I should have…
Land management is hampered by officials with little knowledge
When a senior member of Natural England asks a grouse keeper how many birds he releases and it’s not 1 April, you have a right to worry. It is not the only example of government employees showing a serious lack of working knowledge. The licensing debacle has left the management…
The origins of driven shooting
Throughout the UK and Europe, driven shooting has become one of the most popular facets of our sport. According to BASC, of the 600,000 people who hold shotgun certificates, more than 55 per cent shoot driven game. The release of game for sporting purposes, involving pheasants and mallard, began in…
How to tackle common species when walked-up shooting
Successfully walking-up any quarry and making the most of your opportunities is not as as straightforward as people often think. Here I will go into specific details about how to tackle commonly encountered species. The most frequently made mistake among would-be rough Shots is to head to the local clay…
Protecting the red squirrel
I’m Jerry Moss and I have been a red squirrel ranger for 14 years. My responsibilities involve conserving and protecting the UK’s only native squirrel, especially from the threat of the alien grey. I am also a trustee of the Penrith & District Red Squirrel Group (P&DRSG), a charity committed…
How to sell your game without going through a game dealer
Last year the game market was one of the best to date for game dealers selling into home and international markets. Across the south of England the three main dealers were reporting that they were short of pheasants. The economics of the game market are complex but game dealers, despite…
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 signal to change, I noticed a man slumped against the traffic lights. Then movement at his feet caught my eye,…
Five top tips for cooking game on a barbecue
Although he now lives and works in London, Joe Carhart has proper country credentials and grew up on a family farm in the West Country where shooting was a part of life. He’s always been a keen game cook and early on started running game barbecues for his friends. Everything…
Has the Land Rover had its day?
As the king of off-roaders celebrates its 70th birthday, some unwelcome guests have gatecrashed the party. There are plenty of other 4×4 manufacturers eager to snatch its muddy crown. So has Land Rover taken a wrong turn? Problems with oil leaks Opinion is divided. In 1948 the Land Rover had…
Do you know the collective nouns for birds?
Most of the collective nouns for birds date back to the mid 15th century. And here are some of our favourites: A wake of buzzards A confusion of chiffchaffs A chattering of choughs A commotion of coots A murder of crows An asylum of cuckoos A curfew of curlews A…
27 of our favourite photos of the 2017/8 shooting season
All good things come to an end and so has the 2017/8 shooting season. We hope you’ve had some excellent days out in the field, enjoying excellent cameraderie, watching well-trained gundogs perform their tasks and sitting down to delicious meals of game afterwards. Here is a selection of our favourite…
How to create your own shoot – what you need to know
It is the dream of many sportsmen to own their own shoot, and to provide some sort of safeguard for their shooting in the future. Due to escalating land prices around the country this dream may result in owning just a few acres, but with careful planning and hard work…
Are these the best shoot lunch ideas of all time?
The shoot lunch conjures up scenes of steaming plates, cottage pies and treacle puddings but in fact a shoot lunch on the grouse moor in August should be very different from the shoot lunch in mid December. Here are some new shoot lunch ideas for the cook and host to…
Bordeaux red blends to accompany game dishes
Bordeaux‘s signature grape varieties have traversed the globe, to the extent that Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have risen to the summit of the world grape planting league in the past two decades. What’s in a Bordeaux red blend? A Bordeaux red blend usually combines two or more of the classic…