It is time to enter Time Inc’s annual Shooting Industry Awards, the only awards of its kind to acknowledge the UK Shooting Industry’s achievements and innovations throughout the previous year. The dinner and award ceremony will once again take place at the Mercure Brandon Hall near Coventry on Thursday, 11th…
Popular reads
Charity clay shoots are raising thousands
Charity clay shoots proving popular and successful Clayshooters are now using their skills and enthusiasm to benefit many good causes and celebrities are also getting in on the act. Recently £63,000 was raised for Child Bereavement UK and St. Richard’s Hospice by a shoot at Bransford Manor. Warter Priory Estate…
Pigeon shooting days – how they have changed!
Shooters of my age often lament that things were better in “the good old days”, when all you had to do was throw an old stuffed grey sock out on a likely looking field and pigeons would swarm to their doom. They would recall flocks of woodies leaving the roosting woods that were so big it would take 20…
Teaching a spaniel to work cover
A: The more naturally you introduce her to working different types of cover, the better. Throwing a dummy into cover can make the process confrontational. If she is caused any pain by the entry, this could seriously affect her progress and her desire to retrieve. Avoid nettles, thistles, gorse and other such prickly covers until she is more experienced.…
Latest bird flu warnings from National Gamekeepers’ Organisation
A spokesman for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) advises: “This advice is hugely important and is essential reading for everyone in the gamebird world… H5N8 bird flu is now widespread in the UK and threatens gamebird management as well as other bird-related industries. We urge all members and others to…
Queen’s weekly visits to walk gamekeeper’s dogs
We have always known that the Queen is a true countrywoman. One of her retired gamekeepers, Mr Fenwick, died a week ago at the age of 95 and it is said that the Queen is considering giving his dogs a home with her. She began walking his corgi and Bichon…
Big Ted and little Ted!
Ted’s young son is six and he’s also called Ted. Penelope his daughter is three. Big Ted says: “They love being out with us shooting, we kitted them out at William Powells! We shoot in Warwickshire and I run my own small shoot on our farm where the children help…
Terrier Types
Hardwired earth dogs Patterdale/Fell Lakeland Dual-purpose Bedlington Jack Russell Border Ratters Yorkshire Norfolk and Norwich Manchester English Toy Scottish West Highland White Cairn Skye Popular in Europe Fox (rough and smooth) Jagterrier Vermin dogs Kerry Blue Soft-coated Wheaten Irish Welsh Sealyham Airedale Lucas Sporting Lucas
The danger of mixing cartridges
A: I once conducted an experiment in order to find out which calibres and cartridges this risk applies to. Of course, chamber and bore dimensions vary quite widely in large-bore guns, particularly older ones. However, an 8-bore cartridge will lodge in the forcing cone of a 4-bore, allowing a 4-bore cartridge to be loaded on top of it, while…
Ideas for a boot room in a country pad
Personalised storage Stop your boot room becoming a dumping ground for all sorts of sporting attire, footwear and seasonal clothing by meticulously plotting storage provisions. ‘Think carefully about what you are storing and ensure every item has a home – for example a shelf for riding hats or a rack…
20 of the best UK pheasant shoots
TREGOYD, POWYS This stunning shoot just to the south of Hay-on-Wye is run by the ambitious team of Ben Brown and headkeeper Clive Hussell, and recent years have seen significant investment in the infrastructure of the shoot. But what has not changed is the quality of the shooting. The terrain takes care of itself but Ben’s attention…
Want to be a better Shot?
A couple of months ago I floated the suggestion that even a small bit of preparation for the game and wildfowling season might result in a more successful first day out on partridges, pheasants or the flightpond. Doubtless pressure of time has again stymied your best intentions to shoot some clays and to practise those high-incomers and longer…
Bovine TB and the nuisance of urban foxes – the backlash against the John Lewis Christmas ad
If you haven’t seen the ad yet, then you can watch it right now. Those who don’t see badgers and foxes as quite so cuddly certainly had something to say about it. Leave a comment and let us know what you thought! John Lewis ad reminds me of time fox…
Why we’re fans of the new Netflix TV series ‘The Crown’
Settling down to a relaxing evening watching TV, I decided to watch the well-reviewed new drama ‘The Crown’ which is now showing on Neflix. It depicts the Queen’s life, from a young princess climbing trees with her sister, through to the Coronation, her life with the Duke of Edinburgh and…
Firearms licensing: the best and worst revealed
It now seems unbelievable that in 1916 you could buy and own as many guns as you liked without let or hindrance. That changed in 1920 when firearms ownership was controlled, but shotguns were not controlled until 1967. For 21 years thereafter we had a light-touch shotgun control system that worked pretty well, but the bureaucrats had to have…
23 things you should know about Baikal shotguns
Baikal shotguns are inexpensive BUT reliable A new over-and-under would be about £617 A new side-by-side would set you back about £562 They are made in the Russian city of Izhevsk in the Western Urals They probably aren’t created from melted-down battle tanks However they are built like a T34…
Shotgun cartridges for geese reviewed
A wild goose chase can be exactly what it says on the tin, so when you get the birds in range you want the confidence that you are packing sufficient power to get one in the bag. Goose shooting can take place in a range of different scenarios, from decoying at close range to foreshore flighting…
Greedy shot or good sport?
I was talking to a fellow picker-up a few years ago about the performance of the team of Guns visiting the shoot that day. My colleague, who liked to give his dogs plenty of work, was mightily impressed by them but I had to partially disagree. Admittedly, they were decent performers but were not particularly discerning, with a couple of…
How to host a shoot lunch
The perfect shoot lunch depends as much upon the style of shoot as it does upon the lunch itself. Neither cold pork pies at a double gun 400 bird day nor three-course lunch at a rough day wildfowling are likely to go down well. So a perfect shoot lunch can…