Unless you’re blessed with devilish good luck, the less visible a target, the harder it is to hit. While many of us are fortunate enough to have eyesight that, with the help of glasses, perhaps, is serviceable enough to see us through busy days at our desks, behind the wheel…
Shooting
Here are articles to help and inform all aspects of your shooting, whether you’re a novice shooter or somebody who has been out in the field every season for years. You will find pieces on how you can improve, learn new skills and hone your technique.
We also keep a keen eye out for changes to gun laws and Government legislation.
You might be a gameshooter or clays might be much more your bag.
Then there are the pigeon shooting fans and those who love nothing better than being out on the foreshore, wildfowling.
Rabbiting has a section too.
If you’re looking to see how a particular ground performed than check out our shoot reports.
Our contributors frequently write about deer stalking with guidance on different species, locations and equipment.
Finally we encourage the next generation of shooters, informing and educating Young Shots.
Are you going to shoot game or focus on clayshooting?
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Getting the best out of your beaters on a shoot
Running a line and managing a beating team is an art. It’s difficult to get right and easy to get wrong. There is a certain amount of pressure on the keeper. While the beaters are no doubt doing their best and, in most cases, know what they are doing, it…
Why are birds with rising numbers on the amber list of conservation concern?
Did you know that the pink-footed goose falls within the ‘amber’ category in the traffic light listing of the UK Birds of Conservation Concern (BoCC) report? This is despite the fact that their numbers have risen for many decades — there are now about 500,000 pinkfeet wintering in the UK…
Bushnell Fusion X rangefinding binoculars field tested by Al Gabriel
July marks perhaps the most exciting time of year for roe stalking, though it is too early for the rut and the days too long. But there is a glimmer of hope a couple of weeks away. The Glastonbury of deerstalking — that is, the British roe rut — is…
Stalking medal roebuck in the English countryside
Mud squelches out from beneath my companion’s boot every time it connects with the boggy ground below. Stalker Anthony White is well over 6ft tall and has a shoe size to match. He walks on ahead of me, untroubled by the noise or the giant footprints he’s leaving in his…
Payments for pest control is a great idea – if you can avoid the red tape
Tree planting is very much in vogue. Everyone, it seems, wants to plant trees. Many are doing it for selfless, altruistic reasons, others to improve their shoots and add variety to their farms. And some, it must be said, are buying ground and planting trees with the sole intention of…
Intelligent predator control – why shooting everything in sight isn’t the answer
For most people involved in conservation, predators are an ever present problem. A few years ago, I was at a lecture hosted by the GWCT, which explored the findings of research into predator control in the uplands. Over the course of eight years, a group of GWCT-backed researchers studied the…
Beretta BRX1 field test – Chris Dalton’s stalks red stag
We are into July and with it comes the opening of the red stag season. It’s strange, though, that this date seems to drift past with little interest when compared with the buzz surrounding 1 April and the start of the roebucks. However, I have always eagerly looked forward to…
Fallow deer: an historic feature of the countryside
Unlike those deer species that arrived on these islands as hitch-hikers in the wake of Britain’s 19th-century trading empire, the fallow deer (Dama dama) has a much more complex history. (Read more on stalking fallow deer here.) Present in prehistoric Britain until the onset of the last ice age, when…
Are thermal spotters a necessity or a luxury?
An outing with thermal spotters It was a cooler blip in that series of headlining scorchers. As I passed the yard at first light, the combine stood grey and bulky on the brushed concrete, ready to grunt into life and tackle the first of the barley after months in hibernation.…
Are expensive optics worth it? Mat Manning considers the options
The question of how much to spend on a telescopic sight to pair with a rifle is a tricky one to answer as it hinges on so many different factors. Broadly speaking, and with a few exceptions, most modern telescopic sights are worth what they cost, and my usual advice…
Grouse shooting clay practice: get your eye in before you go out on the moors
Coach Mark Russell of Grimsthorpe Shooting Ground gives us a guide to shooting grouse targets.
Shooting gun up. What are the pros and cons?
Shooting with your gun ready at the shoulder - also known as 'gun up' - is a sensible option. But it's not appropriate for all targets
The challenge of midsummer muntjac stalking
Religiously every day, I will take my two spaniels for a half-an-hour walk in a loop from my house. We set off down the track through a wide belt of woodland, reaching a duck pond after 15 minutes, where we make a turn for home and head back across two…
How will deer populations adapt to climate change?
A colleague recently sent me some extensive research on deer and hunting. It made for interesting reading, though, to quote Basil Fawlty, parts did seem to be “another MA in the blindingly obvious”. The research was carried out over a 10-year period and involved 65,000 monitored hunting days. When dealing…
How to shoot your best at charity clay days
Every year, millions of pounds are raised for good causes at clay shoots run all over the UK. I can’t help but think it is a missed opportunity that the shooting world doesn’t make more noise about this significant contribution. Even though they are fundraising exercises first and foremost, many…
What are the implications of rewilding?
Rewilding. The word leads to unending controversy and polarised views. Let’s explore why. As a sportsman, what is there not to like? Cleaner rivers, more wildlife to pursue, more wild places to enjoy. However, the rewilding idea is perceived as part of an environmental, ‘Packhamite’ agenda, and one that your…
Simulated game days: disaster waiting to happen?
In 1988, I visited a farm shoot in Kent where the prime drives had been wiped out by the Great Storm that had ravaged the countryside in October of the previous year. The enterprising syndicate had sited clay pigeon traps among the stumps so as to recreate, as far as…
Predator control means wild birds are thriving
The cautious questions have started: “Seen many about?” and “How are you doing?” The interest in wild broods has taken on a greater intensity this season. Bird flu has banjaxed the flow of eggs coming in from the Continent. Pressured to make up the shortfall, British game farmers — who…
How to spot the signs of the roe rut
The roe rut is different from that of other deer species. Here’s how to spot the signs