Richard Brigham's beginner's guide to shooting in bad weather explains how our varied climate can make or break a shooter's day
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?
Driven | Walked-up/Rough | Improve your shooting |
Lamping | Improve your clayshooting | Improve your pigeon shooting
Following in the footsteps of famous wildfowlers
You might not have heard of him but if you’re a member of BASC — and by my reckoning you ought to be — you owe a great deal to a railway engineer called Stanley Duncan. In 1907 Old Man Duncan, as he came to be known, moved to Hull…
The intelligence of rooks
Few birds divide opinion like the rook. On the one hand we have farmers, who often endure massive damage to crops at certain times of the year, and on the other, the people who love to hear the most quintessentially English bird going about its business. The background cawing of…
Want to increase snipe numbers? These habitat improvements make a significant difference
Craigenputtock House has been sitting in the rural splendour of upland Dumfriesshire since the 11th century. Once the home of Thomas Carlyle, one of Scotland’s most influential authors, it has borne witness to much change. Over the years, the landscape has been transformed by afforestation, and continual drainage and tillage,…
How to mark pricked birds
It’s not always easy to spot a wounded bird — and it may fly on for some distance after being shot — so do keep your eyes peeled, advises Ian Grindy
How NOT to be asked shooting again
Bad manners in the field What time is this? Lateness is a serious sin. Mark you, earliness can be quite embarrassing if you stride into the kitchen roaring for coffee and bacon sarnies to find your hostess, still in her nightie, surrounded by last night’s washing up, poking forlornly at…
Hesitation. A common mistake amongst new shooters. Here’s how to avoid it.
Hesitation is a common shooting problem. While teaching my wife to shoot some years ago, she noticed that the person in front of her, shooting a simple going away target, was waiting way too long, or as some would say “hanging” on the target, only to miss when they did…
A wildfowler tried a new electric jacket from Harkila. Essential kit or just a fad? Here’s what he thought.
Just down the road from me lies the pretty little village of Mendlesham. It has a pub, a school and a few streets of ancient timber-framed houses, so commonplace in my part of Suffolk. Not a lot goes on in Mendlesham. However in 1943, the peaceful idyll was transformed into…
What do Guns really want?
In a West Country inn on a crisp autumnal evening, Tim Maddams, whom regular readers will recognise from our cookery pages, tells me that he thinks we need to kick the habit. “One thing I’m really trying hard with is to sell my days on an experience, rather than on…
Why thermal-imaging binoculars will change stalking forever
From time to time in the stalking world there comes along some advance or technical development that is a game changer. Usually it is roundly disapproved of until it becomes clear that it brings real advantage to the stalker, at which point everybody starts using it. When rifle scopes started…
Can you shoot muntjac with air rifles and shotguns?
Ignore photographs of foreigners using air rifles to shoot Mubtjac rifles because this is illegal in Britain, George advises
What are the best guns and ammo for shooting grey squirrels?
Squirrels offer the opportunity to match a variety of guns and techiques — it all depends on the squirrelling, says Bruce Potts
So what is lamping?
Lamping is a simple procedure of shining a light around an area until a rabbit (or rat) is spotted, and the dog is then sent to get it. Lamping with a dog is best done on foot, as it causes minimal disturbance and damage, and often allows a good chance…
Six of the best waterproof shooting jackets
The warmest days of the year are now behind us. When you’re heading out into the field you’re going to need something that protects you from the wet weather and the chill in the air. If it’s pouring out then any of these coats below will keep you dry. Tweed might…
Ducks and geese – not such a fine romance
Have you noticed how often ducks coming to a flight pond come in twos, especially later in the season? It’s no accident — by this time of year the breeding pairs have mostly formed. If you are a sentimental old fool like me, you could be distressed about this, and…
Going for a Macnab
Better luck next time,” the stalker said to me, patting my shoulder, as I watched the winded stags gallop away over the hill. That had been my second attempt at bagging a Macnab and I had failed. The previous occasion had seen me catch a fish before breakfast, grass a…
Rabbiting with a cocker spaniel
Cockers and long-netters may seem an unlikely pairing, but it works, says Simon whitehead
12 of the best socks for shooting, beating and picking-up
Best socks for shooting – some tips Whilst all the socks below are washable, make sure you look at the washing instructions carefully. If you wash and dry them too hot, they could well end up shrunken, tight and unwearable. When you’re buying socks, look for those which have a…
11 golden rules for beating on a shoot
What is expected from a beater? Our man at NOBs lists the essential requirements.
9 survival tips for the novice picker-up
Novice picker-up: Basics like manners and cunning are gold dust to the novice picker-up.