Rabbit management on solar farms Over the years, solar farms have popped up all over the country in a bid to utilise renewable energy. The sites vary in size, along with the amount of energy they generate, but rabbits often favour them, though they clash with the smooth running of…
Shooting
A trailblazer for wheelchair shooters
Jean-Paul Gaudin, or JP, is a force of nature. He has a lust for life and a passion for game shooting. He follows his passions. A motorcycle accident in 1988, when he was in his twenties, resulted in devastating spinal injuries – he was dragged behind a horse box for…
How to avoid 2021’s corvid control trap
With the season all but over, my mind as usual turns to planning for the next. In just a few weeks, the pheasants will be setting up their territories, strutting their stuff and doing everything they can to keep their harems together. The corvids will be getting frolicsome too. Rooks…
What do you do with birds leftover at the season’s end?
With the ever-tightening COVID-19 restrictions in operation in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, there is little hope for those of us longing for a return to driven shooting. It seems pretty certain that most of us will have more leftover pheasants on the ground at the end of this…
When the king shot thousands of rabbits
No other animal in the British countryside has played both hero and villain like the rabbit. The great warrens of the sandy Brecks in East Anglia were constructed to serve the fur and felt industry and cheap, plentiful meat was a bonus. The free-draining soil of Breckland was perfect for…
Conservation projects to carry out during lockdown
If you are involved in shoot management in any way, do consider the following. Is there still a decent shrub layer, or has canopy closure started to starve out the sunlight that is so essential to woodland floor habitat? Aside from a few very early starters such as ravens and…
Cull before the storm
‘‘For at least 20 years, deer stalking has been one of the brightest stars in the shooting firmament. Its rise has tracked the steady growth in the range and population of our six native or naturalised deer species and has effectively resulted in the establishment of a new fieldsport. Until…
How top Shots minimise misses
Looking out of my window at a big cock bird picking his way down a hedge, just beyond my garden, it strikes me that I shot fewer days this season than in any other since childhood. In truth, it showed. Rather than getting into my stride, I frequently found myself…
How to tackle January pheasants
Many of the best Shots whose opinions I most respect won’t shoot a pheasant in October. For the very lucky, August and September are for grouse, October is for partridges and only in November do they start thinking about pheasants. By the time January comes round, it is supposed that…
It’s not the classic time for pigeon roosting but …
’Many of you reading this will be thinking, why is there a pigeon roosting article at this time of year? Has Shooting Times bucked the usual trend of pigeon shooting specials in February, the classic pigeon month when traditionally we can use all three methods of pigeon management — roosting,…
Shooting etiquette during COVID
Shoot day etiquette has been the cornerstone of a day in the field ever since we have been shooting game, both driven and walked-up. What with COVID-19 restrictions and the ability to buy a peg for the day, it does no harm to take a fresh look of the important…
Why the best Shots start out as rough shooters
Very often you will see a person’s true character when you drive game over them on a peg. It’s difficult for anyone to hide it. If you are greedy, lack respect for your quarry or have a tendency to moan, it’s likely to show. We can learn a lot about…
How many antler points can a stag grow? And what are they called?
Q: How many points can a red stag in the wild be expected to grow when they are at their best in this country? And when it comes to stag antlers, what makes a a ‘Royal’ and an ‘Imperial stag’? There are many variables which impact on the number of points…
Why the wild pheasant is the greatest test
’I remember the first time I was invited to a day of wild pheasants. It was a cold January morning and I stood on the edge of an old woodland filled with oaks and ash that sloped away into a deep valley where the other Guns stood waiting, nervously shifting…
Five places to go clay pigeon shooting in Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a county of high downlands combined with wide valleys and offers shooters exciting variety. If you’re after somewhere to shoot clays in the country, here’s a list of shooting grounds in Wiltshire. We’ve deliberately included diverse experiences – some grounds are small and run by volunteers whilst others…
Here’s a driven shooting lesson to get you back in the field
Whether it’s Hampshire partridges or Devon high pheasants, let’s look at the techniques you need to master in this driven shooting lesson. The warm-up I’ll start my driven shooting lesson on the first stand where I would set up a regular driven target; let’s call it a warm-up stand. On…
Best loads for high pheasants
So what is a high pheasant? And what are the best loads for high pheasants? For normal mortals shooting cartridges with say 30gm of No 6 or 5 lead shot from their standard shotgun, a distance of 40 to 45yd is generally considered to be a decently high pheasant. The…
How does the public perceive our sport?
Public perception of fieldsports At the age of 11, Robin Marshall-Ball was walking through a Welsh village with his Midland 20-bore under his arm when a police car drew up and asked him what he was doing. Robin explained that he was on his way to shoot pigeon on a…
How to start clayshooting
So you've decided to venture onto a clay ground with a view to taking up the sport. Congratulations. It's a popular pastime for good reason, as you'll discover.
Ten of the best tweed shooting coats
A comfortable, breathable, stylish shooting coat is a key part of shooting clothing. And tweed shooting coats are classic. Top tips for buying tweed shooting coats Tweed is naturally water repellent due to its lanolin content and it is also hard wearing. A good quality tweed shooting coat will last…