Everyone misses easy birds. From the humble amateur to the duke of wherever, nobody is perfect. Leg-pulling about missed sitters has been part and parcel of shooting since the days of frock coats and flintlocks and, more often than not, when someone knows why they have missed, things are soon…
Shooting
Video: How to call in wildfowl
Nick Horten shows Shooting Times's Kate Gatacre how to make wildfowling calls using one of the hand-made calls from MPK Custom Calls
Pheasant shooting from the Clovelly Shoot, Devon
I hate to use this word but it was a ‘unique’ start to the shoot day, in that I left the modern confines of my room at the Red Lion Hotel in full shooting attire only to be pinned back by the shock of watching the groaning green and white…
Rough Shooting in Worcestershire
I am a chap of simple pleasures: give me a gun, a spaniel, and some scrubby ground on which to hunt and I promise I will walk around all day with the biggest smile on my face. Add to the mix a bunch of like-minded friends and their canine shooting…
Perhaps it’s time to get a moderator…
Want to shoot more accurately, bag more quarry and disturb the environment less? Perhaps it's time to get a moderator, suggests Charles Smith-Jones
Catching and cooking rabbits, the ferreting way
On this particular morning ferreting, the mist obscured the stunning countryside. The sodden ground highlighted the freshness of the morning as I started to lay my nets. Soon every long-net I possess surrounded a hedge I planned to ferret. Virgin ground, this area had never seen a ferret before, so…
The EcoCharger quad bike causing a stir
The electric-powered, silent all-terrain EcoCharger quad bike is causing quite a stir, reports Ian Mason
Pigeon shooting predictions for 2015
Tom Payne looks back at the last pigeon shooting year and predicts what lies ahead for 2015
Highland stalking vs lowland stalking
Iain Watson and Chris Rogers debate whether highland stalking or lowland stalking makes for finer sport
How to stop poachers
Liam Bell suggests ways you can stop poachers, such as putting equipment out of sight, locking gates, recording as much information as possible and reporting everything to the police
No reason not to use open sights on deer
Have you considered using open sights on deer? George Wallace says there's no reason not to and recommends you try "ghost rings"
The 50 best sporting estates
The Field's list includes high birds in Yorkshire, West Country hunting, shooting on the Scottish moors and salmon on the fly
Ladies’ partridge shooting in Oxfordshire
Nick Ridley observes the next generation of female shooters coming through at one of Oxfordshire's most progressive driven game shoots
How to set up a Jerk rig
The majority of my duck decoying takes place on tidal creeks and rivers where the current of the water creates a natural movement in the decoys, but occasionally I will shoot on marsh floods or inland ponds where there isn’t any movement on the water. This looks incredibly unnatural as…
Mayfair: The ultimate shopping destination for game shots
Mayfair is home to the biggest names in British game shooting, a place where best London gunmaking talent meets the finest materials and creative talent from around the British Isles. There is something for every taste (and most budgets) in the various districts nearby too, so when only the best…
Pheasant and partridge shooting from Molland, Devon
Molland has long been recognised as one of the premier West Country shoots, so how are things looking this season? Molland is an estate that has been under the Bettws Hall branding for 11 years and it has been owned by the same family for 800 years. There are few…
How much should you tip on a shoot?
One of the few grisly moments in shooting occurs in the car park after the last drive. Two or three Guns will huddle like forlorn rooks, discussing “the tip”. What to pay? Too much and it makes the other Guns look stingy; too little and it’s you that ends up…
Redleg partridges from Grupo Altube
By John Walker For Suffolk keeper Tim Coll, August Bank Holiday 2013 marked a new experience. Already the custodian of 11,000 French redleg partridge and 5,000 pheasant poults which had been feasting on his undulating acres in the Vale of Kersey, into his life rolled two small lorries to discharge…
Robin Owen Conducktor call reviewed
Find out why Tom Sykes says this Robin Owen Conducktor call is the most beautiful call that he's had the pleasure of using
The real cost of no licence fee rise
There was widespread expectation that gun certificate fees, last increased in 2001, would be raised this year. But Prime Minister David Cameron has personally vetoed a rise. I think that was the wrong decision and would like to list some things that could usefully be done when licence fees are…