Winter is here and the rats are piling onto the farm to seek out food and shelter. Mat Manning heads out to target the nocturnal pests after dark and uses the Walther Rotex RM8 and Sightmark Wraith night vision gunsight to amass a hefty haul of rodents. (You might also…
Pest control
Pest control can be undertaken for a variety of reasons – to prevent crop damage, protect wild birds and their habitats, keep vermin numbers down.
We have a variety of experts writing on the subject and if you have a query about pest control you’ll find some good advice here.
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Crop protection with Geoff Garrod
After months of lockdown and hardly a pigeon in sight, James Marchington catches up with Geoff on a crop protection mission on a field of maize. Geoff’s kit list Gun: – Browning Maxus 12ga semi-auto Clothing: – Deerhunter Cumberland Pro Jacket & Trousers – Ariat Catalyst VX Defiant boots Accessories:…
Hunting rabbits with thermal optics
After an alarming slump over the past couple of years, the rabbits in my locality are making a very healthy comeback. I’m delighted to see them around again, but several landowners are less pleased because the burrowing animals are causing them serious problems – so serious, in fact, that I…
NiteVizor VP200 XTR
With harvest more or less wrapped up for the year on my patch, the annual exodus of rats is now under way as the rodents leave the barren fields in search of new feeding grounds. On one of my local farms, this sudden influx created a great opportunity to put…
What are the legal calibres for foxes and rabbits?
After many years shotgun shooting my partner and I have been looking into culling foxes and rabbits by rifle at the various farms where we shoot.
Countryside groups ready for court action if fox control bill prevents humane practices
Shooting Times understands that countryside groups are in receipt of advice that they potentially have strong challenges to legislation under the European Convention on Human Rights and that they have been marshalling resources to take the case to court. Fox control bill Currently, packs of dogs may be used to…
Welsh Government announces plan to ban snaring
Ban snaring There had been signs that the Welsh Government might make a move to ban snaring when it issued a consultation earlier this year which said that, “It is the Law Commission’s view that, in the future, the operation and inspection of snares may benefit from additional regulations prescribing…
Tips for night vision shooting
Night vision shooting has seen tremendous technological advances in recent years, such as equipment becoming smaller and lighter. Although the equipment works in any weather, cold nights give the best results for night vision shooting; rainy nights can make the image seem pixellated or indistinct. (Read our review of the…
Rat poison resistance – what can you do on your shoot?
I have suspected it for a while, but confirmation popped into the inbox the other day. Four rat-tail tips that I had sent to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) for genetic screening came back positive for second-generation anticoagulant resistance. Rat poison resistance From here on in, the two…
Shooting crows – what works and what doesn’t
There are many different opinions about what will and won’t work when it comes to shooting crows. Over the years, I have taken a lot of these with a pinch of salt and gone out of my way to test different theories to see if some popular beliefs bear scrutiny.…
What’s the law on pigeon shooting? You can’t just go and shoot them – you need to know where, why and what
I will always remember my first pigeon. I was standing under the old oak in the middle of the farm with my father. It was a left-to-right crosser and I wandered home whereupon my mother cooked it for my tea. It was a long time ago in so many ways.…
The rabbits are back
Rabbits have always had a reputation for being able to reproduce at a rapid rate, but there weren’t many signs of that happening on my patch last year. Thankfully, things are looking very different this summer and I am delighted to report that these resilient creatures are, once again, breeding…
The benefits of using a quiet air rifle for pest control
While I’m the first to admit that a shotgun is usually the best option for controlling corvids over open ground, there are plenty of times when using an airgun for pest control is a more appropriate choice. The former will usually help you to make the necessary big bags when…
Looking for a permission for foxing? Here’s how to go about it
How to get a permission for foxing Dress to impress: wearing clothing that looks like you belong in the countryside will get you far more accepted than turning up at a farm in your best Nike gear. Be professional and polite: have insurance or, better still, BASC membership and business…
Terrier breeds: are they born anarchists?
Most, if not all of the terrier breeds bring a smile to our faces, whether the smug condescension of the handler of well-trained gundogs or the rictus of embarrassment that comes from having thought your dog’s behaviour could not get any worse before you discover that it just has. Quite a few owners of…
Best air rifles for under £500: what made the list?
One of the greatest appeals of airgun shooting is its affordability. For a few hundred pounds you can pick up an air rifle that should give years of reliable service. Many Guns start their shooting career with an air rifle and garden airgunning has been a popular pastime during the…
Hunting lamps: we pick out the best around
The vast majority of us still rely on trusty hunting lamps to get the job done and ‘traditional’ lamping remains by far the most cost-effective way of dealing with nocturnal vermin. With this in mind, I was delighted to put a selection of hunting lamps to the test this month.…
Ratting with a thermal setup
Although I am willing to embrace new technology if I think it is justified by the improvement it brings to my results in the field, I am not a fan of newfangled kit that’s complicated to use and ultimately makes for a less enjoyable shooting experience. For this reason, I…
Airguns and summer squirrel shooting
Come the summer months when the trees are in leaf you’re likely to find squirrel shooting with an air rifle rather trickier than in winter on bare branches. The dense foliage covering the tree canopy can make greys almost invisible. So what’s to be done about it? How can you…
Lamping kit – how has it changed?
Fox shooting technology has come a long way since I first drove around a field in circles hoping to spot a fox in the headlights. That was in the early 1970s, and we thought we were at the cutting edge with our lamping kit when we bolted a wooden handle…