Shooting is becoming more popular with women every year. The most recent Home Office figures in 2019 showed an increase on the previous year of more than 1000 female shotgun certificate holders. So if you’re interested in joining the growing number of females going out into the field, how should…
Shooting Gazette
How LOUD should your shooting tweeds be?
Shooting tweeds should shout for joy, says Ben Samuelson There are a few fibs that we allow ourselves in shooting. The first is that we need big 4x4s. I spent many years driving to shoots in a TVR that only ever went off-road when I slid into a ditch. We…
The Subaru Forester e-Boxer – Forester fans will love it
There has always been something appealingly honest about the Subaru Forester. While the rest of the motor industry has rushed into the sort-of-SUV market like a pack of ill-trained spaniels, frightening the pheasants with cars that are basically five-door hatchbacks with a few off-roader bits stuck on for good measure,…
Pine martens are thriving – which poses some interesting dilemmas
Pine martens are making a comeback in Galloway. Driven to extinction in the 19th century, these enthusiastic predators were released into the Galloway Forest Park as part of a reintroduction project in the mid-1980s. The success of the project seemed uncertain at first, largely because the Forest Park sprawls across…
The new Land Rover Defender
I’ve been writing about cars for Shooting Gazette for a fair few years now and no car has been even vaguely as eagerly anticipated as this – the new Land Rover Defender. After the old one was starved of development funding and eventually retired, and the boys and girls from…
What is the best shotgun cartridge and choke combination for pheasant shooting?
The right shotgun cartridge and choke combination for pheasant shooting could transform your days this coming season. There have been some major advances in shotgun cartridge technology in the past couple of years. To protect the environment shooters should use fibre wads. The Eley Hawk VIP Game cartridge comes in 28,…
15 of the best pheasant shoots in the UK that will be open next season
We’ve searched out a number of the best pheasant shoots around that will welcome shooters from September, with social distancing measures in place. Tregoyd, Powys If you like the challenge of tricky birds on a variety of terrain then this shoot is one you should visit. Situated to the south…
20 of the best UK pheasant shoots that will be open this season
Tregoyd, Powys If you like the challenge of tricky birds on a variety of terrain then this shoot is one you should visit. Situated to the south of Hay-on-Wye in stunning countryside. Visiting Guns are tested in every possible way in a mixture of woodland and open drives. And if…
A keen Gun discusses the practicalities of shooting with mobility issues
Jean-Paul Gaudin, age 46, spent a great deal of his childhood in France and, as he puts it, was “always surrounded by game shooting” thanks to a French grandfather who enjoyed everything from pheasant to wild boar. He shot clays and game sporadically as a teenager, but motorbikes overtook shooting…
How game managers can get the best financial and environmental rewards from their land
It is very easy for game and land managers to get sucked into the minutiae of detail involved in day-to-day jobs and chores. It is these important details that make a season work and allow you to adapt to changes in the weather or the demands of the shooting programme.…
Beretta DT11 EELL
High birds Over the latter part of the past season the birds were fit and strong and flying with the assistance of some stiff gales. Invariably these birds, in addition to the challenge of their height, are sliding, gliding, rising, falling or dropping a wing, or all of the above.…
The Bolton Estate, North Yorkshire. Where gameshooting and conservation work together …
You will probably need to visit Bolton Estate more than once to fully appreciate just how important its 12,000 acres are to the fabric and ecology of the Yorkshire Dales. Many of the more than 60,000 visitors from across the world with any number of agendas will probably know the…
28-bore AYA No.2
I write this edging into the first week after the end of the season with reports from around the country that the final week proved as busy as the rest of the season with plenty of sport on offer. I was thinking that with the season over this was going…
This family switched to eating game for a nearly a year. What happened?
Our wild game diet It has now been a year since my family last bought meat from a supermarket. The only exceptions are sausages and bacon made from free-range pigs and that is purely because life would be diminished without pork products and none of my friends keep pigs. We…
British deer: A guide to identifying the six species found here and where to stalk them
The six species of deer to be found in England, their origins and locations.
How to choose the right cartridge for your shotgun
All a shotgun cartridge has to do is propel shot towards the target to hit it cleanly. But with all the different makes and models around it can be confusing. So how can you choose the right cartridge for your shotgun? What you need to consider The sort of gun…
Leading figures in fieldsports look back at 2019 and forward to 2020
Shooting Gazette asked a host of leading figures in gameshooting community for their reflections on 2019 in fieldsports, what they are looking forward to about 2020 and also the one issue they are concerned about in the year ahead. Eoghan Cameron, chairman, BASC High on the list of successes for…
Which is the best shotgun cartridge for hitting high birds?
I noticed something last season. I saw some fellow Guns shooting birds at extreme range – higher than 60 yards – and I was also successful with some of my birds. What occurred to me was that a few years ago these birds would certainly have been out of range.…
Should a youngster have his or her own shotgun certificate?
Q: I would like to buy my son his first shotgun as a birthday present when he turns 14 this summer. Can he have his own shotgun certificate or is it best to put it on mine? A: Whilst I would suggest the new shotgun should be on yours as…