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…
Shooting Gazette
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…
Would a working cocker spaniel be right for you?
Once upon a time everybody had a black Labrador. Then chocolate Labradors arrived on the scene. Now fox red Labs are de rigeur it would seem. Mind you, the dog that you’re likely to see in the field just about everywhere now is a working cocker spaniel. Not so long…
A Gun’s view on picking-up on a shoot day
Picking-up: Guns should be allowed to go picking-up on shoot day.
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…
Should you ever smack a gundog?
Gun dog discipline: A light tap on the nose as a warning for one gun dog owner may seem tantamount to cruelty to another. Justin Clarke examines how to make the punishment fit the crime.
12 bore vs 16 bore – the great debate
Which would be your choice in the 12-bore vs 16 bore conversation? Ask some people why they use a 16-bore and they say they “stumbled across one by chance” but now wouldn’t use anything else. Here’s what our debates think … 16-bores are for rural hipsters says Ben Samuelson A…
We need to talk about lead shot
Calls for game shooting to push ahead with finding alternatives to lead shot are growing louder, both inside and outside of the sport. Rob Yorke offers a personal view on the subject. How lead shot became popular One hundred and fifty years ago, wild meat was harvested, without the use…
Beretta SL3 reviewed by Shooting Gazette magazine
A brand new model from the Beretta dynasty is not something that comes along every day. I first laid eyes on the Beretta SL3 when it was launched with much fanfare at IWA last year. Since then, I’ve been keen to have a closer look and put the gun through…