Table of contents for November 2021 in Sporting Gun

With the wildfowling season now in full swing, Matt Clark, the editor, was delighted to be at the front of the queue to try out a new semi-auto that’s perfectly suited to days on the marshes. The Benelli Black Eagle is a relatively light semi-auto with a stylish techopolymer stock – perfect for gloved hands – and a matt black finish to the barrels that water ran off perfectly. Although not the cheapest, it is proofed for steel so could prove be your foreshore companion for many seasons to come. Find out more on page 96…

The GWCT has asked people to sign up to its Partridge Count Scheme. The trust said a dry spring followed by a wettish summer may have had a detrimental effect on the population of the grey partridge, known by some as the ‘barometer of the countryside’. The summer of 2012 was the wettest in recent English history and followed a dry spring, which in turn saw a sharp decline in grey partridge numbers. The trust is keen to see whether 2021 has seen a similar decline. The trust has appealed to farmers, landowners, gamekeepers and anybody with an interest in conserving the grey partridge (Perdix perdix) to take part in the survey, which has been running since 1933. • And to help the GWCT fund its invaluable research, the trust…

I have a passion for duck decoying on tidal estuaries and enjoy spending time testing different tactics to improve my skills. My go-to system for setting decoys on the water is with a motherline. This is a technique that I have used, and mastered, over the years. Despite being a versatile and robust method to set decoys, it does have some drawbacks that has led me to experiment with different ideas. The following is one such example. The main objective I set out to achieve was to be able to set decoys on mud or water that was too dangerous to navigate and have the option to retrieve the decoys at any point of the flight. I was also looking to have more control over how the pattern would look,…

You’ve probably heard of Staten Island, one of the five boroughs that make up New York City. Separated from the mainland on the New Jersey side by tidal channels, it looks over the US city from across New York Bay. With a population of less than half a million it is the least populated of the boroughs, but those 500,000 live in a piece of real estate covering little more than 58 square miles, roughly a third of the size of the Isle of Wight. There are, however, plenty of green areas and a thriving wildlife population, including white-tailed deer. And it’s these that are the problem. Numbering well under 50 in 2008, a hunting ban and complete lack of natural predators meant the Staten Island population soared to more…

DISTRIBUTION: Patchy across Arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America. In Europe, also found to the south of its main range in Scotland, the Alps and the Pyrenees and Alpine areas in remnant populations. It is the only gamebird (apart from a few willow grouse off the Russian coast) to be found on Arctic islands. UKDISTRIBUTION: The Highlands. IUCN RED LIST STATUS: Near-threatened worldwide. HABITAT: Found only in arctic-alpine habitats at higher elevations. FOOD: Seeds, berries, shoots, buds and leaves. Chicks feed on insects. BREEDING: Pairing takes place in the spring and breeding success appears to be related to the size of the cock bird’s red eye comb. The courtship flight of the latter is a rapid, upward rise, followed by gliding with the tail fanned out accompanied by a…

It should be peak pigeon shooting time on the estate where I work, but as yet it isn’t. The harvest is all but over and there is plenty of food scattered around for woodies to forage, but there still aren’t the number of birds that there should be, though the numbers are increasing. I know from social media that big bags are being shot, so I don’t think there has been a national collapse in the population. It’s anybody’s guess as to why they’re not in my area, but I feel they’ll turn up at some point. I’ve been chatting with my local game dealer and he tells me that he’s not too interested in taking pigeons at the moment because of a lack of demand. Have any of you…

The handler must establish a dog’s focus from a very early age. Once you have achieved this, it shouldn’t be too difficult to re-establish it if it has ‘drifted’. I incorporate this remedial training with some basic steadiness, sit and stays. As the dogs get older and experienced, they start to think they know better than you and can develop an independent streak. By having them sit alone or in a group and making them wait, you are stamping your control and will regain their focus. Never let them second-guess what you are going to ask them to do.…

Country clothing has come a long way from tweed breeks and wax jackets. While these still have their place in any self-respecting sportsman’s wardrobe, when comfort and warmth are concerned the modern equivalents win hands down. Deerstalking is intensely demanding on clothing. I need something that will keep me warm in a high seat but not too warm when dragging out a carcass. It needs to keep the rain off my back and have good pockets, all this while not breaking the bank — a tall order. The effort and money spent on dressing properly is always worth it. If I am warmer, drier and altogether more comfortable, I will stay out for longer and therefore increase my chances of success. So I was glad to have the chance to…

Sound moderators for both rimfire and centrefire rifles are essential in the sporting market these days. This is to enable a shooter to fire a centrefire rifle without ear defenders – to enjoy total flash elimination and less recoil. Since the introduction of the Vaime and Reflex designs over 20 years ago, the suppressor market has accelerated in the UK. British shooters now have an array of rimfire and centrefire moderators to choose from. If you are thinking of using a moderator, it’s worth considering a few facts to enable you to get the best one for your needs. Noise Noise is measured in decibels (dB) and, commonly, if silence is measured at 0dB — the threshold of your hearing — at an increasing level an ambient office environment noise…

My first impressions were it is a good looking gun with lovely wood and fancy engraving. The Invictus V Ascent has a fine looking action, which I understand to be hand engraved in part. Whatever, it is rather nice, a pheasant on one side and a partridge on the other of a sideplated action. The unique Invictus action and its internal parts are all chrome-lined and are hand polished to give the most precise trigger Caesar Guerini has ever produced. The slightly thicker walls to the action increases its strength and durability and also helps to absorb felt recoil. The Invictus V Ascent can be refurbished easily if wear is found after an owner has put many thousands of rounds down the barrel. For example, the opening and closing movement…

SAYS: ts, her re” In the August edition of Sporting Gun we looked at Fausti’s XF4 shotgun – an all-rounder with a special appeal to the clay shooter. Hot on its heels comes the Aphrodite, another relatively new model pitched more towards the growing market for female shooters. Given that the company is run today by Stefano Fausti’s three daughters – Barbara, Elena and Giovanna, all of whom are passionate shots – you can be sure that this is no gimmick, offering no more than a few tweaks made to the weight and decoration. Most certainly not. The Aphrodite has been purposely designed for the female form with no compromises and comes in a full range of calibres and in game or Sporting configurations. It is a welcome addition to…

Our sport is launching into the unknown and it is right to question if we are doing the right thing. Shooting has become divided by those against the move to steel and those for it. All sorts of facts and figures have been trotted out along with a lot of misinformation. Those who are against our sport must be rubbing their hands together with glee. I am not in favour of the blanket ban of lead shot for shooting live quarry, but I will not let this set me apart from my fellow shooters. I know many of you have concerns about steel shot and I hope we can go some way to answering those. Don’t stop asking questions – it’s what intelligent people do – but don’t let the…

BASC has asked for an inquiry into the contribution shooting makes to the Welsh economy. The request follows the recent consultation by the Welsh Senedd’s (parliament’s) Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs committee on rural matters. There has been some disquiet expressed by countryside groups that the ‘mood music’ from Cardiff is anti-shooting. In August, it was confirmed that Natural Resources Wales, the Welsh government’s environment agency, was consulting on a proposal to remove magpies from the general licence. The agency cited evidence of the bird’s 43% decline over the past 25 years as a reason for its proposal. However, countryside groups have said such a move could hinder efforts to protect songbirds such as the greenfinch and yellowhammers, on whose nests magpies predate and whose numbers have declined by at…

Readers may recall British Shooting’s appeal to recruit more women Olympic Skeet athletes (Sporting Gun, Snapshots, June ‘21) to address the UK’s shortage in this regard. The initiative is headed up by Nicki Wakeford, British Shooting’s Talent Pathway coach, and has seen the creation of a new women’s Olympic Skeet Talent Squad, a vehicle that will fast-track novices to compete at the highest level. A squad isn’t a squad until it has members, which is a problem Nicki faces while female Olympic Skeet (OS) shots are as hard to find as a taxi in a rainstorm. British Shooting put the word out that she’d host a Talent Squad ID Day at the end of July in Derbyshire for any ‘wannabe’ OS athletes wishing to give the discipline a shot. The…

In my article on reconnaissance last month, I described how I found on one of my routine scouting trips what promised to be a big shoot on winter barley stubble. That night I mulled over what problems might arise from the situation. As always, it is the detail that determines the success or failure of any outing. A good number of birds need to be using the target field, ideally with few, if any, feeding opportunities nearby. The 20-acre field I had in mind fulfilled the criteria, so I was getting excited at the prospect of a good day. “I was confident when pigeons arrived they would be ready to feed” Nagging doubt Weather can spoil the best-laid plans, but the day promised to be warm and dry and, crucially,…

Using snares as a form of pest control is an emotive subject. I use them as a tool to help me do a job efficiently in particular circumstances, but I acknowledge that others are ambiguous about them, and some are opposed on the grounds that they kill indiscriminately. It is true that if snares are not set correctly they can catch non-targets, but this can also happen when using poison as a form of control. And if an unintended target is snared it is there for all to see, whereas a poisoned animal is likely to die over a period of days and out of sight. Most animals can be snared and probably have been since man could walk and engineer whatever materials were to hand. These days the majority…

More than 50 years ago Hugh Jones began matching the flight paths of his targets to the gamebirds of Mid Wales. In the process he helped to create the sport of simulated game shooting and placed Dovey Valley Shooting Ground on the map as one of the country’s most innovative ranges. Today Hugh’s grandson, Richard, continues this tradition of innovation. He’s helped to evolve Dovey Valley into the thoroughly modern facility that it is today, while still keeping one eye on the lessons of the past. Take its vast Sporting course as an example. More than 100 stands wind their way across the valley, with each stand offering classically challenging targets against stunning backdrops. Currently Richard and his team are working hard to modernise the course, with an ever-expanding Claymate…

“The broad expanse of metalwork of the side-by-side gives a different sight picture” In the 1800s, when gunmakers were starting to develop sporting shotguns, they had the background experience from the manufacture of military smoothbore muskets. In the early days, these were single-barrel guns with a flintlock ignition mechanism for the gunpowder, firing a solid lead ball. As technology developed, external hammers were fitted to hit an explosive firing cap that ignited the blackpowder in the chamber of the gun. More refined gun developments led to much lighter and easier to handle shotguns and, inevitably, the opportunity to give the sportsman two barrels to fire from came to fruition. The logical way to achieve this was to put the second barrel and its firing mechanism to the side of the…

I’m a great fan of modern electronics but I have never really taken to digital night vision. This is for several reasons but mostly because I found that I just couldn’t live with the combination of flicker, lag, myriad buttons, poor head position and bad pixelation. It was obvious that the technology would soon catch up though, so I simply bided my time. I keep an eye on what’s happening in the way of new shooting products, so I was aware that things had moved on recently. To this end, I decided to see whether my prejudices were still valid. The problem I faced was which model to review. There are lots of similar ones on the market, so I plumped for a unit that is made locally to me.…

“The retrieves are fired off at various angles and heights to create a realistic experience” I have taken part in and photographed countless gundog training days. Some have been excellent and of benefit to both the dogs and their handlers, but others were poorly organised, poorly executed and of little use. Gundogs reach the stage in their training (as do we handlers) when they are nearly ready for the shooting field but lack the experience and exposure to the atmosphere of a proper day. For some, being involved can be a real challenge, especially if they are new to shooting and other gundogs. Howard Rudkin of Fullpip Gundogs runs the picking-up team at the Six Mile Bottom simulated shoot in Cambridgeshire. A couple of years ago he came up with…

The shooting organisations’ announcement is a five-year voluntary transition away from lead shot for live quarry. It is not a ban on all lead shot. The external and internal pressures on the future use of lead shot, especially regarding human health, are significant. With the pace of development in non-lead alternatives, the shooting organisations saw an opportunity to lay down our marker and take a proactive step forward. The five-year transition is about educating our members and the wider shooting community while we continue to welcome all further non-lead developments. To date, BASC has delivered 65 ‘Try Sustainable Ammunition’ days all over the UK with more than 1,000 attendees. BASC is undertaking market and scientific research to ensure our information is both up to date and relevant. We will further…

RE Ranger RIACT AI lenses RE Ranger has used AI to develop its new RIACT AI lens technology. Infused with precious metals, the 1bn lenses allow you to see targets much faster and clearer. Available as a single lens or in kits. Price: £165; reranger.com Hayfield England bespoke feather pin These bespoke pins are mounted on hand-engineered and polished rifle casings. They can be adorned with gamebird feathers and any other decorations to complement your favourite piece of clothing. Price: £25; hayfieldengland.com Schöffel Country Newton shirt This tailored shirt features larger arm holes and a long length for freedom of movement. Wear on its own when walking-up partridges or under layers in winter. Price: £89.95; schoffelcountry.com Blaser R8 OWN rifle Created for the World Hunting Exhibition One With Nature (OWN)…

With its 3in chamber, matt black finish and easy-to-use controls, there is no mistaking that the latest incarnation of Benelli’s Black Eagle has been designed for the wildfowler. Innovations include a stylish new receiver, a technopolymer stock – incorporating an improved recoil system – along with a larger bolt release and safety catch, both designed for use with gloved hands. Apart from that, the new Black Eagle uses the tried and tested Benelli inertia system that many of you will know cycles quickly and doesn’t have any gas parts to gunk up. The gun has a 3in chamber, allowing the use heavy steel shot loads when required. Naturally, large loads mean more recoil, but even though the Black Eagle is a relative lightweight at 3.25kg, it is comfortable to shoot.…

There are concerns within the shooting community that the evidence gathering on the use of lead ammunition has widened its scope and could have far greater consequences in the event of a ban than first thought. The Government announced in March that it was considering a ban of lead ammunition to protect wildlife and the environment as part of its plans under UK REACH, the country’s chemicals regulatory regime that is being formulated to replace its EU equivalent following Brexit. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has been charged with conducting the evidence gathering, which closes on 22 October, and its scope encompasses clay pigeons and biathlon targets, for example, as well as game shooting and wildfowling. Simon West of the Gun Trade Association said the issues cut across “huge…

Tim Jeffery was the closest the British paralympic shooting team came to a medal in the recent Tokyo games. Tim, from Newbury, has qualified for three separate Olympic finals and came tantalisingly close to a podium position on several occasions. Speaking after his last event, Mixed 50m Rifle prone SH2 in which he finished sixth overall, Tim said: “It has been a long Games, a very good Games. There are just a few tiny improvements I need to make; no big major things, just the finest of margins.”…

A new criminal offence of pet abduction is likely to be introduced in response to a rise in pet thefts. It follows recommendations by the Pet Theft Taskforce, which was launched by the Government in May with the purpose tackling such thefts. The past 18 months of the coronavirus pandemic has seen a rise in demand for pet ownership and concomitantly a dramatic rise in pet thefts. Stealing a pet is already a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1968, with offenders facing a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. If an animal suffers in the process, the culprit could also be liable to prosecution for offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.…

One lesson most of us learn pretty early in life is to not make promises we can’t keep. Doing so risks credibility and trustworthiness. Failing to deliver on a personal assurance is always bad enough but nowhere near as bad as stupidly making one for other people. Yet that’s exactly what our shooting organisations have done. Before the pandemic hit they proclaimed on behalf of cartridge makers that the industry would develop eco-friendly wads and cases in time for the sport to phase out lead shot and plastic shot cups in five years. Initiative Trouble was, they didn’t consult the loaders widely enough before going public with a green initiative that even their members hadn’t been consulted on. Cartridge manufacturers responded by saying they’d certainly do their best but they…

Part of my work is training candidates for the deer stalking certificate (DSC1) qualification. One of the requirements is to assess a candidate’s shooting abilities on deer. This involves shooting into a 5in kill zone on a roe deer silhouette. The target circle cannot be seen at either the 100m or 70m range, so the candidate must know where the zone is. It is an expectation that candidates will have shot rifles previously and are therefore capable of carrying out the assessment. My advice to anyone thinking of doing the assessment, but who has had little or no experience of centrefire rifle shooting, would be to attend pre-DSC1 or rifle handling courses that are held around the country. These courses concentrate on accurate shooting of a group so a candidate…

The ptarmigan must be one of our hardiest birds, existing in places that might kill most creatures. A little larger than a partridge, it chooses to live in the tundra-like landscape of only the highest mountains of the Highlands and only rarely ventures lower when extreme levels of snow and ice may force it down to the forest edges. Most of the time, however, it remains loyal to a relatively small area in which it spends its entire life. There used to be ptarmigan further south, but those of the uplands of southern Scotland were gone by the late 1700s, and a small remnant population in the Lake District of England had disappeared by the early 19th century. Today, the world population is estimated to be around a million pairs,…

Scottish Clay Shooting Centre DISCIPLINES Sporting, Skeet, DTL and a high tower. ADDITIONAL FACILITIES The Rhynd Café. MOBILITY The on-site car park is lightly gravelled, as are pathways to the stands. Disabled bathroom facilities are available at the Rhynd Café. WHEN IS IT OPEN? Saturday, 9.30am-6pm Sunday-Friday, by appointment PRACTICE ROUNDS A Wi-Card system allows experienced Shots to head out alone. Clays are priced at £0.25, or £0.22 for discount card holders. TUITION Standard lessons start from £48 and include 25 targets. Introductory lessons and advanced lessons are also available. MEMBERSHIP Discount cards are available from £35 a year. Benefits include a 10% discount on lessons, a 5% discount on cartridges and a reduced clay price. DESCRIPTION The SCSC stands alongside a legendary golf course and world-renowned university in the…

“There is no such thing as a grouse that is too low to shoot” The Glorious Twelfth marks the start of the UK season. However, I bet a lot less is known about what brings that date to fruition. The management behind a grouse shoot is a 365-days-a-year job involving many different people. The season starts when it does for good reason; it is all to do with the life cycle of each of the quarry. The grouse, unlike most pheasants and partridges, is a wild bird. The productivity of a moor can be in the making for many years, with no guarantee of owners being able to shoot at all in some years. It is even possible to have too many grouse left at the end of the season…

Many people at this time of year will be taking a few shooting lessons at their local gun club or getting their eye in by spending a day in a pigeon hide, as they prepare to take part in the recently up and running shooting season. For those of us with gundogs, however, the preparation needs to start earlier. This will give the dogs time to get fit and give us time to identify any issues that we need to work on. This year I have had to rethink my preparation training programme. Usually I would be picking-up on the grouse moors but grouse numbers are very low, so our season has been delayed by at least a month. I have no picking-up on any of my regular moors. It…

An underactive thyroid – or hypothyroidism – cannot be cured, but it can be treated and I would hope your bitch could return to full function. The following explains the issue and how to treat it. Thyroid gland The gland is bilobed, sitting in the neck, on either side of the windpipe. It is controlled by the pituitary gland, located at the base of the brain. The pituitary, in turn, is regulated by another part of the brain, called the hypothalamus, which produces thyroid-releasing hormone (TRH). TRH causes the pituitary to release thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and this influences production of the two main thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), in the thyroid gland. The latter two hormones are involved in the regulation of the metabolism, so that an increase…

Off target The magazine to which I have subscribed for a long time has had less interesting content over the past few years. The removal of Shopfront was the final straw for me. I won’t be renewing my subscription when it expires at the end of the year, and I would not be surprised if I’m not alone in my view of the magazine in its current format. Alan Stanmore, via email Ed – Thanks for the feedback, Alan. Shopfronthas moved online to our website, shootinguk.co.uk. It is still free and your advert will reach a wider audience there as it’s the website for not only Sporting Gun, but our sister titles Shooting Times and The Field. As for Sporting Gun’s content, we run all the same columnists and features…

WILDFOWLING A man for all seasons What time of year do you like to shoot wildfowl? Tom says: I don’t really have a favourite time of year to shoot. I enjoy the entire season and love the transitions through the winter months. The start of the season provides the nice early mornings with fresh autumnal weather, which is often a welcome change from the heat of the summer. There can be good numbers of birds about and great shooting opportunities to be had prior to the major migration. It is also a great time of year to get a flight in and have the rest of the day for other jobs. The darker months typically provide wiser quarry as birds become accustomed to tricks and ambushes, which makes the successful…

Stoney Creek Suppressor jacket and overtrousers When I first reviewed the Suppressor jacket last year I wasn’t too happy about the high collar because it interfered with my gun mount. But I have since discovered the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. In cold, wet and snowy conditions, the high collar, which is attached to the hood, did a brilliant job of keeping out the wet and keeping in the warmth. No rain dribbled down my neck, which made for a much more comfortable shooting experience. This is probably more important to accuracy than the collar getting in the way of gun mount. The hood is one of the best I have come across. It has been engineered so it moves with your head and doesn’t obscure vision or block your…

It is becoming increasingly evident how difficult the position cartridge companies have been plunged into is, following the rush to replace lead shot with non-toxic ammunition for game that enters the food chain. Note that nothing has actually been ‘banned’ as yet despite the language often heard when shooters discuss the topic. However, with members of the National Game Dealers Association expressing its intention to decline handling game shot with lead from 1 July 2022, well ahead of the ‘voluntary phasing out’ of lead shot over five years, it begins to feel more and more like a ban. Cartridge companies have clearly been put in an invidious situation. Their work in developing a comprehensive range of ammunition for all types of shooting in all calibres has been done over 20,…