CATEGORIES

Go back to the future

Legal restrictions make owning and using an old rifle harder than ever, but Diggory Hadoke explains how vintage can still be viable

Gamekeeper

Lockdowns meant 2020 was a year of fewer shoot days, which has helped to emphasise the importance of the social side of fieldsports

A nutty old downfall

If there’s one thing grey squirrels cannot resist it’s a feeder filled with peanuts, which makes essential control much easier for Mat Manning

Bolt action!

Ed Cook hedges his bets when it comes to a certain type of rabbit work

Gone with the wind

No matter how carefully you plan, if the wind changes direction it can leave your strategy in tatters warns Jon Snowdon

The family way

Richard Faulks has a fantastic day all round at the estimable Moscow Farm shoot, an exemplar for shooting if fieldsports are to continue to prosper

Watch the world go by

Robin Scott finds time to reflect by his pond. Or should that be lake?

Board appointment

Fran Ardley was sceptical about the merits of using a place board for training, but then everything changed

Adventures of Nick & Ted

Autumn has borne fruit for the Ridley family, both two-and four-legged, as Ted has had time to recover from an injury, Percy’s training has clicked and a young trainer of promise has surfaced, as Nick explains

On the scrapheap

Robert Morgan says the changes to antiques firearms regulations is a debacle that could have been avoided with more thought

Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus

Tom Sykes heads out with his dad’s new semi-auto to see how it performs on the foreshore

Beating then and now

Paul Quagliana reflects on his memories as a beater and shares some tips for those who fancy giving it a go

A bird in the hand…

Nick Ridley recalls some of his fondest days shooting with his dogs and friends

The right-and-left that almost was

Woodcock awaken such passion in Worth Mathewson that he decides to cross the pond in search of some sport

To brighten a winter's day

Velvet shank is one of the few mushrooms to thrive at this time of year, says John Wright

Coloured judgement

Just how important is the hue of a gundog’s coat? David Tomlinson examines the history behind the kaleidoscope of canine colours

The man who stares at goats

Feral goats have had some bad press but in Galloway they are part of the mountains — and they produce fabulous meat

Youthful vigour of the famous five

In the latest of our series on bringing youngsters into fieldsports, Richard Negus’s son Charlie joins the beating line on a farm shoot

Gamekeeper

It is a great time of year for commercial shoots to be thinking about how they can tailor their offerings to meet changing sporting tastes

All for one, one for all

In a single day, the ferrets, dog and goshawk bag their bunny — a feat to be known forthwith as a rabbiting Macnab, says Simon Whitehead

A nod is as good as a wink-wink

Geese are notoriously unpredictable — but that can work in your favour, says Soldier Palmer

A New Year's revelation

To get an idea of how to tackle January pheasants you have to understand the science of death, says Simon Reinhold

‘I know they are after me'

Gamekeepers run a daily gauntlet of abuse and there appears little that can be done to stop it. Matt Cross investigates

Hope springs eternal

With the usual shoot gathering cancelled due to COVID-19, there’s an ideal opportunity for a keen young dog handler to experience fowling

Will an HPR help you fill your game bag?

An HPR can be the difference between a good bag and heading home empty-handed — but which breed is best, wonders David Tomlinson

Good riddance 2020

COVID-19 chaos, soaring puppy prices, shoot day disruption and field trial cancellations — David Tomlinson reflects on a year to forget

A bit of a curve ball

An old curling pond near the coast ticks every box to make it suitable for flighting — apart from one vital component, as Jack Bell discovers

Unending muse of the wildest places

Not every sporting artist actually participates in fieldsports but it seems the best work is created by those who do, says Richard Negus

The freedom of the city

The success of the Manchester Syndicate’s urban shoot shows what can be achieved in the most unlikely of places

Playing catch up with Covid

It’s very frustrating but you can’t just start packing more shoot days in says Liam Bell