I should start making an effort to keep my big mouth shut. Or do I mean that I should try to impose some sort of control over my fingers whenever I sit in front of my laptop and start tapping away at another piece for Shooting Times. Whatever I mean, there have been one or two occasions over the past year or so when I have come to regret what I said, or rather wrote, in my efforts to entertain and occasionally even instruct readers.
Most recently this happened when, in the concluding paragraph of my most recent article (The gift of spring, 19 May), I hoped that the last fortnight of May would bring warm and sunny weather with just the occasional shower to freshen things up and provide ideal conditions for young grouse chicks. It looks like the weather, after considering my words, decided that it wasn’t going to be bossed around and would do exactly what it wanted. And what it wanted was to send a miserable procession of cold days and freezing nights and lashing rain and raging winds.
I remember hoping the beginning of June might find the faces of my moorland keeper friends wreathed in smiles. When these same friends found time to read my article they will almost certainly have laughed hollow and bitter laughs, probably blaming me for tempting fate in so reckless a fashion.
My sources suggest there will be some sport on the moors this summer; they also suggest that it will be patchy and that an average sort of season is the best that can be hoped for. Time, of course, will tell.
Denne historien er fra June 16, 2021-utgaven av Shooting Times & Country.
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Denne historien er fra June 16, 2021-utgaven av Shooting Times & Country.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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United we stand
Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors
Serious matters
An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning
They're not always as easy as they seem
While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort
Debutant gundogs
There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting
When the going gets rough
Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make
A step too far?
Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work
Two bucks before breakfast
A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem
Stalking Diary
Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill
Gamekeeper
Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside