Furrier makes good use of the long festive break with plenty of ‘armed rambles’ over game-laden farmland, and discovers there is lots of fun to be had at informal little gatherings such as these.
If you managed to cleverly combine the Christmas and New Year bank holidays with your annual holiday quota, the festive break could have been quite a long one. In the past, during the Christmas break, I would have involved myself with a lot of beagling, following foot packs, hunting hares, and also following the local foxhounds.
Nowadays, with the new legislation and the potential for confusion, I’d rather be certain that I’m staying on the right side of the law, bearing in mind the fact that firearms could be revoked if you were found to be involved in illegal activities – unknowingly or not!
So, for a change, at the end of the year I was out with the shotgun, a comfortably weighted 20-bore, as the days were to be spent going on what was more akin to an armed ramble, or a sporting dog walk. It seems to me to be much more rewarding when you have to toil harder for the shot, and it galvanises you to make it count, too. Two of the days were on new ground, which always makes it more exciting, as well as a little nerve-racking – will you be accepted by the other Guns? Will they believe you’ve been sporting in your choice of shot, and respected the game as well as followed their perceived shoot-day etiquette?
Denne historien er fra March 2017-utgaven av Sporting Shooter.
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Denne historien er fra March 2017-utgaven av Sporting Shooter.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
RSPB gives mixed message on shooting
Having recently attended the RSPB’s virtual AGM, Conor O’Gorman discusses the outcome of the charity’s year-long review of game bird shooting
Causeway for concern
Alan Jarrett’s renewed interest in reading takes him down memory lane to an offshore island duck flight that very nearly ended in disaster
Through a purple patch
The Garrows Estate is taking a conservation-focused approach to restoring the wildlife populations and biodiversity on the Scottish heather moorland.
When the wheels fall off
Losing form on a day’s shooting can be infuriating, especially if you’ve been shooting like a god up to that point. Simon O’Leary looks at some common causes and how to remedy them
Beaches, books & bad behaviour!
The annual Kay family vacation to Northumberland offers a chance to give the cockers a blast on the beach – although they don’t always shower themselves in glory, as Ryan Kay recalls...
Using the Stop whistle
Now you’ve instilled the basics, it’s time to up the ante with some more tricky distance work. Howard Kirby explains how to take the core Stop whistle command to the next level
The humble teal
They may be tiny, but as far as Rupert Butler is concerned, the appeal of this little duck is huge. He recalls some of his most memorable nights in pursuit of these aerial acrobats
Fab all-rounder
Mike is impressed with the Fabarm Elos B2 Field Notte, which offers great value for money, is suited to fieldwork or clays and is future-proofed for use with steel in all choke constrictions
CALL OF THE WILD
Dom Holtam reconnects with one of the purest forms of shotgun shooting as he walks-up woodcock over pointing dogs in the Scottish Highlands
A yen for the Fens
Tony Jackson recounts a memorable duck flight over an area of Fenland in Norfolk with his friend and author, the late Alan Savory
