ONLY THE ESSENTIALS

Phil Hardman is called out of lockdown to help a farmer even if it doesn’t feel right

- Phil Hardman

Lockdown has been in full effect in the UK for just over three weeks now, and at the time of writing, has just been extended for another three weeks. Things have become very serious, so let me take this chance, first of all, to wish all of our readers and their families the best at this difficult time. When the lockdown was first declared, I was unsure about whether or not I could still go out into the hunting field so I had a look on the BASC website, which states that essential pest control is still permitted, but was what I do essential? I figured that would be up to the landowner to decide, so after a quick phone call, I had it clarified. He deemed it essential and he’d checked with the local police who agreed with him, so it was.

He told me that the rabbit numbers had started to explode and his crops were under serious threat, so asked if I could head over ASAP to help protect them. I couldn’t take a photographer with me because of the rules on social distancing – we wouldn’t have been able to follow social distancing guidelines and still hunt effectively – so I had to go it alone, being the hunter and the photographer at the same time. I packed a Nikon DSLR into the game bag, and then my phone into my pocket, in case I needed to snap a photo quickly, without being seen and the phone was easier to get to. I tipped some pellets into my pocket, grabbed the Weihrauch HW100BP and headed out for an early evening stalk in the sunshine.

THE A GAME