Like everyone, I have been avoiding shooting for the past few weeks. While I treat fox shooting as more than just a sport, it’s not my form of employment so therefore is not essential, however, ‘essential’ it may feel to me or the gamekeeper. Spring is one of the most important times for me normally. I make a big effort to get as many of the breeding pairs as I can, and it’s very frustrating not being able to get out as it will have an impact on the local wildlife – and come harvest time I will have a lot more young foxes to deal with than normal. If the lockdown has eased by then, I’ll be concentrating on the water meadows and anywhere else there are no standing crops. June, on the other hand, would normally be my quiet time, benefitting from my efforts in the spring, but I will be busy this year!
I speak to Joe, the farmer, on a regular basis as he’s a good friend and of course he is always on my case if there are rabbits or pigeons on his crops – but I could do nothing about it. Even my dog Saxon could not understand it – I was home but we were not going shooting!
Three weeks into lockdown, Joe called me. “How are you?” he asked.
“Doing the walk of death around my house!” I replied.
He laughed. “Well, I have a job for you. The pigman running the farrowing field has noticed the sows are starting to get very aggressive with him and he lost some of the piglets last night... sure sign there is a fox coming in.”
Denne historien er fra July 2020-utgaven av Sporting Shooter.
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Denne historien er fra July 2020-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.
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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
