CATEGORIES

Strange days

Geoff Garrod on spring drilling, but not as he has ever known it

Spotlight on female models

Rachel Draper asks: should you be shooting a \"ladies' gun\"?

Dark horse of high-end optics

Tom Cackett explains why the Leica Amplus 6 stands out with its exceptional quality and affordable price

Prime assets

Patrick Hook on how to obtain and then keep your permissions in the face of stern competition

Stop right there

Fran Ardley instructs you on how to get your dog acclimatised to the stop whistle, a crucial part of its hunting and retrieving development

Highland life

A year on from moving to north-west Scotland, Tom Sykes reflects and how he and his wife Charlie have taken to their new existence

Is rough shooting a dying art?

There's a certain skill to a walkabout through a bog that you just can't learn while standing on a peg, says Jamie Tusting

When a charity stalk leaves you in the red

On his quest to find the most cost-effective way to fill his freezer, Will Martin eyes up some prime red meat in the form of venison

The Secret Land Agent

The estate's departments must learn to work together for their long-term future

Keeping the pressure on

Mat Manning shares his box of tips and tricks for keeping destructive grey squirrels in check during those challenging summer months

For whatever the weather

With technical fabrics constantly evolving, Graham Downing puts four jackets to the test to find out if any of them tick all boxes

Chasing ghosts among the trees

Charles Hartley is finally given the permission he seeks and gets the chance to stalk an apparition haunting the woodland close to home

Lunch like a Victorian

Tim Maddams asks if our great-grandparents would recognise the game dishes of today and investigates what we can learn from the past

The all-round crop for the passionate shooter

Tom Payne heads out on to his much-loved peas this month, but tough conditions keep him working hard to build up the final bag

Hunting the bunnies

An overabundant rabbit population up in Orkney catches the attention of Barry Lilley, and he sets out with a keen group to thin the numbers

The future of the coney in Great Britain

Adam Hart explores the shifting fortunes of our most recognisable mammal and asks what the countryside would be without them

Cold game: a hot topic

Using dead game for training and competitions is bad PR for the sport, says David Tomlinson, who’s pleased it’s falling out of favour

When onservation is a fine art

A muntjac stalk through Constable Country is a stark reminder that we are all just stewards of an ever-changing landscape

It's not such a 'lousy' nut after all

The perennial pignut is a culinary delight, says John Wright, although acquiring one can be a rather tedious task in truth

Conserving an iconic indigenous species

Nathan Little takes on the heat and mountainous terrain of Mallorca as he learns the story of the Balearean boc and a new hunting culture

Boots for big adventurers

A high lace-up boot is just the ticket for crossing country while shooting says Richard Negus, who rounds up four of the best on the market

We need to look at the bigger picture

Game shooting is under close scrutiny, so it’s vital that management decisions consider the broader environment, writes Mike Swan

Online dating, but with a difference

The internet is a hugely powerful tool, not only for meeting folk across the world but also for promoting our sport, writes Guy Maddocks

How the keeper's kennel has evolved

Man’s best friend has always been at our side over the years, but Lindsay Waddell investigates how breeding priorities have changed

One handler, one dog?

Professionals may well raise trialling standards, but David Tomlinson asks if it is fairer for handlers to be restricted to one dog per person

Is farming to blame for Europe-wide bird decline?

There are 550 million fewer birds on the continent than there were 40 years ago, with research suggesting that agriculture is the main culprit

Gamekeeper

Foxing gives ample opportunity to keep an eye on wildlife at large, and an experiment with jackdaws produces some interesting results

Be careful what you wish for

Simon Whitehead looks at the nature of ferrets and worries that we might be breeding out their hunting instinct

'Catastrophic decline' in foxes following ban

More than 100 vets are calling for a scientific review to address the current situation, as fox populations continue to fall across the UK

JOTTINGS FOR WILDFOWLERS

Lots of us have different guns for differents occasions, a gun for geese on the mud and a gun for duck flighting, but is best to stick with one?