Shooting Times & Country

Zambia has joined the list of African countries speaking out against a trophy import ban. The southern African country has traditionally been much quieter on the subject than nations such as Botswana and Namibia. However, a top conservation oficial

Encourage your gamebirds to be bold. Once your birds are roosting in trees, it is a good idea to encourage them to leave their pen for at least part of the day. This will also give the ground flora a rest and prepare the birds to live a more independ

Pro-shooting interests have overwhelmingly taken the upper hand in the latest Parliamentary grouse shooting debate. The debate was opened by Ipswich MP Tom Hunt. He has won respect for a series of low-key visits to rural parts of his constituency, in

Gamekeepers and rural residents have welcomed the news that crucial legal changes are to be introduced to tackle hare coursing. Defra has announced that it is to introduce a series of changes to the law. They include amending the Game Act 1831 and th

I can’t help feeling that the British Deer Society (BDS) is succumbing to a form of rural wokeism when it complains about Defra including deer among the list of species considered pests in forestry. One man’s valuable sporting quarry can become anoth

George and I were standing quietly in the gloaming, overlooking a large grass clearing on the edge of Wakerley woods in Northamptonshire. The old runway of Spanhoe Airfield was behind us, and George recounted its history, most notably its roles in bo

There’s a tremendous thrill when you finally spy your quarry, especially when you’ve travelled several thousand miles in its pursuit. When I eventually managed to find a trio of cheer pheasants, feeding on a shaded hillside high in the Himalayas, I f

Living in the north-west of England, close to the border between Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire, means that I have an abundance of beautiful rolling hills and farmland to stride over with a gun on my back. We may not have bountiful numbers of pige

A STANDARD BLACK EDITION starts at £61,540. It’s not cheap, but it’s a lot of vehicle and the quality and performance is spot on. It’s more than capable of dealing with family life and impresses doing a bit of country life. The extras on this Touareg

You don’t have to do much research on Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the US, before you find a picture of him hunting in Africa, dwarfed by a bull elephant he had shot. Roosevelt was a passionate hunter, never happier than when out with a

If you see someone exercising a gundog, it’s remarkably easy to tell with a fair degree of certainty whether it’s a worker or a pet. If it’s the former, it will almost certainly be on a simple slip lead, while the dog’s handler is likely to have a wh

It’s been quiet on the pigeon front — a cold spring certainly held everything back. A spell of rain and some warm weather in June made rural Britain burst into life. Meanwhile, pigeons disappeared and we are definitely behind compared with this time

Latin name: Amanita fulva Common name: Tawny grisette Other names: Ringless amanita How to spot it and where to find it: Though the tawny grisette is quite easy to identify, it can be confused with other species so, as with all fungi, great care m

1 Dress to impress: wearing clothing that looks like you belong in the countryside will get you far more accepted than turning up at a farm in your best Nike gear. 2 Be professional and polite: have insurance or, better still, BASC membership and bu

As the sleek VW pulled up, I thought: “This looks like a proper big-boy motor.” We’re taking a look at Volkswagen’s Touareg Black Edition, a three-litre TDI V6, and I’m hopeful this third-generation model will tick a few boxes. If the 21in Suzuka whe

June is one of the toughest months for roebuck stalking. The longest days of the year are in June, and rising temperatures, easterly winds and midge swarms render it all but impossible. To make matters worse, bucks tend to move less thanks to the abu

It is so often the case that you don’t fully appreciate something until it’s gone; life teaches us this time after time. With clay grounds closed, shoots cancelled and many fieldsports activities severely curtailed for much of the past 15 months due

Images of a forestry contractor mowing heather on a former grouse moor at the height of nesting season have prompted anger from gamekeepers and birdwatchers. The images posted online by Taiga Upland show a heavy tractor-mounted mower called a ‘swipe’

Q I own several shotguns and have a small collection of antique firearms, which includes a percussion musket from the 1840s. I would like to fire this once or twice to see how it works. I read on an online forum that you can do this a few times a yea

“Keep your eyes and ears open, and your mouth shut,” said Dad, “and make sure you keep in line, halfway between the beaters on either side.” I was only eight years old when those instructions were delivered, as we travelled in the old Ford Anglia to

Wild Justice has suffered yet another legal defeat, bringing its total of failed legal actions to seven. The latest came in the Court of Appeal, where the anti-shooting campaign group was requesting leave to appeal a High Court decision. Wild Justice

As soon as the Covid police deemed it safe, we rocked along to a friend’s party to celebrate what’s now termed ‘a big birthday’. In the old days, that would have been an excuse for the girls to climb into their LBDs and the boys to dig out their blac

As shooting organisations push on with the transition away from lead ammunition, the British Game Alliance (BGA) has launched a new register for its assured lead-free shoots. To join the BGA’s register fill out a short questionnaire on the BGA websit

“We are doing A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Charlie informed me when I asked what he was up to at school. “Excellent, Puck or Bottom?” I replied in the annoying dad way that only dads may joke. “No, I’m second angry man,” he responded, with not a hint

A shooting acquaintance once bought himself a black labrador — a field trials champion, no less. He spent a lot of time abroad and used to lodge the dog with a keeper friend until he returned and needed to take it shooting. On one occasion, after a v

Last winter, I was asked by a countryman whether I could enlighten him about the strange “crittur as big as a dog” that he sometimes saw on the banks of the river. If that man, who has spent the whole of his life in country places and seeing many ott

I always enjoy Laurence Catlow’s articles and his musings on older Guns really moved me (How to call time on 50 years in the line, 23 June). It also made me think, in how many other sports could we continue to participate when we’re in our eighth dec

The biggest obstacle people face when getting into shooting is finding somewhere to shoot. I remember as a young lad struggling to find a farm on which to shoot. One weekend my friend and I went on a concentrated door-knocking excursion and spent the

A bill that could “curtail country sports such as fishing and shooting” has been mauled in the House of Lords as ‘unnecessary’, ‘ill conceived’ and ‘anthropomorphic’. The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill was introduced in the Queen’s Speech earlier th

I have been watching often heated debate over the use of non-lead rifle ammunition develop among the stalking community. Other than the odd private conversation, I have not made any comment on the matter, but now it’s time to stick my head above the