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43 Articles

FROM THE EDITOR

With the season now in full swing, we thought we would give you some inspiration for what to do with the game you take home after a shoot day. This can be anything from birds in the feather to partridge pasties, and an increasing number of shoots are feeding Guns using birds taken from their own ground. It’s great to see this culinary revolution taking place. We’re speaking to a number of shooting foodies about their love of game and giving them a chance to share their go-to recipes this month. Our main shoot feature this month comes from Apley Park in Shropshire. This is an estate with a colourful backstory and its love of game is something many of our larger shoots should aspire to. Shooting’s harvest doesn’t magically…

FROM THE EDITOR

Don’t miss this month

Leon Davies, chef ambassador of the British Game Alliance (BGA) knows his way around a skillet and a shotgun. In this issue, he talks to us about his background in cookery and his love for game meat, and offers his thoughts about how our community can help this valuable food source to gain a much wider appeal. The 2020-2021 season was always going to be a tough one for shoots across the country, especially the smaller ones who survive on the goodwill of dedicated volunteers and wafer-thin budgets. Will Garfit has run a 80-acre shoot at Hauxton, Cambridgeshire, since the early 1970s and he reveals the impact the pandemic has had on him and why he decided that it was best to down tools for this season.…

Don’t miss this month

Food charity to the fore at the 2021 Game Fair

The Country Food Trust (CFT) has been appointed as the official Charity of the Game Fair for 2021. “The Game Fair team are delighted to focus our efforts and give The Country Food Trust an elevated fundraising platform both at the event and through our partnership activity over the coming year,” said The Game Fair managing director James Gower. “With ethical and sustainable food sourcing at the heart of The Game Fair, the synergies are numerous and The Game Fair’s audience and vast reach will undoubtedly be able to further the causes of the trust and help to raise funds.” Planning for the 2021 Game Fair has already started, with the partnership taking immediate effect. Later in the process fundraising streams will be put in place for The Game Fair,…

Food charity to the fore at the 2021 Game Fair

BASC PARLIAMENTARY CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT RURAL BRITAIN LAUNCHED

A campaign aimed at increasing the level of interaction between parliamentarians and the shooting community has been launched by BASC. The BASC Parliamentary Campaign to Support Rural Britain has been billed as a ‘matchmaking service’ that will see BASC facilitating visits by MPs to shooting businesses and individuals connected to them within their constituencies, allowing them to see the economic, conservation and social benefits of sustainable shooting for themselves. The campaign, which has received cross-party support, follows on from last year’s birdbox project, which saw MPs putting up boxes in their constituencies. “BASC is bringing rural Britain to the gates of Westminster. We will be knocking on doors to ensure every MP understands the benefits that sustainable shooting provides economically, environmentally and socially,” said BASC's Jak Abrahams. BASC trade members…

BASC PARLIAMENTARY CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT RURAL BRITAIN LAUNCHED

SHOOTING GAZETTE READER OFFER

The third annual edition of Talking Game is now available and Shooting Gazette readers can enjoy £5 off the purchase price. The 200-page journal includes more than 50 recipes – from basic burgers and easyto-prepare meals supplied by home chefs to the more elaborate and inspirational creations of leading chefs – to enhance the enjoyment of game throughout the season and beyond. Talking Game retails at £20 per copy, but Shooting Gazette readers can purchase copies for a special reduced price of £15. Simply use voucher code TGSGZ when ordering via talkinggame.co.uk/shop For more information about Talking Game, turn to Shoot Briefing to read our chat with publisher Mark Hodson.…

Readers’ letters

Whitby on form As usual, David Whitby hits the nail on the head when he talks about the future of driven game shooting. Over the past 50 years, driven shooting has changed from being a preserve of the privileged to something that most people can afford. Consequently, it has become much more of a business. Which brings us to David’s article on the RSPB review and how we are seen by the urbanised population. As he says, we have to put our house in order. That means less large-scale shooting, less extreme shooting and the use of non-lead shot, all of which our detractors are against. Far too many people who shoot now do so because they can afford it, not because they are interested in what goes into making…

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Don’t be afraid to embrace old traditions What a great article by Roderick Emery in the September issue (Can’t Shoot, Won’t Shoot). I agree with his views 100%. I have been shooting for more than 50 years and have shot most gamebirds and wildfowl in that time, ranging from snipe on the Somerset Levels to wild geese in Scotland, walkedup and driven grouse to ptarmigan at Carrour in the Highlands (I have one mounted in a glass case to remind me of the day). I have watched experienced Guns, good shots on high pheasants, struggle on traditionally shown partridges when stood 40yd to 50yds back from a high hedge. When a covey explodes over it, they get ‘tied up in knots’ and then turn round and try to shoot them…

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Shooting gallery

WLSS LADIES DAY A HIGHLIGHT ONCE AGAIN West London Shooting School (WLSS) hosted its annual Ladies Day Competition on 9 September, with 11 ladies going head to head for the chance to win coveted prizes. The ladies were a mixture of novice and more experienced Shots, all having enjoyed three one-hour lessons at WLSS beforehand. On the big day, hosted by Mark Heath, Jenna Peaty took first place with an impressive 44 points, with runners-up Elkie Holland in second and Adele Standard in third needing to be separated by a shoot off with Tara Cavill. Jenna won two places on a WLSS simulated day, a Schöffel gilet and a bottle of Louis Roederer, while Elkie and Adele won places on a WLSS simulated day. WLSS head instructor and Shooting Gazette…

Shooting gallery

Shots from the shires

Watching our Prime Minister addressing the nation from his Downing Street bunker on the last day of September, flanked by men who have shaped Government's thinking on howto counter and suppress the coronavirus pandemic, two things were apparent. Boris may have been battered physically and mentally by the past six months and while there is no shortage of criticism from everyone with 20/20 hindsight, no one, but no one, including the pompous little man who leads the SNP in the Commons, has any more idea of what's going on and how to stop it than he does. Hence Sir Keir Starmer’s obsequious servility, whilst he and his fellow travellers of the centre-left breathe a collective sigh of relief that it’s not their responsibility. And if we thought that the Brexit…

Shots from the shires

Game recipe of the month

Pheasant carbonara SERVES 4 PEOPLE PREP TIME: 10 minutes COOK TIME: 20 minutes Ingredients • 1 packet spaghetti• ltbsp olive oil• 1 garlic clove, halved• 2 pheasant breasts, cut into strips• lOOg bacon lardons• 2 eggs• lOOg Grana Padano, finely grated, plus extra to serve• 1 tbsp butter Method 1. Cook the spaghetti following packet instructions. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic and bacon lardons until crisp. 2. Add the pheasant strips and fry briefly until they are just cooked through (pheasant is slightly pink compared to chicken). 3. Fish out the garlic clove and discard it. 4. Beat the eggs with the Grana Padano and some black pepper. 5. Add a couple of tablespoons of pasta water to the bacon pan along with…

Game recipe of the month

Did you hear about..?

Over the past few weeks and months shoots across the country will have been getting used to putting into place the protocols required to keep everyone involved on the day safe from harm. There will have been times when things haven't gone according to plan, but also times when a hearty pat on the back is well deserved. Given the need to maintain social distancing, everything from how we draw pegs to how we hand over the gamekeeper’s tip will have had to have been scrutinised. Lobbing bacon sandwiches across the yard doesn't really look professional, having a beater on the roof of the wagon is plain dangerous and I wouldn't want to organise contactless payments in the Highlands. While those things and many more present a challenge it also…

Dear Uncle Giles …

Dear Uncle Giles, From next season, I'd like to set up a website promoting our fledgling let shoot in Cumbria. I want it to be the best it can possibly be and we're in talks with a web design company to help us achieve this. What sort of content should I include on the website, showing the shoot and game shooting in general at its best? ABF, by email Uncle Giles writes: Much depends, of course, on what sort of shooting you expect to be able to offer and who you want to attract to your shoot to un dertake it. If you are blessed with lowering cliffs and towering esca rpments, which will allow you to satisfy the modern desire for shooting at birds that are exceed inglyhigh, then…

Dear Uncle Giles …

TALK OF THE TRADE

Don't overcook it: It sounds obvious, but so many people overcook game. It is naturally lean and does not require too much cooking. Gamebirds should not be subjected to the same amount of cooking as chicken or turkey. Partridge, grouse and pheasant should all be eaten pink. A great way to avoid overcooking it is to take the legs off and cook them separately to the crown. Brine, brine, brine: I brine all of the gamebirds, which tenderises the meat naturally. Ensure the seasoning is even and reduce the cooking time to help to stop it from drying out. A 10% salt to water solution for an hour, with a few aromats such as peppercorns and juniper berries, will be perfect. Pair something pickled with it: A bit of acidity…

TALK OF THE TRADE

WIN a pair of Hunter GTX Evo Extreme® boots from Lowa

The Hunter GTX Eva Extreme from Lowa is the boot of choice for Guns and keepers who demand strength and comfort when out in the field. Hand-crafted in Germany using the finest leather, SPS midsole technology and Vibram outsoles, these boots will look stylish and your feet will be well supported, while the Primaloft insulation and Gore-Tex waterproof lining will keep them warm and dry. For more information, visit lowa.co.uk. To win a pa ir, find the 11 words listed and send the completed entry form to: Wordsearch, Shooting Gazette, Future PLC, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farn borough GU14 7BF. Entries to arrive no later than 30 November. The first correct entry to be drawn will win. September's winner was A. Roberts from Wakefield. • Shooting Gazette. published by Future…

WIN a pair of Hunter GTX Evo Extreme® boots from Lowa

Under the coverts with … Mark Hodson

Where did the idea for the journal come from? Four years ago I was publishing a foodie magazine, Talking Food, focusing on high-end hotel chefs. I was becoming increasingly frustrated and annoyed with Guns not taking game home with them at the end of the day and wanted to help put this right. I approached some of the larger UK shoots and explained that I was going to publish an annual journal for the season, featuring game recipes and related features. Many agreed to bulk buy copies for onward distribution to Guns. The response exceeded all expectations and we have now published our third edition. Hopefully it will inspire readers to cook and eat more game. How do you put a journal like this together? In our first edition we…

Under the coverts with … Mark Hodson

My dream team Kaylie Bloxham

THE exact location of my dream day - or, should I say, evening - is a secret and will remain so or it will cease to be my dream. Without going into geographical specifics, it would be on an October evening, standing knee deep in flood water on the banks of the River Severn with the sun setting through the willows. As the sky begins to bruise and the wind whistles past my barrels, the distant honking of greylags will grow louder as anticipation rises. Whilst my days as a Gun in the field so far may be limited, my memories of these days are truly cherished and I have had the pleasure to shoot alongside everyone in my dream team at some time or another. First up would be…

My dream team Kaylie Bloxham

Apley Park Shoot SHROPSHIRE

The Apley Park Estate, near Bridgnorth in Shropshire, sits in 8,500 acres of prime agricultural land and stunning parkland intersected by the River Severn. Apley Hall is home to Gavin Hamilton, Lord Hamilton of Dalzell, who is the fifth generation to own the estate. Gavin moved here with his family in 2006 when he inherited the title, but his ancestors very nearly didn’t end up at Apley at all. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were rumoured to be interested in buying the estate, but eventually decided against it because of the main road that ran through it and decided to purchase Sandringham in Norfolk instead. William Orme Foster, an ancestor to Gavin and whose family had made their fortune in ironworks and blast furnaces in Stourbridge, bought the estate instead…

Apley Park Shoot SHROPSHIRE

Woodcock, what now?

The issue of woodcock shooting has become ever more pressing as the years go by. Questions were being asked about the sustainability of shooting these birds almost a decade ago and their gradual decline has raised concerns in the media. Shooting folk know that large numbers of woodcock migrate over the North Sea during November, with most birds killed in this country having hatched in Russia and Scandinavia, where populations are healthy. By shooting during the winter, we make a negligible impact on the British breeding population and there is no clear evidence to suggest that the shooting community has driven these recent declines. However, this is a complex message to express, particularly in this age of social-media sound bites. Anti-shooting campaigners find it easy to claim that the woodcock…

For the love of the game

You only have to listen to Leon Davies talking about game meat to appreciate just how much he loves using it in his recipes. I first met Leon on the British Game Alliance’s (BGA) stand at Ragley Hall in 2018, moments after he had enthralled an assembled crowd with his skills at the grill, the sights, sounds and smells turning heads across Gunmakers’ Row. As the BGA’s chef ambassador — and a keen Shot — he is perfectly placed to give readers a professional’s take on game’s place in the national diet and perceptions of it within and outside the shooting community. Early life and career Tell us about your background and how you first became interested in cooking — was it an important part of your home life or…

For the love of the game

Blessed are the cheese makers

Picking his way through the Hampshire countryside en route to the gathering point on the first day of the new season, The Back Gun’s passage was temporarily slowed by an encounter with an eclectic collection of swine, sheep and sundry bovines as they meandered about the place in search of nature’s hedgerow bounty. The home farm has its milking herd of Holsteins and rents land to a man with sheep. While demonstrably admirable in their provenance and conformation, they don’t quite match the value of Sportsmans Double Diamond, a six-month-old Texel ram lamb that sold recently at a world-record price of £367,500. As one of the horny-handed sons of toil leaning on the auction ring rail commented: “The boy has great legs, beautiful hair and cojones to die for”, all…

Blessed are the cheese makers

MEAT IS THE MATTER

I have mentioned before in these pages that virtually all the meat my family and I eat is wild meat that has been shot by either me or friends and colleagues. I won’t bother you with rehashing the whys and wherefores that led to this, but suffice it to say game meat, and I am including that epicurean delight woodpigeon in that list, is important to me. But, of course, it should be to everyone who shoots. I am not insisting you do what I do or even that you eat game at all, though I think you should. I had a fishing friend who loved to fish but loathed them on a plate, which was lucky for his friends, I suppose. But all who shoot must realise the importance…

MEAT IS THE MATTER

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Doing the gamebird justice

A bird in the hand may be better than two in the bush, but apparently there are some folk who are a bit flummoxed if the hand bird still has its feathers on. Well, say goodbye to feathered bird misery because I am going to tell you how to deal with the situation. Time was when no country show would have been without its pigeon plucking competition and you needed a time well under the minute mark to be in with a shout, let me tell you. Your pheasant is an altogether bigger undertaking, of course, but if you are something of a novice then a partridge is perhaps the place to begin. And specifically the back of a partridge. If you have never attempted this before, let me suggest…

Doing the gamebird justice

Thinking of others

We all faced a number of difficult decisions once lockdown began on 23 March. For me, three main concerns needed to be addressed. One was easy, the other two much more difficult. First, the idea of not being able to go out for an unknown period of time was going to be very frustrating. However, we all have things we have been putting off for lack of time in our normally busy lives. Suddenly we were given that time and the opportunity for a project I had wanted to do for some time was presented to me: to paint my favourite flowers. This was wonderful for a countryman and keen amateur botanist with a love of both wild and garden flowers through the seasons. So I started with an iconic…

And so to lunch…

The late, great and much-missed Clarissa Dickson Wright cooked many a shooting lunch in her time and declared that such meals were very definitely a product of the Edwardians, crediting them for not only the rise of lavish shoot lunches, but also for general excessive behaviour when it came to enjoying the hospitality of game shooting friends. “The Edwardian house party,” she said, “must have made the best excesses of Sodom and Gomorrah seem tame by comparison – the excitement of corridor creeping; the heady possibility of the heir to the throne cheating at cards; the palpable tension between the sportsmen as the bags were tallied; the 14-course dinners… Clearly they were not going to be content with a stale sandwich – and neither was the greatest gourmet and keenest…

And so to lunch…

The keeper’s view

One indefensible aspect of game shooting is that the end product has gone from a highly sought-after and valuable commodity to a near-valueless carcass. The very first gamekeepers were employed to provide and harvest food in the form of game, wildfowl, waders and coneys. They shot for the ‘big house’ and sold a surplus at the market. It was all about food production not sport. Traipsing around field, moor, stream and woods was most likely deemed too much like hard work for the landed gentry of the time. “The CFT provides meals to those in need, using the game we enjoy shooting. What better use for this healthy end-product?” Then the sport of shooting edible quarry became popular, fashionable even. Fortunes were spent and lost in hosting driven shooting for…

The keeper’s view

Wielding the skillet

To be honest, I have never counted them, but I think that if we were to round up all of the books in our house and stack them according to subject, towering above the others, and considerably heavier, would be books on shooting and cooking. Some would be nestling between the two towers, as they could be in both. If I had to put money on it, I suspect that the shooting books would win, just. Eating is the completion of the cycle. It is entirely fitting that after a day out with dog and gun, we should sit and, aided by a supportive glass, celebrate the whole symphony that is the shooting day, from the first eager baton tap as actions close on cartridges to the reluctant finale of…

Wielding the skillet

Eat, drink and be happy

Everyone knows pulling the trigger is only one small part of a shoot day, and I am not ashamed that the culinary portion is one I look forward to immensely. Being the fitness bore I am nowadays, I don’t get stuck in as much as I used to, and the sights, sounds and smells that waft from boxes, tins, jugs and other vessels – not to mention the eager anticipation of the assembled eaters – are all I need to feel sated. Elevenses is the perfect time to swap notes about birds downed and missed, and for old friends to have a proper catch-up, all over a drop of something and a nibble on something else. Those of you who’ve been shooting a while will have your own particular routines…

Westley Richards with three different locks

What do you do if the date is 1833 and you regularly rent a big grouse moor and shooting lodge at Strathgarve just north of Inverness? You have taken days to get there by coach as the railway is not in existence and the moor itself is quite remote. Do you take a trusted flintlock, or do you take a percussion gun but run the risk of not being able to buy percussion caps? If your name is Captain Thomas Dilke RN and you want to cover all eventualities, you order yourself a Westley Richards gun with three entirely different, yet interchangeable ignition systems. The gun that was ordered was a Westley Richards 13-bore gun, no 2655, built in 1833 for ‘Captain Dilke’ with three different types of lockwork: flint,…

Westley Richards with three different locks

Westley Richards 1821 Self-Priming Lock

On 10 November 1821, William Westley Richards took out patent no 4611 for a self-priming percussion lock. When Alexander Forsyth introduced the percussion system in 1807, there were several attempts at inventing better ways of detonating percussion compound to ignite the main charge. Many were downright dangerous as the percussion compound was volatile and highly explosive. The answer eventually proved to be the ubiquitous copper cap developed in the early 1820s. Before the copper cap became universal, William Westley Richards patented a self-priming percussion lock in 1821. This had a magazine for either loose powder fulminate or pellets of the compound. When the magazine was placed on the pan, a little handle was turned to release a pellet. When the gun was fired and the hammer fell, a rocking lever…

Westley Richards 1821 Self-Priming Lock

Who Invented The Percussion Cap?

This is a bit like asking who invented the bicycle. The answer to this simple question is that we do not know. The humble percussion cap came into rapid universal use in the early 1820s, with a whole host of well-known gunmakers and sportsmen claiming to have invented it depending upon which book you read. It was always assumed that Joshua Shaw, born in Lincolnshire in 1776 and who emigrated to the US, was the original inventor in 1814. There is no doubt that he invented a copper cap and obtained an American patent for it, but he was one of many inventors and certainly not the first patentee. W W Greener in The Gun and its Development (1881) neatly summed up the situation: “In England, the inventors of the…

Who Invented The Percussion Cap?

The Smith Imperial Cap

I was at a muzzle-loading game shoot last January with the Thomas Boss percussion gun I bought way back in 1968. It was blowing a howler and freezing to boot. Trying to put the percussion caps on the nipples was a real trial, and just to add to my frustration, the pheasants seemed to sense this when judging the best time to fly overhead. Percussion caps are fiddly and to this end, Samuel Smith took out patent no 5978 on 7 August 1830 for a different type of cap that he termed the ‘Imperial cap’. The Imperial cap was much wider and fatter than a normal percussion cap and was used in conjunction with a short, flat nipple. Smith claimed that his cap and nipple “rendered it impossible to clog…

The Smith Imperial Cap

Beretta 687 Silver Pigeon III Field

Back in the good old days growing up in the 1970s in rural Devon, I could often be found walking-up the hedgerows looking for rabbits, pigeons or pheasants with my old English side-by-side. Fast forward to the second half of the 1980s and I had developed a competitive streak and got into clay shooting, starting with the English clay disciplines. The first gun I obtained was a Beretta 686 sporter followed closely by a 686 trap gun. An interest in shooting woodcock and snipe from Cornwall to Scotland resulted in the purchase of a 687 20-bore, which enabled a pocket full of cartridges to go further. These three guns served me without fault for many years, and even after two and a half decades the 20-bore is in perfect condition.…

Beretta 687 Silver Pigeon III Field

Starting on the 40ft tower, at all angles the handling was first class and very smooth, helped by the balance point of the gun. Using half and three-quarter choke to ensure that no clays were ‘runners’, the patterns were effective using a variety of game cartridges in 28g and 30g No 6s. The timing and effectiveness of the ejectors were faultless, with both ejected cartridges landing together within 5ft of the peg — strong enough to do the job without sending spent cartridges into any nearby blackthorn, requiring painful recovery. Moving on to the 80ft and 130ft towers, it was the same story. The trigger-pulls were first class and the handling equally as impressive. A little spice was added with some 32g No 5s, which were managed comfortably with no…

Engineering: 10/10 Beretta has a hard-earned first-class reputation for the quality of engineering that goes into its range of guns. However, the 687 Silver Pigeon III Field feels as though even more effort has gone into getting the product just right in every respect to produce something that is a little bit special from every angle. Looks and finish: 10/10 The overall appearance is truly exceptional, from the selection of the wood with its slightly glossy finish to the depth and detail on the engraving. We haven’t seen much from Beretta in terms of changes to the Field models recently and now we know why – it has spent the time wisely putting this package together very carefully. Handling: 9/10 This gun is a pleasure to shoot and will pretty…

Porsche Taycan 4S

When Porsche decided to make an electric car, you would imagine that it would be quite serious about it. And you’d be right. While others have settled for simply taking out the internal combustion engine and shoving a few batteries and cables in the hole left behind, Porsche started with a clean sheet of paper. The Taycan is a completely new car from the ground up, and it is unlike anything else that I have ever driven. First, even though this is the entry-level Taycan, and as such is some £50,000 less than the range-topping Turbo S model, it hits 100mph in 8.5 seconds, which not so long ago was a pretty respectable time for a car to hit 60mph. Like all electric cars, there is no delay between flexing…

Porsche Taycan 4S

Insider dealing

As I write this, I’m in quarantine back in Lancashire after being lucky enough to be one of the only motoring writers at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. As my two weeks started the moment I left France, I decided to put together a photo shoot with an Airstream trailer on a Danish beach. This involved driving massive distances in my trusty Discovery 5, some of which were done with nearly three tonnes on its tow hitch. I know it’s fashionable to knock it for its looks, and for being a bit less utilitarian than its predecessor, but the Disco was supremely comfortable, carried a huge amount of photographers’ kit, towed effortlessly and, when not encumbered by a trailer on the Autobahn, got up to 130mph. Bloody impressive thing,…

Expert instruction

Q I have started to struggle with hitting two birds on the trot with a slight gap between them. I often kill the first bird and miss the second, is there anything I can do that will help? A You are clearly doing something right as you say you are often killing the first bird; we need to make sure you are replicating this performance on the second shot. The first thing I would probably look at is your timing; is the second shot being rushed due to you feeling under pressure? I often see people make a fantastic first shot where everything is cool, calm and collected, then throw all their timing out of the window on the second shot, which is either too early or way too late.…

Expert instruction

1. HURRICANE COTTON FIELD COAT BY CORDINGS £750 cordings.co.uk A British-made coat with an impressive list of features, from a self-lined, shaped hood with “cap brim”, throat tab fastening and studded poacher’s pocket to internal hand warmers and internal recoil pads, you’ll be protected whether your gun is in the air or you’re taking in the scenery between drives. Yes it’s this month’s most expensive item, but you know what they say about investing in quality. 2. LINED TWEED BREEKS IN GREEN COVERT BY FARLOWS £195.99 farlows.co.uk The iconic London brand’s latest breeks feature its new, hard-wearing covert cloth. Apparently, the breeks — made in the UK using Scottish wool — are one of the most robust Farlows has ever created. The cloth is cut longer to allow for greater…

Q I am considering buying a labrador and my wife insists that I train it properly. I have not trained a dog before and need some advice on where to start. Can you help? A The first step is the motivation. People embark on training their dog for a great many reasons and I would suggest that you need to want to train it, as opposed to a family condition of getting it. Training a dog for whatever purpose needs quite a lot of time, effort and consistency and many people simply stop at the early stages. Those who truly enjoy it and immerse themselves in it are the ones who usually get the best from their dog and the partnership. It does, of course, depend on what you want…

Gundog picture of the month

Now that the nights are drawing in, we thought readers would appreciate a wonderful reminder of the summer with this image of Finn the spaniel, seen here cooling off after what had presumably been a hard day’s training – perhaps his owners Holly and Ashley would be able to confirm! How to win For your chance to win either a Pintail Explorer II smock (top right) or a Seasons jacket (right), email high-res images to martin. puddifer@futurenet.com. Please put ‘Gundog Picture of the Month’ in the subject line. The winner will be chosen by the Shooting Gazette judging panel. Good luck! *The prize will only be posted to winners with a fixed UK postal address.…

Gundog picture of the month

Behind the Line

I went to see Robert when he was just two weeks old. It was a particularly relaxed affair because Robert and his six sisters had only just opened their eyes and, as he was the only dog, I wasn’t there to choose a pup. It had been the same with Cecil, who was offered to me because, being freckled, he’d been rejected by other potential buyers. What a dog they missed. Robert is marked like a bijou saddleback piglet with a wide liver belt round his middle, a liver face and a big liver splodge on his bum. He was experimenting with his new legs. He could just about stand but, try as he might, locomotion was beyond him. He was using the side wall of his nursery as an…

ARE YOU A CARTRIDGE BRAND SNOB?

No airs and graces here By Ben Samuelson When I was racing a TVR, a chap turned up who had won a title. He bought a brand-new racing car, a brand-new truck to transport it in and a brand-new race suit, helmet and even gloves. He made little secret of the fact that he expected to show us sleepy old Brits how to drive. Proving the existence of a benevolent deity, he crashed before even leaving the pit lane for the first time. I really, really don’t want to join the shooting equivalent of the “lots of money but aren’t really drivers” fraternity. You do sometimes see them. They only ever use Acme Stratospheric Pheasant cartridges, wrapped in goat skin and with each pellet laser-cut with their initials into its…

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