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Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Power of a Shire with the speed of a sprinter

Once we all used a classic .22 rifle for pest control but Richard Hardy thinks the .17HMR has now well and truly knocked it off its perch

7 min  |

June 03, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Gone with the wind

A new permission has great potential but Tom Payne’s plans are scuppered when the pigeon choose shelter over sustenance

6 min  |

June 03, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Old dog, neat tricks

Don’t write off mature dogs — their slower, thorough approach to finding retrieves can make them invaluable, says Ellena Swift

4 min  |

June 03, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Country Diary

Early summer is when the many benefits of habitat improvement are at their most glorious — and this year has been particularly bountiful

3 min  |

June 03, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Back at the bunnies

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and Mat Manning’s first rabbit shooting outing post-lockdown proves it’s absolutely true

5 min  |

June 03, 2020
Sporting Gun

Sporting Gun

The land of plenty

Peter Theobald was uncertain for a host of reasons when one of his farmers asked for some lockdown help

3 min  |

July 2020
Sporting Gun

Sporting Gun

Target group

The popularity of rifle shooting has been on the rise but where to go to practise? Gamekeeper Mike Appleby has the answer, says Paul Quagliana

5 min  |

July 2020
Sporting Gun

Sporting Gun

The Airgunner's Companion

In this extract from The Airgunner’s Companion: A field guide to hunting with air rifles, author J D J Braithwaite takes us through the importance of continued target practice

4 min  |

July 2020
Sporting Gun

Sporting Gun

Sound the alarm

Jon Snowdon explains the specific purposes of the various different barks of roe deer

4 min  |

July 2020
Sporting Gun

Sporting Gun

Game changer

Dr Roger Draycott of the GWCT discusses the environmental impacts of gamebird releasing and management, and says Wild Justice only tells half the story

3 min  |

July 2020
Sporting Gun

Sporting Gun

Pink-footed goose

Charles Smith-Jones evokes the mystery of this prized quarry for wildfowlers

3 min  |

July 2020
Sporting Gun

Sporting Gun

Boom bang a bang

Fran Ardley goes through the training stages needed to get your dog used to gunshot

4 min  |

July 2020
Sporting Gun

Sporting Gun

Bargain hunter

Charles Smith-Jones looks at the merits of a second-hand Steyr Mannlicher Pro Hunter

3 min  |

July 2020
Sporting Gun

Sporting Gun

The March Of The Woodies

Pigeon numbers have escalated due to the general licenses shenanigans last year and the lockdown this, which is bad news for farmers, says Robin Scott

4 min  |

July 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Man of modest means seeks small shoot

Everyone has thought about what it would be like to own a sporting patch and Patrick Laurie thinks it’s possible if you look hard enough

5 min  |

May 27, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Targeting perfection

A switch to handmade ammunition is an eye-opener for Soldier Palmer

5 min  |

May 27, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Spectacular samphire

The crisp asparagus flavour of the marsh samphire now wins favour ahead of rock samphire, but it wasn’t always so, says John Wright

4 min  |

May 27, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Marvel at the mayfly

It has been around for millions of years, yet we are still fascinated by the brief but brilliant life of the mayfly

3 min  |

May 27, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

RSPB claims big lockdown rise in raptor persecution

Shooting groups hit back hard as charity highlights 56 alleged incidents, most of which it claims were near sporting estates

2 min  |

May 27, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Irish muntjac – myth or menace?

The tiny muntjac has an outsized environmental impact and sightings on the island of Ireland are causing alarm, explains Barry Stoffell

5 min  |

May 27, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Opening up a can of worms

Social distinctions in fishing are relatively new and most regrettable, says Tom Fort

6 min  |

May 27, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Ferreting fact or fable?

An old wives’ tale says that if you don’t breed from a female ferret she will die, but is this true? It’s a thorny subject, admits Simon Whitehead

4 min  |

May 27, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Enjoying shooting's Golden Age

But when exactly was it? Did the Edwardians experience our sport’s finest hour or did it occur between the wars?

6 min  |

May 27, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

A murderous siege from above

Booming corvid numbers were causing a farmer to be anxious about his young lambs, so Mat Manning went over to put his mind at rest

5 min  |

May 27, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

When garden birds were fare game

From house sparrow to blackbird and even fieldfare, our cherished birds were once used to supplement bare larders, says Graham Lorne

4 min  |

May 20, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

White knuckles and wide eyes

As we learn there is to be little let-up on lockdown, we need a bit of escapism so Patrick Laurie shares some of his top reads

5 min  |

May 20, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Jump at the chance

Some dogs are keener to jump than others but a cautious approach may well be the best and safest option, suggests David Tomlinson

4 min  |

May 20, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

By hook or by rook

How easy is it to shoot the famous ‘four and 20 blackbirds’ and is rook pie a ‘dainty dish’? Jamie Tusting is determined to find out

6 min  |

May 20, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Country Diary

Now we are into late spring it is all systems go in the farming world, keeping one eye on the weather and the other on the new dairy herd

3 min  |

May 20, 2020
Shooting Times & Country

Shooting Times & Country

Where can you find a pigeon paradise?

You need lots of arable, plenty of woodland and an abundance of birds but which is the best pigeon shooting county, wonders Tom Payne

6 min  |

May 20, 2020