A good day's pigeon shooting spoiled

Photo from Mail Online

Ok so I'm jumping the gun, as it were, because the facts of this case are still very unclear - and clouded by the hysterical, inaccurate and downright incompetent reporting of the mainstream media.

But this doesn't sound like a 'vigilante' to me. On the face of it, there's a very simple explanation. Some pesky crop-circlers tramp all over a farmer's field. It ain't big and it ain't clever, but it happens.

Now we all know how pigeons flock to a patch of laid corn, and a crop circle is just a patch of laid corn. So what better place to set up your pigeon hide.

You settle down with your flask and sandwiches. Things start to hot up, as the birds come in. You've just taken a nice right-and-left when - what's this? A bunch of hysterical Norwegian women appear from nowhere, right in line with where you're shooting. Bloody fools! Don't they know they could get hurt? They've no right to be on the place anyway.

"I have been visiting crop circles for a decade and have in various ways been told that we are not welcome." Eva- Marie Brekkesbo, 47 (or 52, depending what paper you read). I bet you have. Any chance of you getting the message?

So you step out of your hide and tell them to clear off, in no uncertain terms. For their own safety, and because you're a bit narked that they're frightening off the pigeons.

"The gunman was dressed in full camouflage garments, had a black mask over his face and held a gun in his hands" said Eva- Marie. Oh, like a pigeon shooter then?

And then things go from bad to worse. A bunch of gung-ho cops show up, complete with helicopter, stupid shields and flak jackets, the whole works. You get the full treatment, led off to the nick in handcuffs, locked up for hours and accused of all sorts of nonsense.

"With the help of an observation helicopter that was in the area officers swooped in to stop the gunman." Gosh, how exciting for them. Cos they can't afford to take chances these days, oh no.

Your day is ruined, and goodness knows if they'll ever let you shoot again. What a nightmare, and all because of a massive over-reaction by a bunch of people who clearly haven't the foggiest idea what the countryside is for.

There, but for the grace of God...


For the edification of policemen and journalists, here is a handy pictorial guide. One of these is a 'masked gunman', the other is a harmless pigeon shooter, exercising his right to conduct lawful pest control on private land without being treated like a terrorist. Can you tell which is which?

RSPCA bully boy tactics

As I arrived at the office this morning, I took a call from Ernie, a reader from Congleton in Cheshire.

He's had a spot of bother with the RSPCA, or more particularly with an individual Inspector.

Basically, Ernie cleans windows for a living. There's one group of 4 bungalows where he does the windows of some OAPs. The residents were bemoaning the fact that there are huge numbers of magpies around the area, and they hardly see songbirds any more.

So Ernie stepped up and offered them his services. He had a Larsen trap in his garage, and he offered to set it up and reduce the local magpie population. In fact he was quite successful, even using just roadkill and eggs as bait, and no call bird. He had no wish to kill the magpies, and was driving them some way away and releasing them in woodland. Not that the RSPCA would have known that.

Anyhow, a few days ago his trap disappeared. Eventually he discovered that a certain RSPCA Inspector had 'confiscated' it. That is, he went onto private land and removed someone's private property, which so far as I can tell was being used entirely lawfully (within the terms of the General Licence). In my book that sounds more like theft.

So once Ernie got it touch, the RSPCA apologised profusely for overstepping the mark and returned the 'confiscated' trap? Did they heck!

The Inspector has bombarded Ernie with police-speak, causing him considerable stress and worry. Ernie is now confused about his legal position, and worries that all this may affect his ability to renew his Shotgun Certificate when it next comes up (he's a keen clay shooter).

To cap it all, our charming 'Inspector' called Ernie last night and said he was 'finalising the paperwork'. He said he was recommending that Ernie should 'just get a caution', and asked if he would agree to the destruction of the trap. Ernie felt so bullied by this stage that he mumbled 'I suppose so'.

This sort of bullying by the RSPCA has to stop. Give someone a uniform, a shiny badge and a paramilitary title, and the temptation is to start throwing their weight about. It's human nature, and history provides many examples of just how wrong things can get. There needs to be a system of checks and balances. Who inspects and regulates these people?


I've sent the following email to the RSPCA's press office, and await their response:

UPDATE: Two days later and the response is... a deafening silence. The next issue has gone to press, complete with the news story in which we state that the RSPCA did not respond to our request. No doubt they're a bit quicker off the mark when it's the Sun calling!


Some useful links for those feeling harassed by the RSPCA:
Self-Help Group www.the-shg.org
RSPCA Animadversion
RSPCA Prosecutions Injustice Forum
RSPCA Injustice Blog
Alternative Vet
RSPCA The Truth
RSPCA Videos

Festival of Falconry

Today I visited the splendid 2nd International Festival of Falconry, at the Englefield Estate near Reading in Berkshire. It's a fabulously colourful spectacle, with falconers from all over the world flying in to demonstrate their art and take part in the Parade of Nations in the grand ring. More photos on my flickr page.

I saw HRH Prince Andrew presented with a male gyr falcon by His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (try saying that fast three times!). And I bumped into all sorts of folk who I normally wouldn't see from one year to the next. All in all, a great day out.

One thing always strikes me about falconers in this country. When it comes to presenting an image that's acceptable to the public, they just 'get it', in a way that so many shooters and hunters don't. On Friday, they invited 500 local schoolkids to visit the show and learn about birds of prey and falconry. They also invited along Chris Packham, star of BBC Springwatch and darling of the conservation lobby.

These guys are even making a submission to UNESCO for falconry to be recognized as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage. Shooting could learn a lot from them.

Here's something else I noticed about falconers. They look at the sky. Most people just walk about, looking at ground level. Falconers are constantly glancing up at the sky. This chap was posing for photos when something caught his eagle's eye, and he instantly followed its gaze. A moment later I looked too. Couldn't see a thing! Just blue stuff with clouds floating in it.

I meet the legendary man of the woods

There's a legend round these parts of a man named Sean who lives in the woods. He even has a facebook group dedicated to him. The stories go that he eats rabbits, squirrels and mushrooms, was once in the army, and is partial to rum. There are wilder claims about him too, but you know how these things spread and grow.

The stories remind me of Tammylan, the hermit in Enid Blyton's Children of Cherry Tree Farm. Try writing a children's story like that one today!

Anyway, there was Mrs M and I walking the dog through the woods yesterday evening, and the little wretch (the dog, not Mrs M) slipped through an otherwise impenetrable combination of thorn hedge and sheepwire fence into the field. And then couldn't find her way back.

This led to a lot of faffing about, with me trying to push though the thorns and stop the silly dog attempting to jump the fence, which would inevitably have ended up with her impaled on the barbed wire strand on the top.

And in the middle of all this, there's a rustle in the bushes and out pops - the legendary Sean, large as life, all red beard, tattooed arms and wiry tanned legs. Quick as a flash, he's over the fence, ripping his shorts on the barbed wire. Picks up the dog, passes her over, then skips back himself, ripping his shorts again.

We hardly had time to say 'Thank you' before he'd snatched up his water-bottle and gunny-sack and strode off down the path, with a cheerful 'Glad to help'.

A legend indeed.

Gyro death update

I see from the server logs that a certain Kit Davidson has been trawling this blog and others searching the name 'POWA' (the anti organisation 'Protect Our Wild Animals') - which reminded me that we hadn't heard anything recently about the murder charges against gyrocopter hunt monitor Bryan Griffiths.

The following report appeared in the Stratford Observer, but has since been taken down. There's not necessarily anything suspicious in that, but it seems slightly odd that there has been so little reporting of the developments in the case...

Gyrocopter pilot murder charge could be dismissed

Court Reporter
11 June 2009

A MURDER charge facing a pilot accused of killing a hunt supporter with the tail propeller of his gyrocopter could be thrown out.
Lawyers for Bryan Griffiths, accused of killing hunt supporter Trevor Morse at Long Marston airfield in March, are to apply for the murder charge against him to be dismissed.
The charge follows an incident when 48-year-old Mr Morse, a hunt supporter from Alderminster, was struck by the rear propeller of the gyrocopter 54-year-old Griffiths, of Wiltshire Close, Bedworth, was piloting.
It had landed to refuel at the airfield after being used to monitor a hunt in the area.
Mr Morse, a self-employed gardener and a volunteer marshal for the Warwickshire Hunt, died ‘virtually immediately’ from severe head injuries after being struck by the tail propeller.
Griffiths’ case was listed at Warwick Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing – but at the request of his barrister the murder charge was not put to him.
Peter Lownds, defending, explained that there was to be 'an application to dismiss' the murder charge so the case was adjourned and Griffiths was granted conditional bail.
Mr Lownds asked Judge Richard Griffith-Jones to set a timetable for both the defence and prosecution to serve ‘skeleton arguments’ prior to a hearing at which the application to dismiss the charge will be made.
The Judge pointed out the murder case must be heard by a High Court judge, and it had been released to him only for the plea and case management hearing.
He ordered the defence should serve its argument by June 26, with the prosecution response to it by July 24, with a hearing on the application to dismiss the charges some time in October.
Judge Griffith-Jones said: "The issue will be whether there is a prima facie case of murder. The issue of manslaughter will be another matter altogether."
Mr Lownds confirmed there would still be a trial even if the defence application to dismiss the murder charge is successful.
The Judge said the court staff would be asked to find a slot for the trial to take place, possibly at Birmingham Crown Court in January next year.

Filming at West London Shooting School

Charlie Jacoby interviews WLSS senior instructor Alan Rose for fieldsportschannel.tv. We're working with them to produce a series of articles on how to shoot typical quarry - first up, partridges, in our September issue.

Out of interest, this was shot on the new office toy, a Flip HD video camera which is about as 'point and shoot' as they come, and plugs straight into the USB on my laptop. All things considered, I reckon the quality is pretty good.

Seen in all the best places...

The latest copy of Sporting Shooter, and some other magazine, on the coffee table at West London Shooting School.