Foxshooting with Robert Bucknell

Here's the tale of a recent outing with Robert Bucknell, after some foxes that are taking rather too much interest in a flock of sheep about to lamb. It's the first item in this episode of The Shooting Show, coming just after the intro sequence.

As usual, Robert and Nigel tested my camera skills to the limit - they have shot together for years and seem to read each other's minds. They certainly don't give me much clue what they've seen and what they're about to do next. It's all done in almost complete darkness, and total silence. I'm filming with night vision, which helps but it's hard to see much in the viewfinder.

If you're not careful, the camera is pointing one way when, bang, it's all over and you never saw a thing! Quite a result, then, that I managed to catch both kills on camera - just!

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Video: culling sika in Ireland

Here's the follow-up to my earlier video on stalking sika in Ireland with Jason Doyle. In this episode, Jason is out on a lowland estate where the deer are wreaking havoc in the pheasant coverts. The keeper wants them culled - but conditions are far from ideal. Will Jason get his deer? The sika item begins at 13:27.

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Video: the fox that didn't steal Christmas

The Shooting Show ran a piece I filmed with Gary Green at a free-range turkey farm in Essex. The turkeys are fattening up nicely for Christmas, and they're proving a big draw to foxes from miles around. As Gary explains, the fox doesn't have to bite them to kill them - he can scare them to death in their hundreds. Fortunately he is on guard duty in his fox box, so perhaps Christmas won't have to be cancelled after all. The item starts at 10:01.

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Rifle shooting in Wales

Last night's Fieldsports Channel programme features our visit to Andrew Venables' WMS Steel Challenge in mid-Wales. It makes great viewing, and also provides a taster of our forthcoming foxshooting DVD, which I've been working on with the guys at Fieldsports Channel.

Don't forget, our pigeonshooting DVD, Pigeons With the Experts, is still available - check out a preview and order a copy here »

Zeroing the .243

Since you ask, yes I have been a bit quiet on here lately. Something to do with producing two magazines this month instead of the usual one. And getting stuck in to producing our next blockbuster(?) video - this time on foxshooting. As part of that, we went back to Andrew Venables' fabulous WMS Steel Challenge in mid-Wales, where I finally got the chance to fire the Tikka T3 .243 that's been sitting unloved in the cabinet for far too long.

With a bit of help from Rupert of OpenSeason, and Jon from Zeiss, I fitted it up with a lovely Zeiss scope on Sportsmatch mounts, and a lightweight A-Tec moderator from Jackson Rifles, then under the expert direction of Andrew managed to shoot a respectable 3-shot group at 100 yards. "OK," says Andrew, "Now you see those 5 steel plates at 200 yards..." Five shots, five plates knocked down. Does wonders for the confidence!

David from fieldsportschannel.tv films Robert Bucknell and
Andrew Venables shooting steel targets at 440 yards

Long range shooting and opera

High on a Welsh hillside, with opera legend Andrea Bocelli singing his heart out from the truck stereo, I shot a mouflon at 440 yards. It was a surreal moment. The quality of this soundclip is pretty awful, but it gives a sense of the atmosphere.



Not a real mouflon of course. This was a steel silhouette target, and I was visiting Andrew Venables' fabulous range facility with Robert Bucknell, for an article in our Game Fair issue.

A truly memorable day - more when I get a moment to add photos etc. Meanwhile, if you get a chance, just throw caution to the wind and book a day with Andrew. I promise you won't regret it!

Fings wot I done

Following this blog, you might get the idea that all I've done over the past fortnight is sit and rant at the papers. Oh no! Quite apart from attending my brother's wedding to the lovely Gwen in Edinburgh recently...

...I have been practising my rifle shooting on plastic and steel foxes with Robert Bucknell...

...freezing my wotsits off in a barn on the Isle of Wight, filming Terry Doe and George Stevens shooting crows in a 20mph wind with air rifles...

...not to mention working on plans for a possible launch of a new magazine, chasing up contributions for the next issue of Sporting Shooter, travelling here and there to take photos, reviewing products, checking page proofs, researching several news stories (including CPSA ex-CEO Phil Boakes: did he jump or was he pushed) and wasting half a day transferring my contact list onto my new mobile phone which should synch with the old one but doesn't.

Busy, busy - but all interesting stimulating stuff. And now I learn that my 'editorial workflows' are to be 'reviewed' to ensure that they're being 'resourced, run and managed' in the most efficient way possible. Truly all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.

Scotland's deer & non-lead bullets

Shooters are still trying to work out whether they're for or against the latest document on Scotland's deer, wDNA: Scotland's Wild Deer, A National Approach [downloadable as a pdf here]. At least it appears to recognise the value of wild venison to the rural economy. On the other hand, there are some alarming comments - not least (as Andy Richardson pointed out to me) this reference on p7 to 'assessing the effectiveness of non-toxic bullets':


Do they know something they're not telling us?

Threat to lead shot & bullets

I'm hearing rumours of an imminent threat to the use of lead shot and bullets in Britain. My sources suggest there may be moves to set this one rolling in parliament sooner rather than later.

Perhaps it's coincidence that I've recently had a press release from CIC, the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation, announcing that the council has adopted a recommendation to phase out the use of lead shot. This is a strongly pro-hunting organisation, and they're waving a white flag over our use of lead for shooting.

There's no doubt that an attempt to ban lead is coming, as I've mentioned before here and here. One Deborah Pain (insert wry comment here), of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge, presented a paper at the recent Peregrine Fund conference in the USA on the 'Ingestion of Spent Lead Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife & Humans'. This is a well-funded gravy-train for hundreds of scientists and delegates to whip up a scare about lead residues in shot game, then put themselves forward as the solution. For some of them, it will see them comfortably into retirement and beyond, all the while patting themselves on the back for being the next Erin Brockovich. Their campaigning has already led to an all-out ban on lead ammunition across the range of the Condor in California and adjacent states. Yank hunters are finding the copper-based alternatives less than satisfactory. Actual benefits to wildlife, humans and the environment are hard to spot.

It's not hard to spot where Ms Pain is coming from: "birds eat lead from ammunition or ammunition fragments, suffer sub-lethal effects and mortality from lead poisoning - in their millions," states her commentary [pdf here] from the conference proceedings. She continues: "To guarantee a significant reduction in the risk to birds a phase out of the use of lead with the goal of complete elimination is needed."

And did she come home to Slimbridge and promptly forget all about it? I somehow doubt it. Trust me, this one is coming to bite us sooner or later. Are our shooting organisations ready? I hope so.

Rabbits, rifles, Berettas and more

Whew! What a week that was. I've been rabbit stalking and lamping with Terry Le Chem...

Tried out the new Beretta SV10 Perennia at West London Shooting School...

And taken Chloe Finch from the Countryside Alliance to learn rifle shooting with Ian Spicer of Red Deer Outdoors, at the British Sporting Rifle Club at Bisley...

Along the way, I came across some terrific bushcraft items by Neil Andrews (who cooks a mean venison stir-fry, and will shortly be instructing on some new bushcraft courses at Cowdray in Sussex)...

And I discovered Schultz & Larsen rifles, which I'd never encountered before, and discovered they're really rather good (here's Ian Spicer firing one)...

So to relax this weekend, I went fishing and caught my first fish of the year – two trout which are now in the fridge being turned into trout gravadlax, a cunning recipe borrowed from Mark Gilchrist (you'll find it in the June issue of Sporting Shooter)...

...just one little hiccough – today I discovered some lowlife has cloned my bank card, and is currently living it up in Canada at my expense! The bank has frozen my account, so that's put paid to his fun. It also has the unfortunate side-effect that I can't use my bank account either. Hmm.

Shooting the Air Arms S510

Looks cold doesn't it - it was!

I was hugely impressed with the Air Arms S410, which I used during the summer and which features in my airgun hunting DVD. It's a great rifle - simple to use, consistently accurate, with a neat bolt and magazine arrangement so you can reload quickly. After years of shooting spring powered (and Theoben gas-ram) airguns, shooting a precharged pneumatic was a revelation.

The S410, though, suffered some sort of accident that rendered it pretty much useless. Basically, the barrel got bent. My best guess is that either the dog or one of the kids sat on it while it was in the gun-sleeve, laid across the back seat of the car. The S410 has a very thin barrel, and the large can-type moderator fitted on the end only serves to increase the leverage if it falls or gets leaned on. Yes, I know, it's important to look after your gun etc etc - but in the real world things don't always go according to plan, especially when there are youngsters and clumsy labradors around.

So... I've been looking forward to getting my hands on the latest version, the S510. This one is in .177 calibre (the S410 I tried was .22), not my normal choice for hunting. I took it out today, not for any serious hunting but just to zero it and get a feel for how it works.

First impressions were superb. The most obvious difference from the S410 is the barrel, which now has a larger shroud. This is, in effect, a full-length moderator, which makes the whole package much shorter and improves handling beyond belief. I found the S410 rather unwieldy, and certainly awkward to use from a vehicle or in dense woodland. The S510 is totally different, balancing nicely between the hands and coming to the shoulder so well you are almost tempted to shoot it shotgun-style.

The build quality on this gun is superb. I was specially taken with the woodwork - nice crisp chequering, and lovely dark wood inserts at the end of the fore-end and grip-cap. The stock shape is perfect for a right-hander, with a good high comb bringing my head into line with the scope.

The S510's bolt is a huge improvement
- and easy to operate with frozen fingers.

The next major difference is the bolt. The bolt on the S410 reminded me of the old Crosman bolt - rather thin and wiry, and not very positive to close. You'd close it, walk a few paces, then feel you should check to make sure it was still shut properly. Pulling it back to cock and reload was suprisingly hard work, with only a small rounded knob to grab hold of. The S510 bolt is completely different, and a huge improvement. It's not a traditional bolt at all, more like a miniature side-lever with a straight pull-push action. It's easy to operate, and opens and closes very positively - brilliant!

I fired a few shots at paper targets to get the scope zeroed, and was pleased to find that the rifle shoots just as sweetly as the S410. Accuracy is every bit as good, and the .177 pellets certainly hit the backstop hard (I was using Bisley Super Field - the only .177s I had in the cupboard, but they seem to work well in the S510).

I plan to adjust the trigger (which seems straightforward, looking at the manual, and the allen keys came with the gun), shoot a few more targets at different ranges, then get out and do some hunting - I'll let you know how I get on.

Airgun zeroing target

Airgun zeroing target, originally uploaded by james.marchington.

Here's a handy airgun zeroing target that you can print off at home and use to get your scope zeroed. It's calculated for 25 yards range, but can be used at other ranges.

Update: I've now worked out how to allow access to the full-size version of this file on flickr - just click the image above then choose to dowload the 'original' size.

What other targets would you like to see here? No promises, but let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Rifle shooting at West London

Yesterday (Weds) the Sporting Shooter team, and friends, went to West London Shooting School at Northolt, for a day of instruction with Ian Spicer of Red Deer Outdoors. I've been to WLSS many times to shoot clays, and never even realised they had a rifle range – but they do, and a good one at that, with a covered firing position and a 100m range. 

Ian is a great tutor – knowledgeable, patient and calm, but strict when necessary. He helped me with some ideas on how I can combat my big problem when rifle shooting - the flinch that comes from years of shotgun shooting. There's much more work to be done, but he was a big help.

We fired a .22, .243, moderated 6.5x55 and an unmoderated .270. More on our trip later, either here or in the mag or both, plus I'm fairly sure you'll be reading about it on the Suburban Bushwacker's blog too! (He's recently been saying some nice things about my rabbit hunting DVD – thanks mate!).

Zeroing the .17HMR

I spent some time at the weekend checking the zero of my .17HMR. It's a heavy-barrelled CZ, and a superbly accurate rifle, although the trigger lets it down somewhat. I managed to get a fairly tight group and move it onto the spot at 100 yards (it started off about an inch low and 1/2 inch to the right).


My dad was always labelling things with his Dymo labeller, and I seem to have caught the bug - although I use a more modern version that prints black letters onto strips of sticky plastic. I've printed out the trajectory of the bullet and stuck it onto the stock, for easy reference in the field. I'm sure there's a better way, but it's always right there when I need it!

Stalking near Pitlochry

We earned this one - two days stalking and finally got it at 3pm.

Non-lead rifle bullets

Earlier this year, Arnold Schwarzenegger (of all people) banned the use of lead rifle bullets in California, to protect condors and other scavengers.

I've been following how the ban has been working out for hunters there, because mark my words this one will reach Britain sooner or later.

It seems they've adopted all-copper bullets, which give "a very high-quality, humane kill". And life - and hunting - goes on.

I found this comment by California hunter Anthony Prieto interesting. It reveals a very grown-up attitude to the whole issue - in stark contrast to some of the mouth-frothing rants we've seen in the UK from those who think all talk of non-lead shot is the work of subversives and antis.

Shooters can take the moral high ground in any debate on conservation. We do more for the environment than just about any other group. But we shoot ourselves in both feet if we stubbornly refuse even to consider that lead might be a problem. American hunters have taken this on board. Sooner or later, we will have to.

Where's he been?

Two weeks go by and not a peep out of James? Yup, I've been to the land beyond mobile phones, broadband internet and skinny cappucino with an extra shot - the west coast of the Isle of Skye. It was fabulous to get away from all the daily bull and concentrate on the stuff that really matters - spinning for mackerel off the rocks, stalking rabbits, walking the hills for grouse (surely there must be one here somewhere?!), and even a few hours flyfishing for salmon (almost as scarce as the grouse).

Here are a few pictorial highlights. More on my flickr page. I'll add some more detailed posts once I've cleared the logjam in my inbox - including a report on field testing a selection of midge repellents...

In search of grouse

Sunset over Macleod's Tables

Sara caught a salmon on the Snizort!

Picking mushrooms

There must be a grouse round here somewhere!

So that's what the pocket on my Nomad fleece is for!

Heading home after spinning off the rocks

Some work better than others...

Emma with mackerel

Back door law

We've mentioned in the magazine that police forces seem to be trying to tighten the law on firearms by the back door.

Basically, if you apply for a new FAC, or a variation for a new calibre rifle, you may find a new condition appearing on your certificate - requiring you to be "supervised" by an experienced shooter.

That condition was never intended by parliament, and it's not even in the Home Office guidelines, but if we don't watch out it will become standard practice - putting another obstacle in the way of people taking up the sport.

Here's a letter we received recently from a reader:

Having spent most of my adult life serving in the army I was trained to do many things including qualifying to be a Skill At Arms Instructor, (the guy who teaches soldiers how to safely and effectively use many types of weapons). Imagine my surprise when the local police support office explained that because I'd only got a rimfired.22 Brno on my certificate that I would need to be supervised when shooting my new Steyr Mannlicher 308 (NATO 7.62), a round I'd fired for more than two thirds of my career.

Having asked around one of my mates offered to help out having shot locally for a good few years, the plastic copper was more than happy to have a 22 year old teach me how to handle "Such a powerful weapon."

The point is I now have to bug him every time I get a problem with deer stripping the tops off my newly planted woodland, taking him away from important work he's trying to do on his own land, just to satisfy some pen pushers whim.
All I can say is thank God for good mates in the shooting fraternity.

Yours

P Andrews

If you find your local force are trying to impose a similar condition on you, contact BASC for advice (assuming you're a member - and if you're not you should be!).

Hoodie crows

In the last post I said I was travelling to Scotland. Once there, one of the main jobs (apart from getting some interviews and photos for our next issue) was to sort out the hooded crows. The local farmers hate these things with a passion. It's hard not to, when you've seen them rip a tiny lamb to pieces with those chisel-like beaks.

Well, I spent a bit of time zeroing my .17HMR and, to cut a long story short, I managed to get a couple of crows. This one was shot at about 70 yards off the vehicle's bonnet; the other was a better shot (at about 145 yards off the bipod) but I didn't have the camera with me that time. Hardly the most flattering picture of me ever taken, but it does prove I got one.



The .17 is a remarkable rifle, and has really transformed my crow control - and rabbit shooting for that matter. It's cheap and relatively easy to shoot, amazingly accurate for what is a very inexpensive and fairly basic gun (it's a CZ BRNO), and with a decent moderator it really doesn't cause much disturbance either (certainly not in the very open countryside on this part of the West coast). The only drawback is it can spoil a lot of meat - hardly a problem when you're shooting crows!