Introduced in 1955, the .243 Winchester cartridge is reckoned to be the most popular 6mm round in use today for hunting medium-sized game and for target shooting. Designed by necking-down…
Graham Downing
Follow Graham Downing
Four of the best stalking jackets
As one of the newest and most rapidly developing of our fieldsports, lowland deerstalking is more prepared than most other countryside activities to adapt to new developments in kit and…
Rifle stocks: would you opt for utility, tradition or beauty?
Fifty years ago, there was no serious discussion about what makes the best rifle stock. There was standard wood for standard-quality rifles and fancy wood for fancy rifles. That’s all…
New Firearms Bill set to close licensing loophole
The Government has ended an exemption in the Firearms Act 1968 that allowed shooting gallery operators to possess guns without a firearms certificate (FAC). (Read more on getting an FAC…
Controversial trophy ban moves on to the next stage
As reported last week in Shooting Times, a ban on the import of some hunting trophies into Britain became a reality with a unanimous vote in favour of the Hunting…
Who are the greatest wildfowlers in British history?
Name Britain’s five greatest wildfowlers. Now there’s a challenge, for there have over the history of the sport been countless innovators, plenty who have worked tirelessly for fowling’s future at…
Field testing the Pulsar Krypton on an early morning stalk
It has been three and a half years since the world changed for me and I switched to spotting full-time with my Pulsar Accolade thermal binoculars. The thermal revolution has…
Gun insurance – are your guns covered? Should they be?
Q: Can I insure my guns under my car insurance when I am travelling with them? (Read more on travelling with guns here.) A: Most gun owners utilise cover provided…
Woodland stalking for roe deer
It’s quiet in the woods at this time of year. Undergrowth is dense, brambles are high and roe deer are content to laze out the warmer days in the thickest…
Respect for quarry around the world: how hunting differs between countries
Respect for quarry manifests itself differently across the cultures, finds Graham Downing
Your essential guide to walked-up grouse shooting
A guide for the grouse shooting novice
Fallow deer: an historic feature of the countryside
Unlike those deer species that arrived on these islands as hitch-hikers in the wake of Britain’s 19th-century trading empire, the fallow deer (Dama dama) has a much more complex history.…
Why local markets are essential to venison sales
If you’re looking for fresh food that’s steeped in local flavour, food that comes directly from the countryside around you, pay a visit to your nearest farmers’ market. Take, for…
Muntjac – everything you need to know
Among the world’s most ancient groups of deer species, muntjac walked the earth during the Miocene epoch along with mastodons and smilodons — sabre-tooth tigers — in essentially the same…
How to store and service shooting gear once the season is over.
The season’s over now, and we have another seven months before low-ground shooting opens once more. But that does not mean that shooting kit should simply be abandoned until the…
Hunting thermals clothing: the best kit for freezing weather
There’s something exciting about packing for a special hunting trip. Whether it’s a couple of days on the hill in Scotland or a woodland stalking adventure abroad, there are guns,…
Roadkill – this is why you should NEVER eat it
So you’re driving along and there’s a freshly dead muntjac or pheasant by the roadside. Should you take the roadkill home for dinner? I recently received this query from a…
Shooting deer near houses. Is it legal?
Q: We’ve all heard of the proliferation of the deer population over the last few years. Where I live muntjac are starting to be a real nuisance in local gardens.…
Where can I shoot my air rifle? Can I take it to a public park?
A reader asks “Where can I shoot my air rifle?” Q: I have bought an air rifle, but I do not have a private garden. What is the law on…
What’s the law on inheriting a shotgun?
Some months after my father passed away the police told my mother that because his shotgun certificate had lapsed she should hand his gun to the local gun shop.