A: Firstly congratulations. It’s on my bucket list. I very much like the idea of enjoying a little early sunshine, shooting and eating a little jamon Ibérico washed down with some manzanilla. Let us know how you…
Shooting Gazette
Should I change chokes on high bird days?
A: In more recent years it has become fairly standard practice for over-unders to be multi-choked, thereby opening up a dilemma for many shooters about what choke to use. I think this decision is best made by…
Pigeon shooting influenced by Syd Barrett?
There are two difficulties for me in writing this story. Firstly, while readers love tales of everything going wrong, this happens to be an unashamed success. Secondly, while it is immodest to write about one’s own…
How the grouse debate was won
More than two years of hard campaigning by those who wanted to see driven grouse shooting banned has ended in complete failure. Securing parliamentary time for their issue was more than the anti-shooting campaigners dared hope for…
Will Garfit’s dream pigeon shooting team
The first would have to be the late Archie Coats, father of modern pigeon shooting. He was like a sporting father to me as friend, tutor and influence, for better or for worse. He was a superb shot…
What’s better? A big last drive or a big first drive?
Big last drive By Ben Samuelson It shouldn’t really come as any surprise that a lot of shooting folk are also worshippers at the gentle church of cricket. Both involve a lot of…
Letter from a fed-up beater
The driven shoot day is a team effort and by no means the least important team consists of the beaters. These men, women, boys and girls turn out in all weathers mostly not…
Should gundogs live in the kitchen or a kennel?
Across the dog-owning fraternity there is one debate that always brings out a strong difference of opinion. Where should the dog(s) live? In the house or in a kennel? And there is usually no fence to…
Gundogs and scent
Scent is truly an act of God. We have no direct access to it, still less any ability to influence it: and yet nothing is more critical to the way our dogs work and the…
January 2017
Happy New Year! January might be the last full month of the driven shooting season but that doesn’t mean things are winding down in the field just yet. Consider the…
Struggling on long crossers – what should I do?
Shooting instructor Adam Calvert replies: A: The walking gun brief can be one of my favourite roles but equally it is a tricky one, and the addition of long crossers can be an extra challenge.…
A selection of books for shooting families this Christmas
BARKING MAD Two Centuries of Great Dog Stories By Tom Quinn In the shooting world we pride ourselves on the way we enable gundogs to utilise all their natural instincts to help…
Do mobile phones have a place in the field?
Crucial phones By Ben Samuelson It was only a couple of generations ago when our late king wouldn’t have seen much use for a mobile phone on a day’s shooting. He took…
Is it legal for me and my friends to swap guns?
Peter Glenser replies: A: In short, yes absolutely. Assuming you both have valid shotgun certificates there is no reason at all why you shouldn’t do as you ask. The law…
Trouble hitting high birds?
A: If there is one question I get asked time again, it’s about hitting high birds. The first thing is to know your range; I often see people shooting at things that are out of…
5 minutes with… William Asprey of William & Son
How were you introduced to shooting? By my paternal grandfather shooting fir cones in his garden. I really can’t remember what it felt like and I don’t think that I hit anything! At…
The dream gundog team
I’ll tell you what I want to see behind me when I am standing in a line of guns outside a likely looking covert. I want to see a bunch of pickers-up with sundry…
December 2016
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – and we’re not just referring to Christmas. December means we’re right at the heart of the season, where birds are flying…
Greedy shot or good sport?
I was talking to a fellow picker-up a few years ago about the performance of the team of Guns visiting the shoot that day. My colleague, who liked to give his dogs plenty of work,…
November 2016
Ah, November. The shooting season continues to gather pace amidst the dimming of autumn’s golden glow and the grip of winter rousing from hibernation. And whether it’s the nation’s top…