On test: Aimpoint Acro – see more, shoot more
Sometimes you shoot an animal at a good range and you are pleased with the result. Sometimes, the animal emerges from the bushes just in front of you. And occasionally, both can happen at the same time. Swedish gunsight manufacturer’s her Aimpoint reckons it has found the solution. We head to the the Fieldtester […]
Fieldsports Britain – Bouncing Tyre, Laughing Pilbeam
Tim Pilbeam is learning to shoot sideways. He has the new Acro red dot sight from Aimpoint to play with. It’s a sight you can clamp to your scope so you can still take long-range shots and, when the animals get up close, you can twist your rifle and shoot through your Acro. He shows […]
Wild Justice tries to close down pheasant shooting – Fieldsports News, 24 June 2020
Here are the links: Wild Justice granted judicial review into gamebird releases – Fieldsports News Shooting banned at Britain’s wildfowling ‘birthplace’ – Fieldsports News ‘Golf sabs’ spring up as anti-hunt groups diversify – Fieldsports News Gamekeepers mull political party amid anger about mountain hare protection – Fieldsports News Paul McCartney wants meat taken off school […]
How to make a crow decoy
Do you have old, out-of-shape pigeon decoys? Do you have anything even vaguely crow-shaped you can use instead? You can use it to make your own crow decoy, says our viewer Tim in Essex. You need a black bin liner and black insulation tape. That’s the hard part. Cover the decoy in the black plastic […]
Scotland’s hare ban madness – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 37
The antis ambushed Scotland’s political process and, in under a week in June 2020, they pushed through a ban on catching or killing mountain hares, likely to come into force after the 2020 season (starts 1 August), which goes ahead as normal. The world of wildlife management has been left reeling. Scottish wildlife manager Niall […]
Scotland bans hare shooting
youtu.be/7MuTQFu37p0 This is also available as a podcast Animal rights activists have pushed a ban on mountain hare shooting through the Scottish parliament, even though the animal is in pest proportions in some areas. Green MSP Alison Johnstone lodged an amendment to the Animals and Wildlife Bill at Stage 3 requesting that mountain hares […]
Crow shoot: 180-bird day
Matt Turley and Nigel White know how to put on a good day. It’s 100-200 birds and it only costs £20 for the day. Matt looks after corvid control at a pig farm outside Taunton in Somerset. The pig nuts are popular with the birds, so you can shoot as often as you like […]
Hares on the edge in Scotland – Fieldsports News, 17 June 2020
Here are the links: Greens ban blue hare shooting in Scotland – Fieldsports News Are birdwatchers allowed to disturb nests? – Aberdeen Press & Journal Natural England toys with wildfowling ban – BASC press release Derbyshire police dismiss hunt sabs ‘exposé’ as nonsense – Facebook Natural England refuses individual gull licences Fieldsports News + Facebook […]
Best hunting boots for men
There are so many walking boots, so many makes and models. So which do you choose? Well, there is one clear winner among Fieldsports Channel’s viewers, with nearly a quarter of the market. And we will come to that at the end of this piece. Out of the 3,500 responses we had to our Fieldtester […]
Fieldsports Britain – Niall deals with Scotland’s sika swarm
Deer expert Niall Rowantree looks at Scottish red deer and how sika deer are affecting them. He stalks both in order to tell their stories. It’s the last in our Aliens & Natives mini series looking at Scotland’s four deer species. Plus we have a story about hen harriers on grouse moors. The birds […]
Natural England toys with wildfowling ban
Wildfowling in England in 2020 could be banned because of Natural England bureaucracy and Wild Justice’s legal threats against pigeonshooting. After Wild Justice’s lawyers threatened the government in spring 2019, Natural England ended the system of shooting birds under general licences on on what it terms ‘European protected sites’, or on land within 300 metres […]
CNN pushes anti-hunting agenda with Trump sheep
CNN is ‘faking news’ in its efforts to attack hunting sports, say conservationists. In an article about Donald Trump Jr’s argali sheep-hunting trip to Mongolia in 2019, broadcaster CNN claims that trophy hunting is driving the argali sheep towards extinction. However, the IUCN says that the argali’s conservation status has nothing to do with regulated […]
RSPB attacks pheasant shooting – Fieldsports News, 10 June 2020
Here are the links: RSPB ditches ‘rigorously neutral’ stance on pheasant shooting – Fieldsports News Springwatch slammed over owl – Fieldsports News Vegan vandal support site celebrates second coming – Fieldsports News Lockdown Britain overrun by pests – The Sun and our film here No deerstalking during lockdown could cost Scotland £9 million – Aberdeen […]
Fieldsports Britain – Crow hits the pigeons hitting the peas
Just because most of the UK has been stuck indoors doesn’t mean work has to stop on British farms. Andy Crow faces a threat from lockdown-busting pigeons, which are eating the peas on his farm in Kent. He heads out with grandson Reagan and faithful lab Rosa to settle into pigeon hides for an […]
Family day on the pigeons – it’s Crowhow
With the pigeons pouring into Andy Crow’s pea crop, it’s time to use local resources. That means members of the Crow family on lockdown are pressed into service, including young Regan the grandson. Crow sets up hides around the farm and lets fly at the birds. Andy is sponsored by: Blaser Blaser.de Jack Pyke […]
Yukon Photon XT – review
Jaf Jefferson talks about the Yukon Photon XT, its drawbacks and why he likes it, plus what he would like to see improved. Here is our film of the Photon XT in action Click here to go to the Fieldtester night vision and thermal front page
SIG Sauer closes in Germany
The German gunmaker SIG Sauer is closing in Germany. SIG Sauer managing director Tim Castagne told employees at the plant in Eckernförde that economic problems means it will close. Reported by Germany online newspaper All4Shooters.com, around 130 employees will ‘be affected’ by the closure. SIG Sauer released this statement: The locational disadvantages in Germany for […]
Kofs vs Yildiz shotgun – a boy’s first .410
by Charlie Jacoby A post on the Lamping Foxes Facebook group got me thinking. It read: ‘My son turned 11 today, and as a dad I made a promise that when he reaches 11 we will get a o/u .410. So if anyone has any tips on what to get or where let me know.’ […]
Norma Oryx
Used by Fieldsports Channel’s Scandinavian viewers, who hunt deer and moose, the Norma Oryx is designed to knock down animals that have a reputation for being ‘armour-plated’. It is called the Oryx for that reason. The gemsbok is not an easy antelope to kill. Fieldsports Channel surveyed its viewers about rifle ammunition in March 2020 […]
Hornady Precision Hunter
The Precision Hunter cartridge from Hornady is only the delivery vehicle for its ELD-X bullet range. Anything you read about Precision Hunter should dwell on the ELD-X and so that’s what we are going to do here. ELD-X stands for ‘Extremely Low Drag – eXpanding’. It’s Hornady’s all-range plastic-tipped hunting bullet design, and goes into […]
Best rifle ammunition of 2020
Fieldsports Channel’s viewers are loyal to their ammunition brands and we have the proof Once they find a rifle cartridge they like, they stick to it. During the coronavirus lockdown of 2020, we surveyed our viewers about the kit they use. We received more than 3,500 responses. Of these, 616 respondents expressed a preference for […]
Fieldsports Britain – lead-free bullet killability
How good is copper, tin and even bronze at shooting straight and killing animals? Firearms expert Andrew Venables tests out all kinds of lead-free rounds at Tim Pilbeam’s range in Sussex and gives his verdict. Meanwhile, Jaf Jefferson from the South Somerset Ferreters has a nighttime date with a fox – and gets more than […]
On Test: best copper bullets for deer
Firearms expert Andrew Venables has a guilty secret (innocent secret?). He prefers copper bullets to lead bullets. In this film, he puts copper bullets through their paces on a range, showing how they win on both accuracy and fillability. Thanks to Tim Pilbeam for letting us use his range. Have a look at these […]
Copper bullets and meat damage
Meat damage is one of Andrew Venables’ primary reasons to move away from lead bullets. For him, the argument revolves around weight retention. “You’ve seen the x-rays, you’ve seen the ballistic media, the different pictures going around on social media. 40% of that bullet is left in the animal. Copper retain literally 99% of their […]
Copper bullets and clean kills
Like every ethical hunter in the Western World, Andrew Venables wants a clean kill. The firearms expert reckons the bullet that does that best is not made of lead. It’s made of copper – because it’s such a fast bullet. “Having spent a lot of time shooting lead bullets, particularly with boat tails, you […]
What non lead bullets can you buy
In the 1990s, Andrew Venables was at a US gun show where a mini revolution was taking place. He had no idea at the time that the non-lead bullet Barnes was launching there would change his deer stalking. He says it took about two years for the Barnes bullet to be exported to the […]
A fox and her cubs – shoot or don’t shoot?
Jaf Jefferson takes his night vision out shooting. He is protecting a farmers’ lambs from hungry foxes. But when he comes across a vixen and her cubs, what does he do? Find out in this film… The new Yukon Photon RT replaces the old XT. If you are in the UK and want to […]
Clayground closure fallout – Fieldsports News, 3 June 2020
Wales shooting club closure bad for the sport – MidWalesShootingCentre.com/ Estate worker and angler attacked by countryside visitors – Royalty video on Facebook – Kent murder on the BBC – Perthshire stabbing in The Courier New wave of wildfires sweeps the countryside – Fieldsports News Lockdown losses massive on Scottish estates – Strathspey Herald Top […]
British wildfire season 2020
From the beginning of April, wildfires rage across the UK’s uplands, burning hardest where there has been either poor management or rewilding. Just days into the month, there was a huge fire on Marsden Moor, just outside Huddersfield. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service sent 10 fire engines at the fire near Deer Hill Reservoir. […]
Jamie Lee Curtis charity art show bans sporting artist
A UK charity art show promoted by Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis has dropped a sporting artist because of her subject matter. And the artist has reacted with a successful fundraiser of her own. Based in Somerset, Teresa Davis’s website makes it clear that she is a sporting and wildlife artist who paints hunting and […]
What’s bothering the world of shooting? – BASC Council candidates 2020 – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 36
With battles to be fought including trophy hunting, lead shot and the future of gamekeeping, we ask the candidates for the 2020 BASC Council elections – people who care about their shooting – what their views are. How should BASC and the world of shooting approach these and other topics? Is it even BASC’s job? […]
Scottish government sells trophy hunts – Fieldsports News, 27 May 2020
Here are the links: ‘Hypocrite’ Scottish government sells permits to trophy hunters – Scottish Mail Cumbria gamekeeping college to close – Fieldsports News Vegan extremist website back online after police shutdown – Fieldsports News ‘Forceful’ sabs make golf course scrap fox control – Facebook Men imprisoned for stealing shotgun, car and Doberman from shooting range […]
The Bird Table of Doom 2
Fieldsports Channel shareholder and member Nigel Appleton has got a problem. Corvids (jays, jackdaws and others) are killing the songbird chicks in his garden. Plus they are nicking his chicken feed. He uses military skill and a Weihrauch HW 100 to feed them in and knock them down – and all in accordance with general […]
How to age and measure muntjac
Deer manager Paul Childerley has plenty of muntjac on his ground in Bedfordshire, and takes clients out to stalk them. He is an expert on what makes a good muntie trophy – and he explains it all here. Paul is sponsored by: ▶ Sako Sako.fi ▶ Zeiss Zeiss.com ▶ Shooterking Shooterking.co.uk ▶ To go stalking with Paul, email paul@childerleysporting.co.uk
Fieldsports Britain – Death to Squirrels
Ollie Williams picks up his shotgun to go squirrel shooting. After the success of shooters clearing the island of Anglesey of grey squirrels to make way for the reintroduction of native red squirrels, Ollie is part of a Cornwall-wide effort to do the same in England’s most south-westerly county. Plus he is doing local […]
Ollie Williams’ grey squirrel shoot
That bloke off #LoveIsland is out hunting down squirrels. Ollie Williams shows how knocking over a few greys helps bring back Britain’s native red squirrels. He walks the land around his home in Cornwall. ▶ Red Squirrel Survival Trust RSST.org.uk ▶ Cornwall Red Squirrel Project CornwallRedSquirrels.co.uk ▶ For Ollie’s sporting agency, visit CornishSportingAgency.com ▶ […]
Anti publishes hunting ‘directory of hate’
Antis hate all hunters – but big game hunters they want hunted down and killed. A new self-published ebook by Eduardo Gonçalves of the UK-based Campaign Against Trophy Hunting makes it clear that cyber-bullying is fine as long as long as your victim is a hunting tourist. Trophy Hunters Exposed is a directory of UK […]
What does the British Game Alliance do? – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 35
Will coronavirus lead to a game meat ban? Did the BGA sell out to BASC? What about the lead shot ban? Incoming BGA chief executive Liam Stokes talks to Charlie Jacoby about the future of his organisation and what he plans for members, for the public, and for government. Marketing pheasant meat: the British Game […]
Major gamekeeping college to close
One of the UK’s premier gamekeeping colleges is to shut. Newton Rigg in Cumbria is the only college with its own grousemoor. Askham Bryan College has announced a proposal to close its Newton Rigg Campus at the end of the next academic year in summer 2021. The Newton Rigg Gamekeeping Department released a statement saying […]
Irish U-turn on pigeonshooting ban
Ireland has reversed changes to the longstanding derogation on Pigeon shooting. This gives back permission to tillage farmers and cereal growers to protect their crops from pigeon damage. Earlier in May 2020, Ireland banned pigeonshooting from 31 May to 1 September. Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan ordered the end of summer […]
Airgunning rooks to bake in a pie
Paul Childerley and Jonny Muston pack an Air Arms S410 and an S510 to go rook shooting. It’s the time of year when young rooks are easy to shoot on branches as they muster the gumption to fly. These ‘branches’ make excellent eating. Find out how Paul and Jonny get on. ▶ To go […]
When an environmentalist discovers that hunting helps wildlife
Trophy hunting has saved the urial wild sheep. That’s the conclusion of environmentalist Billy Offland, who visited a game reserve in Pakistan to see how regulated hunting works at first hand. Padhri game reserve consists of 25,000 acres of wilderness in the Jehlum district of Punjab, Pakistan. It is the only habitat where the […]
The Falcon Thief – rip-roaring but overblown
Falconers are not impressed. Joshua Hammer wrote The Falcon Thief about Jeffrey Lendrum, who smuggled falcon eggs to middle-eastern clients. Lendrum was jailed in 2018. However, top falconer Nick Fox says why Lendrum’s story is not important when you compare it to the healthy, regulated trade in falcons between the UK and the Middle […]
Hunting with hounds after lockdown
Hound packs all over the UK are preparing to go ahead as normal in the coming season, with some extra social-distancing rules (such as no sharing of hipflasks). Nicky Sadler reports from the Ledbury Hunt, where David Redvers MFH explains how post lockdown trailhunting will work. As he says: “There is no better way of […]
Will Ireland climb down over pigeon-shooting? – Fieldsports News, 20 May 2020
Here are the links: Irish government likely to u-turn on pigeon-shooting ban Fcha.nl Antis persecute Peak District gamekeeper Fcha.nl RSPB tries to mount anti-gamekeeping campaign Fcha.nl Facebook removes offensive sab post after complaints Capercaillie project a ‘waste of cash’ – GWCT PDF Vinnie promotes mental health campaign at clayground – YouTube Clothing company puts […]
Fieldsports Britain – four-and-twenty blackbirds
Paul Childerley is shooting young rooks in Bedfordshire with Jonny Muston from R&K Stockcraft, we visit a private game reserve in Pakistan, a pack of hounds in Herefordshire, and we follow the trail of falcons from the UK to the Middle East. There is plenty to get your teeth into in this week’s #FieldsportsBritain. […]
Hunting, shooting and fishing come out of lockdown – Fieldsports News, 13 May 2020
Here are the links: Clayshooters ignored in loosening of lockdown restriction – Fcha.nl/new-lockdown-advice-ignores-shooting-sports Bradford man shoots grouse out of season – Fcha.nl/bradford-man-shoots-grouse-out-of-season Coalition calls for Scottish grousemoor ‘reform’ – Revive.scot Police appeal for help over identity of suspect in trap damage – Facebook Sabs shut down nursery’s social media – Facebook Deer hunting group […]
Lockdown Lupton’s thermal fox control
When foxes grab your newborn fawn, normally there is not much you can do. You’re a deer. But Roy is a Foxshooter, and when his muntjac fawn goes missing, it’s out with the thermal to sort out the problem. Roy uses Pulsar Accolade XP50 spotter ThomasJacks.co.uk/pulsar/product.asp?ref=3153 Pulsar Trail XP50 thermal scope ThomasJacks.co.uk/pulsar/product.asp?ref=3489
Ollie Williams goes lockdown deerstalking
Cornish deer manager Ollie Williams is out after roebuck that are killing trees and destroying crops. He has a lot of deer on his land, and a lot not land to choose from. Plus he introduces a new concept to the world of deerstalking: the ‘lie seat’ – like a highseat but designed for […]
Fieldsports Britain – #LoveIsland hunt
Those deer don’t shoot themselves. Lockdown or not, deer managers still have to do their work, protecting crops and woodland. Ollie Williams is no exception. He might be a recent #LoveIsland contestant but, back home in Cornwall, he is a deer manager, and he has to shoot his share of bucks. We join him […]
