tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80096433559821172762009-11-10T08:55:36.516ZJames Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.ukBlogger385125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-41713106925788229282009-11-09T22:25:00.001Z2009-11-09T22:25:58.893Z

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-38996214831605077922009-11-08T13:11:00.000Z2009-11-08T13:12:25.375Z

Now where are the ducks?

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-32981974387473654572009-11-06T15:08:00.004Z2009-11-06T16:32:09.991Z

Today I have been driving in a river. The occasion was the press launch of Toyota's new Land Cruiser, held at EJ Churchill Shooting Ground at High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. It's a remarkable vehicle - taking quite terrifying muddy slopes in its stride. Like a lot of modern 4x4s it's all a bit fly-by-wire, giving the impression of floating through the countryside on a magic sofa. And like

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-70473701350639884642009-11-04T23:34:00.002Z2009-11-05T09:24:47.069Z

In case you've missed it, I've been having an interesting exchange with a keen birder, Alan Tilmouth, via his blog Dusted Off Bins and in the comments section to some of the posts on this one. Basically, Alan believes that the 'shooting community' (if only we were that organised and cohesive!) is systematically persecuting hen harriers and other birds of prey, and that something should be done

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-33770166136139271422009-11-02T16:58:00.000Z2009-11-02T16:58:59.459Z

Well, not really, but it feels like it - Mark Gilchrist is cooking up a festive treat to feature in our Christmas issue. I haven't seen the menu yet, but that was definitely some pheasants that went into the fridge.

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-57230953679335254452009-11-02T15:38:00.001Z2009-11-02T15:39:36.907Z

Another day, another RSPB press release about hen harriers. Only this one seems confused. It tells us there's "no evidence of illegal killing or nest destruction", but it's all the fault of those pesky shooters. What is? The fact that the numbers are so low that they're "perilously close to being lost". Except they're nothing of the sort. According to the BTO, the hen harrier globally is in the

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-60260125441815898232009-11-01T12:42:00.010Z2009-11-01T18:00:28.123Z

For all posts on this gun, click here. OK, the wraps are off. Nov 1 is here and I can reveal the photos I took of Beretta's new A400 Xplor Unico at the press preview event back on 8 October. Here, in the words of Beretta product manager Paolo Buffoli, is a description of the operating system: Beretta has developed for the A400 Xplor Unico a new functioning system made up of: a

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-84760685138871975292009-11-01T12:23:00.001Z2009-11-01T12:27:12.396Z

What a wasted opportunity! The IoS publishes its 'investigation' into wildlife crime today, with a huge front cover splash "Wildlife crime doubles in just one year." And to back it up? Just two feeble pages of churnalism, repeating vague scare stories from organisations desperate for funding. The paper makes no attempt to look behind the statistics and discover what's really going on. Any

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-45704663596957485972009-10-30T17:29:00.000Z2009-10-30T17:29:36.893Z

The Countryside Alliance says that Natural England’s Hen Harrier Recovery Project, together with the RSPB, will confirm illegal persecution played no part in the breeding failure of hen harriers, and the RSPB’s Birdcrime report for 2008 also showed that last year there were again no confirmed incidents of persecution against the species. Countryside Alliance Moorlands Policy Officer Adrian

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-27869468316211567382009-10-30T15:00:00.002Z2009-10-30T15:04:19.041Z

If ever there was proof that the Hunting Act is an ass, it's the ludicrous ACPO Investigators Manual. LACS have "welcomed" the impenetrable 67-page document, which for some reason doesn't appear on ACPO's own website but is available from the LACS here. If I was LACS I wouldn't welcome it, I'd be hopping mad. Reading between the lines, the document seems to be telling police they have more

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-7564428254768800632009-10-30T09:19:00.000Z2009-10-30T09:19:00.905Z

Is your MP on this list? If so, it looks like they've been had by the antis' latest stunt, where David Taylor MP tabled an 'early day motion' - clearly spoonfed to him by Animal Aid and their chums - calling for the banning of game shooting. I first reported on this nonsense here, but some 67 MPs have signed up to it and now the LACS is crowing about it here. Just in case you're in any doubt

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-3017215421503532602009-10-28T17:55:00.004Z2009-10-29T14:07:09.060Z

Organisations from the RSPB to the LACS are good at creating catchy slogans to support their campaigns. Shooters, on the other hand, are rather rubbish at it. We're guilty of sitting in the corner sulking 'it's not fair' and 'they don't understand us'. Well, it's not and they don't, but moping won't solve anything. Actually, it just makes it look like we might have something to hide.So I propose

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-79574392907162021062009-10-26T16:40:00.002Z2009-10-26T17:04:56.602Z

OK readers, I need your help. We're compiling our Christmas wish-list for the magazine. In the category of 'shooting related toys' what would you most desire?Here are a few that I'd be happy to find in my stocking on Christmas Day, but what would you want?Ideas and suggestions please - via the comments or email me direct at: editor[at]sportingshooter.co.ukWaterbomb CatapultNerf Havoc Fire

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-41065294323018572242009-10-25T21:53:00.006Z2009-10-25T22:10:16.129Z

Driving to see my parents this afternoon, I stopped to let these two run across the lane in front of me. They never noticed the car - just carried on with their squabble until the winner sent his rival packing.Walking round the place later, I was amazed by the number of berries on the holly trees. Some say it's a sign that a harsh winter is coming. Personally I think it's probably more to do with

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-3124015249762993862009-10-24T17:23:00.001+01:002009-10-24T21:31:37.523+01:00

Yes, I know it's really a chicken coop, but it also happens to be ideal for the ferrets, and I got this on eBay cheaper than I could buy the timber and wire to make my own at B&Q.I went to B&Q anyway, to get the paving slabs for the floor. One of the main problems with the old run was that the ferrets kept digging their way out, and then catching them up again was quite a chore. Whatever else

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-60023655504086240892009-10-23T12:52:00.006+01:002009-10-23T12:59:44.918+01:00

This case does seem to be taking an extraordinarily long time. From the Birmingham Post:Warwickshire man pleads not guilty in gyrocopter hunt deathOct 5 2009A 54-year-old north Warwickshire man pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of a hunt supporter who was killed by the rotor blades of a gyrocopter.Bryan Griffiths, who spoke only to enter his plea at Birmingham Crown Court, will now stand

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-51447758803525715502009-10-22T22:33:00.006+01:002009-10-23T09:52:49.582+01:00

I'm ashamed to say I hadn't heard of chef Georgia Pellegrini before. But having stumbled on this post on her blog, I want to find out more about her work."Hunting is not about male bonding in the woods anymore… it’s about understanding how to participate in nature, how to hunt for food, take only what you can eat, use every part of the animal and treat it with respect all the way to the plate..."

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-21258027698507903612009-10-21T09:03:00.006+01:002009-10-21T10:33:08.336+01:00

Yes, I can guess how some readers would complete that headline. 'Boil their heids' would be one of the more polite answers.But it's a serious question. I was talking to the RSPB's conservation director Mark Avery - he's the one who appears at the CLA Game Fair each year, taking the inevitable flak from shooters and keepers. During the conversation, he asked me "What exactly do you want the RSPB

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-85036329757064700712009-10-20T13:28:00.005+01:002009-10-21T10:30:31.831+01:00

Received from a reader who notes: "I wish to remain anonymous - or I'll be sacked!":Dear Editor,I’m at my wits end! So I apologise in advance for this ‘rant’.I have become increasingly frustrated by repeated , embarrassing stories of over reaction by my fellow colleagues within the police ‘service’ (or Force as it used to be called!), when dealing with lawful and law abiding firearms users. I

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-44195287998200814142009-10-17T17:06:00.000+01:002009-10-17T17:07:36.253+01:00

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-1789409919760541592009-10-15T14:31:00.002+01:002009-10-15T14:35:59.578+01:00

Hubert Hubert writes an excellent blog about his exploits here. His post 'How to Hunt Rabbits...' is a really valuable guide - a distillation of everything he's found out in his first year of learning to hunt. If you're taking up airgun hunting, read it and save yourself a year of discovering all this the hard way!

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-67048262172651943322009-10-14T15:42:00.004+01:002009-10-14T16:16:11.264+01:00

Using email, the web, mobile phones and the like, you sometimes wonder just how much the military/security services can eavesdrop. And I suspect that the answer is, they can see and hear exactly what they damn well please. But it's rare to get confirmation.Today, however, there's something spooky in my site stats. A visitor from the domain usmc.mil (The US Navy Information Center) looked at my

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-61629344876008962492009-10-14T10:41:00.004+01:002009-10-14T11:05:24.914+01:00

In the previous post, I referred to a farmer whose guns were confiscated by police, not after something he'd done but after something happened to him. It all sounds a bit like the Precrime department in Minority Report. You're under a lot of stress, dear, let's put the nasty scissors away shall we.Now in a news story, I read that ACPO and the British Medical Association are colluding over a

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-53261224108857791972009-10-12T14:05:00.005+01:002009-10-14T14:57:44.174+01:00

My informant from Wales has called to say that his local big cat is active again - three sheep killed last week, and another this morning. (Previous post on this subject here)Locals have heard 'screaming' at night, and the sheep have all been killed in a distinctive manner, quite unlike the work of rogue dogs etc. Some of the sheep have been so thoroughly eaten that only a fleece and stomach

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8009643355982117276.post-13875396244306310862009-10-12T10:56:00.009+01:002009-11-01T13:56:51.077Z

For all posts on this gun, click here. OK, following my previous post on the A400 Xplor Unico, I've clarified what I can tell you about the gun. So here (above) is the full technical spec sheet as issued at the press launch (click the photo for a larger, more legible version). In a nutshell, it's a brand new semi-automatic shotgun from Beretta, with some very interesting new technical

James Marchingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08109578008088776428james@sportingshooter.co.uk0