Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Millions spent on capers — and for what?
Is that what £5m gets you?
Yes, the RSPB gleaned £5m to investigate the issues with capercaillie, but where has this money been used (News, 12 October)? How many millions have been granted to the RSPB, wildlife trusts and the National Trust over the past 20 years? It is time for this gravy train to stop.
It is unbelievable how much money is extracted from any quarter for these organisations. I own a piece of land, and my son and daughter have gained planning permission to build houses for themselves and a couple more to cover infrastructure works. But included in the planning conditions is a payment of £5,500 to the neighbouring wildlife trust, situated in the adjacent county, “to compensate for the detrimental impact of walking their dogs on the trust’s reserve”.
Better still is the £96,000 that a builder has to pay to the same wildlife trust for the fiveyear maintenance of a small piece of marshland that he has to create within the building site neighbouring my land. How much more is there?
l have owned and bred capercaillie since 1990. They are special birds and must not be lost from the ancient forests that they cling on to. They are one of the toughest birds and feisty, but they suffer badly when stressed, especially when being handled as adult birds, so the fitting of tracking harnesses is as good as a blow to the head.
Colin Surtees, via email they were able to maintain a wild population against the odds.
W Robb, by email
planning for the season ahead with a purpose in his life.
In Laurence’s case I have no doubt that keeping his guns was the correct decision taken by his doctor and mental health nurse. However, it is the case that some people suffering from mental illness should be assessed by their doctor for reasons that may warrant the surrender of their guns if they were to be a risk to themselves or others. If not and the doctor agrees the certificate holder is not a risk, I would hope that they come to the same conclusion as Laurence’s doctor did.
Laurence has some great friends to help support him through his illness, including other Shooting Times contributors. I have enjoyed Laurence’s articles in Shooting Times for many years and look forward to reading many more in the future.
Wishing Laurence and others who may suffer from anxiety and mental illness good health and all the best for the future.
Robert Findlay, by email
I’m very certain I won’t be the only one who spotted a snipe illustrating the news piece on woodcock on p9 of the issue that landed last Wednesday (12 October). Looks like the picture editor is going on an educational course.
Glenn Bragg, by email
The Editor responds: Oh dear. We got the editorial assistant to thrash the picture editor (HR said totally OK given such an egregious error). Had I been around, no such mistake would have happened, of course… Incidentally, I was trying to catch salmon in the Hebrides. There were a lot of snipe about, so next year I’ll take the picture editor.
May I congratulate Shooting Times on your 140th birthday. As a sometime magazine journalist — I think we shared printers in Walthamstow in the 1970s — I appreciate not only the amount of content filling those pages on a regular basis, but also the standard of journalism and the layout. On a weekly basis, that is some achievement.
However, may I also be the 94th person to spot the deliberate mistake in the picture at the top of page 63 (Vintage Times, 12 October) of the ‘bitch’ returning a bird to its owner.
I’m hoping to have a slightly out-of-date story about Her Majesty approving the use of an over-and-under rather than a side-by-side at Windsor, but I have to speak to the person who told me it to get his agreement. I’ll come back to you, but well done. I try to read the magazine cover to cover every week.
I forgot to say, sometimes I really don’t understand what your writers are talking about. They could well be referring to a local expression for a valley, a stream, a breed of birds or something. There is the opportunity for a bit of a dictionary — which I think readers and writers would welcome — even to explain not only the meaning but also the origin. For instance, ‘hags’ in this latest issue. I think I can work it out, but I’m not sure. Surely, to open up the understanding to a wider readership would be educational? Just a thought. Bob Constanduros, by email
The Editor responds: Poor picture editor is coming in for all sorts of stick this week. Thank you, Bob. I appreciate that. I get your point on language, too, but I disagree — better to enjoy the pieces and have a dictionary, dialect maybe, to hand. Where do you draw the line — I’d draw it somewhere well above hags. And what about dykes? It means stone wall in south-west Scotland but means ditch elsewhere — better to enjoy language, as denoting that there are different worlds out there, than demanding that we are made to understand everything. The sporting world can never really be understood just as different cultures — and dialects as part of them — even here in Britain can never be totally understood.
This week’s avian influenza article (News, 12 October) is very informative, if a bit scary. However, I do think for those of us who are advising our Guns to be aware of biosecurity, they will know if they are coming from a region that has an avian flu problem so they can take their own disinfectant precautions.
W Tyrwhitt-drake, Hampshire
Mike will be sadly missed by the shooting community.
Farming in Ossett,
West Yorkshire, he ran a successful shoot on his land for over 25 years.
Mike was an enthusiastic and generous host, becoming friend to all who enjoyed his company and hospitality.
He successfully reared game for his shoot, with his first love being partridges. In his younger days, Mike shot wild English partridges in the Rhubarb Triangle, between Wakefield, Rothwell and Morley.
Mike was also chairman of Methley
Shoot for 18 years.