Sporting Gun

Sporting Gun is the leading monthly magazine for clay, game and rough shooters. With editorial offices in the Lincolnshire countryside, it can justifiably claim to be at the heart of the shooting community. Monthly features range from gundog training to pigeon shooting, game shooting to wildfowling – along with sound, practical, advice on equipment and techniques to help the beginner, intermediate or experienced shot get more enjoyment from their sport. Sporting Gun is a must for anyone who invests time in and money on their shooting.

The Eagle has landed

I make no apologies for the amount of coverage on the transition from lead to steel shot in this issue.

Lead consultation concerns raised

Game for a name change

Economy the target in debate on shooting

Para shooter narrowly misses out on Tokyo medal

Last chance to contribute to Aim to Sustain consultation

NEWS IN BRIEF

Ned & Ted

Pet abduction law likely

Appeal for partridge count help

Shooting stars of the future • Hopeful novices pitched up at Doveridge Clay Sports for British Shooting’s first ever women’s Olympic Skeet Talent Squad ID Day. James Simon sees how they fared

Results

Stop the clock • Robin Scott says the deadline for the move to lead shot alternatives, and compliant non-plastic wads and cases, needs to put back to deal with technical issues and not doing so risks storing up a whole lot of trouble

Mother of all marsh set-ups • Tom Sykes explains how he uses single weighted decoys on the foreshore and an ingenious method of how to retrieve them from the water

Every last detail • A bountiful day does not just happen, it takes a lot of legwork and experience, says Peter Theobald

Point of view • Jon Snowdon sets his sights on eliminating some common errors that can lead to a candidate failing their practical shooting in a DSC1 assessment

Tasks in hand

Venison flank casserole • A clear winner

That’s your Lotte

Dear, oh deer • Staten Island in New York is an object lesson in how not to control deer numbers says Charles Smith-Jones

Catch as catch can • EdCook looks at when to employ snares to deal with a rabbit problem

Ptarmigan Lagopus muta • This member of the grouse family is a hardy bird found only in the Highlands and, as such, is a rare meal on the game plate, says Charles Smith-Jones

PTARMIGAN FACTS

Into the valley • Richard Jones guides an impressed Jasper Fellows around the traps and topography of Dovey Valley Shooting Ground, deep in the heart of Mid Wales

WHO’S WHO

SPORTING GUN’S CLAY SHOOTING CLUB DIRECTORY

Decisions, decisions... • Richard Faulks talks about the dilemmas we face with our old guns as the move to lead shot alternatives continues apace

A side issue • Malcolm Plant looks at the enduring merits of side-by-sides and how, over the years, they have been usurped in the field by over-and-unders

Fast and furious • Tony Bracci talks about what to expect if you are lucky enough to have a day on the grouse in your diary and the work behind the scenes that makes such a day so special

Short order • Geoff Garrod is still waiting for the pigeons to turn up in large numbers on his permissions but he has some tips on what to do with them when they do

His dark materials • Patrick Hook sees the light and reappraises his dislike of digital night vision thanks to advances in technology and a new piece of kit

Be prepared • Fran Ardley gets back to basics as she gets her dogs ready for the season ahead

FOCUS

Virtual reality • Nick Ridley is shooting with a camera rather than his gun when he visits a simulated game day that helps to prepare...