We all know that you can take a horse to water but can’t make it drink; it’s equally true that you can take a dog to water but can’t make it swim. Some years ago I photographed a selection of HPRs (hunt, point, retrievers) at a novice working test. They…
My enjoyment of early-season shoot days remains as strong as ever. But there is more to this appreciation of an August day on a moor, a September day in fields of stubble and an October day among leaf-clad trees than just nostalgia. Don’t get me wrong, I recognise and love…
“We came to thrive over other species because we were able to hunt and cook and feed our brains,” says Thomas Straker. “That all stemmed from hunting. The most dialled in I ever am is when I’m out with a gun and a dog. Walking-up woodcock or trying to shoot…
The modern airgun is a sophisticated tool and the weapon of choice for professional vermin control. Perfect for shooting magpies and rabbits around the garden
Skinner’s is a family firm that loves dogs as much as you do. Not only that, we have years of experience and understanding of the specialised canine nutrition needed to help generations of working dogs perform at their peak. But did you know that our much-loved, nutritionally balanced and complete…
What you need to know about guinea fowl Hardy and disease-free, guinea fowl live for 10 to 15 years. They can grow up to 48cm (19in) long and weigh 1.8kg (4lb). Their diet consists mostly of seeds and insects. Although they are strong flyers, they choose to run away from…
James Murray, or Jim as he likes to be known, is a phenomenon. He’s a celebrated actor, a talented artist, a gifted angler and a conservationist and campaigner who is truly making a difference in the murky waters of river management. When he was recently awarded the MBE, along with…
How to get one of your 'five a day' at a barbecue? Make a vegetable kebab
How smoking wild meat began Science is a little undecided but somewhere around two million years ago our hominid ancestors started to harness fire. It wasn’t until about a million years later that we have relatively conclusive evidence that Homo erectus, with a culinary ambition of a magnitude never before…
Like many fieldsportsmen, my earliest memories of forays in the field take me back to shooting rabbits on warm summer evenings. I count myself fortunate to have had a grandfather who worked as a herdsman on a dairy farm for an owner grateful for help keeping numbers of those grass-gobbling…
