Q: I live near a shoot, and my garden is inundated with pheasants celebrating the end of the shooting season and enjoying the calm. Every year they arrive and wreak havoc with seeds, vegetables and plants. What am I entitled to do with these marauding pheasants? A: The law says…
This pigeon shooting calendar will help you plan your pest control for the entire year. (Read The Field’s Guide to pigeon shooting here.) When can you go pigeon shooting? Pigeon shooting can be carried out all year round – provided you are shooting within the terms of the General Licence…
The Browning 825 Prestige was well suited to fast driven work
A reader writes: I am trying to find the origin and meaning of the toast “Here’s mud in your eye.” I have been to a few parties where this toast has been used and many other guests were as ignorant of its meaning as I was. Can you enlighten? The…
This test gun is a London-made 30in .410 side-by-side sidelock by Smith & Torok. It is made on the Purdey-Beesley self-opening system with a rounded action bar. Maker Alex Torok is one of a team of ex-Purdey men who set up independently in 2013. Sadly, Mike Smith died a few…
This review focuses on the aesthetically modified, version of the well-established and popular Beretta EELL over-and-under. Designated the 687 EELL ‘Classic’, the gun under the spotlight is a 20-bore with 30in, multichoked barrels. It weighs in at 6lb 3oz, so might be classed as a lightweight by modern standards. The…
It is, perhaps, the most disappointing two hours of my life. I am sitting in a cafe in Bedlington, the old Northumberland mining town after which the eponymous Bedlington terrier and scourge of the rat community is named. While the full English is excellent, I am actually waiting for what…
The Yildiz Pro 20-bore in depth This test looks at a type of gun that I have long used for much of my own game shooting: a 32in 20-bore over-and-under. This one is made by Yildiz, a Turkish firm best known in the UK for its well-priced, lightweight, alloy actioned…
The test gun is a 28-bore Purdey Trigger Plate, or PTP, over-and-under. It has 28in steel-proofed, Teague-choked barrels and a narrow, subtly tapered, solid sighting rib. The non-selective single trigger is detachable with a release catch to the rear of the trigger-guard. This PTP is a demonstrator with laser engraving;…
Ratting with terriers – which terrier is best for the job? The Border terrier holds sway in the north while Parson Jack Russell’s terrier has a loyal following in the West Country. According to David Hancock, in his authoritative Sporting Terriers: Their Form, Their Function and Their Future, Russell “favoured…
