Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Music]
Welcome to Fieldsports Britain, full of meaty goodness. Coming up Andy is killing two birds,
sorry rats, with one stone, sorry stick. He is clearing his barn of straw and rodents
at the same time.
Whose dog is that? I hear you ask. Well if you want to avoid the answer, yours sir, watch
our top gun training tips from Skinners Petfood. We have got News Stump, Hunting YouTube and
an extraordinary Hallo Charlie from Scotland.
First, Subaru is about to launch its new Forester, but is the original cross over still fit for
farmyards and off road forays. Well, Sporting Shooter editor and ace motoring journalist,
Dom Holtam goes deer stalking in the Lake District to find out.
When Dom was given the chance to test drive the new Subaru Forester up north we all thought
it would a good excuse to take it on a proper Fieldsports Britain outing. So instead of
going for a pleasant drive in the country with lines like ‘If this car were a sheep
it would be producing knitted woolly jumpers', we're taking it off the beaten track, on to
a beaten up farm, to reach the start of a hill stalking day in the Lake District. We're
after a cull red stag with our old friend, Cumbrian deerstalker Jonathan Standing.
First Dom needs to get his rifle zeroed. Shooting up here is not recommended for the novice.
The strong cross winds are a big problem and, although Dom has stalked with Jonathan for
years, both of them need to know the rifle is shooting true.
As always when the rifle has been in the back of the car, we just got here, just want to
make sure the rifle is still on zero. So Jonathan has brought us out to check that we can still
hit the paper then makes us that bit more confident when we do go out on the hill that
hopefully the rifle is still doing its thing and any mistakes are down to me and not down
to a problem with the gun. So I am just going to have three shots and hopefully make sure
everything is ok.
We'll leave them to it and back to the Forester. At its launch back in 1997 you may recall
it found favour with farmers and farmers' wives, husbands and live-in lovers alike.
These days everyone needs a car like this just to survive the pot holes. But has this
tough old boot, now with it's fourth generation, gone soft.
In many ways the original Subaru Forrester came to define what we now call the cross
over genre. Cross over - it is not quite a car, it is not quite a proper off roader,
it is something between the two. It is a pumped up estate car and in the case of the Forrester
it was tough, it was reliable. It had a proper four wheel drive system. It was built to take
punishment and it found favour with farmers and families all over the world. Case in point,
this is David the cameraman's car. It has led a very tough life chasing Fieldsport Britain
stories all over the UK. He has got kids, it has been dealt with as a farm vehicle and
it survived. And it is still going strong, 135,000 miles, still great. And the market
has changed, it has moved on. Cross over vehicles are not a rarity any more they are everywhere
from urban vehicles all the way through to slightly more serious stuff. So the new Subaru
Forrester has got a much tougher segment in which to compete and this is it. As you can
see just looking at the two together
it is much taller, it is much chunkier, it has got much more road presence. It has got
the new Subaru corporate face if you like with the big badge, big lights, plenty of
ride height. It also demanding to have a lot more luxury in this sector. So whereas before
you could get away with a vehicle that was quite utilitarian, these days it needs to
have sat nav, it needs to have electrics, it needs to have controls on the steering
wheel, it needs to have iPod connectivity. Another big change for this generation of
Forrester is that it has now got the next generation of the Boxer diesel engine. The
original Forrester, petrol only. Yes, you could have a turbo which is great fun, but
you couldn't have a diesel. This does it's a flat fourth configuration, that Subaru made
famous, much more efficient, much smoother and means it is more practical as a family
proposition.
The country up here is just beautiful. Better viewed on foot than in a vehicle. The last
time we were here was with American huntress Pam Zaitz.
Dom and Jonathan scan the hillside and the dots in the distance do appear to be deer.
They aren't going to come to us, so we've got to go to them!
I think Jonathan has taken one look at that hill and one look at my beer belly and he
didn't fancy my chances very much. We are going to head out on to the open hill and
just have a scan round to see what we can see. But sadly, even with the Forrester's
ability it is not going to make it up there. So we are going to need something a little
bit more serious.
The conditions are blowy to say the least. The stalking team stop and scan as they ascend
- there's no point heading off blindly.
It is moving across the face, it is moving across the face.
Yesterday it was T shirt weather back down south. We seem to have travelled back about
four months. It feels like December, January up here again. There is still a bit of snow
on the ground, but my main concern is this wind. It is absolutely howling over the tops
and where it is going up and down the valleys it is hard to predict exactly which direction
the wind is blowing where the deer are. We have picked up another group that are directly
opposite us and are kind of moving along the face trying to keep in a bit of shelter, so
we are just going to monitor and see where they end up.
They need to spot a target and work towards it as stealthily as they can.
Eventually Jonathan finds some likely customers. A slight movement catches his eye and more
careful study reveals a herd of eight animals.
This is when the fun begins and where careful preparation for this environment is vital
- not just fitness but kit too.
They crawl, they walk - they try and get a breath - they crawl some more and more. Once
you're wet you're wet and you just get on with it.
Jonathan is fantastic at reading the deer - knowing when to move his clients - when
to hold.
I'm getting more like a sausage roll David. Normally when I am that low to the ground
I am asleep. The thing is if you spook them now I am going to cry.
After 45 minutes the first chance of a shot is at a young red stag calf. But they bounce
over the ridge.
Jonathan is now keener than ever to get on to these animals as one of the hinds looks
sick - even though the hind season is over, many have perished with the severe winter
and he wants her shot.
This time Dom is in position and happy.
That is the exit isn't it. Heart shot ...
The 235-metre shot strikes the hind well and a heart shot puts her down.
On closer inspection Jonathan knows he's made the right call.
We picked this hind out because it was the poorest one in the herd and now we have shot
it we can see why. There is no flesh on its back at all. Back bone is showing right along.
So it is a good one to take it is. Might have even died in the next couple of weeks like
this. It just made it through the winter.
Where we have had this prolonged spell of cold through into March it has put extra pressure
on them, because this is the time of year when they are vulnerable isn't it?
Often they don't die in the winter, but die when the spring comes they do. Yes. This is
when you get the losses this time of year.
All that needs to be done now is get her back to the Polaris, which is a very long way away.
However that's not the end of Dom's day - a single red hind with an injured leg gets up
on the walk back to the cars. Jonathan asks Dom to get on to her.
Wasn't moving very well at all was it.
She's down and on closer inspection she has a broken leg but, incredibly, is a far healthier
looking animal than the first.
It was on its own. It got up out of these reeds and it just didn't want to go anywhere
Jonathan did it?
No.
Normally they see you, as we know from earlier, soon as they catch any sight of you they want
to be away. Whereas this one just didn't and stood there looking and looking. And Jonathan
soon as he saw it moving could see something wasn't right and it has got a bad break to
the front leg. Didn't want to go up the hill, didn't want to get away. Stood there looking
and looking and unfortunately that gave us time to get the rifle out and get a shot in
it. Even having said that look at the size of the beast and the condition of it compared
to the other one we shot earlier. This one is in much better physical nick. Obviously
it is worrying when you see one like that on its own not wanting to move.
What a stalk. Not what we'd hoped but stalking up here is a different beast for all sorts
of reasons.
As always welfare of the animal comes first. Paramount it is, yes, yes, you may be after
one thing but something else dictates to you a different plan for the day which we did
today really.
I will just have to wait another time to get my stag.
Yes you will I am afraid. The day didn't go as we planned, but it turned out a good day
in the end really. We have stopped any animal suffering on the hill which is good.
All everyone needs to do now is dry off and get some shots of the Subaru before it gets
too late. We've been on the hill far longer than expected.
Yes the new Subaru Forester has to compete with the likes of the Qashqais, the Kugas
and and the Tiguans of this world. Yes, they also have good ground clearance and some even
have four-wheel drive, but it's like comparing hill stalking for reds with woodland stalking
for muntjac. The new softroaders potter whereas the Forester still has the core strength to
stride.
Dom looking comfortable behind the wheel and the rifle there. And if you want to see more
of Dom's reviews of vehicles from super cars to SUV's to UTV's click on the screen which
has appeared in the tree behind me there. Now for our very own rough rider it's David
on the Fieldsports Channel News Stump.
[Music]
This is Fieldsports Britain News.
Another hunting case has collapsed. The prosecution against the joint-master and huntsman of the
Weston and Banwell Harriers, George Milton, was thrown out by magistrates in Taunton who
said Mr Milton has no case to answer. The League Against Cruel Sports has spent more
than £2 million of charitable donations on 'investigations' since 2010, yet has achieved
no successful Hunting Act prosecutions as a result of its activities in the past two
hunting seasons.
While some American states are cracking down on legal gun-owners, there's been an outbreak
of common sense among others who are cracking down on the use of drones used to film hunters
and fishers. The animal rights body PETA is threatening to use drones but an Illinois
government committee has endorsed a proposal to criminalise the use of drones to interfere
with someone's hunting and fishing.
Meanwhile in Malta, bird rights activists from BirdLife International are watching the
island's 9,500 hunters to make sure they stick to quail and turtle doves. In this video,
by Malta Today, the journalist listens unquestioning as a BirdLIfe member reels of a list of others
birds he claims hunters have shot at. The antis are angry because the Maltese government
has ruled that shooters do not have to wear identifying fluorescent armbands.
Here's a more heart warming story, which you can help with. Gamekeeper's daughter Lily
Bignell wants a new set of wheels. Glanusk Estate head keeper Steve Bignell is raising
funds to purchase an off-road wheelchair for his 8 year old daughter Lily. He's holding
a charity clay shoot on the 9th June at the Estate. Look for Lily's New Wheels on Facebook.
More on the KeepersMate blog, KeepersMate.co.uk/blog
And finally, a Hawaiin fisherman had a close encounter with a nine-foot shark which jumped
out of the water close to his kayak. Isaac Brumaghim, 37, was fishing off the coast of
Hawaii when the shark sprang up and bit the tuna he was trying to catch. As well as being
shocked and scared by the experience, he said he was extremely annoyed that the shark had
taken his fish.
You are now up to date with Fieldsports Britain News. Stalking the stories. Fishing for facts.
[Music]
Thank you David. Not looking as crucial as me though are you? Now coming up we have dogs
attacking rats. First we have game birds attacking Scots men. From around the world it is Hallo
Charlie.
[Music]
Here is what the world is up to this week.
Hi Charlie, it is Andy here. I am filming a Capercaillie a wild *** and he is attacking
me and the camera, Ay ... you will have to cut that. I have never, ever seen anything
like this before. I am cornered next to a tree. Looking forward to your next show. Cheers
for now.
Hallo Charlie, it is Andy here from north Warwickshire. Today I am out and about with
my young springer Meg and we are doing some stop whistle and recall work.
Send us your own Hallo Charlie - film yourself on your mobile phone - just a sentence saying
hallo Charlie, who you are and what you're up to. Then share it or email it via YouTube,
Facebook, DropBox or YouSendIt, you name it to charlie@fieldsportschannel.tv
There is a certain person who has been obvious by his absence in the last few weeks. He has
been off to warmer climes parading his budgie smugglers around the pool and working off
his tight buns. Who writes this stuff on the farm. Well he is back this week. Not with
pigeons, but with fast action terrier work on rats. It is Andy the Crowman Crow.
Andy has had a few problems with rats this year..
When the guys laying concrete in his new barn broke the door it was an open invitation for
the local Rattus norvegicus population to over-winter in straw destined for the burner.
Air rifles have taken care of a few of them, Andy's fancy footwork others, today the question
is going to be who let the dogs out? Who, who, who, who? First of all where's he been?
We've missed you Andy.
Where was I last month? Um I was here I suspect fertilising or something .
Gambia.
Gambia, oh that is right. Yes I was fishing in Gambia. I had to pay for that, you get
yours paid for including flights. Anyway end of... that is where I have been. I have been
flat out doing field work. I am all up together now so the plan is we are going to extend
the wall over there with some more grain walling so they have got further to run. We are going
to blanket off at the back either side and I have got a bit of moving about to do so
if I get that done you can speak to John. He is a mate of mine he has brought his terriers
along.
Inside the barn Andy is creating what looks like a five-a-side football pitch. If things
go right we can expect a few rats to come charging down the wing.
John owns the dogs. They are all shapes and sizes. So, what makes a good ratter.?
Boldness. One that doesn't make off. These have been at it ... this one is 12 now. She
has been at it for a long, long time. They are just keen. Stay ...
What do you think about rats?
I quite like them to be quite honest. I have got great respect for them. They are world
survivors. You can have them in a cold store where they grow a longer fur coat. You can
have them as with Andy's in the grain store, plenty of food and they will then breed to
the food source. If there is a shortage of food source they won't breed. Sorry, they
have gone ...
John is no stranger to cameras. A few years ago he appeared on a BBC documentory with
Martin Clunes looking at different dogs breeds and their roles - the film also featured a
young Crow. So how was Doc Martin with the ratting?
After the initial shock he warmed to the task shall I say.
With the arena coming together word is spreading and we have a reasonable team building. Andy
Jnr is up aloft directing traffic, three with sticks, and five hounds. Contestants ready
- Gladiators ready let's start moving those bales...
With half the bales gone, things start livening up. The rats are starting to run out of space
and we get some screamers. Richard intercepts this one just before hitting the camera - then
the dogs run out of space -
Andy even leaves the cab for a bit of goal keeping. He steps in and blocks the runners,
and the dogs and sticks do the rest. Let's see that again - a great team effort there.
It really does start to get frantic - sticks waving - dogs running and chewing and eating
...argghhh - no accounting for taste - it's wall-to-wall action with the dogs doing well.
Even the youngster gets his first rat - it really is built into the DNA with these dogs.
I was expecting a lot more than that. There is a small hole that goes into the walling
up the side there, centre partition up the middle there. There is a small hole in that
so we have lost quite a few in there which is a bit of a pain, but hopefully you got
a bit of footage. Like I say I was hoping for a few more, but every dead rat is a good
one so.
Exciting isn't it.
Yes, it is exciting stuff. There are several nests of youngsters we got as well. Got seven
or eight in some of those. I think there about five or six lots. Dom I love you ...
on the farm. It is amazing.
Nor have I.
I have never seen Andy drive a loader that fast either. It normally takes him about two
days to move that many bales.
Even though Andy says he is a bit disappointed it's been great fun...
Yes, it was brilliant. Proper good. Good dogs know what they are doing.
Think they did very well. I am very pleased with them. First time. Missed a couple myself,
but he got them so that is ok.
When you see that first rat run out. That is it. All the inhibitions go and all you
want to do is chase after it and get there before the dog really, but unfortunately the
dog gets there before us.
They think it's all over, except John who is trying to smoke out the escapees but he's
had a blast too.
It doesn't matter how many times you do it it still gets the adrenaline going and as
you can see the dogs don't need any encouragement at all.
Ratting - a great method of vermin control and as good as a five a side kick about anyday.
Now from terriers to, dare I say it better bred dogs, all you gun dog owners out there
anyone for tennis.
Many people say you should always take a tennis ball and a racquet when you go for a walk
with your gundog. It is, they insist, a perfect training opportunity. Top gundog trainer Howard
Kirby has lots more to say on the subject of tennis balls.
We need our spaniels, all of our dogs really to enter cover in order to find game with
a retriever to go and find it and with a spaniel to go and flush and get in there. So we make
the game enjoyable. We roll a tennis ball into soft cover not too harsh cover at this
stage otherwise there is a danger you will frighten him. Too many prickles in his face
he might not want to go in there again. So it is a gradual build up again. What we did
was we put a ball into the cover, we just encouraged the dog to hunt, I did what we
call clicked him off. I made a noise that indicated that I wanted him to start hunting,
so where is it then ... so he starts to hunt and gradually over a period of months he gets
familiar with that command and he thinks oh there must be something for me to find, he
starts to hunt and blow me he finds a tennis ball. What happens is he thinks my dad is
really great because every time he tells me to hunt I find a tennis ball. So if he tells
me to hunt, then I am going to do it every time. That is
the secret. And we build that up so that the dog hunts for longer with less aids from you.
He gets more powerful. He holds an area and enters cover and pick it up. What we also
do there is as soon as he has picked it up he has to come out and deliver it to hand.
So he comes out and retrieves, delivers the bird or ball to hand. We then develop that
exercise up because more often than not a spaniel will be used for flushing and not
for retrieving out of cover so much. So he goes in to cover where there is no ball. Bearing
in mind we have conditioned him that when you say start hunting he starts hunting. So
while he is hunting I flick a ball in the air, we fire a pretend shot, *** or fire
a starting pistol and we are starting to simulate the whole process, the process he will go
through on live game in the future. So we are teaching him to sit to the flush, look
and when we say get out, he will go out and retrieve.
Howard runs Mullenscote Gundogs from Lains Shooting School near Andover in Hampshire.
Visit Mullenscote.co.uk. This series on gundog training tips is brought to you by Skinners
Petfoods, maker of the Field & Trial range of gundog feeds. Visit SkinnersPetfoods.co.uk
From gundogs, let's go all kitty. It's Kit Special.
[Music]
Kit special this week looks again at popular sporting guns on the GunsDirect.co.uk website.
Which ones are getting the most views from you, the viewers? The answer is that it's
kits, combos and starter sets.
You can have a Ruger Ranch complete kit for £595.50. This used Ruger Ranch Mini 14 in
.223 straight bull (bolt action) comes complete with extra 20-round mag, bracket and stud
for a bipod, sling, scope and rings included. Ruger introduced the Mini 14 in 1974 and rebranded
it as one of its ‘ranch rifles' in 2003.
One of Steyr Mannlicher's fabulous, superbly ergonomic, stunningly ugly Scout rifles is
for sale on Guns Direct at £750. This .308 bolt-action with T8 Scout Reflex Suppressor
and Apel mounts (£180 new) is included in the price. With a reputation for being considerably
more accurate than the Mini 14, it's just that this lightweight all-around rifle as
specified in Jeff Cooper's scout rifle concept would probably cause more death from embarrassment
than terminal ballistics.
For under £150, this Hammerli Black Force 800 air rifle is a perfect starter gun for
young shooters and those who are new to the sport. It comes with a 6x40 scope and chills
the hearts of European airgun manufacturers, because it comes from China. All those who
dismissed Hammerli saying ‘you can't get the parts' are now finding ‘you don't need
the parts'.
That is it. Feast your eyes, fish into your pockets. Thanks for watching. This is Kit
Special.
[Music]
Now to the wider world of hunting on Youtube. It is Hunting YouTube.
This is Hunting YouTube, which aims to show the best hunting, shooting and fishing videos
that YouTube has to offer.
Eight films, eight different species. First up, Kristoffer Clausen is after beaver in
Norway. Kristoffer is a professional hunter and Norway's greatest producer of hunting
films.
Crossing to Belorussia, a French hunter is on a driven wild boar day. Not sure whether
the Frenchman or his backing music is more savage. Still, despite the dark sense of foreboding,
he seems to be having a nice time, and there's not too much talking.
From Ireland, Huntertom365 offes the ideal duckshooting moment. Mallard Double has him
bringing down a right and a left at duck, plus a nice mark and retrieve by his springer
spaniel.
Now a reasonably big-budget film for YouTube. Monster Hunt - Barents Sea Skrei shows Nordic
Sea Angling guide Johan Mikkelsen and angling company expert David Thormar of Fairpoint
after skrei - the Norwegian word for cod. The Barents Sea, north of Norway, is sea angling's
El Dorado.
Moving to only slightly more forgiving waters, Fly Fishing Colorado in the USA is RMFlyFisher's
early season outing after trout. "Finally got out to some great fishing. You should
too!"
Now let's go Down Under. We've featured him before and I expect we will feature him again.
Andrew Ucles is the Australian sensation whose clips from Discovery Channel include novel
techniques for catching animals. In this film, he is catching rabbits with snakes. Thanks
to many viewers for sending in this.
Back in the UK and a fairly thoughtful film about squirrel shooting. Squirrel Hunting
Compilation (4 Squirrels in 3 days) shows Squirrel Hunter and his brother doing exactly
that.
And finally, I always love to see YouTube channels getting together. In Mega Airgun
Rat Hunt - 250-300 Rats in One Night! by CountryPursuitsTV, Malc and Lisa team up with Ken, Paul and Stuart
from KPSHunters and Si and Davy from Vermin Hunters TV. And the ratting? Is mega.
You can click on any of these films to watch them. If you have a YouTube film you would
like us to pop in to the weekly top eight, send it in via YouTube, or email me the link
charlie@fieldsportschannel.tv
Now the CLA Game Fair is not only on the horizon, but hoving into view. If you want to find
out what is going on at Ragley Hall 2013 click on the screen behind me. Now this programme
is back next week. If you are watching this on Youtube then please hit the subscribe button
that is somewhere as usual around the outside of the screen and if I have got time I will
put a link on the screen or go to our webpage www.fieldsportschannel.tv where you can click
to like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. There is another link just there if I get
around to it. Or scroll down to the bottom and you can put your email address into the
constant contact form and we will be in touch with you about our programme that is out at
7pm UK time every Wednesday. This has been Fieldsports Britain and I have to ask, what
am I wearing.