The Countryman's Weekly

Lamb killer – on the hunt for an unusually bold and crafty vixen By Vulpes. WE don’t have that many sheep in the area these days compared to years gone by, however, the few farmers who do still keep flocks, have this year, without a doubt seen an upsurge in

Challenging shooting among a wildlife abundant habitat By Nigel Housden. THE end of the pheasant, red-legged and grey partridge shooting season certainly seemed to arrive quickly once the fog of New Year’s Eve celebrations had passed. On the last day of January – season’s end, I had arranged to join

Ex-layers vs poults: the pros and cons By Matthew Dutton. WITH the cost of literally everything going up and up, shoots of all sizes are having to consider ways to cut a few costs or raise more money in order to survive. Whether that be higher subscriptions, less days, less

Ferreting on golf courses By Mervyn Jones. HAVING worked ferrets on rabbits in the Welsh hills for the last 60 years, it’s been a pleasure to acquire permission on a couple of Shropshire golf courses in the last few years. Rabbits always favour the dry south facing Welsh hillsides that

Don’t run your lurcher puppy too hard By Penny Taylor. IT’S tempting, but by pushing a lurcher puppy to do more than its young body can cope with, you risk all sorts of problems occurring in later life. A puppy is made up of soft growing bones and immature muscles,

Hunting with Podenco Paternino By Scott Allan. AFTER nine months, the allure of the Spanish hills had led to me again flying to Seville to catch up with my friends, enjoy tapas and wine and more importantly, la perros de la monteria, the dogs of the monteria. I had landed