The Countryman's Weekly

A bulging bag after a walked-up rough shoot By David Barrington Barnes. OUR small convoy wended its way along the valley floor. Fallen autumn leaves crunched under the wheels and we crossed and then recrossed a fast-flowing beck. When we emerged from the trees, Headkeeper Johnny briefed us on his

When the stars align – wildfowling in Wales By Michael Kemble. CHASING ducks on the foreshore is not an easy affair. As the weather gets cooler and the ducks seem to get spookier, fieldcraft, resilience, equipment and a host of other variables need to be right to have success on

Achieving retrieving perfection By David Mazey. WHEN I ask people if their dog retrieves nearly everyone replies that they go out and pick-up something thrown out, but whether or not they return it to the handler is another matter. However, a retrieve is not, in fact, a retrieve unless the

As bold as brass – reloading step by step by Tom Cackett. THE price of ammunition seems to keep rising at the moment without any sign of it plateauing. I’m told it’s partly because of a shortage of raw materials, but mainly because of a surge in demand in America

Lurcher bitches’ inconvenient seasons By Penny Taylor. THERE can be nothing more annoying for the serious lurcher owner who works their dogs hard all winter than for a bitch to come into season right in the middle of this period. For those who have never owned a female lurcher before,

An apple a day keeps the pigeons away By Alan Jarrett. THERE was just one wheat stubble left in my pigeon shooting domain. Even then it had been partly cultivated in preparation for drilling, with one half of the field laid brown and bare and therefore likely to be of