Shooting Times & Country – 21 August 2019

A. KEEBLE

CountryfileLivedidn’tseemtooffermuchinthewayoftruecountry

attractions but it provided a chance to bang the gamekeeping drum

A

fewweekendsagoI attended

theCountryfileLiveeventwith

theNationalGamekeepers’

Organisation(NGO)stand

atBlenheimPalace.I amtotallyagainst

watchingCountryfileandshoutatthe

televisionif myfiancéeswitchesit on.I fail

toseehow 99 percentoftheshowhas any

relevancetoactualcountrylife.

It painsmetoseenomentionofcountry

pursuits.Insteadthere’sdrivelaboutpoets,

artists,wildlifedeserts—naturereserves—

geocachingandcycleroutes.It’sa shame

programmessuchasOutoftownbyJack

Hargreavesarenotmimicked;I amcertain

thepublicwouldbeinterestedinwatching

howcountrylifewasandactuallyis.

I walkedaroundtheshowa little

duringthedaytoseewhatit hadto

offer.Unfortunatelyforthosewhopaid

forextortionatelypricedticketsandan

additional£6toparktheircar,nota great

deal.It seemedtobea countrysideshow

thatcomprisedveryfewcountryside

attractions,withthemainbulkofstands

beingwhereyoucouldsponsora dolphin,

cat,dog,hedgehogorbadger.Youcould

evenjointheLeagueAgainstCruelSports

if youwantedto.Otherthanthat,unless

youwantedtobuydoubleglazing,a Mini

Cooperorfudge,youwerestuck.

TheNGOstandwasrunbythemembers

oftheNGOEducationalTrustandthemain

NGOstaff,withvolunteerswhoweremainly

keepers all coming from across the country.

thatfrequentlyraidedtheirchickencoop.

I expectedtospeaktomorepeoplewho

were 100 percentagainstwhatwedoas

gamekeepers,butI suspectmostofthose

bypassedourtentindisgust.I didseea few

peoplewalkpastwitha shockedlookon

theirfaceatallthestuffed animals.

Pigeonprep

Anotherkeypartofthetentwasto

emphasisetheideaof‘fieldtofork’using

wildfeatheredgameandvenison.Atthe

frontofthetentwasa sectionforchildren

toplucka pigeon,havethebreaststaken

offbya memberofstaffandcookedfor

themtotry.Ata youngage,thechildren

seemedkeentohavea go,especiallyasit

wasfree,andtheyhadnoissuewitheating

it afterwards.I amsuretheexperience will

staywiththemfora longtime.

Therewerealsocookeryandbutchery

demonstrationsusinggamesuchas

grouse,pheasantandvenison.Thefinished

disheswerehandedoutassamplesfor

theobservingpublic—a greatwaytoget

peopletryinggameandviewingit asan

alternative.EvenCountryfile’sfarmerAdam

Hensoncameovertocooksomegameand

promoteit asa healthy,sustainablemeat.

A hugeamountofeffortandtimewent

intorunningthestandoverthefour-day

eventandI applaudallwhohelpedout.

Educatingwithscientificresearchisthekey

toourfutureandattheseevents it can be

shared with everyone.

Thestandwasaneducationalone;theNGO

wastheretopreachto the unconverted, not

totheconverted.

Showsthatarenotgamefairsarewhere

weeducatethemostpeopleaboutwhat

keepersdoandthetruthaboutthehuge

conservationaleffortswealltakepartin,

aswellasthevasteconomicbenefittothe

countrysidesectorweprovide.Therewas

nothingtobuyonthestand,whichmeant

peoplecameandwentfreelybecauseno

onewastryingtosellthemanything.

Inthemiddleofthetentwasa huge

displayoftaxidermyanimals,showingthe

relationshipsofeachspeciesandhowone

canbedetrimentaltoanother.Talking

topeoplearoundthisareaallowedus

toanswerquestionsonhowa predator

speciescaninfluencethepopulationofprey

speciesandwhatwecanalldoaboutit.

AlmosteveryoneI spoketounderstood

thatspeciesneedselectivemanagement.

Manyaskedforadviceonhowtheycould

improvethehabitatintheirgardensor

reduce the numbers of foxes or corvids

“AdamHenson

cooked somegame

andpromoted

it asa healthy,

sustainable meat”

14 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

AlexKeeblekeepersintheChilterns,havingpreviouslybeenheadkeeperonanestateintheCotswolds

Gamekeeper

TheNGOtentatCountryfileLive

was well attendedbyrefreshingly

open-minded people