Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

Expert tips and advice

Beforethe

reintroductionofthe

white-tailedeagle,the

goldeneaglehadthe

largestwingspanof

anyBritishbird,at

morethan2m.The

‘newcomer’is only

slightly larger, in terms

ofwingspan,butthe

breadthofthewing

makesit looklike

a ‘fl yingbarndoor’.

A goldeneagle

hasalmosttwicethe

wingspanofa buzzard

andis aboutfivetimes

as heavy, so it’s hard to

mistakeit foranyother

largeraptor.Theseare

birdsofremoteplaces,

occupyingnestsites

thathavebeenusedfor

generations.Illegal

persecutionis stillan

issueinsomeareas

andit is hopedthat

improvedtags,now

usedtotrackthe

movementsof

youngsters,willaddto

ourknowledgeofwhat

happenstobirdsbefore

theysetuphome.One

ofthenewfeatures

willbetotransmit

informationthat

provides“aninstantfix

on any birds which die”.

Bird of the week by Graham Appleton GOLDEN EAGLE

Improved tags should tell us more about the golden eagle’s life

Zero shift and fox loads

RIFLES

My.243rifle is sightedinat

100 yardswithFederal100-gr

SierraGameKingfactorycartridges,

whichI usefordeer.Whatwould

betheverticalshiftinaimif I were

touse70-gr bullets for foxes?

Todeterminethat,youneedto

knowtheexactvelocityfromthe

Federalloadyouuseinyourrifle. The

ballisticslistedontheboxorFederal

catalogueis fora testrifle at thefirm’s

factoryandnotnecessarilywhat you

willachievewithyourgun.

However,saytheFederal100-grload

youhaveshootsat 2,960fpsaslisted

and you are zeroed at 100 yards, you

willbe-3.1inlowat 200yards and some

-11.7inlowat 300yards.

Now,if youswitchtoa lighterbullet

weight,say70-grforfoxesasyoustate,

thenit is morethanlikelythatyour

zerowillshiftnotonlyverticallybut

alsohorizontally.Youwillneedto

re-zeroregardless.Sometimes,though,

ballisticsareoddsoyoumaygetlucky

andthezeromaybe close enough for

yourpurposes.

If a 70-gr.243bullettravellingat

3,450fpsis zeroedat 100yards,at 200

yardsit willbe-2.1inlowandat 300

yardsit willbe-8.6inlow.Yes,thisis

flatterthanyour100-grdeerload,but

youneedtoshootyouractualloadin

yourrifle todetermineanyzeroshift

before you go after any game.BP

Varied

fl o a t s

FISHING

Ihavebeenleftmy
grandfather’sfishingtackle.
Hetookmefishinga fewtimes,
hehadhundredsoffloatsand
I alwayswonderedwhythefloats
heusedwerealldifferentshapes,
sizesandcoloursandmadefrom
differentmaterials.Couldyou
perhapsexplainwhy the fl oats
aresovaried?

Therearedifferentfloatsfor
differentconditionstoactas
anindicatorofwhena fishhastaken
yourbait.I, too,havehundreds
ofdifferentfloatsthatI have
accumulatedovertheyears.I have
stickfloatsandAvonfortrottingin
movingwater,heavywagglersfor
fishingat distance,smalldinksfor
fishingundertherodtipandbulky
pikebungsforpresentingdeadbaits.
Somefloatsarebetterinwind;
someareself-cockingtopresent
a slow-fallingbait.Theyaremade
fromplasticorwood.Somearesolid,
somehollow.A paintedpeacockquill
is oneoftheoldest types of fl oat in
u s eto d ay.
It is difficulttogointodetailhere
onthemeritsofeachindividualfloat,
buttherearesomeexcellentbooks
onfishingfloats,whichwillguide
youonwhichfloat to use in a given
situation.CDC

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 51

Different fl oats suit types of fi sh and water

Ballisticscanbeoddandyou

maygetlucky,butyouwill

probably have to re-zero