Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 11

Email your letters / [email protected]

MAKINGTHEGRADE

Whatgradeis thatstock?

Howwoodis gradedand

what it actually means

GREEDYPESTS

Pigeonshootingover laid

barley in Essex.

FASHIONVICTIMS

Willwestillbewearing

tweedin 50 yearstime

orarethingsabout to

get technical?

OLDANDNEW

Schultz& LarsenSporter

ontest:a classicstalking

riflewithallthemodern

advancesinaccuracy

and design.

...AND MUCH MORE!

NEXT WEEK IN

‘‘Thewildlifeoftodayis notourstodisposeofasweplease.

We have it intrust.Wemustaccountforit to those who

come after.’’King George VI

lawrighttocarryoutthecontrol
pestsonfarmlandhasbecome
somethingthatyouareallowed
todounderlicence.
Aswehaveseen,a licencecan
berevokedaseasilyasit canbe
made.Whydowestandforit?
Wehavehadthegenerallicences
formorethan 30 years,butNE
renewsthemeveryyear—why?
Whyarewenotfightingtohave
thegenerallicencesremoved
andthelawwritteninto the Act
byamendment?
I. Summerell, Somerset

BACKTOBASICS

MrOldfieldgaveseveral
scenarioswheretheremight
bedoubtastowhetheryoucan
shootwoodpigeonorcorvids
outsidetheordinary(Letters,
10 July).Fora drivenshootthe
answeris yes,if thetopichas
beencoveredinthepre-shoot
briefing;if unsuremakesureyou
askbeforetheshootbegins.For
gamekeepersandfarmersthe
answeris alsoyes,giventhat
the killing of woodpigeons and

corvidsasopportunityariseswill

becontributingtothefarm’syear-

roundpestandpredatorcontrol.

It is clearlyanuntenable

situationwefindourselvesin,

giventhewaygenerallicences

arewritten,whichis theresultof

decadesofunnecessarytinkering

bycivilservantsandlawyers.

BASChasbeencallingfora back-

to-basicssimplifiedapproach

tothetermsandconditionsof

generallicencesformanyyears.

It hasunfortunatelytakena legal

challengeandensuingcrisis to

concentrateminds.

Defra’supcomingreviewof

generallicencesis anopportunity

tolookafreshattherelative

meritsoflegallydistinguishing

whenweshootbirdsforpest

controlandwhenweshootbirds

asquarry.Theoutcomewe

seekis thatanyoneshootingor

trappingpestbirdsinEngland

candosowiththeconfidence

ofknowingthattheyareacting

lawfully.Surelythatis not too

muchtoaskfor?

Inthemeantime,visitwww.

basc.org.uk/gl for the latest

updatesandhelpfulFAQson

generallicences,andif youare

a BASCmember,feelfreetocall

usforfurtherhelpandadvice.

DrC.O’Gorman,headofpolicy

and campaigns, BASC

STEELING

O U RSELV E S

Fora coupleofseasonsI have

beenonlybeenshootingwith

steelshot.I knowthatit has

itsdetractorsbutI findthatif

I useNo.5shotandonlytake

birdswithina sensiblerange,

it’sabsolutelyfine.Nobodycan

pretendthatthereis hugedemand

intheUKforgameand,atthe

sametime,thereis theanti-

shootinglobbyarguingthatlead

is badforpeoplewhobuygame.

Surelyit wouldbesensible

tomovetosteelbecauseit would

makegamemoresaleable?I

wouldbeinterestedtohearwhat

thelikesofBASCandtheBritish

GameAlliance,whoseemtobe

doinga goodjob, would have to

sayonthis.

Name and address supplied

ONTHEHOOK

PhilipSiddellexpresses

concernforthewelfareofthe

fishhehooks((WhyI’mno

longer taking photos of fish, 10

July),butif heis soconcerned

forfishwelfarewhyhook

theminthefirstplace?I ama

flyfisherman;I fishbecauseI

enjoyit,butI donotpretend

that fish are not traumatised by

beinghooked.Thisis justified

becauseI killandeatwhatI

catchandif I amfortunate

enoughtocatchmylimit,I stop

fishing.WhatI shootI eat too.

K. Salad, by email

Fishingtoeatwhatyou

catch is wholly justifiable