Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

STALKING

I’minterestedinstalkingbut

havenoexperienceandno

familyorfriendswhocanhelp.

HowdoI getstarted?I liveinsouth

Oxfordshireanddon’towna rifle.

I doknowhowtousea rifle,though,

andama memberoftheNRA.All

I’vefoundonlinearementions

ofa certificate(DSC1).Is it the

best introduction?

Onewaytostartwouldbetobook

anoutingortwowitha localestate

oranestablishedstalkingguidetosee

if it’sforyou.Thatwayyouwillgetan

introductiontothesport,thechanceto

trytheequipment,toseedeerandtoget

someideaofthewholeprocess without

a majorfinancialoutlay.

Shootingorganisationssuchas

BASCoffermembersaccesstostalking

throughmanagedschemes,enabling

newentrantstostartstalking.

Myadvicewouldbetodecidethat

stalkingis foryoubeforeembarking

onanytraining.Youwillgaina lotfrom

doingDSC1intermsofsafety,shooting,

thelawandtheworldofdeer.Both

BASCandtheBritishDeerSociety

off er these courses.IW

SPORTING ANSWERS

88 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

.308 Win subsonic ammo

The.308Win

subsonicrounds

canonlybeused

for vermin

Despitethe

riseinglobal

temperatures,

thisis thefirst

timein 40 yearsof

keepingbeesthatI

havenotbeenable

togointoa hivein

midsummerand

takeouta comb

ofc app edhoney.

Theyhavefound

thingsveryhardupherethisyear,with

verylowtemperaturescombinedwith

intermittenthotdays.Thecoloniesare

bothstrong,however.I shallhavetosee

howtheyoungqueensaredoingbut

thereis stilltimeforthemtofill a honey

super or two given a fair wind.LW

DIARY OF A

DIARY

NO.15

RIFLES

IseethatWinchesterhas
broughtout.308Win
subsonicammunition.I owna
Tikka.308rifle andwant to use
some. Is it any good?

Thenew.308Winammunitionis
availableasa 185-grsubsonic
load.Thismeansthebullettravelsat a
reducedvelocity— belowthespeedof
sound— muchlikea .22LRsubsonic
round.Beingheavierthana .22LR
subsonic, it has an energy of 453ft/lb

comparedwith98ft/lbofthe.22sub,

butbothhavea velocityof1,050fps.

Thisspecificationmakesthe.308

Winsubsonicroundillegalforalldeer

species;it canonlybeusedforvermin.

Thelarger185-grbulletis designed

toexpandbutona thin-skinnedfox

it willpassrightthrough,somake

sureyouhavea safebackstop.I use

subsoniccentrefiresbutI reload more

frangiblebulletsforvermin.

Theseroundsareaccuratebutthey

aredesignedprimarilyforuseinthe

USforsuppressedfirearms on feral

hogs and the like.BP

TheMontagu’sharrier

is a rarecousinofthe

henharrier.Evenina

goodyear,onlya dozen

orsopairswillattempt

tobreedinBritain,with

birdstendingtonestin

tallvegetation,suchas

lowlandcerealfields.

Britainliesatthevery

edgeofa breeding

distributionthat

stretcheseastinto

Asia.Recenttracking

studieshavegiven

insightsintotheir

migratoryjourneys.

Ourbirdscrossthe

Saharaintheautumn,

to spend the winter in

theSahel.This

semi-aridgrassland

harriersaremore

markedthanthoseof

Bird of the week by Graham Appleton MONTAGU’S HARRIER

TheMontagu’s

harrieris much

smallerthanthe

hen harrier

How to start

out stalking