Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

70 Sporting gun m ay 2019 http://www.shootinguk.co.uk

RABBITS

Alertness is

an insurance

Iwasgoingtoinsuremydogbutwhen

theunderwritersheardthatI went

rabbitingwithmylurcher,thepremium

rosesomuchthatI abandonedtheidea.

Doyouinsureyoursand,ifso,canyou

recommend an insurance company?

Edsays:Nope,I don’tinsurethem.I feed

thema decentnaturaldiet,keepthem

fit,don’toverexertthemandtrytoavoid

dangerousareas.Mydogsarea good

percentageofcollie,a breedknownto

beawareofitssurroundingsanddanger.

Forthesereasons,combinedwithhigh

insurancecosts,I takea gamble.I alsouse a

very good and reasonably priced vet.

PIGEONS

Lead with

the bead

Iwentpigeonshootingwitha

friendwhoisanexcellentshot.I

noticedthatheshotalmostassoon

asthegunwasinhisshoulder,

whereasI takemytimeandswing

throughthetarget.Myfriend’s

methodseemedmoreeffective,

judgingbythenumberofwoodies

he bagged by the end of the day

Petersays:I havelearnttoshootby

broadlyfollowingthemethodtaught

byCPSAinstructors,whichisstarting

withthegundown,mountit with

thebeadonthetargetthroughout.

Bythetimethegunisfullymounted

toyourface,youshouldbepointing

directlyatthetarget.I thenstaywith

thetargetlongenoughtoascertain

lineandspeed,beforepullingaway

andsqueezingthetrigger.If done

correctly,it makesfora verysmooth

andinstinctivetechnique,largely

removinganyneedtocalculatelead

orstoppingtheswing,thetwobiggest

reasons for inconsistent shooting.

GUNDOGS

Pedigree shades colour

Iwouldliketogeta chocolateLabbutI

don’tseemanyoftheminthefieldand

a friendtoldmethattheyare‘nogood’.

Should I just get a black or yellow one?

Grahamsays:It ’sinterestinghowsome

people think that just because a dog is

a differentcolourit ’snotgoingtobea

goodgundog.Tobefairtherearen’tmany

chocolateLabsinthefieldbutoverthe

yearsI haveseensomeverygoodones.

Themostimportantthingistomakesure

yourbrownpupcomesfrom good working

lines in its pedigree.

Nick Ridley, ANdRew SydeNhAm, SykeS mediA

ChocolateLabsshould

beachipofftheoldblock

for gundog suitability

Theinstinctsofcollies

makesthemawareof

dangers in the field