Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

VERMIN

You have to earn your sport

I seelotsofcrowsmillingaboutingrass
fieldsinearlyspringbuttheysoonleave
once I set-up. Is there a way around this?

Tomsays:I empathise.I havestartedto
scoutaroundtheestatetoseewhatis
aboutnowthattheseasonisover.Itreally
is a tricky one when crows are feeding

onbugsandgrubsingrassfields.The

problemliesinthefactthattheyhave

anabundanceofplacesthattheycan

moveontoevenifyouset-upwherethey

initiallywanttobe.I havefoundthat

thebestwayaroundthisistopickdays

thatarebreezyandmuffle thenoiseof

the gun. Set an ambush in a place where

thecrowsarefrequentlyspottedand

whereyourdecoyspreadisvisiblefroma

distance.I alsotrytoarriveata spotvery

earlyandbuildthehideanddecoysin

thedark.Don’texpecttogeta largebag

orforthebirdsnottomoveon,butit

isrewardingwhen you have to earn

your sport.

VETERINARY

Cancer fact

Isitcorrectthatentirebitchesaremore
likely to develop mammary tumours?

Neilsays:Indeedit is.Whilemanyfactors
havetobetakenintoconsiderationwhen
decidingwhetherornottoneuteran
individual bitch, the likelihood of mammary

tumoursdevelopingisa bigone.The

incidenceofsuchcancersisaround0.5%

whenbitchesareneuteredbeforetheirfirst

seasonbutthisrisesto8%whentheop

isdelayeduntilafterthefirstseasonand

26%thereafter.That ’soneinfour.Ofthe

mammarytumoursthatoccurincanines,

around50%arebenignand50%malignant,

withmanybeingdifficulttodiagnoseon

palpation(examinationbytouching)alone.

Malignantmammarytumoursinbitches

(unlike cats) are not necessarily fatal.

ANTIQUES

Asearch

for proof

Doesanyonehaveinformationonthis

oldMidlandgunshotgun?Lookslike

theserialnumberonthetrigger-guard

is15848.Itisa salvagegun,butI just

can’t bring myself throw it away.

Robertsays:TheMidlandGunCompany

retaileda plethoraofgunsformanyyears

butdidnotactuallyproduceanything;

allwereproductsofothermanufacturers

andrenamed.Thephotosarea little

smallforaccurateassessmentbutfrom

the proof marks it would appear to have

beenmadebetween 1896 and1904,

althoughMidlandcontinuedtoretail

hammergunsrightuptoWorldWarII,

withthemostpopularmodelbeing‘The

Demon’.Bemindfulthatit stillrequiresa

licenceunderUKlaw,whetherworking

ornot(unlessofficiallydeactivated).And

rememberthattosellan out of proof gun

carries a heavy fi ne.

TUITION

Variations in

gun types

Whatarethedifferencesina shotgunfor

clay shooting and game shooting?

Tonysays:Thedifferencesbetween

a shotgundesignedforgameorclay

disciplinescanbesubtleandusuallywon’t

stopyouusingthegunforboth.Anauto-

safetyisusuallyfoundona gamegunasyou

couldbeshootingwithpeoplearoundyou

orwalkingaroundroughshooting.A manual

safetycatchisusuallyfoundona claygun

asyouwouldonlyclosethegunona stand

withthebarrelspointingdownrangeintoa

safearea.Thetopandsideribsona claygun

arelikelytobeventilatedtohelpdissipate

heat.A gamegunismorelikelytohavesolid

topandsideribs.Multichokesusedtobe

moreofa claygunfeaturebutarenowmore

commonongameguns.If thegunisfixed

chokeit ismorelikelytobefoundona game

gun,unlessit ismadefora specific clay

disciplinee.g.SkeetorTrap.Thetopribon

a gamegunismorelikelytobenarrowand

a claygunwiderpossiblywitha mid-bead,

whichisunlikelyona gamegun.Thefore-

endwoodona gamegunisusuallythinner

andslendercomparedwitha claygun,but

likealltheslightdifferencesa lotof it is

down to personal preference.

Oldgunsstillrequirea

licence unless deactivated