Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

Wild Justice ‘parks’ action

New cabinet is a mixedbag

WildJusticehasputonhold
itsfinallegalchallengeto
thegenerallicences.After
thelicenceswerereissued
byDefra,thegroupdropped
itsoriginalchallengetothe
legalityofthelicences.
Campaignersinstead
begana newchallenge
focusedonthelicencethat
allowscontrolofcarrion
crowstoprotectgamebirds.
However,thatchallenge has
nowbeen‘parked’.
Ina curiousexplanation
ofitsdecision—which
contradicteditsprevious
claims—WildJusticeinsisted
thatit mayyetrelaunch the
legalchallenge.
Usinga curiousmotoring
analogy,theWildJusticeblog
said:“Soif ourlegalchallenge
is a car,wehaven’tscrapped
it.Infactit is almostfully
fuelled(thecrowdfunder),
thedriveris sittingatthe
wheelandtheengineis
revving. We are ready to

setoffagainata moment’s

notice.”Despitehaving

considerablefundingleftover

fromitsfailedgenerallicence

challenge,WildJusticehas

alsoannouncedit is releasing

a fundraising single.

Thesongaboutgrouse

shootingis beingperformed

byanindierockband,

thoughit is unclearif anyof

theorganisation’sdirectors

willbeperformingin

the recording.

BorisJohnson’snewcabinet
appearstobea mixedbagfor
fieldsportsenthusiasts.The
decisiontoreplaceMichael
Gove,whowasembroiled
in the general licences row,

waswidelywelcomed.Mr

Govehasmovedtooversee

preparationsfora no-deal

Brexitaschancellorofthe

DuchyofLancaster.His

position as environment

secretaryhasbeengivento
TheresaVilliers.Theformer
NorthernIrelandminister
is anoutspokensupporterof
thehuntingbanbutis alsoan
advocateofthebadgercull.
Thedecisiontorestore
GeorgeEusticetohis
previouspositionasminister
ofstateforagriculturehas
beenwidelywelcomed,with
TimBonnerdescribinghim
as“therightmanforthejob”.
ThenewsthatDumfries
andGallowayMPAlisterJack
hasbeenappointedsecretary
ofstateforScotlandwas
alsowelcomed.MrJack
is a reputedlyhighly skilled
gameShot.
MPSimonHarthaslefthis
positionwiththeCountryside
Allianceandtakenuptherole
asparliamentarysecretary
tothecabinetoffice.MrHart
hasbeena countrysports
enthusiastandadvocate
George Eustice has returned as minister of state for agriculture for many years.

Wild Justice has put its legal challenge over carrion crows on hold

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 7

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To do this week

WATCH

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CHECK

Withlessthan

a monthtogo

untilthewildfowlingseasonopens,

it’stimetostartfeedingflightponds.

Duckswilltakea varietyoffood

includingpotatoes,thoughbarleyis

widelyregardedastheoptimumfood

forducks.Don’tfeedtoomuchasit can

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Roughly 10 litresofbarleyper 100

ducks per day is the norm.

Weekend Twitter poll

81%No

6%Who’sChrisPackham

13%Ye s

Were@TheGameFairrightintheir

decisiontodisinviteChrisPackham

from this year‘s event?

follow us @shootingtimes Respondents: 3,