Fieldsports Britain - German boar, Scottish gundogs and Himalayan pheasants

[Music]
Welcome to Fieldsports Britain. Coming up, we are hunting boar and deer in Germany. We
are learning about the pheasants of the high Himalaya via here, a charity clay pigeon shoot
in Hampshire. I am trying to turn my top pigeon dog into a top deer dog. With the help of
a top dog trainer. First, our regular look at shooting domestic objects with guns. It
is Test Splat Special.
It is our weekly look at the demise of household and other objects thanks to the use of ballistics.
This week we start with a bang - and a Firebird target. These deliver a satisfying burst of
flames and smoke and are great fun for all the family. Here we are setting one off with
a .177 air rifle pellet.
There she goes with plenty of flare.
Next up, a very leaky kettle intercepted for the test splat special before it is whisked
off to the tip. We are not expecting an explosion, but what damage does a .243 soft point bullet
do to it at 120 yards?
The bullet strike is clean and goes straight through it - like a knife through butter-
but can our rifle shooter blow the lid off and, if so, how far will it travel?
Will it be:
a) 6m 75cm
b) 5m 75 cm
c) 4m 75cm
The shot knocks the kettle and the lid flying. It takes a couple of minutes to find all the
metal work but it is discovered in the branches of a nearby tree.
We bring out the tape measure and - surprise surprise it's the biggest one again - we record
a reading of 6m 75cm.
Nothing proved nothing gained - it is just for fun. Next week, we have lots of ammunition
from top cartridge company Norma to play with.
Well we have got lots of other Test Splats to show you, just click on the screen which
is appearing up there behind me.
Now, they have got boar and they are on tour. They are Team Wild TV.
[Roar of stag]
Tradition plays an important role when hunting on the continent, especially in Germany. And
we are getting the full works this evening as we prepare to go after Roebuck and wild
boar.
The ground we have been invited to hunt is hour and a half north east of Berlin and we
are guests of Outfox clothing. A brand being launched in the UK later this year with hi-tech
scent reducing technology.
First things first, and we have to ensure all our paperwork is in order and that we
know what we can and cannot shoot.
Roebucks and one year old female. White boars up to 50 Kg.
Inside this impressive manor house we meet the estate owner Erima Von der Osten for drinks,
and to hear a little more about the history of the Blumberg forest.
We are quite an international group of hunters. Of course I am representing the UK with sporting
journalist and team wild colleague Simon Barr, but the guys from Outfox are from all over
Europe.
We hunt in a team, we win as a team, and we lose if we do not succeed. But we are all
one team and this is a special atmosphere we have here. And I wish all of us a lot of
success and we do not forget this weekend, cheers.
We now split up and head off to our stands. There are over a hundred in this woodland.
It is a muggy evening and the mosquitoes are on the hunt too.
The mosquitoes are the size of horses here. I think we are going to get eaten alive. But
hopefully this Outfox egotarn layer will take away my smell so I will not smell quite so
tasty.
For this type of hunting I have brought along a rifle set-up that I believe will work well
in this environment.
So this is my Ruger Gunsite Scout. It is in 3 way calibre and we are shooting 185 grain
lapua mega ammunition. It is a bit heavy for 308, but it is a fantastic round. On top of
it I have got a Zeiss 2 to 8 by 42 duralite which is one of their entry level scopes.
Now we are going to be shooting pretty close up here. Up close and personal and this Gunsite
Scout has a 16.5" barrel ...stock and nice recoil pad so those 185 grain lapua are not
going to cause me too many problems. Phenomenal rifle, very pointable, perfect for roebuck
on the move.
Our high seat is not actually that high, and the close cover means the animals will have
to be even closer for me to get a clear shot - we are going to have to keep very still
and quiet.
It is a really flat calm evening. There is almost no wind at all, so we are going to
have to be very quiet. The trees in front of us are not much, about 20, 25 yards away.
So distance is not going to be an issue, but movement is. Any roebuck or boar coming through
here will be able to see the slightest of movement. So we need to be ever so careful.
The evening is very warm and muggy. So we should see some movement. We have got about
3 hours to wait, so fingers crossed.
The Outfox clothing I am wearing this evening has a military heritage. And their hunting
suits are designed to stop the animals scenting you even if you are approaching with the wind.
For the first time in the history of hunting, hunters do not take care about the wind. Because
again the wind pushes your odours, but these odours are kept in these filters. So for all
sorts of people, for hunters or also camera men who would like to make some good pictures,
when the wind is turning that is not an enemy any more. Nowadays with Outfox you can really
go and hunt in any kind of condition and this is really a new era of hunting.
We are losing the light fast, but we finally get some movement but it is a mature doe - I
doff my cap and let her walk on.
When we get back to the court yard some of the hunters have had better luck than me.
Simon has shot a buck and wild boar. However, his boar ran on. Simon is confident that it
was hit hard and the decision is made to go and look for it with Anton the Ubertekkel.
100 yards from the high seat Simon shows Kai and Anton the spot where the boar was hit
- there is no blood but Anton is on the case.
Good dog, good little dog.
Kai encourages the little hound and we are taken through thick cover - we come to a hollow
where the boar probably rested-up during the day and there's a flash of disappointment
that the trail might have gone cold.
There is a bed from a white boar.
Do you think it is the death bed?
No there is no blood, nothing inside.
But Anton is on it again and a few yards on finds this fantastic looking animal. It is
a super result.
So it is dead, we have got it. You good dog, good dog, got it. Perfect Anton. Simon my
friend.
You have to trust and believe in your dog you know.
Fantastic dog.
What is it Anton?
This is a good animal I am pleased with that.
It made 200 yards, what do you think?
100 yards with no blood.
Why was it important to come out tonight and not wait until the morning.
Because Simon said he was hundred percent sure he hit the white boar perfectly with
a perfect shot. And we like to protect the meat. Because after 1 hour it is damaged.
Because this hunter is a very experienced hunter, I believed in him that he said Kai
you can believe me it was a perfect shot and it gave me the trust to do it. Normally it
is dangerous to do it in the night because a white boar can attack you. You and your
dog and so on. If it had been a huge tusker, I would never have done it, but piglet or
a hogget it is ok. Now you see we have no hole on the other side, it looks so because
this white boar did not lose any blood on the opposite side. Here is blood, but we did
not find it. I do not know why. May be it closed the hole where the bullet disappeared
from the body..
And it looks like there is no blood from the brushing..
You see it here how high it has been and we had no blood control.
I was able to watch the animal for maybe 5 minutes before I pulled the trigger. So I
was very, very confident that firstly it was male and secondly that I was very stable and
the shot was good. May be 150 grain bullets might have something to do with the fact that
there has not been a big exit wound and lots of blood for a trail. May be I should have
been using a slightly larger calibre. The 308 has killed it but it has not given us
the big blood trail. It goes to show that you need to have a good dog to follow these
things up. The dog was straight on to it, there was no question. It went straight to
a bed where it had been sleeping and then it came straight to where it had finally died.
Which was probably a zig zag a hundred yards from where I shot it, but through quite thick
cover. Very good result. Kai how heavy do you think it is? May be 50, 60 Kilos?
No, no approximately 50 Kilos.
50 Kilos, brilliant animal.
Less than 50, 45.
Ok let us have a bet. I am saying 49 Kilos.
Then we have won it! We say less. If we take out the fillets we will win this Stefan.
We get the boar back to the larder and the all important weigh-in - Simon's guestimate
was pretty good, the boar is actually over 50 kilos...
55 Kilos.
A great start to our European Hunting trip. If you want to know more about the Waldgut-blumberg
estate go to www.Waldgut-Blumberg.com and if you want to know more about Outfox go to
www.outfox-wear.com.
[Roar of stag]
Well that was very good. We have of course got boar from all over Europe including Britain.
And you can click on the boar which is emerging from that little bit of woodland behind me
and see some of that.
Now it is David on the Fieldsports Channel News Stump.
[Music]
This is Fieldsports Britain News.
Charlie has been on a proper TV programme devoted to people who love Charlie - Charlie
fox, that is. For the last two weeks, Channel 4's major series Urban Foxes Live has been
helping townspeople come to terms with their new foxy neighbours. Last night, Charlie went
on the programme to defend foxshooting and foxhunting. It was always going to be a tough
crowd, but the boy done good.
I am not saying they are regularly....this is what happens if you keep foxes. I did expect
to be torn apart by angry fox lovers on this programme.
Hang on I think we are giving a pretty balanced view on the science and the evidence surrounding
foxes. That is the aim of this programme.
The UK has one of the lowest firearm accident levels in the world. The US has one of the
highest. Here is a reminder from the USA of why we want to keep it that way. This man's
son was shot dead after being mistaken for a deer by a fellow shooter. He still cannot
understand how it can happen.
We looked out for one another, we are brothers, you do not just go fetch shooting. It is mind
boggling to think that somebody would take that shot.
The Mail on Sunday reports that the RSPCA is bringing Hunting Act charges against members
of the Heythrop Hunt. The Hunt's kennels in Chipping Norton are in David Cameron's constituency,
giving rise to the widespread belief that the charges are politically motivated to embarrass
the Prime Minister. The Countryside Alliance calls the RSPCA’s decision to bring such
a huge prosecution "a blatant political attack". Like 99 per cent of prosecutions against hunts,
the CA expects this one to fail.
Now, nothing spoils your view of the great English countryside than a van full of antis
trying to catch up with a hunt.
People are so arrogant.
This cyclist is minding his own business making his way down a country lane. His gentle peddling
gets the hunt monitors behind him a little hot under the collar. Finally, one of them
loses her cool and decides that the best course of action is to attack the man kicking and
punching him.
And finally, a farmer from Durham has received death threats after he killed a giant rat
on his farm. The chances are that the animal Brian Watson hit with a bit of wood was a
nutria similar to the ones we went chasing also with a bit of wood in Louisiana at the
beginning of the year. Please click on the rat if you want to see more. Of course the
police are not taking this matter any further.
You are now up to date with Fieldsports Britain News. Stalking the stories. Fishing for facts.
[Music]
Thank you David. Now my dog Muffin the Fieldsports Channel cocker spaniel is of course superb
in every respect, but I want to make her superber. I took her to a top dog expert.
So we all know that Muffin is the living embodiment of the perfect gundog. Or maybe that's just
my view. I drop in on top gundog trainer Charlie Thorburn of Mordor Gundogs. And I want some
advice.
I have, as you know, this fabulous all round perfect, apple of my eye cocker spaniel. And
she can go up to, but not including killing a fox, standing on a peg on a shoot day, beating.
But can I turn her into a deer dog?
Quick answer is, absolutely.
That is what I want to hear.
The advice is always, start off with a gun dog. Get the behaviour, get the discipline,
get the dog beating, or rough shooting, or picking up or peg work, or what ever you are
going to do. Teach them not to chase everything. Teach them all about how to behave and then
once you know you can control them and you have got that little bit of control and that
bond between them. You can then start to give them a bit of free reign. And that is anything
from training them, letting them a little bit looser on deer than you would on a dog
in a beating line, to allowing them on the sofa which you spent 2 years training them
not to go on the sofa. Teach them do not do it, do not do it. Do not even ask to do it
until one day I may decide, because I am the boss to allow you to do it.
Now one thing she does with me with deer is lifts her nose in the air when she smells
them and that is a really good indicator that there is a deer up ahead. What else should
I be asking her to do as a deer dog?
You never want to use a deer dog. You want to have a nice clean kill and there would
be no problems at all. But we are not all perfect. So we are looking for a deer dog
to track the wounded deer. Like teaching a young dog to track a wounded pheasant. We
want to teach them to follow the scent of a wounded deer and find where the deer is.
A lot of it is about experience and just getting them out there. Getting them on to every deer
you shoot, whether it has been clean killed or not. Get them after it. And show them what
you want them to do. Allow them that free run. Follow the scent. Work the scent, until
they get to the carcass.
So she is a kind of, in an emergency; break glass, use dog, that sort of thing?
Exactly, exactly. But in the training process you want to have her with you. Every time
you go stalking. Every time you shoot something. Get her out there. Show her the wounded beast.
Get her interested in it. Start dragging it out a little bit further. Bring the dog out.
Get her to follow the drag scent. Very quickly a clever little gun dog will become a clever
little deer dog as well.
Now you are a super gun dog trainer with a string of plaudits to your name. Should you
not be advising me to buy a new Bavarian Mountain hound or a Hanoverian or something like that,
a specific deer dog?
I am in the lucky position of having a large kennel. I have got Labradors for retrieving,
spaniels for rough shooting and beating. Although the spaniels will come picking up as will
the Labradors go beating. We can have pointers for going out on our few days a year on the
grouse. Realistically most people’s dogs, they are a one or two dog family. They are
a family pet primarily as well as a working dog. So they have to become a Jack of all
trades whether that is sitting on the sofa with the kids or out on a pheasant shoot,
sitting in a duck hide or out on deer. I would say you are better off if you do game shooting
as well. You are better off having a gun dog, turning it into a deer dog than if you turn
a deer dog into a gun dog, because that will be a harder job.
For more about Charlie and Mordor Gundogs visit www.mordorgundogs.com
Now you can hear the bangs, but no pheasants are falling. Well if you want the pheasants
they are in the Himalayas.
It is that charity clay pigeon shoot time of year. We are at the Compton Estate in the
heart of Hampshire and the cream of the county have come here to prove their mettle and raise
a few quid for the World Pheasant Association.
Just a second. A wildlife charity? Devoted to saving not shooting pheasants? And everyone
here is a dyed-in-the-tweed pheasant shooter? How does that work?
The Game Conservancy again shows that you can be interested in shooting pheasants and
partridges in this country. But do the most amazing work on research into what it is they
need in the wild and improve the habitats for them in the wild. So the 2 do quite often
march in step.
Can you see a time when the RSPB would ....
They are treading a careful course. They have a million subscriber members, the majority
of whom live in big cities. Shooting and the value that shooting can have in creating and
improving habitat is just out of their sight and not in their experience.
So it is up to us shooters to sell shooting to the wider public.
I think the RSPB will have to continue to keep a careful eye on it. A large majority
of their members for whom shooting sounds like killing and we should not be doing it.
When it comes to raising money, it is all hands to the deck. Laura Owens is a WPA scientist
who is helping out at the fundraiser today. She explains what these pheasants are all
about.
You see only one type of bird and that is largely the ring neck pheasant, ok a different
sub species. When you go into Nepal you will see them in a range of different species.
In the Himalayas you have got a very diverse mix of birds, you have got the Himalayan Monal,
you have got all sorts, cheer pheasant as well. A range of different behaviours at different
types of altitudes. They do all sorts of things. I think the colour, the behaviour the way
they interact..
Do they fly well?
Well I do not know how to answer that because if I say yes, they may be brought back in.
It depends on what species, a lot of them are ground dwelling birds and then roost up
in the trees and fly. Different ranges as well.
Ok .....
So what of the clayshooting? Well, I am in a team with Wildlife filmmaker Simon Willock,
son of Shooting Times columnist Colin Willock. There is editor of Country Life Mark Hedges
and The Field editor Jonathan Young. By the end, we agree that it is all about taking
part, not winning. The lads from Bright Seeds win the overall title but we do walk away
with a bottle of whisky each for winning the flush.
Keith Howman is the day's organiser and he is especially looking forward to the auction,
which is his main fundraiser.
Can I ask you what do you know about Yarcha Gumba?
Not much.
Not much. I am actually going to auction a bottle of Yarcha Gumba beverage today. It
could be described as the poor’s answer to Viagra. A very little known serious fact
is that the ??? largely funded their backing of the monarchy by getting Yarcha Gumba collected
and selling it directly to the Chinese. That is absolute fact, if you do not believe me
look it up on google. And google never gets anything wrong.
So how well does the bottle sell?
By the end of the day, and thanks to the generosity of shooters and sponsors including Bright
Seeds and Robjent's of Stockbridge, the World Pheasant Association can add £13,000 to its
bank account. It has been well worthwhile.
Now if you want to see birds being shot click here on our bird shooting play list.
It is time for YouTube Round up
It is Hunting YouTube, showing the best hunting, shooting and fishing videos that YouTube has
to offer this week.
First up, everyone wants a cast-iron method of calling foxes. Well, here is one in stainless
steel. Rob Crampton from bestfoxcall.co.uk tells JamesMarchington how he uses his new
stainless steel fox whistle to call in foxes to the lamp.
Now on to the real deal, and this one is from Down Under. See how Australians do it upside-down.
TrickyBricky64 has put up this film of one of the 13 foxes he shot on a boys' weekend.
At this time of year, not a week and hardly a day goes by when YorkshireRoeStalking does
not put up a new film of roebuck stalking. In this one, Pylon Buck, the deer gives a
perfect reaction to a heart/lung shot.
Ever thought that the Brittany spaniel was the Britney Spears of the hunt-point-retrieve
world? Decorative but a bit useless? Well, not a bit of it. TheRathcormacGunClub has
them out after pheasant and woodcock in County Cork in this film.
Also from last season, Huntertom365 offers a day's shooting in Ireland over springer
spaniels. As it is Ireland - always been the same for us English - you don't know what
to expect. As well as these woodcock, they got a fox. Good on you, lads.
Airgunners will like CountryPursuitTV's review of the goodlooking Hämmerli AR20, carried
out at at Lea Valley Air Gun Club. Listen out for pronunciation of the word Hämmerli.
Here it is. Hämmerli AR20. Lovely.
Top Northern Irish airgunner HuntersVermin has night vision, so look out the rats in
this farmyard. He has the NiteSite NS200 attached to a BSA Super 10 - a deadly combination.
And finally, TheFieldMagazine commissioned a photoshoot for a sidesaddle feature in its
June 2012 issue. Here are three Leicestershire sidesaddle lady foxhunters, led by Emma Brown,
demonstrating flawless technique over Leicestershire grassland.
You can click on any of these films to watch them. If you have a YouTube film you would
like us to pop in to the weekly top eight, send it in via YouTube, or email me the link
charlie@fieldsportschannel.tv
Well we are back next week. If you are watching this on YouTube you can click on the speech
bubble that has appeared beside me here, to subscribe to all our output. Or you can click
on the speech bubble just there and subscribe to just Fieldsports Britain or go to our website
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