Government tries to price rural people out of shooting sports
The government’s decision to increase firearms licensing fees by more than double poses a threat to rural livelihoods and fails to deal with gross inefficiencies which in many cases provides an unacceptable service. That’s the message from shooting organisations, led by BASC. “An inefficient system is an ineffective system, and this puts public safety at […]
Antis lobby for lead ban – Fieldsports News, 15 January 2025
Here are the links: Antis lobby for lead ban – YouTube and TheGuardian.com Rogue lynx rewilders split conservation industry – Instagram Invictus Games laser guns don’t work in snow – InvictusGames2025.ca and Olympics.com Schöffel launches countryside awards – SchoffelCountry.com Chigborough catfish could be new British record – AnglingTimes.co.uk Swedish salmon film highlights decline – YouTube Western Australia […]
Police seize guns… for swearing
Les Brooks stalks deer, shoots pigeons and runs game shoots in Buckinghamshire. His cockney heritage makes him – and he is the first to admit this – a bit sweary. However, swearing got him into trouble. He called his son-in-law a rude word, that led to the son-in-law complaining to the police, @thamesvalleypoliceuk issued Les […]
Beretta 688 vs Browning 825
Ian Hodge from Cornish and online gunshop Ian Hodge Fieldsports looks at the differences and similarities between the two big shotgun launches of 2025: the Browning 825 and the Beretta 688. For more from Ian Hodge Fieldsports, go to IanHodgeFieldsports.co.uk Find him on Facebook Facebook.com/IanHodgeFieldsports and Instagram Instagram.com/ianhodgefieldsports To watch all of Fieldsports Britain, episode […]
Fieldsports Britain – Roy’s frosty fallow stalk
Roy Lupton is after a fallow doe on a lovely frosty Sussex morning, but he must work around dogwalkers, footpaths and a lack of backstops. We hear from a shooter who is the victim of a Thames Valley Police gun grab – for swearing. Ian Hodge compares new shotguns from Beretta and Browning: the 688 […]
Deerstalking among the dogwalkers
It’s a super frosty morning in Sussex and Roy Lupton is out to stalk fallow. Out, too, are the local dogwalkers, and Roy and his friend Connor Gorsuch have to find deer undisturbed by them. Find Roy on Instagram Instagram.com/roylupton/ and Facebook Facebook.com/p/Roy-Lupton-100001695737924/ More with Roy Lupton here:
Ferreter Simon Whitehead – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 107
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma625zPoa-M Simon Whitehead has been a ‘celebrity ferreter’ all of his working life. He talks about the job to Charlie Jacoby in the Carter Jonas Game Fair Theatre 2024. Find Simon on Instagram, on YouTube, or on his webpage Other ways to listen to our podcasts:
Win a luxury Tuffies dogbed – Fieldsports Extra, episode 359
You can win a Tuffies dogbed priced at £211-£338 (depending on the size of your dog) in this week’s Fieldsports Extra. Plus Roy Lupton has a go at David, Christopher Bryde talks about laser guns instead of rifles at biathlon events and I find a bra in a tree. This week’s prizes and other links:For […]
Gamekeepers Welfare Trust – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 106
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl9jAkknpSE Ian Grindy from the Gamekeepers Welfare Trust tells the story of the charity and explains why it is needed more than ever. He talks to Charlie Jacoby in the Carter Jonas Game Fair Theatre 2024. For more from the GWT, visit TheGamekeepersWelfareTrust.com Other ways to listen to our podcasts:
More than a gundog: the labrador
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg9GkU6LGHI Pet, friend, workmate – the labrador may be all these things to you. To wider society, it is a help around the house and even an essential service. Dog trainer Sean Brown from Petsercise explains the wider applications of this popular gundog breed, and how it is the labrador’s original breed purpose that makes […]
All The Gear with Terry Doe: Webley Eagle air rifle
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWoTju92oA8 Terry Doe has been shooting the Webley Eagle PCP air rifle – and he is impressed. He reckons it’s solidly built, reliable, and one of the most accurate .22 airguns he has used. He runs through its features, and offers a couple of tips to help you get the best results from the gun. […]
The NEW Browning 825 – gunshops’ verdict
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn_sZqe5gAg Here’s what British gunshop owners have to say about the new Browning 825 shotgun. They try it out on a simulated game shooting day in Essex. To watch this gun in action on grey partridges, go to FieldsportsChannel.tv/browningpartridges Thanks to Seabrook Sporting for the sim game day Thanks to Ben Ford for filming. Find […]
New Year’s honours for shooters – Fieldsports News, 8 January 2025
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqzyo5Pnxsk Here are the links: Shooting sports new year’s honours – Northern Echo + YouTube/airability + Dom’s Food Mission on Instagram NZ honours deer manager – YouTube Welsh airgun range plans expansion – Leader Live Hunt sabs tell public to lie to cops – Facebook RSPB launches hen harrier live map BASC funds police training […]
Fieldsports Britain – why the world needs gundogs
youtu.be/iwAOD5dS674 In a new series we look at how gundogs’ special skills help people outside the world of shooting. This episode: the labrador. Plus, we are in Essex to see how the UK’s gundealers react to the launch of the new Browning 825 shotgun. Terry Doe looks at the Webley Eagle air rifle, our podcast […]
Win a CVLife riflescope and a red dot sight – Fieldsports Extra, episode 358
You can win a CVLife riflescope and a red dot sight in this week’s Fieldsports Extra. Plus we talk to gun trainer Sean Brown about his experience with Channel4 TV, our own commercials director James Westbrook tries out the Browning 825 and we have that old potboiler, our annual bloopers reel. This week’s prizes and […]
Fieldsports Britain – Big day on grey partridges
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qxMOet2yss It’s a Browning takeover this week, as we travel to France for a breathtaking driven grey partridge shoot to try out the new 825 from Browning, who are celebrating 100 years since the launch of the groundbreaking B25 over-and-under designed by John Moses Browning. After the thrilling fast action, we dive into the history […]
Fabulous driven English partridges
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w_OVq-5DAI Browning is launching its 825 shotgun, a historic milestone marking 100 years since the renowned B25 over-and-under. The gunmaker does it in style, inviting the UK’s top shooting writers and gun reviewers to an estate near Paris for a spectacular day on driven partridges – not French partridges as you’d expect, but ‘English’ grey […]
Browning 825: a peek under the bonnet
When it launched the new 825, Browning had firm views about how it should improve the old 725. Browning head of shotguns Lionel Neuville tells Charlie about Browning’s design thinking. Watch the 825 in action here:
Labour’s hunt ban problem – Fieldsports News, 1 January 2025
Here are the links: Boxing Day meet success – LedburyReporter.co.uk Care home welcomes Quorn – Facebook.com RSPB accused of failing to check stoat traps – Facebook.com £12m taxpayer money paid to rewilding schemes – SearchForUKSubsidies.beis.gov.uk Browning buying Eley cartridges – Lecho.be Gun ranges boom in Finland – Newsweek.com Botswana issues 400 elephant licences – AllAfrica.com […]
The Browning story: from B25 to 825
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-PZBBoA43M The new 825 shotgun from Browning is a 100-year project. It started with the B25, designed by John Moses Browning in 1925, then took shape as the 125, 325, 425, 525 and 725. Gun writers Laurent Bedu and Michael Yardley, with help from Browning head of shotguns Lionel Neuville, tell the story of the […]
Escape To The Chateau’s Dick and Angel – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 105
youtu.be/ecWVU2MFQ1M Dick and Angel Strawbridge from the Escape To The Chateau TV series head to the Carter Jonas Game Fair Theatre 2024 to talk about their lives with Charlie Jacoby. Other ways to listen to our podcasts:
Win Kite binos priced at £240 – Fieldsports Extra, episode 357
You can win Kite Optics binoculars priced at £240 in this week’s Fieldsports Extra. Plus we have interviews surrounding the launch of the Browning 825 shotgun with top French shoot manager Thibaut Constant, Browning head of shotguns Lionel Neuville and gun writer Michael Yardley. This week’s prizes and other links:For membership now with insurance go […]
Badger Ammunition Titan
youtu.be/GHPxyUHj_30 South African company Badger Ammunition has brought out its Titan range of big game cartridges in .375H&H. There are two types: the Titan MonoMoly 304gr EXBT and the Titan 300gr MonoMoly CSFB. Zaakir Badat tries them out in South Africa and says what he thinks of them. Visit BadgerAmmunition.co.za/rifle.html See our film buffalo hunting […]
Bergara B14 in .375H&H
youtu.be/Fv24ZjTUTRI The Spanish-made Bergara rifle company is making its pitch as a reliable African big game rifle. Zaakir Badat tries it out in South Africa and says what he thinks of it. Visit Bergara.online See our film buffalo hunting film: youtu.be/C9zBhMaAm8s
Big-game cartridge fast-loader
youtu.be/c0PvuQoAki8 Fumbling with cartridges is not what you want to do when dangerous game is charging you. The Northern Cape Professional Hunting School has made up a simple, plastic cartridge fast-loader for double rifles. This item is not available in the shops. To enquire about it, contact Mynhard via NCPH.co.za See our film buffalo hunting film: […]
Quick-release double rifle sling
youtu.be/_omUOX1G-8I The noise of clips and swivels on your rifle sling can spook buffalo. The Northern Cape Professional Hunting School has made up these leather slings that slide on and off your rifle – in this case a double rifle. This slide-on, slide-off sling is not available in the shops. To enquire about it, contact Mynhard […]
Barefoot buffalo hunt
The culmination of the week-long Cape buffalo course at the Northern Cape Professional Hunting School is a hunt. The students take turns to be professional hunter, 2nd PH and ‘client’. Course leader Mynhard Herholdt has to put them in harm’s way, then make sure they get out alive. Buffalo are one of Africa’s most dangerous […]
Fieldsports Britain – Pheasants in the fog
Ollie Williams is thwarted by thick fog when he goes to shoot top notch driven pheasants at Three Valleys in Wales. Students take off their shoes and socks to stalk in to a herd of buffalo with the Northern Cape Professional Hunting School. We look back over the gun licensing problems of 2024 and ask […]
2024: was it shooting’s golden year?
For shooting sports in the UK, it has been the best of times, it has been the worst of times. Team GB won gold and silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, it looks like it is the year an unsympathetic government in Westminster tries to take shooting out of the hands of the common […]
Certificate price hike goes ahead – Fieldsports News, 25 December 2024
Here are the links: £400 certificate confirmed – FieldsportsChannel.tv/guntax2025/ Wildlife Trust buys Cumbrian fell – NewsAndStar.co.uk Channel 4 attacks hunt – YouTube and Facebook Find your local Boxing Day meet – Countryside-alliance.org/boxing-day Hampshire Police repeat RSPB allegations – Hampshire.Police.uk Shop window brace mystery – Facebook To watch all of #FieldsportsBritain, episode 787, visit FieldsportsChannel.tv/fieldsportsbritain787
Ollie Williams shoots Three Valleys pheasants in the fog
Ollie Williams and Charlie Rolls have come to the renowned Three Valleys shoot, deep in the rugged countryside of the Welsh Marches. They are looking forward to pitting their skills against some of the most challenging pheasants in the world – but the famous hillsides are shrouded in thick fog. Unless conditions improve we may […]
Jeremy Wade – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 104
youtu.be/osQx0AQ57Vo The star of River Monsters, Jeremy Wade, joins Charlie in the Carter Jonas Game Fair Theatre 2024. This podcast is an amalgamation of two interviews in the theatre, where he talks about the series that made hinm famous, and what projects he plans to do next. For more from Jeremy, go to JeremyWade.co.uk Other ways […]
Swazi Wapiti XP jacket – for game shooters and more
Will Hogan from Swazi shows the latest version of the Wapiti XP jacket, with new features that make it ideal for the game shooter. He says it’s great for deerstalking too. Find out more at Swazi.com To watch all of Fieldsports Britain, episode 787, visit FieldsportsChannel.tv/fieldsportsbritain787 More with Swazi here
Heym 88B/89B double rifles – factory tour
youtu.be/qxyi7YrwXMg We visit the Heym factory in Germany, talk to Büchsenmachermeister or master gunsmith Rico Stephan about how Heym makes its famous lightweight double, and South African dangerous game specialist Mynhard Herholdt, who runs the Northern Cape Professional Hunting School, explains why he chooses Heym doubles. For more, go to Heym-Manufaktur.de For the Northern Cape […]
Win big game hunting kit – Fieldsports Extra, episode 356
You can win a fast cartridge loader and a quick-release double-rifle sling in this week’s Fieldsports Extra. Plus we have interviews with the man who made them, Mynhard Herholdt from the Northern Cape Professional Hunting School. Ollie Williams is shooting pheasants – or not – in Wales, and we go behind the scenes at the […]
Gun certificates may cost £400 – Fieldsports News, 18 December 2024
Here are the links: Gun certificates may cost £400 – Telegraph.co.uk Lead ban details revealed – BASC.org.uk Deerstalker in gun-grab limbo – FieldsportsChannel.tv/stumiles Ardgay Game wins £1.5 million contract – ForestryAndLand.gov.scot Pyrenees hunting documentary – YouTube Eric Morecambe’s fishing kit up for sale – The-Saleroom.com Switzerland reopens ibex for foreigners – SwissInfo.ch and YouTube Young […]
Splitting Image Taxidermy’s story – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 103
Douglas Cockcroft went from hunting guide to founder of South Africa’s most impressive taxidermy business, Splitting Image Taxidermy, based in Port Elizabeth and operating all over southern Africa. He tells his story. For more about Splitting Image Taxidermy, visit SplittingImageTaxidermy.co.za Thanks to Safari Club International’s Life Hunter Advocate Society for supporting this film. Visit SafariClub.org Other ways […]
How replica hunting trophies replace the real thing
The Westminster government wants to ban hunting trophy imports – but technology has overtaken MPs. Charlie visits Splitting Image Taxidermy in South Africa to look at how replica trophies are now better and cheaper than the real thing. Listen to our podcast that goes behind the scenes at this amazing taxidermy operation: FieldsportsChannel.tv/fieldsportschannelpodcast103 For more […]
Have a Crackshot Christmas
Santa’s favourite elf, James Head from Devon and online airgun shop Crackshot, says what he would like to get in his Christmas stocking this year. Check out Crackshot on the web at Crackshot.uk or find them on X @Crackshot1_ and Facebook @Crackshot1 To watch all of Fieldsports Britain, episode 786, visit FieldsportsChannel.tv/fieldsportsbritain786 More from Crackshot […]
All The Gear with Terry Doe: Precihole Minotaur air rifle
When Fieldsports Channel’s Dan Chart wanted to introduce his young son to airgunning, he enlisted the help of the legend that is Terry Doe. Terry broke with orthodoxy and suggested a PCP, the Precihole Minotaur from Air Arms. He explains why, and how it worked out for Dan’s lad. See the Precihole range at Air-Arms.co.uk/precihole-collection […]
Fieldsports Britain – Hand-thrown birds
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kohn2hsRvQo Beaters, who needs ’em? Here’s how the continentals put on a driven bird day. Plus, trophy bans are pointless now that modern tech means you can get a plastic replica of your trophy head that is better than the real thing. Our podcast this week goes behind the scenes at the amazing taxidermy operation […]
Pheasant shooting the continental way
They do things differently on the continent. Charlie films a duck and pheasant shoot in Slovakia, where birds are caught up and hand-thrown for guns. To watch all of Fieldsports Britain, episode 786, visit FieldsportsChannel.tv/fieldsportsbritain786 More game shooting here
Deerstalker in gun-grab limbo
youtu.be/9KtwTRMmxZA Dorset Police seized a deer manager’s firearms and is now declining to let him have them back. Stu Miles’s girlfriend dumped him, may have made an allegation to the police about him, which led to them seizing his guns, and then withdrew that allegation. Now the constabulary is refusing to give back his guns. […]
BASC goes behind the new gun tax proposal – interview
www.dailymotion.com/video/x9azqs6 ‘Rural communities face steep ‘gun tax’ rise to boost police budgets’: That’s the headline in the Daily Telegraph, prompting fears among gun owners that they will be asked to pay for public safety. BASC’s Christopher Graffius (interview above) allays those fears. He says: “All we have is one article in the Telegraph and it […]
Win a Katie Hargreaves print – Fieldsports Extra, episode 355
You can win a bird print by Katie Hargreaves in this week’s Fieldsports Extra. Plus we have interviews with a Slovak pheasant shooting host, a South African taxidermy company boss and a professional hunter who is now in a wheelchair. This week’s prizes and other links:For membership now with insurance go to FieldsportsChannel.tv/membershipAnnual members can upgrade hereGroup […]
Ian Hodge’s perfect shooting Christmas stocking
It’s Christmas, and Ian has his stocking out and his Santa hat atop his head. It’s time to run through the perfect gifts for the shooter in your life. For more from Ian, visit IanHodgeFieldsports.co.uk To watch all of Fieldsports Britain, episode 785, visit FieldsportsChannel.tv/fieldsportsbritain785 More with Ian Hodge here
Future of deer with Niall Rowantree and Prof Rory Putman – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 102
youtu.be/1gSl6iHEEyM Deerstalker and wildlife manager Niall Rowantree talks to deer biologist Professor Rory Putman about the remarkable sika deer, as part of our filming of the Year in the Life of Sika. Rory explains why sika are so successful when reds struggle, how their range is increasing and why they are so difficult, in fact […]
Farmers unite in protest – Fieldsports News, 11 December 2024
Here are the links: Farmers protest at Downing Street – YouTube Conservation group won’t rule out deerstalking – BBC.co.uk Squirrel numbers on the up – TheGuardian.com Sab on trial for hunt hack – DailyMail.co.uk Wild boar ‘close in’ on Inverness – TheNational.scot New hunting art exhibition – Eventbrite.co.uk Football boss fined for gun photo – […]
Fieldsports Britain – Sika secrets
Niall Rowantree delves deeper into the mysteries of the non-native sika deer in part 2 of our series A Year in the Life of Sika, with help from leading deer expert Prof. Rory Putman. Our podcast this week is a deer management masterclass with Niall and the professor. Plus our very own Father Christmas, Ian […]
Win £179-worth of Isotunes hearing protection – Fieldsports Extra, episode 354
You can win IsoTunes Caliber hearing protection priced at £179 in this week’s Fieldsports Extra. Plus we have the additional prize of a signed copy of Professor Rory Putman’s book, British Deer & Their Management. Ian Hodge says why puts a Fieldsports membership countertop display in his shop, and James Westbrook explains what’s up with […]
