Crows and magpies

Crow’s back on the jackdaws

June 26, 2019

After the general licences debacle, it’s time for Crow to get back to day-to-day pest control…

Crows and magpies Fieldsports News Pigeon shooting

General licences: June 2019 update + what Packham is up to

June 12, 2019

UK environment secretary Michael Gove is underway with his consultation on the general licences. In the…

Andy Crow Blaser Crows and magpies Gamebore Jack Pyke Recent short films Shotguns Vario

Crow hits the jackdaws – just before Packham’s ban – Crowhow

May 1, 2019

Andy Crow has one more chance to shoot the jackdaws and keep them off his bean…

Benelli Crows and magpies Enforcer Decoys Gamebore GMK Jack Pyke Jason Doyle Recent short films Shotguns

Hooded up for hoodie shooting

April 27, 2019

Hooded crows (grey crows in Ireland) are coming into a farmer’s shed and stealing cattle feed…

Crows and magpies Gamekeeping Marsdens Feeds Paul Childerley Remington Shooterking Shotguns

Crow shoot

June 13, 2018

Paul Childerley becomes ‘The Childernator’. The working gamekeeper is protecting his cover crops from corvids and…

Andy Crow Blaser Crows and magpies Gamebore Jack Pyke Shotguns UK Shoot Warehouse

Crowhow: how to decoy crows

May 2, 2018

Crows are hitting the newly-drilled barley. So, Andy Crow is out to hit the Crows. He…

Crows and magpies Pigeon shooting Shotguns South Somerset Ferreters

Rook Shoot, and what do do when you keep missing

August 16, 2017

Jaf Jefferson is having a tough morning’s shooting. The decoy pattern is set, but he cannot…

Andy Crow Blaser Crows and magpies Gamebore Jack Pyke Shotguns UK Shoot Warehouse

Corvid Control

June 21, 2017

Jackdaws are damaging the crops and farm manager Andy Crow is going to do something about…

Andy Crow Crows and magpies Mark Winser Shotguns

Winser on Corvids

March 2, 2016

It’s a big day shooting corvids with Mark Winser and Andy Crow. They take one end…

Andy Crow Crows and magpies Pigeon shooting Rachel Carrie

Carrie on Crows

November 4, 2015

Rachel Carrie and Mark Winser join Andy Crow for a day on the corvids. It’s pest…

Airguns Crows and magpies

Shooting Crows with Airguns

August 13, 2015

Jamie Chandler is out after corvids and pigeons, pest controlling on a Hampshire farm. It’s not…

Andy Crow Crows and magpies George Digweed

George Digweed – ultimate crow shooting – 585 in the bag

October 30, 2013

Throughout his career world champion shot George Digweed MBE has been promised big bags. Few have…

Crows and magpies Roy Lupton

Decoying crows with a fox

August 5, 2013

Pest control has its magic tricks. When it comes to reducing corvid numbers, Roy Lupton has…

Crows and magpies Home

July 8, 2013

Crows and magpies

Crow shooting patrol with the Winchester SX3

June 2, 2012

We’re after crows, rooks, jackdaws and magpies, protecting livestock feed from the thieving birds, and our…

Andy Crow Crows and magpies Game cookery Pigeon shooting

Kristoffer Clausen eats a fox

February 17, 2012

The Norwegian film maker and survival expert is in the UK to meet game chef Mark…

New launch: Merkel K5 break-barrel rifle

December 5, 2019 1:00 am

by Charlie Jacoby Generally, I like the sleek, new single-shot break-barrel rifle from Merkel. The company lent it to me for a week of red hind stalking in Argyllshire (my film is at the bottom of this review). It is designed as a ‘mountain’ rifle: lightweight and with the break-barrel rifle’s reputation for greater accuracy than the bolt-action. It is Merkel’s go at matching the Blaser K95. I prefer the K95 (disclosure: Blaser sponsors films on Fieldsports Channel, Merkel does not). The K5 grew out of the K120, the rifle Merkel produced for its 120th anniversary. Compared the the K3 and the K4, the stock shape makes it look prettier. Here is Sebastian von Stauffenberg from Merkel to talk through the rifle: It is a hogback stock with a Bavarian cheek piece. The stock has a double fold. This is both goodlooking (as Sebastian says in his film) and an important consideration. You are probably going to put a scope on it. Check this stock shape works for you and your chosen scope. The stock on this rifle is in wood and has ebony finishes, which gives it a sense of contrast. Merkel has now changed the ebony to palisander wood for the finishes on the fore-end, pistol grip and the release. The trigger system is adjustable longways and sideways. It is also wider than usual Merkel triggers, which I like. Merkel has developed a silent new handcocking system for this rifle. Decocking is simple and easy and is more secure than a simple safety-catch. The gun simply can’t fired with cocking it. It has a jaeger tilted block breech which locks steel on steel. One feature is that the block is removable. You simply take off the fore-end, take out the barrel, you push back the breech, click a …
Swarovski Z8i

November 23, 2019 6:00 pm

by Charlie Jacoby This is one of the big three: the Z8i is the scope to have if you don’t want the Zeiss V8 or the Leica Magnus. With an 8x magnification, this scope takes your target from 1.7x to 13.3x. It is aimed at both short range driven hunting scope and for long ranges around 400m. Lightweight, it has a ballistic turret with a personalised ring. You take the ballistics of your bullet – the calibre, muzzle velocity and ballistic coefficient (all of these available on your box of ammo plus you can check them yourself on a range) – feed this info into the Swarovski website, pay your money, and a week later a special ring turns up for your ballistic turret in yards or metres that you can click to match the range of your target. So your zero is spot on at 100m, you rangefind your deer at 300m, you click the turret round to 300m, and the scope will hold the zero. The luminous dot is pre-set in two positions for day and night. You can dim it or increased in brightness via pushbuttons on the scope. Here is Michael Ott from manufacturer Swarovski to explain the scope: Want to see the Swarovski Z8i in action? We take it on a hind cull in Scotland: Thinking of buying a £2000+ riflescope? Have a look at our price and capability comparison here:
Swarovski EL and ELO Range binoculars

November 23, 2019 5:58 pm

by Charlie Jacoby Swarovski EL and ELO Range binoculars are designed to combine Swarovski quality with a range finding capability. They come in the standard deerstalking sizes of 8×42 and 10×42 and include an easy-to-use rangefinder. Simply point them at your target, click the button on top of the binos, release, after a couple of seconds, you get the range in metres. The ELO – the ‘O’ stands for ‘orange’ – are that colour so if you put them down on the hill you will easily be able to find them again. Here is Michael Ott from manufacturer Swarovski to explain them: Buy it on Amazon: Want to see these Swarovski binos in action? We take them on a hind cull in Scotland:
Swarovski modular ATX spotting scope

November 23, 2019 5:53 pm

by Charlie Jacoby For the big game hunter who likes to see their distant game up close, this is the Swarovski spotting scope to choose. Zoom is from 30x to 70x. This one has the 95mm objective lens. Modular means you can take the headpiece off and replace it. As you would expect from Swaro, the light transmission is outstanding. The resolution you get out of it is terrific, not only for spotting when I go hunting but also to take pictures. Swarovski sells a special adaptor for your phone that attaches it to the scope. Here is Michael Ott from manufacturer Swarovski to explain them: Buy it on Amazon:
Merkel HLX suppressor

November 23, 2019 3:04 pm

Merkel has gone into partnership with military moderator manufacturer B&T to make a moderator for the hunting market. 200mm long, it has steel baffles, which allows up to 30 consecutive shots without waiting for it to cool. It fits on every barrel with a M15x1 muzzle thread. Merkel claims its moderators reduce sound by more than 30dB. For cleaning, just soak the moderator in soapy water, rinse it out and dry it with a compressor (if you have one) or leave for 24 hours on a warm radiator. Here’s what Merkel says. Want to see the Merkel HLX in action? We take it on a hind cull in Scotland: