Leica – Fieldsports Channel

Deer reaction to being shot

January 22, 2020

Some fall over. Some run – even though they may both have been shot in the…

Deerstalking Leica Recent short films Rifles Roy Lupton

Fabulous fallow buck cull

October 30, 2019

Like hunting bucks? Managing a herd of deer requires subtlety and the ability to make quick…

Deerstalking Leica Recent short films Rifles Roy Lupton

Hunting the start of the fallow rut

October 16, 2019

Roy Lupton is out stalking fallow bucks at the start of the fallow rut. He calls…

Deerstalking Leica Recent short films Rifles Roy Lupton

Fallow herd cull: need to shoot 20 animals

September 11, 2019

Roy Lupton is setting out to make a deer herd healthy. There’s not enough food for…

Blaser Deerstalking Leica Niall Rowantree Recent short films Rifles

Shooting Scotland’s Goats

September 4, 2019

Here’s how to hunt feral goats in Scotland. Remember goatgate? The politicians who condemned Scottish deerstalkers…

Blaser Deerstalking Gamekeeping Leica Niall Rowantree Recent short films Rifles

Summer deer management – A Year in the Life of Highland Sport part 2

May 22, 2019

For around three months of the year, red deer are off the shooting menu. Well, that…

Blaser Deerstalking Leica Niall Rowantree Recent short films

Deer Killer Steam Engine – A Year in the Life of Highland Sport part 1

April 3, 2019

One of Scotland’s premier tourist attractions is setting fire to Scotland, and that’s causing a problem…

Aimpoint Browning Fieldsports News Harkila Kite Optics Leica Zeiss

IWA 2019: shooting/hunting kit round-up

March 13, 2019

2019 was a quiet year for product launches at the European gun trade show IWA. Many…

Deerstalking Leica On Test Rifles Roy Lupton

On Test: Leica Fortis riflescope

March 13, 2019

Roy Lupton has his hands on the new Leica Fortis riflescope, which launched at IWA 2019.…

Back stage Blaser Deerstalking Leica Magic Safari Lodges Niall Rowantree Nomad UK Rifles Spartan Precision Equipment

Niall Rowantree’s biggest beast

February 27, 2019

Deer manager Niall Rowantree is on his way around Planet Deer, this time talking big red…

Jason Doyle Leica Rifles

Bullet drop: the maths made easy

December 29, 2018

How come you shoot up hill and there is less bullet drop than shooting on the…

Blaser Deerstalking Leica Rifles Roy Lupton

Calling Sika Stags in the Rut

November 28, 2018

Roy is out with the guys from Jelen Premier, trying to get on to a big…

Big game Blaser Deerstalking Leica Niall Rowantree Rifles Spartan Precision Equipment

Tahr Hunt and Huge Red Stags

September 19, 2018

Deer manager Niall Rowantree is travelling Planet Deer again, looking at how New Zealand produces monster…

Blaser Deerstalking Leica Magic Safari Lodges Niall Rowantree Nomad UK Spartan Precision Equipment

The biggest red stags on the planet

August 22, 2018

How did New Zealand produce the largest red deer the world has ever seen? In the…

Blaser Leica Niall Rowantree Rifles

How to use a walking stick as a shooting stick

July 18, 2018

A good stick and long pockets is all you need – not because you need to…

Deerstalking Leica Rifles Roy Lupton

Muntjac stalking in Bedfordshire

December 13, 2017

Bedfordshire offers some of the best muntjac stalking in the UK. Hunting this deer is an…

Deerstalking Home Leica Rifles Roy Lupton Sauer

Calling and shooting bucks

July 26, 2017

Using a buttolo call, Roy Lupton gets an amazing reaction from roe deer on his ground.…

Blaser Deerstalking Fieldsports Britain Latest shows Leica Niall Rowantree Rifles

Fieldsports Britain – A Year in the Life of Red Deer

July 5, 2017

The wildlife – the scenery – the deerstalking. Over 12 months, we follow wildlife manager…

Deerstalking Leica Rifles Roy Lupton

#LeicaHunting: at the factory and in the field

March 1, 2017

Roy Lupton is at the Leica factory, looking at how a top optics company manufactures its…

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: