Fieldsports Britain, episode 160. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.

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DRIVEN DEER
Red deer in Laubach

ON OTHER PAGES + NEWS STUMP + ANDY CROW + HUNTING YOUTUBE

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Sausages cooked over an open fire what better way of keeping you fighting fit for a freezing morning down at the range. We are just a few miles from Zeiss Sports Optics headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany, and magazine editors from as far away as Wisconsin and Pretoria are here as guests of Carl Zeiss Sports Optics.
Theres a lot to be gained from a trip like this: It allows the shooting press to keep the world up to date with developments, reinforces the quality of the kit, shows how a large traditional German hunt is choreographed and it is also a chance for the British contingent, like Sporting Shooter editor Dom Holtam and Pete Carr, editor of Sporting Rifle magazine, to get back into the swing of things. I havent shot driven game for a whole year, says Dom. You dont really want to be turning up and making any mistakes on the game. To be able to get a chance to handle the guns, to get used to the lead, to get used to the picture of the animals running and get a bit of practice in a safe environment is really, really useful. And if you are looking to travel abroad to hunt and you have never had the chance to shoot on a shooting cinema I would definitely recommend it.

The excitement of finally seeing the desired object. The certainty of taking secure aim even in the deepest twilight. This is the moment we work for.

/// VICTORY
ZEISS. PIONEER SINCE 1846.

VICTORY HT. The brightest optic package from Carl Zeiss. Experience a revolution in hunting optics: The new VICTORY HT range, which uses the unique optical concept with HT lenses from SCHOTT to achieve 95 % light transmission. The VICTORY HT binoculars are impressive with their ergonomic and robust double-link bridge design and comfort focus, whilst the VICTORY HT riflescopes benefit from the worlds finest illuminated dot and the new ASV+ for the very highest precision at long range. www.zeiss.com/sportsoptics Tel: 01223 401525

Driven deer, cont...

There is also an opportunity to carry out a comparison test. Pete thinks Zeisss latest red dot sight has the march on the new Leica. There is no comparison at all, says Pete. Clearly the clarity of the Zeiss and the red dot it guides the eye straight into what you are actually shooting at.There is just no comparison what so ever. The Zeiss wins hands down. After the cinema, which is laser shooting practice, it is time to put some rounds down the barrel. Guests are given the option of using some lead-free ammunition from RWS on this hunt. Some hunting areas in Germany are already lead free. Dom sights in his loan Blaser R8 and has a go at clays that are glued to a target down range. The following day everyone heads for the hunting ground in Laubach. It takes six months to put together a shoot like this. Fifty journalists, all with a passion for hunting, are here to experience a traditional German hunt. With so many guns on the ground, safety is paramount. The gathered hi-vis hunters are told whats on the quarry list and what is not. There are heavy fines for shooting the wrong animal, especialy one that is out of season. A promising or large red stag would be an expensive mistake to make, as would shooting a mature mouflon ram. Shooting a roebuck would be an embarrassing error of judgement, especially in front of this crowd of the worlds finest. The head forester and man in charge of the day is Rudiger. He looks after 4,200 hectares of forest, including 300 hectares of open fields. Normally there are two big hunts each year. This is the biggest one. Everyone who helps with the work of beating and following up are volunteers. They take some of the meat home as compensation. The guns separate into groups and head off into the forest of Laubach to be shown their homes for the next three hours. There are strict instructions not to leave the high seat until the end of the drive no matter what happens. They get comfortable and start willing stuff to appear. We join Dom. Its about five minutes to ten, he says. Officially the hunt starts at ten oclock but we are live on stand so if we do see animals now we are good to go, but beautiful that we are up in this high seat. 360 degrees of shooting, snowy forest, peace and quiet, just waiting for the horn and the fun to start. So very, very excited.

Fieldsports Britain, episode 160. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv

A roe on the run Soon, shots ring out across the forest. It builds Doms excitement and there is a hint of envy, too. Then he sees movement. A roe deer comes into view. Hidden behind the trees it crouches down.We can hear the beaters getting nearer and there are a few roe darting through the forest but nothing close enough for a shot. Then the beaters and dogs appear and Dom puts down his rifle as they mill around and re-group. The roe takes the opportunity to leave. Obviously there is no shooting when the dogs and the beaters are within sight, says Dom. As always with this kind of hunting it is safety first. The dogs job is to lift the game and push it gently forward not chase it at high speed.

The excitement of finally seeing the desired object. The certainty of taking secure aim even in the deepest twilight. This is the moment we work for.

/// VICTORY
ZEISS. PIONEER SINCE 1846.

VICTORY HT. The brightest optic package from Carl Zeiss. Experience a revolution in hunting optics: The new VICTORY HT range, which uses the unique optical concept with HT lenses from SCHOTT to achieve 95 % light transmission. The VICTORY HT binoculars are impressive with their ergonomic and robust double-link bridge design and comfort focus, whilst the VICTORY HT riflescopes benefit from the worlds finest illuminated dot and the new ASV+ for the very highest precision at long range. www.zeiss.com/sportsoptics Tel: 01223 401525

A short-legged beating dog, designed to spring game

Driven deer, cont...

At the end of day one, Dom has blanked but there are 14 animals back at the lodge. As is traditional at the end of each day, there is a ceremony to celebrate the game. Each of the species has its own piece of music, from the red stag to the red fox. Pete thinks the mouflon is a great trophy animal. Some German people now view the mouflon as a native species, but it isnt, he says. It is the same as we do at home. We look upon the fallow deer as a native species, but it isnt. It was introduced, as was the mouflon. We dont have any in the UK although we do have one wild sheep species, the Soay sheep. The journalists are allowed to bring their own rifles along for these events and for a bit of a change Pete has borrowed a Chapuis double rifle from York Guns. He says: With this, I can shoot an inch group at 50 yards. I can go to 60 or 70 yards if I was confident with the shot, but each shot is different. At 50 yards it is no problem whatsoever. It is a cracking little piece of kit. From the traditional to the controversial, lead free bullets. Ammo company RWS has co-sponsored this event supplying the cartridges. In the UK, we are still allowed to use lead, says Dom, who is talking to Dr Armin Dobat of Zeiss. That is actually changing in Europe isnt it? There are going to be certain areas in Germany and hunting grounds where you are no longer allowed to use lead ammunition. Exactly, says Armin. In the past, the problem with lead-free ammunition was that did not work over longer distances. You get a full metal jacket effect penetration with no power no delivered energy and therefore game kept on running. You had to track it for hundreds and hundreds of metres. This bullet from RWS works as far as 250 metres without any problems. It solves the problem of lead-free ammunition at longer distances. Day two and there has been heavy rainfall overnight. It is warmer, but still cold enough for us to need plenty of layers sitting up a highseat. Our new location looks promising and Dom is feeling confident. There is a lot less snow on the ground, he says. Hopefully that will allow the animals to move more. We have seen quite a lot of fresh tracks walking from the road to the high stand. So there is quite a positive atmosphere and there is a lot of boar in this area. Fingers crossed. Dom does some range-finding so he can mentally mark trees and boundaries. Its not long before we see some game. A group of red deer cross the ride below us but they are too fast and far away for him to feel confident of a shot. It is a group of half a dozen hinds and a spiker. They come through the heavy cover and they are quite close to us, but then they angle away. Next to show up is Doms favourite, a boar. It looks big but again its too far, he says. It is such a buzz, though. Then there is a fox. Dom spots it early. It crosses the ride. Dom whistles to stop it, the rifle booms and the fox drops. Amazing that they can come from anywhere, says Dom. That fox: I dont know whether it was the same one that came back up that way, but you can have game coming from all angles.

Fieldsports Britain, episode 160. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv

The ceremony at the end of the day Our lone boar makes another appearance but it is too fast. We hear something behind us and its another group of deer. The big stag is finding it hard to keep quiet on the move. Another fox turns up just below us. Doms .308 finds the target. It runs on but it doesnt go far. Then there is a roebuck. No mistakes here he is out of season Dom lets him pass. The beaters show up and Dom down tools until theyve gone through. Once out of sight, they shout back that they have spotted some reds coming our way. It is probably the same group again with the big lad. They appear on the ride and Dom goes for the calf in the middle. He hits it but he is not sure how well. Luckily it is right at the end of the drive and the beatkeeper Claus
The excitement of finally seeing the desired object. The certainty of taking secure aim even in the deepest twilight. This is the moment we work for.

/// VICTORY
ZEISS. PIONEER SINCE 1846.

VICTORY HT. The brightest optic package from Carl Zeiss. Experience a revolution in hunting optics: The new VICTORY HT range, which uses the unique optical concept with HT lenses from SCHOTT to achieve 95 % light transmission. The VICTORY HT binoculars are impressive with their ergonomic and robust double-link bridge design and comfort focus, whilst the VICTORY HT riflescopes benefit from the worlds finest illuminated dot and the new ASV+ for the very highest precision at long range. www.zeiss.com/sportsoptics Tel: 01223 401525

Driven deer, cont...

appears asking if Dom needs to follow up on anything. Dom shows him the blood on the ground and he goes back to get Paul, a long-haired weimaraner, specially trained to follow blood trails and track wounded big game. One of the key differences between this kind of hunting obviously when the animals move in there are some bad shots like the one I made earlier, says Dom. Straight away, as soon as the drive is finished, Claus is here with his blood-tracking dog. We have shown him where the outshot is and he is now going to follow up and hopefully find the injured animal as quickly as possible. And they have these guys all round the forest so that any injured animal are tracked up and despatched as quickly as possible. It is one of the key features of the driven hunt that is alien to UK hunters. We have one-shot, clean kill, find the carcase. But here that doesnt always happen. The animals are running, they are hyped up. The follow-up work is part and parcel of it. The dog is shown the scent and they are off. The pair covering the ground quickly, then Claus spots the calf in thick cover and releases Paul. We try and stay with him. After a few hundred metres we listen for the dog. Claus spots him and, as we approach, Dom is told to hold back as Paul bites if he thinks hes about to be dispossessed of game. Claus makes sure the deer is dead then takes this once docile looking pooch off the carcase. Pul is still unhappy about sharing HIS deer. It has been hot work but we have our animal. Of course I wanted it to drop on the spot, says Dom. Everyone does. But at least the professionals found this one quickly and efficiently. Back at base it looks like its been another successful drive. Dom has two foxes and a deer to add to the ceremony. Putting on an event like this is hard work not to mention costly but it is essential for the people at Zeiss Sports Optics to keep in touch with hunting. Dom meets Dr Ralph Nebe of Zeiss. It is interesting for us to note that you are all very passionate hunters yourselves, he says. This is what you do on your weekends for your own enjoyment as well. Yes, definitely so, replies Ralph. Me, for example, I love to be in the field to test our products and I am one of the hardest testing people. If products survive my test they last for ever. You are right. We are very passionate hunters and when we have time we try to

Fieldsports Britain, episode 160. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv

Cold highseat: its a happy home for Dom for three hours join together and follow our passion. That is the idea. Dom wants to know which is more important for Zeiss products: passionate hunters or clever scientists. Of course. we need both, says Ralph. You need the scientists for the technology, but you need the hunters for the features, because you must understand what the hunter needs and that is what we build in to our products. I think we are doing pretty well. The driven hunt is a such a strong part of German and indeed Continental Europes culture that its hard not to admire the way they do things. More and more rifle shooters in the UK are choosing to cross the water to give this style of hunting a go. If youre lucky enough to draw a high seat that delivers you will never forget it. <
The excitement of finally seeing the desired object. The certainty of taking secure aim even in the deepest twilight. This is the moment we work for.

/// VICTORY
ZEISS. PIONEER SINCE 1846.

VICTORY HT. The brightest optic package from Carl Zeiss. Experience a revolution in hunting optics: The new VICTORY HT range, which uses the unique optical concept with HT lenses from SCHOTT to achieve 95 % light transmission. The VICTORY HT binoculars are impressive with their ergonomic and robust double-link bridge design and comfort focus, whilst the VICTORY HT riflescopes benefit from the worlds finest illuminated dot and the new ASV+ for the very highest precision at long range. www.zeiss.com/sportsoptics Tel: 01223 401525

Doms group of reds: he takes the middle one

News Stump
American school shooting

Fieldsports Britain, episode 160. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv

All the stuff David reads out on the programme

First, the appalling school shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, which has left America split on whether or not to ban guns. Democrat senators are said to want a ban on what they call assault weapons, while some republicans are calling for teachers to be armed. The American president gave his reaction: We are going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.

Scottish airgun ban?

Last week, we reported that around 300 of Scotlands estimated 500,000 airifles were used in crimes last year. This week, the Scottish Government has launched a consultation on airgun licensing. It says it is committed to introducing licensing for low-powered airguns. Anyone with an interest in airgun shooting in Scotland can make their voice heard. For more information about how to do that, visit www.basc.org.uk

Shooting sports are cool Daily Mail

Meanwhile, the usually animal-loving Daily Mail newspaper has come out strongly in favour of country sports. In an article entitled How game hunting is thriving again the popular newspaper reports that: Thanks to the support of a new generation of Royals, notably the Duke (pictured) and Duchess of Cambridge, and celebrity fans such as film director Guy Ritchie, field sports are enjoying a moment of retro cool.
Tambako the Jaguar

Costa Rican hunt ban

Costa Rica has become the first Latin American country to ban hunting as a sport. The country has almost no sport hunting industry, and what there is is it mainly for puma.

Shooting accident boy loves shooting

An America boy shot in the head in a pheasant-hunting accident by his father is out of hospital and looking forward to going pheasant shooting again. Both Ryan Rearick and his father Chris took hunter safety classes six years ago. Chris Rearick says he shot his son because he fell over as he was about to take a shot at a bird.

Catfish among the pigeons

And finally, if you are wondering what bait to use if you are after catfish in the South of France, you could try whole pigeon. A school of catfish there have taught themselves how to leap out of the water and catch pigeons to eat. Click here to see the full film.

Defence Images

News Stump is brought to you by

Andy Crow on crows

For those that dont know, Andy was abandoned as a baby and raised by pigeons. Its the only way to explain his ability to secondguess their every move, jink, and flight line.

Fieldsports Britain, episode 160. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv

The legend that is Crowman targets corvids over corn

Today, however. we re testing to see if his formative years allow him to connect with another species crows his namesake, but are they his nemesis? I have been watching this field since we shot it last week,, he says, watching the crows coming back in here. The flight line has been through here continuously for the last two days. They really have been hammering this end of the field. There is a change in the weather today. It is windier and colder down at this end of the field. The birds are heading up to the far end of the field where it is a bit more sheltered. The corvids are on this field in abundance. A cloud of them lift and swirl in the freezing north-easterly wind. The beast from the east as the weather people call it. As soon as we set up shop, they do one, giving the hide a wide berth. These birds are giving us the bird. They are not playing ball today, says Andy. Still I am knocking pigeons down so I am happy. The warm sheltered corner is calling. We do what the text books say: up sticks, or poles in this case, and move. Even though its really cold its important to try and reduce the corvid numbers when they build in one place like this. As well as attacking crops or pulling them out in order to get to the grubs in the soil, a healthy population of big black birds will have a most deleterious effect on song bird chicks and game poults. In our new location things suddenly look more rosy. Out of the wind and in a sun trap, no wonder the birds are heading here. Andy epxlains why the crows are trickier than pigeons. They have got such good eyesight. The slightest bit of movement and they are gone. I have only got shell crow decoys. I could have done with full-bodied really. They look more realistic. I can hit pigeons. Anyone can shoot pigeons cant they? You dont have to be good to hit pigeons. A pigeon will fly in a straight line. It will gently dive and you can follow it. But a crow: I was following one just a minute ago, it came over the top quite high, stopped dead in the air and flew backwards. Well pigeons dont fly backwards. Eventually a few crows stop to give us the time of day and Andy makes no mistakes. Now, those of you with corvid-like eyesight might have noticed that Andy is looking very smart these days courtesy of Jack Pyke which has given him gear and clothes to try and destroy. It is good stuff keeps me warm, keeps me dry, does everything I want it to do, he says. They do boots. I have got their boots and I dont have any problems with them. They are really light weight and they keep your feet dry. The wellies are comfortable. I love these trousers, I wear them for work. Everything I have got I have it in green and it gets worn every day. It is not wear it on a

George, in the hide, about to shoot Saturday or Sunday just when I go shooting. It does get hammered. Like all clothing I get it does get hammered. That is why it is quite nice for me to have stuff to test. As the day draws to an end Andy gets another couple of birds. On inspection against the setting sun, the pellets have really torn through the feathers. In all weve got a dozen crows, and rooks and nine pigeons - its hasnt been a red letter day just a challenging one. <

Hunting YouTube

Fieldsports Britain, episode 160. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv

Best hunting, shooting and fishing on YouTube

English in a promo for what looks like a good DVD about stalking roaring red stags during the rut.

Lots about wild boar this week. This is a cautionary tale sent in by Belgian viewer Michiel De Schryver and told to us by French channel Philippe Simpere. The moral of the story is: always make sure your game in the back of your truck is dead.

OnlineFishingTV takes us to Royal Dee in Aberdeenshire. This is a charming and well-filmed profile of the Glen Tanar estate, where your guide is an engaging gamekeeper who has been on this ground for more than 40 years.

Here is a sensitive film from Germany about walked-up hare shooting in the snow over a beautifully-trained wirehaired pointer. It is made by two women who fancy themselves as filmmakers so, yeah, now wipe the lens. It has lots of international appeal. Our appeal to them is to upload the transcript so the rest of the world can click the CC button at the bottom of the YouTube screen and understand whats going on.

Lets move to a driven wild boar day in Italy with Caccia al cinchiale abbattimento by LSv63. To start with, the camera work in this film does not fill you with hope. Then it just goes to show sometimes the camera can be in the right place at the right time.

Now, who says that life in North Korea is all bad? Here is a film about a fishing competition in the secretive totalitarian state by journalist and broadcaster Alun Hill. He calls it North Korea Angling Competition, he describes it as North Korea angling competition, on the River Paedong. And he adds A North Korean won. It looks a lot like a fishing competition anywhere except for the mandatory interview with the party official, but then if the BBC covered match-fishing they would do the same.

And finally, fans of the grand old sport of hare-coursing will be stunned by this version from Parral in central Chile where the hare gets up, theres lots of whooping and the greyhounds pile in. Book the tickets, David. Were on our way. 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, email the link to charlie@fieldsportchannel.tv

Now this is not a very nice video but Texas is faced with a massive feral hog population. The question is whether machinegunning them from helicopters constitutes good management, let alone good sport. But then thats the great thing about YouTube or should I call it You-Judge?

CarlesCastilloHD has produced Bellows in the Mountains. This is not a film about firelighting equipment but just his poor

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