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Apr 23

12:36 |
posted by Ian Valentine |
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Hunting & shooting: the sustainable way

The idea for the piece came originally from visiting a hunting show just south of Paris, called Le Salon de la Chasse de Rambouillet, which is an annual get-together for top end vendors in France.

Open to the public, the indoor event attracts thousands of wealthy hunters, especially those with an interest in big game hunting, fine guns and rifles, sporting art and expensive clothing. If you are interested in booking an exotic hunting trip, or buying all the paraphernalia that goes with it; then it may be worth a visit - especially from London as the EuroStar and commute across Paris is fairly painless. (www.salondelachassederambouillet.com)

The show has a theme each year, with the latest being, 'Le chasseur, mon ami' - 'The hunter, my friend', which we pinched for the article. By happy coincidence, the journalist Louis Theroux addressed the issue the following week on BBC2 in his 'African Hunting Holiday' investigation.

Most people I have talked to described the documentary as well-balanced and surprisingly fair, given how it started out. I did feel some sympathy for Theroux that he was not prepared to shoot the pig at 30 yards from a blind: perhaps if he had genuinely hunted the creature to feed a table of his friends, then maybe he'd have pulled the trigger.

The notion of hunting as a conservation tool seems to be a cause célèbre at the moment, which made my job that much easier. Indeed, in 2006, there was a symposium on recreational hunting at London Zoo, which was chaired by the the Sustainable Use Specialist Group, part of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and supported by the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC), Fauna Flora International and a raft of hunting organisations.

While the conservationists and scientists did not emphatically hail recreational hunting as the answer to the current struggles of endangered species - there are too many examples where irresponsible hunting has been the root cause of the problem - the pro-hunting lobby went away feeling encouraged.

The CIC said afterwards: "Astonishingly, with the heterogeneous make-up of the participants, the major focus of the symposium did not target the usual polarizing and dividing question of whether one should hunt or not, but rather aimed at how to optimize the hunt and hunting practices." The CIC held its own symposium on 'Hunting: A Tool for Sustainable Rural Development' in Marrakech this week.

I had been slightly concerned that I wouldn't find anyone willing to talk about the subject, but that proved unwarranted. One body in particular I did not have room to include was the Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU (FACE), which campaigns tirelessly for the rights of hunters amid the red tape of Brussels.

Their spokesman was quick to differentiate from the African model of conservation hunting, saying: "The first thing to make clear is that the European model of sustainable hunting is based primarily on habitats rather than on specific species, like the African model, and that endangered species are not hunted. In this model, habitats and non-endangered populations are managed allowing endangered species to survive. In this case, resources returned to conservation from hunting non-endangered species are to the benefit of all."

Another source who I would like to have included, not least because they went to some lengths to provide several of the photos, was the Association pour la Protection de la Faune de Centrafrique (APFC). This charity operates a team of anti-poaching guards to protect the elephants in the north of the Central African Republic, which come under attack from heavily armed militia in the Sudan and, to a lesser extent, poachers from Chad.

Thierry Fecomme is a spokesman for the organisation and he appealed for international recognition of their plight before the once-plentiful stocks of game in the country are exhausted: "It is a desperate struggle at the moment," he said, "as the poachers that we are trying to fight are trained soldiers from the conflict in Darfur, funded by unscrupulous ivory traders who we imagine are linked with China. It is a war along the border, which we cannot hope to win without government support."

There is a proud tradition of big game hunting in the CAR and it should be stressed that commercial hunting packages are still being safely operated by experienced outfits. Scare-mongering media stories about armed poachers have previously resulted in tourists cancelling their bookings, which were since proved to be an over-reaction. However, Thierry warns that if no action is taken, the likelihood of attacks on foreign hunting camps will increase.

"The poachers are becoming more and more confident," he said, "and travelling further south to find the ivory. We know that a number of foreign hunters are already choosing not to come back to the CAR to hunt. This is where we believe we will have a chance of receiving more help from the government, because they are losing valuable income as a result. The local people too are losing money because their economy is based on foreign hunters' investment. We are currently deliberating whether to stage an embargo on hunting - a year long strike - to show the government how much they will lose if the hunting stops. It would be a dramatic move, but these are desperate times."

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Feb 20

11:09 |
posted by Selena Masson, Shooting Times |
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Foxing first

The recent dry and dark evenings lend themselves perfectly to lamping. After a succession of round-robin emails during the day between my co-lampers, Nathan and Dave, we settled on that very evening to venture out.

Our friend Will has an arable farm in Westerham, Kent which is still over-run with rabbits so he welcomed our offer. After wolfing down supper at the farm cottage we piled on the woollen layers to protect ourselves from the biting cold outside. By 10pm the temperature had plummeted to below zero, but the night was still and visibility was excellent.

"Determined to make a good job of the task in hand, a rush of adrenaline surged through my body and I became very aware of my heartbeat."

From the back of Will’s Defender pick-up, Dave and Nathan expertly shot more than a dozen rabbits between them before allowing me to take charge of the lamp. By this point all three of us had fallen victim to what Dave calls “lamper’s nose” - where the cold night air results in incessant sniffing. Controlling the lamp is hugely rewarding, as the onus of spotting rabbits’ eyes in the beam falls predominantly to the lamper. Frustratingly, the long grass and young crops meant that many got away unscathed, but we managed to bag a fair few on the open grass of the cattle pasture.

Dave then passed me the .22 rifle for my turn. I cleanly shot four rabbits before Nathan spotted the eyes of a fox in the lamp. Shooting a fox is a huge responsibility, and the boys have never let me have a go before. This outing marked my sixth time lamping, hence my shooting companions felt that I had proved myself worthy of such a quarry. Determined to make a good job of the task in hand, a rush of adrenaline surged through my body and I became very aware of my heartbeat. Oblivious to the freezing night air, all my senses honed in to the line of the lamp. Dave squeaked-up the young fox by scraping a piece of polystyrene on the Land Rover’s window, but our quarry was wary of us and kept his distance, often disappearing altogether. The undulating topography of the field made the shot incredibly difficult so I decided to take it from the ground, supported against a five bar gate. After what felt like hours, I eventually spied the fox looking directly at me, crouching in a field of young rape. Knowing that this opportunity would last just a moment I quickly lined up my target and squeezed the trigger.

Two days after my triumph over the fox, I proudly relayed my tale of the fox shooting at a party. Unfortunately I had overlooked the fact that the majority of the guests were part of the Old Surrey Burstow and West Kent hunt. I learnt the hard way - my tale of vulpicide did not go down particularly well with the fox-hunters!

For details on the Lamping Code of Practice visit BASC

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Jan 16

10:36 |
posted by Ian Valentine |
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Snow ducks

Duck flighting

The snow and ice in Scotland during these past few weeks have caused chaos on the roads, but for the sportsman it can provide some of the most memorable experiences of the year. All of the ski resorts in the Highlands have profited from this seasonal dump – I’m told the piste at Glenshee last Saturday was the rival of anything the Alps or Rockies have to offer. The only problem was that every Scot on two planks was up there!

I was on a shoot just south of Edinburgh just after New Year when the first snow clouds gathered. Small flakes started to fall just before lunch and by the time we reappeared for the final drive, there were white bumblebees tumbling over the trees and fields. Within two minutes, your cartridge case and gun slip would be hidden in cotton wool.

As the drive finished, our host asked if we wanted to have a go at the ducks. The estate has a well-established splash that attracts wild mallard and teal throughout the season. Some of the Guns opted to drive home before the roads became impassable, but those of us who were staying nearby jumped at the opportunity. There were four of us, all old friends of several decades. If we didn’t see a duck, it would still be a special occasion.

By the time we reached the small pond, lined out with wooden hides, the first mallard were skimming in over the icy water. “Take which ever hide you fancy,” whispered our host, “Let the first ducks land in the water, then wait for them to rise before shooting.”

Ordinarily, we would have struggled to pick up the ducks in the dark, but the reflecting snow bought us some time. Soon, squadrons of mallard and teal were dropping onto the water. They would sit, testing our patience, until the first duck spooked, inviting us to lean out over the hides with guns shouldered. Some duck crossed low like grouse, while others – the teal especially – shot up high like snipe.

A better quartet of Guns would have doubtless filled the bag, but we were happy for our four mallard and a teal (we fired at least 30 shots!), when the last light finally faded. It had been a magical, unforgettable evening; a bonus round provided by the snow.

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Jan 07

15:17 |
posted by Emma and Lucy Reeves |
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Muddy rapeseed oil!

For our last business visit, we decided to keep it local and popped in to see Duncan Farrington, who produces Mellow Yellow cold pressed rapeseed oil on the family farm near Hargrave, Northamptonshire.

Mellow Yellow.
Mellow Yellow rapeseed oil and the new Farrington salad dressings

Duncan became interested in oilseed rape back in the 90s when he was looking into biodiesel production as part of his university degree but when, on a visit to Germany, he met some farmers who were pressing their own oil for human consumption he began to look into the nutritional benefits and culinary properties of cold pressed rapeseed oil and was pleasantly surprised.

With less than half the saturated fat and ten times more Omega 3 than olive oil, as well as having the optimum balance of Omega 3, 6 and 9 oils and being a natural source of Vitamin E, it certainly has lots of health benefits.

Being cold pressed (rather than hot pressed, which involves heating it up, adding a solvent to boost the extraction rate and then refining and deodorising it), the oil is gently squeezed out, meaning that it retains all its natural goodness. It has a subtle, nutty flavour and is perfect for anything from salad dressings to stir-fries, high temperature roasting and frying.

Duncan Farrington.
Duncan Farrington

Despite all this, and the oil's growing popularity abroad, a decade ago the UK quality oil market was dominated by olive oil imported from abroad and nobody seemed to be producing rapeseed oil. This, according to Duncan, is easily explained: oil seed rape just didn't have a good image. Whilst olive oil has a romantic image, people tended to associate oilseed rape with smell, hayfever and GM.

Add in the word 'rape' and all its negative connotations, and it's a marketing nightmare. With this is mind, and after taking some expert advice within the industry, Duncan decided the UK market just wasn't ready for it and so put his idea aside and returned to the family farm.

By 2000, however, it was clear the farm wasn't big enough to support two families, and Duncan knew they would have to expand in some way. At the same time our attitude to food was beginning to change and a Suffolk farmer had decided to give culinary rapeseed oil a go, so Duncan decided it was the right time to invest in his idea.

Changes were made to the way the farm was managed and they embarked on what was really a completely new business for them; finding the right machinery (which was apparently very difficult), sourcing and designing bottles and labels, and ironing out problems in the oil production. The name was still an issue and, whilst rapeseed is mentioned on the bottle, they came up with the brand name Mellow Yellow (yellow in colour, mellow in taste) and it is clearly marketed as that.

Investing money without really being sure that they'd ever sell a bottle, they launched the company in 2005 as around the second or third UK brand to make cold pressed rapeseed oil, but the first in Britain to grow, press and bottle it.

Oil press.
The press

Duncan's timing seems to have been just right and the business is now going from strength to strength. They have been going nearly three years and he says it's got much bigger than he ever thought. On his first day of production, he and his mother managed to make about a hundred bottles, which he then packed into his car and took to local farm shops, butchers and delis. He now produces about 3,000 bottles a day and his oil is sold by more than 600 shops in the UK, including Harvey Nichols and Waitrose. Also, in an attempt to grow the business further, they have now started producing a honey mustard and a blackberry vinaigrette salad dressing (with Mellow Yellow as the base oil), both of which were given Great Taste Awards by the Guild of Fine Foods.

We've tasted the oil and the dressings, and there is no denying that they're delicious. Could olive oil be about to lose its stranglehold on the UK culinary oil market? Watch this space!

Farrington Oils Ltd
Bottom Farm
Hargrave
Northamptonshire
NN9 6BP
Tel: 01933 622809
Fax: 01933 461003
www.farrington-oils.co.uk