Two more fantastic chances to Take a Friend Fishing for free have been announced, including one kicking off during this year’s Game Fair at Ragley Hall. Take a Friend Fishing (TAFF) is an Angling Trades Association initiative run in conjunction with the Environment Agency and backed by the Angling Trust, Canal & River Trust and other angling bodies. The two dates for this year’s events are Take a Friend Fishing Easter, running from Saturday, April 1st to Sunday, April 16th inclusive and Take a Friend Fishing with National Fishing Month, from Saturday, July 29th to Sunday, ...

Gundog training expert Sporting Saint has worked alongside Ben Randall of Beggarbush Gundogs to produce a lifelike rabbit dummy. The BG Rabbit Dummy, exclusive to Sporting Saint, has been designed, tested and reviewed by Ben and it features in the March edition of Gundog Journal. It weighs around 700g and is 48cm long. A spokesman for Sporting Saint said: “As a British Manufacturer, [we] are delighted to have worked alongside Ben with creating and designing yet another groundbreaking dummy for the gundog market. “Our expectations for the BG Rabbit are that its lifelike quality will provide ...

Finding the right drinks for your shoot day and other special occasions just got a little easier – and a whole lot more impressive – thanks to Shots and Company. The new business, which has only been going just over a year, is set to return to The Game Fair this summer, having had a phenomenal response to its innovative and unique bottles of sloe gin and 10-year-old single malt whisky first time out. Douglas Day, the brains behind the eye-catching shotgun cartridge-shaped bottles and their fine contents, drew on his background as a lifelong shooter ...

Shooting is under threat across the UK like never before so the leading organisations in the sector are urging everyone to act now to safeguard its future. Scotland is on the cusp of making shooting grouse illegal and introducing a licensing regime citing poor and illegal practice; the Welsh Government has stated it is anti-shooting and set to ban snares while England is teetering on the brink of banning released game birds in protected areas. In addition, Labour intends to review grouse shooting when it next gets in to power due to perceived ‘substantial environmental damage.’ ...

Shooting sports distributor and Game Fair exhibitor Highland Outdoors has secured a partnership with Barnes Bullets throughout the UK and Ireland. Pioneers of the first all-copper bullet, the Barnes prototype became the world-renowned X Bullet and changed the way hunters viewed bullet construction and terminal performance. Five generations later and the Utah-manufactured X Bullet continues to rise to the challenge. Whether travelling the globe and looking down the barrel at the most formidable big game, or stalking deer near to home – Barnes Bullets have become the world’s most effective all-copper hunting bullet. First shipments of ...

The shooting and conservation community is being urged to help with its duck monitoring project by building and installing nest tubes. Duck nest tubes offer security and protection for breeding ducks, such as mallard, and have been proven to increase hatching success rates. Through a monitoring project, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation aims to learn more about nesting successes and aid the conservation of the species. Sophie Stafford, BASC’s science advisor, said: “Mallard nests are often destroyed before the eggs have a chance to hatch through predation, trampling from livestock or disturbance from dog ...

A new platform enabling women who work in fieldsports to connect and support one another is being set up. Called Women Who Work in Fieldsports, the concept is the brainchild of British Game Assurance director of operations, Louisa Clutterbuck, alongside Vanessa Steel and Iona Campbell, from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). Women Who Work in Fieldsports (WWWF) was created to start a strong female network of women who work within the shooting sector. It is for women who may not shoot or fish themselves but help run shoot days, work in the office, help ...

A unique opportunity for a whole team of eight guns to shooting on our premier Home Counties shooting estates is up for grabs. Not only will the winners of the prize draw get the chance to enjoy some of the best drives in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire but proceeds from ticket sales will go the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. There are just 200 tickets available, priced at £200 each, giving you an opportunity to win a prize that features the following drives: Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire (generously donated by Mr Edward Phillips) Lilley Manor, Hertfordshire (generously donated ...

British Game Assurance (BGA) enjoyed a year of triumph in the face of adversity as it continues its fierce commitment to the idea of assured game taking its rightful place on the British dinner table. According to its latest annual report, 2022 saw a third cycle of anxiety across the shooting and food business worlds in which BGA operates – from post-pandemic and war-related shortages of feed, diesel, gas, labour, and ammunition to avian influenza. Despite this, the shooting sector has stood firm and BGA achieved many goals; game being served in the NHS, selling Eat ...

Country clothing brand Schöffel has added some more relaxed offerings to its fly-fishing collection, which it launched just a couple of years ago. The collection has been characterised by a range of technical and high-performance apparel. Now the brand has added a hoodie and T-shorts to the mix, with more items in the offing soon. The Alness Hoodie offers a relaxed fit, featuring the Schöffel fly-fishing logo and hand warming pockets. Available in oat and graphite, this hoodie is a must-have to layer under your fly-fishing jacket. Meanwhile, the Esk T-shirt and Tyne T-shirt are both slim fit with tapered shoulder seams ...

The countryside community has come together to back British Game Assurance (BGA) Director of Operations, Louisa Clutterbuck who has just returned from a trip helping those in need in Ukraine. She was overwhelmed by support for her Countryside Ukraine Appeal and received more than 100 bin bags and boxes full of winter clothing, which she sorted through and vacuum packed. In January, Louisa travelled to southeast Ukraine to deliver the warm coats, jumpers and thermals donated by the shooting community, staying just 75 miles from the frontline, where she distributed medical aid and winter clothing to ...

Westminster Kingsway College student George Oakes scooped top prize at this year’s British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) and Highland Game Colleges’ Cookery Competition. The third-year student impressed the judges with his show-stopping venison anticucho with nori and puffed wild rice canapé dish. The competition saw more than 70 catering students from across the UK enter their original venison canape recipes, with the number of entrants whittled down to five students who cooked for the judges on the day. On being announced victorious, George said it was great to have won and that he had ...

Gundog training equipment supplier Sporting Saint is helping you up your gundog training game with real cured pheasant wings. Perfect to help encourage young and novice dogs to pick up – and a great way to introduce them to feathers – these wings can even have scent applied to add to the realism. Light in weight, they are spot on for the early stages of puppy training too and, when applied to a 1.2lb dummy, will also be ideal for hunting. www.sportingsaint.co.uk

Top shooting ground Game Fair Clay Line organiser ​E.J. Churchill is looking to recruit two key personnel to move it forward further. The first role is for a full-time Gunroom Administrative Assistant to work at its shooting ground in Buckinghamshire, which welcomes around 50,000 visitors a year. The gun shop requires an enthusiastic individual who has a love and passion for shooting and the gunroom houses some of the finest shotguns and rifles in the country and is a very fast paced growing environment to work in. The successful candidate will manage the service and repairs ...

Moving with the times is something all businesses need to do in order to survive but for Guernsey-based Avant Garden it has helped it find new and exciting markets for its bronzes, furniture and furnishings. Initially set up as a charming shop on the Channel Island, Avant Garden embraced the world of technology and, almost 25 years later, has established a significant national and international online presence. Faced with changing customer tastes and attitudes towards buying methods, Nick Martel realised his retail outlet had to develop and respond quickly. Today, a visit to his website will ...

Whatever you need to carry – and wherever you need to carry it – there’s a bag for you from Hertfordshire-based mother and daughter company Annie With Alex. The Game Fair Trade News found out more from Alex Minzey. The Game Fair Trade News: How, when and why did you start the business? Alex Minzey: Annie and Alex are not only the founding members but we are also a mother and daughter combination, which makes this even more important to us. We are part of a long line of creative bag makers and the story starts ...

Producing upwards of half a million fish each year, Calverton Fish Farm is the Environment Agency’s equivalent of an Amazon warehouse for fish restocking and is once again preparing for the fast-approaching fish spawning season. Calverton’s work stocking fisheries across England is one of many projects up and down the country fully funded by fishing licence income. This week the Environment Agency’s fisheries annual report (Fisheries annual report 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) reveals how nearly £22m in rod licence income – achieved through almost 935,000 fishing licence sales – has been spent during 2021 ...

Angling Trades Association (ATA), the official voice of the UK tackle trade, is set to launch a major initiative at The Game Fair to get more people fishing. Get Into Fishing (GIF) at The Game Fair will see top angling brands join forces with key organisations to give people the chance to catch their first fish, find out what swims in our waters, learn to cast, see – and buy – all the latest tackle. Set beside a beautiful estate lake and covering all disciplines – game, coarse and carp, predator, and sea fishing – GIF ...

Forget summerhouses and hot tubs, the ultimate garden accessory right now is a Finnish-style BBQ cabin from top manufacturer Arctic Cabins. The Stapleford, Nottingham-based company began life in 2001 when founder Gareth Parkinson and his Finnish wife Virpi decided to bring a traditional Grillkota BBQ hut design back to the UK. Today, the family-run business manufactures and installs a range of cabins, bars, extensions and more across the country. The company has designed all of its unique cabins in the traditional Finnish style from sustainably sourced, slow-grown Scandinavian Redwood Spruce. An Arctic Cabin is designed to ...

If you have ever wanted to develop your knowledge of conservation, land management or gamekeeping then help is at hand as the British association for Shooting and Conservation has opened applications for its Legacy Funded Scholarship Programme for 2023. Now in its fifth year, the scholarship programme is one part of the BASC legacy package that helps support people interested in various aspects of the outdoors and conservation. The scheme is open to any college or university student studying, or wishing to study, conservation, land management or gamekeeping within the UK and the Isle of Man. ...