After a great deal of humming and ha-ing, I’ve taken the dramatic step of trading in my rifle and getting a new one. At least, it’s dramatic as far as I’m concerned. The Ruger No.1 rsi in .243 has been the mainstay of my armoury for the past two years of fox control on the Continue reading

Now that the pheasants are out, I need to be constantly vigilant. My pen is far from being fox proof, so a scattering of snares and traps add some weight to the defences. I have been meaning to get hold of a vermin gun for some time, if only to save my smart game guns Continue reading

With larsen trapping drawing to a seasonal close after seven weeks of operation, it’s worth pointing out that this year has been a really steep learning curve for me. Hill crows must be the wiliest devils in the animal kingdom, and although I have taken more than a dozen birds out this year, I must Continue reading

After almost eighteen months since beginning this blog, and two years since beginning my project on the Chayne, I have come at last to the inevitable subject of snaring. Having snared foxes on a low ground shoot almost five years ago, I knew some bits and pieces about the technicalities of setting and maintaining snares, Continue reading

I wonder what is going on in the world of stoats at the moment? Every moor and farm has a different annual pattern of stoat and weasel behaviour, so it is impossible to predict what will happen and when. It seems like you just need to set the traps and learn from what happens. So Continue reading

It’s slowly becoming clear that although larsen traps are extremely useful for catching crows, they are not inherently effective. To work well, they need a great deal of careful thought and strategic planning, and the past few weeks have been a real baptism of fire to the world of cage trapping. In theory (and in Continue reading

The past ten years have seen new laws piled upon the countryside to such an extent that it seems like we are totally bound in red tape. The sheer volume of “do’s” and “don’ts” turns even the simplest task into legal minefield, and a gamekeeper needs to be as good a lawyer as pest controller. Continue reading

Trapping continues on the Chayne, although the last few weeks have seen a major drop-off in the number of weasels being caught. For a short period at the end of March, I was catching several weasels a day, but with the exception of the occasional straggler, the traps have been ominously quiet throughout April. After Continue reading

I have been trapping more and more weasels over the past few days, culminating last night with three males within half a square mile. One had clambered in to inspect the smell of rotten fish in the mink trap, and the other two had been caught as they dashed across gateways. In order to get Continue reading