SPORTING SHOOTER

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SPORTING SHOOTER

DEVON HEAVEN
The chairman of the Taw & Torridge Wildfowling Club, Les Oldham, says why
he¹ s happy to go on the marsh with either a gun or a pair of binoculars
I count it as a great privilege to be on the
estuary, particularly at dusk and dawn, when you can be alone with your
thoughts in the most beautiful setting while awaiting the sport of the day
to unfold. You get so close to all manner of wildlife and birds.
Occasionally, I take my 16ft punt out but, with our very fast tide, our
estuary is not really best-suited
to shooting in punts.
We have a good working relationship with both the RSPB and English Nature.
And who says they
are all politically correct? My friend Matt Blüger and I took their
representatives out fowling a couple of years ago. They came as observers on
a morning flight and what a flight. I managed seven widgeon and Matt shot
a pintail. Matt says he was grateful that the bird came down stone dead.
Matt is responsible for collating all our annual duck returns, interpreting
them for our use and sending them to BASC which sends them on to the Crown
Commissioners and the RSPB. He knows what was shot, where it was shot and
even how many cartridges were fired. It¹s a useful conservation measure.
Generally speaking this estuary is not among the top wildfowling estuaries
in the UK. Nonetheless, it still provides very good sport.

A Good morning: Club Warden Brian Stimpson and Chairman Les Oldham walk back from the Estuary

Lie back: Les Oldham uses all available cover to have a pop at a bird ( that had no trouble spotting the photographer)

North Devon¹s Taw & Torridge Rivers share the same estuary and gained renown
when featured in the
writings of local author Henry Williamson, in both Tarka the Otter and Salar
the Salmon.

Ducking down: Brian hides in one of the natural channels on the estuary

The River Taw now enjoys the World¹s toughest conservation as a UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve, the first such site granted to the UK upon the merits of
its many interlocked environments that support an excellence in fauna, flora
and bird life.

Matt Bluge who stood down as Secretary after 15 years of sterling service

Here it comes! Les swings through a bird on the marsh as son William and Labrador look on

Back it comes: Les Oldhams Labrador retrieves a bird

Eyes up: Club Warden Brian Stimpson is one of the key people at the T &T.WC.

The club was formed in 1976 by a small group
of farsighted enthusiasts who were concerned that the traditional sport of
wildfowling was under
considerable threat on the Taw. Plans were afoot by ³conservationists² to
make the whole estuary into one vast bird reserve.

Nice retrieve: Brians Spaniel brings back a bird

In 1976, the club was fully affiliated to WAGBI, now BASC and, with the help
of the organisation, our club finally secured the crown foreshore lease in
1996. This was achieved after nine years of
negotiation with other estuary users like English Nature, the RSPB, local
councils and the MoD.
We normally welcome the cold weather that comes in from Central Europe
because it pushes before it the migrant duck and woodcock populations ever
further south and westward in our direction.
When previous bans were imposed, we benefited from boosted quarry numbers in
our relatively milder weather conditions and resented the loss of our
potential duck bonanza.
In our first year, however, our first management decision was to impose a
severe weather shooting ban ahead of the rest of the national ones, since we
were unusually badly hit by prolonged freezing weather.

Shell Shock: Canada numbers have increased nearly tenfold in the last 10 years

Our club has served on the local estuary forum since it was formed in 1988,
along with other conservation groups, local councils, leisure and business
interests as well as the MoD.
Its main function is to act as a non-political
pressure group against inappropriate development around the estuary, prevent
pollution and address potential inter-group differences across the table.
Matt, our former honorary secretary, served as its vice chairman for several
years. w

Jolly Boating: Brian Stimpson (in the stern) and Les Oldham afloat. Brian Stimpson is the dedicated Club Warden who is unselfish in passing on his hard won knowleedge

Birds by Matt Bluger

Our main quarry are mallard, widgeon, teal and over-wintering canada geese,
as well as a few pintail, gadwall, goldeneye, golden plover and snipe.
Apart from the common waders, there are a growing number of egrets,
peregrines, spoonbills and avocets.
Such a lot of wildlife presents its own problems to the fowler. A seal once
came up to look at my decoys. On my last visit, a peregrine falcon hovered
10ft overhead as it also inspected my decoys no doubt in the hope that it
could panic one into the air. When it failed, it landed on a nearby sandbar
to keep an eye on them and only left when I fired at a passing duck.
On that same morning flight, I took five widgeon and a pintail but, because
my dog is too old, I had to wade out four times up to my chest to make my
retrieves. This is not sensible. As far as the fowler is concerned, a dog is
the most important animal on the marsh.

Have a go at Puntgunning

Though these pictured here are not puntguns like "Irish Tom", the 14ft long boat mounted gun on display at the BASCs headquarters, you can take any non-powered craft out after duck and geese. BASC's advice is that the best place to do it is in Scotland. Give BASC SCOTLAND a ring on 01350 723226 to say where you are going. BASC can also put you in touch with local guides.

ALL THE ESSENTIAL KIT

We try to take

Waders

Decoys (Mallard, Teal and/or Wigeon )

Compass

Gamebag

Torch

Two whistles (Dog and Police)

Length of string

Decent wading stick

A Gundog

Les uses a Midland Gun Co wildfowling magnum, 32", full choke his cartridges are Nickel 34 grm No 5s for Duck and 3" No 3s for Geese

Matt uses a Miroku 7000 Sporter Multichoke. His cartridges are Bismuth No 5s

Obituary

On the 7th June 2004 I lost Bruce my Spaniel aged 11 1/2 yrs he was a first class hunting dog a retriever second to none and my best mate and companion. I miss you buddy

This article is courtesy of SPORTING SHOOTER Magazine.