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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, Ger-many, and magazine editors from as far away as Wisconsin and Pretoria are here as guests of Carl Zeiss Sports Optics.

There’s 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 haven’t shot driven game for a whole year,” says Dom. “You don’t 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 recom-mend it.”

DRIVEN DEER

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

Red deer in Laubach

/// VICTORYZEISS. 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

world s finest illuminated dot and the new ASV+ for the very highest precision at long

range. www.zeiss.com/sportsoptics Tel: 01223 401525

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.

There is also an opportunity to carry out a comparison test. Pete thinks Zeiss’s 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 ex-perience a traditional German hunt. With so many guns on the ground, safety is paramount.

The gathered hi-vis hunters are told what’s 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 ma-ture mouflon ram. Shooting a roebuck would be an embarrassing error of judgement, especially in front of this crowd of the world’s 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.

“It’s about five minutes to ten,” he says. “Officially the hunt starts at ten o’clock 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.”

Soon, shots ring out across the forest. It builds Dom’s 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.

Driven deer, cont...Fieldsports Britain, episode 160. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv

A roe on the run

A short-legged beating dog, designed to spring game

/// VICTORYZEISS. 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

world s finest illuminated dot and the new ASV+ for the very highest precision at long

range. www.zeiss.com/sportsoptics Tel: 01223 401525

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.

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 isn’t,” he says. “It is the same as we do at home. We look upon the fallow deer as a native species, but it isn’t. It was introduced, as was the mouflon. We don’t 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 car-tridges.

“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 isn’t 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 warm-er, but still cold enough for us to need plenty of layers sitting up a highseat. Our new location looks promising and Dom is feel-ing 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. It’s 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 Dom’s favourite, a boar. “It looks big but again it’s 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 don’t know whether it was the same one that came back up that way, but you can have game coming from all angles.”

Our lone boar makes another appearance but it is too fast. We hear something behind us and it’s another group of deer. The big stag is finding it hard to keep quiet on the move.

Another fox turns up just below us. Dom’s .308 finds the target. It runs on but it doesn’t 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 they’ve 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

Driven deer, cont...Fieldsports Britain, episode 160. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv

The ceremony at the end of the day

/// VICTORYZEISS. 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

world s finest illuminated dot and the new ASV+ for the very highest precision at long

range. www.zeiss.com/sportsoptics Tel: 01223 401525

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.

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 be-tween 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 in-jured 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 doesn’t 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 he’s 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 it’s 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

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 Con-tinental Europe’s culture that it’s 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 you’re lucky enough to draw a high seat that delivers you will never forget it. <

Driven deer, cont...Fieldsports Britain, episode 160. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv

Cold highseat: it’s a happy home for Dom for three hours

/// VICTORYZEISS. 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

world s finest illuminated dot and the new ASV+ for the very highest precision at long

range. www.zeiss.com/sportsoptics Tel: 01223 401525

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.

Dom’s group of reds: he takes the middle one

News Stump All the stuff David reads out on the programmeAmerican school shootingFirst, 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 Scotland’s 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. Any-one 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 MailMeanwhile, the usually animal-loving Daily Mail news-paper 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.”

Costa Rican hunt banCosta Rica has become the first Latin American coun-try 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 shootingAn America boy shot in the head in a pheasant-hunt-ing 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 pigeonsAnd 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 pi-geons to eat. Click here to see the full film.

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

News Stump is brought to you by

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For those that don’t know, Andy was aban-doned as a baby and raised by pigeons. It’s the only way to explain his ability to second-guess their every move, jink, and flight line.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 it’s really cold it’s 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 can’t they? You don’t 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 don’t 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 don’t 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

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 we’ve got a dozen crows, and rooks and nine pigeons - it’s hasn’t been a red letter day just a challenging one. <

Andy Crow on crowsThe legend that is Crowman targets corvids over corn

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

George, in the hide, about to shoot

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.

Let’s 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 this is not a very nice video but Texas is faced with a massive feral hog popula-tion. The question is whether machine-gunning them from helicopters constitutes good management, let alone good sport. But then that’s the great thing about YouTube – or should I call it You-Judge?

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.

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 competi-tion anywhere except for the mandatory interview with the party official, but then if the BBC covered match-fishing they would do the same.

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

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

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 interna-tional 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 what’s going on.

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, there’s lots of whooping and the greyhounds pile in. Book the tickets, David. We’re 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

Hunting YouTube Best hunting, shooting and fishing on YouTube

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

Fieldsports Channel brings you the free weekly programme Fieldsports Britain. See us on our website, on YouTube, find us on Facebook and on Twitter. To advertise, contact James Westbrook on +447718126762 james@fieldsportschannel.tv or visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv/category/advertise