ColinF

As you say, you need to check what seeds are in the mix. Some are based on kale and kale hybrids, which will provide good cover, but others wont. This season, we have used two of Kings mixes. Moir Mix, which is kale based, and Campaign Mix South, which is mainly sorghum/red & white millet/triticale. Both of the these have provided good cover, and the sorghum mix is still going strong and should last until the end of the season. Also, both of these mixes can be sprayed for weed control, which was one of the reasons I chose them.

Kings, David Bright and Oakbank all do various game cover seed mixes

I rent a Forestry Commission wood for our syndicate shoot. Generally, they are fine to work with, I've had no problems getting permission to build pens etc. They like paperwork and you will need to have risk assessment, management plans etc in place and update them each year, I normally have an annual meeting with them to sort all that out. Public access isn't too much of a problem for us, but our wood doesn't get many people walking through. There is nothing much you can do about it, and the FC just ask that you put a sign up when shooting asking the public to stick to the paths. The lease has a few restrictions in it, we cant shoot on consecutive Saturdays, and can't shoot woodcock, jays, hares, foxes or deer in the wood, but these conditions may be different in your area, or could probably be negotiated. PM me if you want any more info

38mm on my Hushpower Mossberg

Yes, you've got a few months to get bare rooted plants in. I planted a new hedge with the 18" to 24" whips two years ago in February, and they are 4' to 5' already.

If its not too bad, just leave it and it will keep growing. If you want to fill in gaps or make the hedge wider plant some bare root hawthorn "whips". They are cheap and easy to plant, but if the sheep do come back you would need to fence the hedges off to protect them. This is my local supplier, but they are widely available: http://www.hedging.co.uk/acatalog/product_10280.html#aQUI2

I don't see why not, but cattle are normally indoors when the stubble turnips are grazed off at the end of the shooting season. Have a look at the link below, and give King's a call, they would be able to advise you: https://www2.frontierag.co.uk/cgi-bin/iTRACPortal.cgi/wh?PageID=ProductDisplay&ItemNumber=5669088&ParameterSet=ByItemNumber&Brand=Kings&ProductFindMechanism=ProductGroupBrowse&SearchWords=&SearchFunction=PackagedItemsOfGroup&SearchProductGroup=5915885&SearchProductDB=genenq&ms=1173712778033

Unless you can cultivate the ground a bit, it will be difficult to plant anything. If you could do some cultivation, have a look at stubble turnips. You could drill/broadcast them around July/August and they will provide you with some decent cover for your pheasants. At the end of the season, you could let the sheep graze them off

Correct IR35 is aimed at service companies, but there are tests that HMRC uses to establish if someone is employed or self employed

Try this one: http://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/wildgameguide0611.pdf

Have a look here: http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/topic/275347-selling-or-supplying-game-vermin/

How about getting some 2" cartridges, they only have about 9g of shot in them?

I don't know how they get their discounts etc, but we bought a Freelander 2 through Broadspeed. After the initial contact with Broadspeed, we dealt with a fairly local Land Rover dealer (Stratstones) and the car was delivered by them. It was a genuine UK car with the full warranty, just as we would have got if we went direct to Stratstones, but about £2k cheaper. That was in 2007, the fact that Broadspeed is still going suggests that they are doing something right?

We have used Broadspeed in the past, I can recommend them

BASC have leaflet that explains the laws involved with shooting dogs: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://basc.org.uk/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php%3Fid%3D42&sa=U&ei=RZY1VNiTB6uf7gaq04DIDA&ved=0CAUQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNEQYyC6lc-G0kJDav20luHcx03ugw

I've got one of these, it's the "UK" model with 32" barrels. I haven't had it long, but it handles and shoots very well and has the usual Browning build quality. Overall, I really like it and I don't think you would be disappointed if you bought one. Here is a proper review: http://www.thefield.co.uk/reviews/gun-reviews/browning-725-hunter

Also have a look at the Miroku 6000/7000 or MK60/MK70, similar to the Browning but nearer to your budget

Putting water out is a good idea, but pheasants are attracted to, and will follow, flowing water regardless of the availability of drinking water. We have a brook which runs within a few feet of one of our pens, and through one of our drives. I regularly have to dog birds back from further down the brook.

I would put the feeders where you want the birds to be on shoot days. If you put the feeders near your boundary, they will come back to feed then go again, especially if the habitat is better next door. At this time of year there is plenty of natural food around for them, hopefully later on they will need to rely on your feeders which should draw them back to your ground.

This e-petition has gone over 10,000 signatures, so it will be interesting to read DEFRA's response

I thought it was a good response? "When carried out in accordance with the law, shooting for sport is a legitimate activity, and our position is that people should be free to undertake lawful activities should they wish to do so." "Landowners are free to manage wildlife on their land, provided it is carried out appropriately and legally, in accordance with any the relevant wildlife legislation." Dr Avery didn't like it very much though: http://markavery.info/2014/09/02/response-kind-defra/

The Government has responded to Dr Mark Avery's petition on the link below: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/65627

I know that they provide members insurance, but what are SACS doing to represent your interests? I haven't heard their name mentioned in connection with any of the issues raised in this thread, it may be that they are more active north of the border?

I don't see the logic of citing the greylag/general licence issue as a reason for leaving BASC, to go to another organisation which holds the same view? I am a member of NGO, BASC and GWCT and they all agreed with greylag going on the general licence. In fact, I don't know of any shooting organisations that said they were against it? I believe that BASC is the most important organisation to shooting generally, and does the most to promote the sport.