South West Scotland
| Chairman |
Mr. Glen Heggs |
| Telephone |
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| Office |
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| Mobile |
07831 750 618 |
| Email |
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| Fax |
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| Secretary |
Mr. Jim McErlean |
| Telephone |
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| Office |
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| Mobile |
07774 860 484 |
| Email |
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| Fax |
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Contact numbers for all events are:
Jim Mc Erlean 01671/403794
Glen Heggs 01655/770672
Branch Calendar for 2008/09
On Sunday, 25th May, Ian White's son, Nathan, and David Gregory gave an interesting talk and demonstration on training dogs for deer. The event was well attended and many members brought their dogs to try out on the blood trail. It is hoped that the theme of dogs for deer can be included in the activity day later in the year.
Alan Jamieson of the Animal Health Department gave a talk on bluetongue and other deer related diseases by Tuesday, 3rd June at the Ken Bridge Hotel. There seems to be some uncertainty whether bluetongue will reach Scotland this year but if it does it will be in the late summer. Thoughts are if it does not reach Scotland this year it will almost certainly be here next year. Vaccination programmes for domestic stock are being advanced to control the effects of the disease.
North West and North East England, South East and South West Scotland branches met at the Parton range on Sunday, 20th July, for the annual Borders Shoot. This was a change of venue from the Otterburn range to ease the travelling for South West branch at least and the current difficulties of shooting on MOD ranges. All branches fielded teams of 6 in perfect weather and enjoyed the barbeque. South West branch retained the team trophy and Andy Massingham was top gun for the day with a very impressive score of 141 out of a possible 150. Thanks to Andy and Barbara for the barbeque, and Peter for the use of the range.
The Galloway Game Fair at Raehills is now past and the weather thankfully was better than last year. There was some rain over the weekend which no doubt had an effect on the numbers but the roads installed since last year helped enormously. Some new members were recruited and it was an opportunity to meet existing members who may not have made an appearance since the last Fair! The children's competition went down well which always provides an opportunity to talk to the adults about deer. Thanks to all who helped man the tent Elizabeth for donating the prints for the raffle.
Mike Baillie-Hamilton gave a practical demonstration of reloading, also in August, in the Brocketsbrae Community Hall. The event was well attended with both novices and the more experienced. Many thanks to Mike for his time and providing a forum to help novices and the more experienced with reloading.
The Scottish Interbranch Shoot was held at the end of August at Blair Atholl which the branch managed to win and pick up the top gun for the fourth year running. Congratulations to the team, Andy Craig, Kris Rundell, Dougal Copeland, Kevin Craig, George Miller and Maitland Rankin.
The programme for the remainder of the year will include:
Tuesday, 18th November
Border Barrels. A talk by Border Barrels at the Ken Bridge Hotel, 1930 hours.
Tuesday 9th December
Maitland Rankin and Alan Marshall will give a talk with slides and photographs of their safari in May of this year to South Africa. This talk will be of interest to anybody thinking about hunting in Africa, and provide some useful information on the background to hunting in Africa which has been getting increasingly popular in recent years. Venue Ken Bridge Hotel, New Galloway, at 1930 hours.
The Activity Day planned for 26th October has had to be postponed until the new year. The new date will be published later in the year.
18th January, 2009
2009 Branch AGM. Ken Bridge Hotel, New Galloway. 1630 hours.
RIFLE PRACTICE
The last rifle practice at the Parton range was held on 12th October. Members wishing to attend rifle practices should contact Glen Heggs prior to the first range day in April, 2009.
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