D.TOMLINSON
Dogsareessential forgrouse shooting— picking-upwithout them is
unthinkable and watching them work is a joy, says David Tomlinson
Likethewildestofspaniels,I ran
intocollectmybirdbecauseI didn’t
havea dogtodothejobforme.I
thoughtI hadmarkedthefallbutI
couldn’tlocateit.After 10 minutes
ofsearchingandstillnobird,panic
startedtogripme.Myfirstgrouse,
indeedmyfirstgamebird,wasa
memorablemomentinmylifeandit
wouldhavebeenawfulnottoputit
intothebag.ThenI spottedthebird
onitsback,hiddenintheheather.
Relief washed over me.
THEFIRSTGAMEBIRD
I evershotwasa grouse
duringmyschool
holidays.I wasenjoying
a shooting,fishingandbirdwatching
holidayona familyfriend’s6,000-
acrefarmintheHebrides.Theground
includeda grousemoor,thougha
moreaptdescriptionwouldhave
beena moorwitha fewgrouse.
OntheGloriousTwelfthmy
companionandI trudgedthrough
theheatherforhoursinpursuitof
theelusivebirds.Wefoundtheodd
feather,eventheoccasionalpile
ofdistinctivedroppings,butthe
grousethemselvesremainedunseen.
Eventually,afteranexhausting
blankmorning,anoldhentookoff
infrontofme.I firedinwhatmust
havebeena reflexreactionand,to
myastonishment,thebird tumbled
back to the heather.
I recallthisnottoboreyouwith
thestoryofmyfirstgrousebutto
raisea validpoint.Shouldwegoout
inpursuitofgrouse,oranyfeathered
quarryforthat matter, without a dog?
Humane
I’msurethatasa teenagerI would
havearguedinfavourofthedogless
Gun,butnowI’mnotsosure.Weowe
it toourquarrytopick-upassoon
aswecanaftershootingit andif it is
wounded,todespatchit asquickly
andhumanelyaspossible.Without
a dogthat’softenimpossible.
Pickinggrouseis particularly
challenging,mainlybecause
markingis sodifficult.A seaofpurple
heatherlookswonderful,butit is
extraordinarilyuniformandthere
arerarelyanyobviousfeaturesto
helpyoumarkthefall.Someyears
ago I was a spectator at a grouse trial
Gundogs
Dogged determination
Thisspringer
hasretrieveda
shotgrouseona
Yorkshire moor
“Weoweit toour
quarrytopick-upas
soonaswecanand
todespatchit as
quickly as possible”
42 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE