Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

Walking-uppartridgesinitstraditional

formis notascommonthesedaysand

willmainlybepartofa normalwalked-up

day.WalkingSeptemberstubblesis rare

andinmanycasesa walked-uppartridge

daywillcoincidewitha gundog trial or

triallingpracticeday.

Youwillfindyourselfwalkingthrough

cropsofkale,stubbleturnipsorsome

formofgreencover.If thisis thecase

youwillneedtobealerttowhat’sgoing

on,fullyawarethatcoveyswilljumpin

frontofyou.However,ona classicrough

daya coveysuddenlyburstingoutofa

hedgerowwillcatchyououtunlessyou

focus and are ready for a surprise.

Yetagainit’sbacktothegolden

ruleoffieldcraft.Oftena burstingcovey

willtendtobreakearlyandstaylowtothe

ground,onlygainingheightif thebirds

havetocrossan obstacle such as a hedge

ortreeline.

Whenshootingpartridgesyoumust

bepositiveand,aswithgrouse,know

yourdistances.Frenchpartridgeswill

veryrarelycutbackandwillgenerally

onlyoffertheshootergoing-awayor

quarteringshotsandpossiblytheodd

crosser.Themainthingis to focus on

pickinga birdcorrectly.

Mypersonalgameplanis alwaysto

take a bird from the back of the covey,

aroundthemiddle.Thiswillnaturally

moveyoutotheoutsideofthecoveyfor

thesecondbird,ortothefront.Myfocus

is alwaysmiddlefirstbefore I think about

the outside of the covey.

Gettingtoa claygroundandpractising

forcoveysis notaneasytask.Grounds

thatoffera walked-upcoveysituation

arefewandfarbetween.Inanidealworld

youwouldbeabletostandinfrontofa

Huntsmanora numberofoscillating

traps,allowingyoutofocusonpicking

a birdandthenmovingontokillthe

second.If thetrapsvarythereis always

thatelementofsurprise,allowingyouto

practisekeepingcalm,stayingfocused

andmakingthecorrectbirdselection.

Oneofmyfavouritewaystopractise

thatcanreallysharpenyouupis to

shootthebrokenbitsoffa clay.My

theoryis thatwhileyoucanshoota

basic crosser or going-away bird, and

stayfocusedonkillingthatbirdcleanly,

witha fragmentofclayyouhaveno

ideawhereit’sgoing.Youcanthenstay

focusedandreactaccordingly—it’sa

fantasticwayofpractising.Anyform

ofwalked-upshootingoffersvarietyin

termsofquarry,speedandangle,soa

goodgame-basedSportingclaylayoutis

asgoodasanything.Withwalked-upor

roughshootingyoucan’taffordtobea

one-trickpony;variety when you practise

is so important.

Itleavesmetosaytoeveryone

whois lookingforwardtotheseason

ahead,preparingtopittheirwitsalong

hedgerow,spinney,covert,waterand

moorland,toputthoughtintotheway

youpractise,andthinkaboutyour

situationandthequarryyouwillbe

shooting.Butmostofall,thekeyto

walked-uporroughshootingis fieldcraft.

Understandthebirdanditsenvironment

andit willhelpyoushoottothebestof

your ability, calmly and effectively.

PICK A PARTRIDGE

HOW WE PRACTISE

Walked-up shooting

30 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Sometestingclays

willgiveyouthevital

practice you need

“Youcan’taffordtobea one-trick

pony — variety is so important”