Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

H

owtofindshooting?This,

innearlyallcases,is the

biggestproblemforthe

newcomertothesport,

andoneforwhichhelpfuladvice

is extremelydifficulttocomeby.

Demandforshootingfarexceeds

thesupplyandmanypotential

sportsmen,aftera successionof

rebuffs fromfarmers,loseheart.

Asa boyI enjoyedgreatsport,

firstinEastAngliaandlaterinthe

Derbyshirehills,butthedemands

oftheearlystagesofa careermade

meputawaymygunandrods.Then

camethehappyday,nineyearsago,

whenI foundI hadtime.Butbythen

I waslivinginSurreyandpractically

allmyoldcontactswerelost.

I settoworkandmydiaryforlast

seasonincludeswalked-upgrouse

inScotland,gooseflightingonthe

Wash,drivenpheasantsinNorfolk,

decoying pigeons in fi ve counties,

drivenpartridgesontheIsleofEly,

fivewoodcockina dayinHampshire,

somegrandduckflightingontheIsle

ofSheppeyandtwoofthebest-known

hareshootsinCambridgeshire— in

facta wonderfulcollectionofassorted

daysspreadovermuchofthecountry.

Landowner’sdaughter

Thereareessentiallythreeways

ofobtainingshooting.Thefirstis

tomarrythedaughterofa large

landowner.However,assuccessis

normallydependentuponyourbeing

handsome,wealthyandpreferably

titled,wewilldismissthisapproach

onthegroundsthatfewreaders of

thisarticlewillbequalified.

Weareleftwithtwoalternatives:

youcanbuyit orbegit.Let’sstart

at thetopandworkdown,withthe

toprepresentedbythelargeprivate

non-syndicateshootsthatusually

belong to, and are administrated

Trackingdowna goodday’ssportis farfromeasy.John Marchington

looks at the options open to someone seeking some regular shooting

‘Beg, buy or marry it’

CEL

EBRA

TINGOURBESTWRIT

ERS

by,thelandownerortenantfarmer.

Sucha shootwillrequireat leastone

full-timekeeper,andbythetimehis

wageshavebeenmetanda cottage

andvehicleprovided,therewill be

littlechangeoutof£1,000.

Thecostofrearing,beaters,

keeper’scartridges,annualfeedbills,

andinnumerableextraswilladdat

leastanother£1,500.Inotherwordsa

totalannualcostinexcessof£2,500.

AssumingeightGunsshootoneight

daysintheseason,thecosttothe

ownerofgivinga day’sshootingto

oneGunis intheorderof£40.This

ignoresthefactthatthehostwillvery

probablyprovideaccommodation

for several of his Guns and possibly

42 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

“The cost to the owner of a day’s shooting for one Gun is £40 so invitations are limited to friends”

“Onthebuyingsideis

the 100 acresrented

by the lone wolf”