I
met up with a few shooting friends last
week to discuss next season’s calendar,
grumble about the lack of pigeon shooting and
make plans for some out-of-season activities.
One of the topics that inevitably came up was our
favourite days from last season. I am out quite a
lot in the busy months, but usually working the
terriers, hosting and only seldom shooting. Some
of the best days out with a gun are often the
unexpected ones for me and on occasion I
receive a phone call at the eleventh hour from aGun who is unable to make a shoot day. I never
was a scout, but I am a great believer in being
prepared so my MK60 20-bore is always in the
truck even if my name is not on the team sheet.
I had managed, through sheer persistence, to
get one of only two boundary days on a large
family estate near Worcester at the end of
November last season. Sadly, two of the Guns
down to shoot called me at 7.30am that day as
they could not make it. Some drama at work
required both their attentions, so I vowed to domy best to find last-minute replacements and
recoup at least some of their money. I managed to
find one easily and then volunteered to stand in
myself as I was there anyway.
I love the excitement of shooting new estates
where one does not know the ground well. I had
been given a brief tour in June when I came to
meet the keeper, but the majority of the pieces we
would be shooting I had not seen. We met the
keeper and an army of beaters at the shoot hut,
most of whom weren’t being paid but just wanted
to come for the day out. Always a good sign. The
keeper was a bit nervous as it was his first
boundary day and he was keen to impress.
Conditions were perfect: slightly damp, plenty of
grey cloud and a good wind.
We set off in a fantastic old army truck to the
first piece, which was a large copse in the middle
of some flat fields, surrounded by scrub grasses
and nowhere near any of the drives. It certainly
didn’t look like much, but five of us dutifully lined
out with another two walking-up with the
beaters through the grasses. The first
pheasants that got up from the back
of the copse went with the wind and
flew low over the Guns to my right.
Now wary of the Guns, more than a
couple of birds got up to a decent
height and were missed
spectacularly, but the Guns soon
found their range and brought down a
few. Frustrated spectators, the Gun to my left
and I did not have to wait long for our turn as
some of the more wily birds turned on the wind
and climbed athletically over us, offering some
truly challenging shooting. I shot three absolute
belters, which sadly were not picked by my terrier,
Buster, as he was out of sight, busy helping out at
the other end of the line.
We then split the team again with me and two
Guns walking through a long, wide and denseA GOOD DAY
Phil Moorsom reflects on the qualities that produced one of last season’s best shoot days for
him and his syndicate. Not surprisingly, there was more to it than just good shooting
PICTURES:
DAN BEARDSMORE/ PHIL MOORSOM
ROUGH SHOOTING // WITH THE ROUGH ROVERS
‘When we reached the
end of the wood, we
were greeted by a team
of grinning Guns busily
helping to pick the birds
they had marked’
A successful day isn’t just about
how many birds you shootWANT TO
JOIN IN?
You can contact the Rough
Rovers on 01453 873725 or
by visiting http://www.
roughrovers.co.uk