The Field – August 2019

74 WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK

consultant on various moorland projects,

agreesthatgrouseareperhapsa littlehar-

dierinthenorth-east– thetemperatureon

thehighgroundinAberdeenon6 Maythis

year when henswere nesting was minus

-5°Ccomparedtoa balmy12°CinthePeak

District.Coldweatheratthattimeofyearis

notgoingtobothera hengrouse,provided

it warms up in time for insect activity at

hatching,butsoutherngrousemighthatcha

fewdayssoonerandhavea slightedgeover

northernoneswithearlierplantgrowthand

increasednutritional value.To sayScottish

grousearehardertoshootis toosweepinga

statement,becausetherearesucha variety

ofregionalandlocalbehaviouraldifferences.

Grouseonmoors such asDanby,Egton,

Rosedale,Spaunton,Bransdale,Commondale

orSnilesworth,ontheundulatingplateauof

theNorthYorkMoorsaregenerallyconsid-

eredtamerthanelsewhereandrarelypack

as the season progresses. I asked George

Thompson,theheadkeeperonSpauntonfor

28 years,thereason.“Itis becausetheyseeso

manypeople,”hetoldme.“Spauntonis 7,000

acresandwehavemorethan 34 milesofbusy

publicfootpaths,”butterrainhasaninfluence.

TheDerbyshirePeakDistricthasjustasmany

membersofthepubliceverydayoftheweek

andyetthegrouseonthewesternsideofthe

ridge running through the Peak District are

knowntobesharperontheirtoesearlyinthe

seasonthantheeasternside.RichardMay,a

boardmemberoftheHeatherTrustandthe

shootingtenantofPeakNaze;MarkOsborne

ofJMOsborne;JimSutton,theheadkeeperof

WoodheadandSnailsden;andRichardBailey,

theheadkeeperofGoytandCrag,all agree

thatthedifferenceis downtotopography.

Thewesternsideis altogetherwilderand

muchmorerugged,with narrowcontours,

steepvalleysandghylls,andbuttsstrategi-

callyplacedtomakethebestuseofthem.

Moorson the eastern sidewhere it drops

down to the River Don, such as the Duke

ofRutland’sMoscar,tendtobeflatterand

grouse perform differently. Not that this

means grouse being broughtin off lower,

undulatinggroundarenecessarilyanyeasier

toshoot– youmaybeabletoseethebeating

lineinthedistanceona flatmoorandblack

dotsofgrouse,sinkingandrisingastheyhug

thecontourstowardsyou,buttheyarejust

ashardtohitwhentheyjumpoutofdead

ground at 60mph as theyare when they

comeskitteringandspirallingoverthe side

ofa steepslopewitha shortskyline.

Formanyyearstherehasbeena sugges-

tionthatgenetic differencesexistbetween

Scottish and English grouse, which has an

Top:doesweatherandlocationmakeScottish

grouseharderflyingthantheirEnglishcousins?

Above:and how do Welsh birds compare?

To say Scottish grouse are harder to

DUNCAN IRELAND; TARQUIN MILLINGTON DRAKE; ALAN WARD; MARK BEEDIE; ANN CURTIS; REX/SHUTTERSTOCKshoot is too sweeping a statement