Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

W lk d h ti

React — don’t rush

Withthegrouse seasonabout togetunder way, Tom Payne

gives some advice on how to prepare yourself for the day

I

n thisserieswe’velooked
athowtohelpyoubecome
a betterwalked-upShot.It
cannotbesaidenoughthat
whenit comestoroughshooting,
understandingyourquarryand
yoursurroundings,combinedwith
yourgeneralfieldcraft,areinmany
respectsfarmoreimportantthan
youractualshootingability.
Regardlessofhowwellyoushoot,
if youdon’tthinklikethebirdyou
aretryingtoshoot,youwillalways
getcaughtout.Walked-upshooting
coversa widerangeofgameand
differentsituations,andthisis why
somanylovethisfantasticform
ofshootingaboveallothers.
We’velookedatdealingwith
pheasantsinwoodedground(Rough
andready, 5 June),thesudden
surpriseoftheelusivebutspecial
woodcockandtheexcitementof
stalkingducksona flightpondora
splash(Elementsofsurprise, 3 July).
Inthisfinalpartoftheseries,we
willfindouthowtomastertheart
E. WEATHERSPOON / G. DOWNING / A. HOOK / L. CAMPBELL / A. SYDENHAMofshooting grouse and partridges.

28 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Youneedtobereallyonyour

mettletoshootwildbirds

such as partridge or grouse

Thosewhohavebeenfortunateenough

toshootwalked-upgrousewillknowit’s

bothverytestingandveryspecial.Just

likemanyofuswhostarttheirgame-

shootingcareersroostinga pigeonor

beingluckyenoughtogetinvolvedon

a beaters’ day, I strongly believe your

firstgrouseshouldneverbedriven

butwalked-up.I saythisbecauseit’s

thepurestformofgrouseshooting.

Notonlythat,butasfaraswalked-up

shootinggoes,it reallyis asgoodasit

getsandshouldbeatthetop of every

game shooter’s buck lis.

GROUSE

Ideally,yourfirst

grouseshouldbe

walked-up, not driven