54 WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK
D
uringthejourneybetween
the Black Bull in Lauder
and Rawburn Moor,
70-year-oldWilsonYoung
regales me with shoot-
ing anecdotesin hissoft,
Border lilt andwith an enthusiasmundi-
minished by nearly 40 years at the sharp
endofa sportthatissynonymouswithhis
nameinthewildandlovelyBordersregion.
Weareonourwaytoshootgrouseonmoor-
land belongingtothe Duke ofRoxburghe
butYoungalsorentsandadministersgame
shootingacrossa staggering60,000Border
acres, which provides employment for 12
full-timegamekeepersandsomuchwork
forancillarystaff thatduringthe shooting
season he is the biggest employer in the
area. His business, Eskdale Shooting Ser-
vices, isnowin thesafe handsof Wilson
Youngjunior.Hestartedit in 1981 withthe
leaseofDalkeithPalaceestateafterAmeri-
canvisitors toYoung’sLauderhotel asked
himtoarrangesome driven pheasant shoot-
inginthearea.
On this mid-September morning pheas-
antsarea longwayfromYoung’s thoughts.
Thismonthis allaboutdrivenpartridgeand
grouse, which should provide challenging
sport six weeks into the shooting season,
onlythisyear(2018)theyareinshortsup-
ply followinga poorbreedingseason, and
many moors in the area have cancelled. Not
all,ofcourse,forgrousebeinggrousethey
haveflourished insomeofthesurround-
inghillsandYoungrevealsthatoneofhis
neighboursenjoyedanexceptionaldayin
earlyAugust.Although numbers onRaw-
burnMoorarenotconsideredsufficientto
bedriventhisyear,therearedeemedtobe
enoughfora smalldayoverpointers. It’s
a wild and blustery sort of morning and
Youngisconcernedthat inthese autum-
nalconditionsthebirdsmaygetupoutof
rangeandnotholdtothedog’spointaswell
as they would in more settled weather.
THETEAMMEMBERS
Wearriveattheedgeofthemoorandmeet
the othermembersof theteam, including
Billy Darragh, an Irish-born dog handler
fromInverness,picker-upJuneLaing,sport-
ingagentWillieColeand,mostimportantof
all,histwoAmericanclientswhosedriven
grousedayonthemorrowhasbeenreplaced
by one after partridges. Cole, who has a
fascinating sporting background, founded
WLSportingwithhisSwedishpartner,Louise
Granne,sixyearsagoandreportsa strong
demandforshootingintheBorders.Amer-
ican friends and business consultants
Andrew Stifel and Colvin Matheson were
putintouchwithColebyGranne’sbrother,
Lars,throughtheInternationalOrderofSt
Hubertus. Although both are experienced
quail, chukka (red-legged partridge) and
pheasant shots back home, neither have
shotgrouseoverpointersbeforeandthereis
- quitenaturally– a certainamountofeager
excitementasYoungexplainstheform.“This
isdifferentfromwalkingup,”hesays.“You
mustnotshootuntila dogisonpointbut
onceyou’rewalkingintoa pointhavea crack
atanythingthatgetsup.Tryandspreadwide
onyourapproach–imaginethehorns of a
bullwitheachofyouatoneend.”
Unusually, the shooting party doesnot
include the Duke’s moorland headkeeper,
DrewAinslie,whoisbusyrunninga driven
day elsewhere, but such is the relation-
ship between the two men, who have
been friends since childhood, that Young
istrustedtorunthedayasif it wereonhis
ownextensiveground.Weset offintothe
windwith Darragh’s treasured nine-year-
oldbitch,Arabella,quarteringheatherthat
has lost the purpleflush of highsummer
andisfastrevertingtoitsdrabwinterhue.
Like allofthe Irish setters inhiskennels,
Belle is descended from a bitch Darragh
foundinCountyLimerick 30 yearsandfive
generationsago,a specificstrain the rep-
resentativesofwhichnowcarrytheprefix
‘Erinvale’. Hehas broughtdownfourIrish
settersfortheday;twoarefieldtrialcham-
pions but the sleek red bitch bounding
throughtheheatherinfrontofushaswon
a remarkable 10 openstakes.Witha record
like that it’s hardly surprising that she
Most of the birds flushed at
maximum range for a 20-bore
Above:Jennadisplaystheeasy,gallopingstyle
typicalofherbreed.Right:Moselbringsina bird
Previouspage:a single grouse rises, this time
in range
