Shooting To Let

I have been in the commercial shooting business since 1978 and during this time I ran my own shoots together with a small game farm.Since about 2000 it became increasingly obvious that my better customers were shooting less and less with me and more with my friend Wilson Young! So on the basis of "if you cant beat them - join them " I did .

Since 2005 I have taken about 12 days each year with Wilson Young and even after 30 years in the business it has been an eye opener. With about 50,000 acres of mainly hill ground and 15 keepers Wilson's operation has to be the biggest and the best in the country. I have shot all over Britain but never have I seen such consistent quality and such beautiful remote, wild country with organisation that is is both quiet and highly efficient. The partridge driving over very hilly wild country is especially technically innovative and it is a great credit to the management. You may have guessed that I approve of it!!

I list days which are available to individual guns who will make up a party of no more than eight guns. You may take a single day but I encourage you to take two days, we shoot double guns at all times, even on 150 bird days. Of course if you don't want a loader then a single gun is fine and you do save his fee. But beware, we do shoot partridges all through the season and sometimes we find a lot of them and double guns then are a must.

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The shooting is all in the Border country, there are 9 partridge beats and many pheasant beats so we never know precisely where we are going to be; the main shooting areas are just west and north of the Cheviot with another large area in the west side of the Lammermuirs. I am happy to arrange Hotels in the area, Tillmouth park, Dryburgh Abbey, The Roxburgh, Ednam House and Collingwood Arms all are suitable.

These estates are wild, most of the hills are 1000 to 1500 feet up and some higher, the birds are driven off scree, heather, whin bushes and short bracken - game crops are unnecessary and wont grow anyway. The birds are exceptional - I prefer practically no wind as the birds stay on the tops and we can find them. When it is windy, shooting is so difficult and birds are more difficult to show over the valleys so that it is more difficult to manage a "bag". On a windy day 10 to 1 is not unusual, on a calm day perhaps 5 or 6 to 1 with the tooled up merchants showing off at 3 or 4 to one. For this reason we dont have underages and so we don't have overages either. This is wild sport for the connoisseur, if you expect to see 201 birds laid out each day on a 200 bird day please don't come - you will be disappointed. We had two days in early December last season where a returning team of good guns on two calm days shot about 15 to 1 with most guns firing 50 cartridges on a drive for one or two birds ( they claimed ) Character forming - but then this lot needed it.

We shoot both redlegs and pheasants, October is mainly partridges then November and later usually 50/ 50 with mainly pheasants in January, but then the partridges are sensational and on a quiet frosty day it is surprising how many can be found on the sheltered high drives.

An excellent lunch is included, it is either taken on the hill in a very nice lunch hut or it is a hot meal in a local farmhouse. On shoot transport can also be provided. Vat is also included in the price. Dogs very welcome - we have thoughtful pickers up.

Dates
8 and 9th Sept - 400 birds per day. - £2000 per gun per day
14 and 15th October - 200 birds per day - £1000 per gun per day
10 and 11th November - 200 birds per day - £1000 per gun per day
1 and 2nd December - 200 birds per day - £1000 per gun per day
5 and 6th January - 150 birds per day - £750 per gun per day

Perhaps I should conclude in saying that I have been a professional pigeon guide for 30 years. We shoot nowadays mainly in late summer with a maximum of two hides, usually only one. Stay with us. Sport can be good.

Happy days.