PICK ‘N' MIX

While none of us greet the end of the season with joy, the great thing about those last shoot days is that you never know what you’re going to get, reminisces Phil Moorsom

- ROUGH ROVERS

The standing Guns waited in the fog for the birds to be pushed out of the wood I am always surprised how suddenly the shooting season comes to an end. We wait an eternity for it to start, put up with the now customary warm, sunny, still September days, until the shooting really gets started in October. November and December are crazily busy and we only have the odd day between Christmas and New Year. Then after the first 10 days in January, people start to panic, realising the season’s nearly over and their opportunities are dwindling. This year, it was worse than ever and I was besieged by members keen to make sure they were booked onto one of the last few days in our calendar.

We visit a lot of shoots each season so are not usually short of offers of clear-up days at the end of January. It is my favourite month to shoot as it seems that only the highest and fastest partridge survive and the pheasants either challenge the Guns to take them on, fly under the radar or simply walk away, well aware that 1 February is around the corner. Boundary days also improve as keepers are keen to push birds back to the main drives and are generally more relaxed about the numbers shot. When we used to get cold Januarys, the wild bird days were always much better and more productive.