The very best of us

British fieldsports are possibly the finest in the world and they ought to be celebrated, says Patrick Laurie

- Patrick Laurie

British fieldsports are famous throughout the world. Despite being a small island, we punch well above our weight across an astonishingly wide range of sporting disciplines and there can be few other countries that offer such an exciting combination of fishing, hunting, shooting and stalking.

As a community, we’re united by some basic shared values which are based upon an abiding respect for the countryside, but the reality of a day outdoors might land you anywhere from falconry and pike fishing to ferreting or walked-up ptarmigan.

It’s fair to say that you’ll find bigger stags and grander salmon in other countries, but it’s unlikely you’ll find both species together in a single afternoon. It’s that combination of habitats and opportunities that allows us to stand above the crowd and, while there are some very good reasons to travel abroad for your sport, British shooting surely deserves a good deal of praise for its endless variety.

Wild, rugged mountains run down into saltmarshes and estuaries in the space of a few miles. An afternoon’s mooching around in North Wales can put you under grouse, woodcock, snipe, pheasants and all manner of wildfowl. Jump in the car for a few hours and you’ll find yourself in East Anglia, surrounded on all sides by hares, partridges and cheekily elusive muntjac deer.

Our list of potential quarry species is extensive, and the geography of our island means that everything is close at hand. It’s fair to imagine that a dedicated deerstalker could start the day with a sika in Somerset and end it with another in Sutherland.

Plenty to savour