You could see the beaters far distant on top of the next hill They were sending the grouse flying slightly uphill towards the Guns. Glenogil Estate By Forfar, Angus

The first challenge for this party of lucky Guns from Essex – who had won the day in a GWCT raffle – was to stomp up to their butts, where glorious views and testing birds awaited

- JANET MENZIES

As far as the eye can see is a very long way indeed if you are sitting in butt nine on the return of Glenmoy drive at Glenogil Estate, in the Angus Glens. From our perch, about 500 metres above sea level and 15 miles north of Glamis Castle, you can see the sea 27 miles away at Montrose. The landscape alone is enough to make Glenogil special, and it is easy to understand why the estate was bought in 2013.

Following the change of ownership, the estate launched into an enthusiastic programme of conservation, becoming a member of the influential Angus Glens Moorland Group, founded in 2015. By the time The Field visited last season, the estate’s conservation efforts were already showing massive progress, especially in black grouse numbers – a beacon species for British shooting and conservation.

Glenogil’s headkeeper, Danny Lawson, reported: “We record the number of birds at the same sites and at the same time each spring to make sure our conservation strategy is working and earlier this year we counted 109 males on 15 lek sites. The black game are doing quite well at the moment, so the careful conservation plans of regenerating heather and keeping tick levels down are working.”

Management of hare numbers is crucial in reducing the tick burden on any grouse moor, but as we spoke the Scottish government had introduced the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020. This licensing arrangement, overseen by NatureScot, makes hare culling illegal except under licences issued in exceptional circumstances, such as a risk to public health or protection of crops and timber. Lawson told me: “Controlling hare numbers is a huge part of our management because of the ticks they carry and having it taken away is giving us huge problems. We are finding the tick very much on the increase.”