No One Expects The Spanish Acquisition

As well as releasing up to 5,000 wild grey partridges, a shoot hatches eggs from Spain to provide fantastic sport, as Tony Jackson discovers

- Tony Jackson

It was a sporting time-warp. The long years and the passage of time vanished in a twinkling as the 20-plus covey of grey partridges starburst over the tall, straggling hedge to a rattle of shots, leaving three of their number behind.

I had joined a party of eight Guns at the Honeycombe shoot in Dorset. Hosting the day was Mike Appleby, shoot organiser and gamekeeper extraordinaire, accompanied by his wife Antonia. She not only doubles up as underkeeper but also picksup with her Labradors, does all the paperwork and hosts the big days when Mike is running the beating line. She also ensures that shooting parties neither starve nor die of thirst. Helping out was part-time assistant keeper Jason Rock.

This is a remarkable shoot, run in a thoroughly sporting fashion to offer a wide variety of options, from driven shooting and walked-up days to stalking and even grey squirrel shooting, all in a style that, sadly, is today lacking in some quarters. It is hardly surprising to discover that the Honeycombe shoot is booked up throughout the season.

Credit crunch

I knew Mike when he was keepering on a Shropshire shoot. Some 16 years ago, he came to Sherborne Castle to work for four years as headkeeper on the estate for the Wingfield-Digby family. The shoot was then let to a commercial owner, but the credit crunch brought an end to the big days. Mike decided to take on the adjacent Honeycombe shoot, also owned by Sherborne Castle.