Pride, but no prejudice

In the heart of Jane Austen country, a partridge shoot proves the Government right in allowing our sport to go-ahead

- PATRICK GALBRAITH

No ground game, no duck and no touching.” It was a bright early autumn morning and we were standing outside a barn listening to Keith Gorsuch giving the shoot briefing. It was all so familiar and yet everything was different.

I’m never embarrassed to admit that not only do I sleep badly the night before my first shoot day of the season but that, for at least a month leading up to it, little else occupies my mind.

This year, however, was more feverish than most. I wasn’t only concerned about whether I’d shoot straight or whether I’d get the date wrong — it’s happened more than once — the great worry, during early September, was that the day wouldn’t happen at all. But then the news came and our sport joined the hallowed ranks of octopush, netball and dragon boat racing in a list of activities exempt from the ‘rule of six’.

While it seemed that most journalists across the country were whipping themselves up into a bizarre paroxysm of fury about grouse shooting, the Shooting Times deputy editor and I went for a pint to celebrate the news.

The following morning, sitting at my desk with a slightly sore head I noticed that my phone was ringing. Unknown number. I was all prepared to tell the guy on the other end that the accident was entirely my fault but it was a plummy bloke from the BBC. He wanted to know whether I’d go on a news programme to talk about why anyone thought it was OK for shooting to go ahead in these COVID times.