When we all look ahead to the new game shooting season, certain images will invariably spring to mind. Morning coffee and bacon rolls in dank stone bothies or sheds, collars pulled high, while excited spaniels and labradors charge about outside in the sleet and snow, their breath fogging in the frigid air. The delight of frozen fingers wrapped around hot cups of soup at elevenses. Then retiring at the end of the day for hearty pheasant casserole, steaming tweeds and dogs thawing next to a log-burner in the corner.
Game shooting and cold weather go together like pork pie and pickle. But for a lucky few, the shooting season starts in late summer when the heather is in bloom and the weather calls for Sangria rather than soup.
Shooting Times Editor Patrick Galbraith and I once shot walked-up grouse together on the Glorious Twelfth and to say that it was warm would be an understatement. The puce faces, sweaty brows and rolled-up sleeves in the team photo — taken just before lunch after a lengthy yomp through deep heather and saturated peat — look like those belonging to a group of overweight Bikram yoga practitioners. There isn’t a tie in sight.
Challenges
The truth is early-season grouse or partridge shooting offers a completely different experience — and set of challenges — to what we typically associate with game shooting in the UK. And having the right kit on a warm or even hot autumn day is just as important as remembering your thermals and gloves in January. So what should you wear on an early-season day when the weather is fair?
Denne historien er fra August 4, 2021-utgaven av Shooting Times & Country.
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Denne historien er fra August 4, 2021-utgaven av Shooting Times & Country.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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United we stand
Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors
Serious matters
An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning
They're not always as easy as they seem
While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort
Debutant gundogs
There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting
When the going gets rough
Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make
A step too far?
Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work
Two bucks before breakfast
A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem
Stalking Diary
Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill
Gamekeeper
Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside
