And the beat goes on

Wrestling through brambles or wading through sodden cover crops are all in a day’s work for beaters. Essential to the success of a shoot day, they also often have the best fun, enthuses retired gamekeeper Simon Lester

- Simon Lester

AS the start of the pheasant-shooting season approaches, a mixed bag of hardy enthusiasts looks forward to participating in a fieldsport for reasons other than marksmanship—exercise, camaraderie and contact with Nature being only some of them. Having been a head gamekeeper on several shoots in different counties, I appreciate the importance of these special folk, who keep their heads down: the humble beaters. The simple fact is that you cannot operate without them and they come from as wide an array of backgrounds, motivations and characters as the shoots themselves.

What is a beater? He or she is a member of an all-important team that, under the direction of the gamekeeper, lines out and walks through cover, with the aim of flushing the game over the waiting line of guns. That sounds simple, but, like a dog, some beaters need training.

Low-ground beating for pheasant and partridges is fairly easy going compared with grouse beating, which takes in vast areas and requires a certain level of fitness, as the terrain can be steep and unforgiving. If you are beating on a grouse or partridge day, you are likely to be issued with a flag—to wave furiously at the birds in the hope of persuading them to fly in the right direction. However, for woodland pheasants, a good stick—with which to ‘beat’ brambles, trees and bushes, to make a noise that moves the birds forward—is in order.