Bucking the trend

Dave Whitby examines how the real cost of running a driven shoot has changed over the decades - things are actually cheaper nowadays

I was recently reminded of that old saying: "Up goes a guinea, bang goes sixpence and down comes half a crown." This refers to historical costs associated with shooting a pheasant in Victorian and Edwardian times. If you converted those amounts, based on how much they were worth in 1900, into 'today's money', the saying would go: "Up goes £79.80, bang goes £1.95 and down comes £9.77." But a gamedealer these days wouldn't give you anything like that, and cartridges are expensive but they aren't £1.95 a go. So is shooting today actually cheaper?

It is important to realise the difference between the cost of putting a bird over the Guns and the actual cost of each bird shot, the former being the total cost divided by the number of birds released and the latter your total costs divided by the number of birds shot. With a heavy reliance upon wild stock, our Edwardian example must have referred to total costs divided by what was hanging in the game larder. These days most of what is shot is released.

Costs come in three forms - fixed, variable and opportunity. Fixed costs are those that remain constant despite output, like whether you put 1,000 or 7,000 birds out, your keeper and his house. Variable costs alter depending upon output - more birds, more feed, higher vet costs. The total cost of each bird released is largely down to management and competence. The cost of each bird shot varies - it reflects both release costs and percentage returns.

Costs vary from one shoot to another. Economies of scale, competence and topography all influence performance and return.