Never take it for granted

Whatever our sport, there will come a point when our focus shifts, says Will Pocklington

- Will Pocklington

Flicking through the dog-eared pages of an old shooting diary is a pleasant way to spend a spare half an hour. The further back the stories go, the better. Only recently I found a small, hardback volume from my youth. Its entries, mostly relating to pigeon shooting exploits, are sporadic and vary in detail. The usual points — crop type, location, weather, gun, cartridges, company, bag — are all covered, but most interesting are the nuggets of information that allude to a mindset that is constantly being shaped by experience.

Over time, scribbled observations about my quarry’s behaviour replace or supplement those on bag size and cartridge choice or how well I shot. It got me thinking, how does our attitude towards fieldsports change as time goes by?

When we set out on our journey in any pursuit, it’s the unknown — the yet to be experienced — that many of us find so alluring. Then, for a while, simply partaking in that pursuit is enough. But as our experience of an activity grows and we mature, the thing that draws us back above all else — what we take the greatest interest in or pleasure from — tends to alter. Whether we’ve dirtied our barrels, wet the net or chambered more than one round becomes less important. Escapism, a time to reconnect — that’s what matters.

Perspective