At one time driven shooting was the pastime of the landed gentry and shoots took place on huge country estates where the land was managed specifically for the preservation of game and the provision of sport. This type of land management has shaped the way that the British countryside has evolved.
Some of these large private shooting estates do still exist but many have been broken up and a great deal of Britain’s driven shooting takes place on a rather smaller scale than that enjoyed by our Victorian forbears.
What species are shot on a driven shoot?
Driven shooting is all about game birds. On most shoots ground game is not allowed to be shot, for safety reasons as much as any other.[wp_ad_camp_1]Game birds are tasty and nutritious wild or semi-wild birds.
They are prized for their delicious meat and for the challenge involved in shooting them.
The type of quarry species shot depends on the habitat.
In Southern England driven shoots are predominantly focused on pheasant shooting.
Pheasants prefer woodland edge as their habitat and this is why English farmland is strewn with little woods and copses. Some shoots also ‘put down’ some ‘partridge’ which are a rather smaller and lower flying game bird.
Further North in more open and rugged country you will find some splendid grouse moors. These magnificent areas of open moorland are specifically managed to support the needs of the ‘grouse’ a popular and very tasty game bird.
How is a shoot laid out?
The land within each shoot’s boundaries contains regions known as ‘drives’. These are areas within which pheasants or other game birds are known to be living. The drives are made as attractive to the birds as possible by management of the habitat. This may mean providing the right kind of vegetation, planting ‘cover crops’, or managing woodland to suit the occupants.
On a ‘driven shoot’ the shooters, who are called ‘guns’, are placed in line at one end of drive, whilst a team of beaters walk in a line towards them from the other end. On some shoots the beaters include a number of gundogs to help with flushing the birds. The birds take off over the guns and the guns’ role is to shoot them.
The period of time when the beaters are progressing forwards and during which birds are being shot, is also called ‘the drive’. The head keeper or shoot manager will give a signal to indicate the start and finish of the drive. Often a horn or whistle.
Pickers-up are people with gundogs who wait behind the line of guns and collect the fallen birds at the end of the drive. Wounded birds may be collected during the drive so that they can be humanely dispatched.
Who is involved in a shoot day?
A driven shoot day involves quite a team of people. In addition to the guns who have paid for their day’s shooting, there will be a team of beaters often with their dogs, one or more ‘pickers up’ (depending on the size of the shoot) to collect the shot birds, keepers to care for the birds and protect them from predators, and a shoot manager or ‘captain’ to make sure that the day goes smoothly.
On larger and more formal shoots the day is a serious commercial exercise for all those working behind the scenes. The guns pay a high price for their day’s shooting and are treated as honoured guests. They are not expected to socialise with beaters or keepers, and on some shoots the set up may be such that guns and beaters never come into contact at all. Meals are taken separately and beaters and pickers up are paid for their labour.
At the other end of the spectrum is the smaller, more informal shoot where guns and beaters eat and socialise together in a barn or at the local pub. On my own shoot, the beaters are not paid at all, but the guns buy them their meals and drinks in the pub at the end of the day, and we provide the beaters with several day’s rough shooting and a share in the birds, in return for their efforts.
Once the preserve of the very wealthy, driven shooting on smaller less formal shoots like ours, is now within the reach of many working people. Some small shoots reduce costs even further by working on a ‘walk and stand’ basis, which means that the guns split into two teams and take turns to beat for each other. The reduced chance to shoot is outweighed by the lower cost of the day, and good day out is still had by all.
Which type of shoot a potential ‘gun’ will choose all depends on his or her wallet and personal preference. There is something for everyone, if you know where to look.
What happens to the birds that are shot?
Most shoots give each gun a brace of birds (a cock and a hen) to take home. On our shoot we do the same for beaters too. What is left is usually sold to the local game-dealer.
The objective is to make sure that the birds are fit for human consumption and that they go into the food chain and are not wasted. This is one of the reasons that gundogs are such an important part of a driven shoot day. The gundogs’ role is to ensure swift and gentle retrieval of birds to minimise suffering and to keep the birds in a fit state for the table.
Driven shooting has undergone some changes over the last few decades but it is gradually becoming more accessible to those who want to participate in this sociable and healthy outdoor winter activity.
I’ll be taking a look soon at how you can get involved in shooting with your dog. But that is for another article.
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