Some people wouldn’t dream of going on holiday with their family, let alone on a trip where most of them are holding Shotguns! However, my family’s annual shooting trips cannot come soon enough every year, more so this year as we were shooting somewhere and something completely new.
We were staying at The Lord Crewe Arms in Blanchland on the Durham/Northumberland border, set in the centre of a beautiful village. Despite being renowned as a haunted site, the staff looked after us well and the beds were comfy, although I would only suggest staying clear of room 19 if you don’t want to be visited by the resident ghost!
Friday morning started early with a 45 minute drive across the moors, spotting numerous grouse amongst the heather and hoping that they wouldn’t be flying that fast when we went to shoot them the next day!
We met in the glorious grounds of Raby Castle, a 60,000 acre estate owned by Lord Barnard, split into two 30,000 blocks, one used for pheasant shooting, the other a grouse moor. A mixed day of shooting was ahead of us, with the excitement of wild pheasants, mixed wildfowl, woodcock and snipe, although who was to know that this would happen all in the first drive!
We spread out across marshland and were instantly met with teal, woodcock, pheasants, geese and an owl, although the owl luckily wasn’t included in the bag! It was certainly a perfect first drive to get your eye in for the rest of the day, with orbital teal and swooping woodcock teasing us to take a shot.
The second drive gave us the chance to stand on the outside of a wood as birds were pushed forward, sideways and across more marshland, ending in my first teal, not quite as orbital as the first drive, but they’re tricky little birds, so I was just as happy.
Streaming pheasants careered over our heads before lunch, with more of a few misses from my peg, making me glad for lunch, which was taken in a candlelit bothy in the woodlands surrounding Raby Castle.
The last two drives of the day always send me into a form of desperation, as I pray that a sky high pheasant will come my way and I will somehow hear the reassuring thud as I cleanly hit it and it lands beside me, however, this is rarely the case! Although, this did happen to my cousin, as we saw a flitting jay fly out of the woods, incline upwards over her head and fall in one shot, not bad for someone who hasn’t picked up a gun this season!
We stood in the valley below a huge wood on the final drive, with cracking pheasants gliding over the guns and as shouts of “woodcock” echoed through the valley, it swung towards me and I somehow managed to bring it down, leaving me with a huge grin on my face and the pin feathers for my hat.
The whole day was so expertly run by the gamekeeper, Ian Alexander and his team of beaters presenting fantastic wild birds that gave complete pleasure when I managed to hit one.
If you are looking for a challenging smaller wild bird day I would thoroughly recommend shooting at Raby Castle, as the saying goes it is not always the quantity but the quality that makes a good days shooting and that was certainly the case with us.
The Infamous Grouse
Saturday morning dawned, bright but with a slight mist rolling in and my nerves were already jangling with my uncles expert advice of how fast, tricky and low grouse can be. Going against all your natural shooting instincts of seeing sky before you shoot was something I needed to take on board.
As we climbed steadily higher up the moors, we were engulfed by thick fog, which didn’t really put my nerves at ease, because if you can’t see grouse on a clear day, how on earth was I going to spot them when you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face?
Apparently, us Southerners don’t know much about the Northumberland/Durham weather, as we were met by the Gamekeeper who merely commented what a great day it was for shooting. Sure enough as we climbed further up the moor in our army tracked wagon, the fog cleared and as we walked to our butts we were rewarded with the most glorious view.
As we stood anticipating the first wave of birds, we were kept company by a chattering pack of grouse sat behind us, laughing in expectation of the first miss. The beaters were miles off, but soon the first call of “forward” were echoing across the moors and we were engulfed by a low pack of twisting and turning birds, and to my immense pleasure one dropped, landing a few feet behind the butt.
My enormous grin could not describe the absolute joy of shooting my first grouse and by the end of the drive my grin was echoed by all the girls, who were duly blooded with their first grouse.
The rest of the day was spent in a blur of 70mph grouse (one of the beaters claimed they were going that speed, so I’m sticking to it!) with the following drives spent in a deep gulley, giving the term ‘snap shooting’ a whole new meaning. Relying on my cousin to shout the birds through (and clear up after me!) I felt like I needed to keep my gun to my shoulder the whole length of the drive. Packs of grouse sped by, followed by a couple of brace, which in your mind’s eye you could see thudding onto the heather, but in reality ducked and dived back over the brow of the moor.
The afternoon’s drives just re-iterated why some people spend thousands of pounds on grouse shooting. With the afternoon sun slipping below the moors, the sound of chattering grouse and the anticipation of the speck like beaters pushing great packs of them over you, made me feel so privileged to be given the opportunity to shoot driven grouse at only aged 23.
The grin was wiped smartly off my face as I spotted a pack of over 100 grouse heading directly towards me. Needless to say only one fell out of the sky, although each bird that I did shoot gave me as much pleasure as my first grouse and I’m sure if I’m lucky enough to shoot grouse again, then that excitement will never stop.
Raby Castle moor makes up the other 30,000 acres of the estate and it certainly looked like the beaters had walked most of this on the day, showing us the most fantastic high, challenging birds. All of the gamekeepers managing the moor are obviously doing a fantastic job and they have had an absolutely bumper season so far. When we jokingly enquired about coming back next week we were informed that they were booked up until the end of the season but because we had bought such ideal shooting conditions with us we could come again next year!
I cannot thank Raby Castle Estate (or my Father!) enough for showing us the most fantastic weekend, filled with wild pheasants, a plethora of wildfowl, tricky snipe and woodcock and of course, the infamous grouse. All the team were extremely welcoming and I’m looking forward to tucking into my roast grouse this weekend, which my mother has just plucked and dressed!
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Raby Castle Estate, County Durham
23 November 2011 by Louise Benson, 0 comments
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