NEWSLETTER No. 2 2017-2018
Frank Boddy • May 10, 2017
May 2017
As always our out of season period is busier than ever and we have much to look forward to
THE GAME FAIR 2017
Friday 28th to Sunday 30th July 2017: Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 5HX
I am delighted to advise that the Shoot has taken a stand on Gunmakers Row, so you now have somewhere to meet friends for a drink and leave coats and shopping. I also hope it will give us the opportunity to attract a few new Members.
Ruth and Debbie will be looking after you with tea, coffee and the odd glass of Pimm’s and Champagne. If you would like to help on the stand for a few hours on any day please let me know and I will have a name badge produced for you. I have not yet been advised of the stand number but this should be available for my next Newsletter
Please call in with your friends.
SHOOT DAYS
There has been an excellent take up of days with over 75% now taken. I would like to thank those of you who have not only booked days in the new season but have also paid your initial shoot fees.
There are a few initial payments still outstanding and would appreciate receiving these as soon as possible. For those concerned, in addition to a copy of your confirmation I also enclose a copy of your outstanding invoice.
Where applicable I also enclose an invoice for the second part of your shoot fee.
REMAINING SHOOT DAYS
I enclose a list of available days and as you will see there are plenty to choose from with every type and size of day still available. As there are a number of days which were not included in my previous lists please check if there is something which may now be workable for you.
For further updates on available days please visit our website www.ripleycastleshoot.com or www.gunsonpegs.com . Both sites are updated daily and are iphone and android accessible and now have responsive design image, whatever all this means!!
INSURANCE AGAINST LOSS OF DAYS DUE TO BIRD FLU
Restrictions on free range egg producers were lifted on Thursday 13th April throughout the UK. Although now free from outbreaks here in the UK, bird flu continues in other parts of the world. No one knows how the problem of bird flu will progress as once migratory birds return in the Autumn we must wait and see.
My proposal for the way forward is for the Shoot to cover outbreaks up to the start of the season. Should this happen and I find it necessary to cancel some days due to lack of birds a full refund will be given against any days I find it necessary to cancel.
From 1st September should shooting be stopped due to bird flu it is the responsibility of each gun to insure against loss of their days, in the same way you would insure against loss of days due to bad weather.
Insurance cover is now available from GunsOnPegs under a separate policy to the Triple Barrel Cover
www.gunsonpegs.com/insurance or telephone 0207 491 1363 for a quotation.
GAME SALES
There is much talk about what happens to shot game. Although our main game dealer Yorkshire Game went into administration during the season, they continued to take our game as a new company.
Although we received no payment for our birds for most of the season all our shot birds still entered the food chain. However as an approved shoot to supply Marks & Spencer through Yorkshire Game we continued to receive a premium for all birds sold through their stores.
It would seem there is an oversupply of game with many birds in feather still in cold store.
It is most important for our sport that all game shot should go into the food chain. I am assured by the new Yorkshire Game and our other game dealer Jason Drewery that they will take all our game next season and we may even receive some payment.
PARTRIDGE AND MAIZE
In a recent phone call one of my Shoot Members pointed out that we are one of the very few lowland shoots offering testing partridge shooting. The reason I first introduced partridge over 20 years ago was that I became very bored waiting for birds to show on many pheasant drives. I find maize is possibly the best holding and presenting crop for partridge which normally show before the pheasant and this waiting problem is avoided.
Over the years partridge have become an important part of our shoot and I am always trying to find ways of holding and presenting even more testing birds. Our total area of game cover for the new season at Ripley Castle and Mountgarret has grown to over 350 acres of which 98 acres is maize.
The actual sowing date for maize is critical and finding a contractor prepared to sow small areas of maize at the correct time is near impossible. We have therefore purchased our own maize drill. David is going to be very busy during the last two weeks of May! I am very confident that this substantial investment in maize will improve even further the overall quality of our partridge.
CATERING
I am very pleased to advise that following the success last season of our lunches in the Shoot Cabin in our Ripley Castle Shoot Yard, which were provided by Ollie Stewart and his staff at Ripley Castle Kitchens. In the new season Ollie will also now be providing our lunches in the Shoot Box on Hardcastle Moor and in the Shoot Lodge on Mountgarret Estate. Sadly his food will not help my waistline!
NEW INCUBATOR & HATCHER AT RIPLEY CASTLE
For some time I have been wanting to rear our own pheasants at Ripley Castle from our own laying field. In the past most of our pheasants have been produced from eggs originating from France. Having dealt with France for many years in the past with my hardwood importing business I was pretty certain they would use Brexit to increase prices by restricting supplies, which ironically has happened this year but due to bird flu.
I therefore decided to purchase an incubator/hatcher to produce most of our pheasant chicks. However with the onset of bird flu I decided to increase the capacity even further before it was delivered in order to produce all our pheasants.
As we already have a smaller incubator/hatcher at Mountgarret. We established a laying field of over 1,500 hens caught up at Ripley Castle and Mountgarret to produce the majority of eggs we require for both shoots.
As I also feel is it important to introduce some new stock each year we will be purchasing a small quantity of UK produced pheasant chicks in addition to our own production.
Now having our own pheasant production we are in a stronger position than most should an outbreak of bird flu occur.
WEBSITE www.ripleycastleshoot.com
During the summer our website will be undergoing a major upgrade, so watch out for this as it will be very different.
REVIEW OF OUR 2016-2017 SEASON AND PROPOSALS FOR OUR NEW: 2017-2018 SEASON
Our 2016 season must go down as one of the most challenging season’s I have ever experienced in my 25 years of running Shoots.
We were faced with warm, mild and sunny conditions throughout most of the season. With birds spread over the whole countryside in search of the abundant supply of natural food and not necessarily in the drives where we wanted them to be!
As Christmas and New Year approached everyone thought we would at last experience some real shooting weather in January. Unfortunately this was not to be and I can remember only one morning of frost and one covering of snow on the Moor.
The days were very challenging for our keepers and beaters but even given these conditions the birds flew well. Overall we succeeded in providing acceptable days throughout the season, but we do not want to go through this again. I never thought I would be wishing for overcast, damp and windy days but I do hope we have a few in the new season!
This unseasonal weather has left us with the big problem of too many birds remaining on the ground. We have caught up over 2,000 hens for our laying field, other shoots and game farms but there are still too many remaining. We must live with this and are feeding wheat which is being taken as if it were December. The one good thing is that we will have plenty of well grown early October pheasants!
In
the past we always tried to leave a breeding stock in order to produce some
wild pheasants. This was before the
skies were full of buzzards and red kites.
Sadly this has now become unworkable, which is a great pity as these
adult birds will produce chicks which will be devoured by raptors within a few
days of hatching. This is called
progress and appreciate we must accept and work with it.
HARDCASTLE & HEATHFIELD MOORS: RETURNS FOR 2016
HARDCASTLE MOOR
Brace Average bag per Day 10 year average 5 year average
Up to 2015 - - 530 787
2016 606 64 470 813
HEATHFIELD MOOR
Brace Average bag per Day 10 year average 5 year average
Up to 2015 - - 355 572
2016 338 48 321 570
Following an acceptable but not exceptional season in 2016 we have left a good stock on both Moors so we should have a reasonable season in 2017.
Unfortunately Heathfield has suffered from a second year of work under the direction of Natural England and The Yorkshire Peat Partnership. In short they spent four months over the winter blocking more grips (ditches) cutting and moving heather brash and planting sphagnum moss. I do hope it is worth the many hundreds of thousands of pounds it has all cost.
The outcome for our grouse is that we may experience another below average season on Heathfield as the birds may not have had sufficient time to re-establish on the worked areas. They certainly will not appreciate the bog which has been created. As last season we may well have half a moor, we must wait and see. However I plan to shoot our first days and decide how we should proceed once we have seen what stock we have.
RETURN ON BIRDS RELEASED AT EAGLE HALL & ASHFOLD SIDE 2016-2017
Pheasant Partridge Overall
10 year average 48.26% 44.05% 46.65%
2016-20176 43.39% 56.37% 50.11%
Birds shot average: 4.79. Birds shot in excess of the target bag for the season: 3.93%
Following another excellent season particularly on our partridge, everything is now in place for another successful season. We do not have any major changes planned as what George and his team have created takes some beating.
RETURN ON BIRDS RELEASED AT RIPLEY CASTLE, NIDD, HOB GREEN AND CAYTON 2016-2017
Pheasant Partridge Duck Overall
10 year average 45.55% 31.76% 70.40% 42.67%
2016-20176 41.93% 39.04% 52.28% 41.64%
Bird shot average: 3.49. Birds shot in excess of the overall target bag for the season: 9.18%
We plan similar releases to past seasons of pheasant and partridge with a reduction in our duck due to the increased number of duck reared in the wild. However one main change is the installation of our incubator/hatcher as detailed earlier in this Newsletter. We have also increased the number of day old partridge and reduced the number of partridge poults.
Due to the additional workload created by our producing all our own pheasants we have employed a trainee keeper, Ben Coates who has recently left College and has worked on the shoot part time for some time.
RETURN ON BIRDS RELEASED ON MOUNTGARRET 2016-2017
Pheasant Partridge Overall
2016-2017 45.06% 40.00% 42.97%
Birds shot average: 3.38. Birds shot in excess of the target bag for the season: 7.61%
MOUNTGARRET SHOOT
Having just completed our first season on Mountgarret, it would be an understatement to say it has been very challenging with a few surprises which are now behind us. I must admit it was somewhat naive of me to believe I could change overnight something which had been established over 100 years. However much has changed over the year and I am very confident we are now heading in the right direction.
Something which I had spotted earlier when I first looked at the Shoot was that although the pheasant are very acceptable, on many drives the partridge are exceptional. This is something I plan to build on in the new season.
During the year I have had tremendous support from the Estate. One problem we have, as do many Estates, is that some of the woodlands have grown too dense to allow the light to penetrate the woodland floor in order to establish suitable cover to hold game and also that the birds cannot fly through the trees. The circumstances of this are that the birds walk to the end of the wood producing large flushes which are not necessarily what we want. As part of the Estate forestry programme many of the woodlands will be thinned this summer creating much improved habitat for both holding and flushing the birds.
We have received invaluable support from all the farmers in making areas available for game cover. When I took the Shoot there were 17 acres. In the new season we will have over 150 acres of game cover. Much of this will be maize being ideal for partridge.
Last season we did have a few disappointing days which would have been difficult to avoid given the constant warm and still conditions. Overall we achieved an acceptable season but there is still much room for improvement. We have also increased the drives even further to over 30.
Martin Nesham our Head Keeper will be assisted by Liam his son and our new Keeper Andy Maloney who is ex army having served in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq so he knows his way around!
As we do not know how the partridge will perform on many of the drives, I propose releasing more than we will require in future years by releasing some on each drive. Once we know which drives produce the best partridge we will build on these in the future.
It is also worth noting that the prices remain as last season however we are only fielding 8 guns compared to 9. This should give more birds over each gun and the cost per bird is reduced.
I am very confident the many changes and improvements I propose for the new season will bring the Mountgarret Shoot to a new level and we can all look forward to some excellent shooting.
We now have everything in place for another successful season and I will keep you advised on our further progress.
MOUNTGARRET SHOOT MOUNTGARRET & NIDD May 2025 NEWSLETTER No. 4 : MAY : 2025-2026 SEASON Everything is now in place and looking good for our New Season. For once the Spring weather has been kind to us, so far !! As we have decided not to have a laying field this season. We have left a larger number of birds than normal on the ground. This together with the concentrated effort by Callum and his friends to reduce our fox population has given us ideal conditions to produce a good stock of wild birds. This is something I have always wanted to achieve. Maybe this season we will do it. Our farmers will soon be working the ground for our game cover and the seed planted. As I decided not to replace Tom Riley one of our Underkeeper’s, who left the Shoot at the end of last season. This season we will not be using the whole of our rearing field. We will rear all our partridge from chicks to poults and buy in our pheasant poults. I have split the purchase of our pheasant poults between five hatcheries. Our strain of pheasant will mainly be French Common Ring Necks which we normally release and have suited us well in recent seasons. Staff Changes Jared Inman, our Underkeeper has decided to leave the Shoot to gain some grouse experience as an Underkeeper on Coniston Moor. We wish him every success in this new position. An ill wind can blow in some good and this has certainly happened to our Shoot. We have been fortunate in finding a very experienced and well respected Keeper, Tommy Hesmondhalgh will be joining the Shoot from Sawley Estate. Callum and Tommy assisted part time by Tommy Taylor give us an exceptional Keeping team. So our birds are in very safe hands. Charitable Donations During our 2024-2025 Season thanks to the generosity of our guns and their non shooting guests in supporting our daily sweepstake and non shooting guest lunches. We have raised ibn impressive total of £19,345. This has been donated during April 2025 to the following: The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) £8,000 The Countryside Alliance (CA) £1,250 The Gamekeepers Welfare Trust (GWT) £1,250 The Country Food Trust (CFT) £1,250 Eat Wild (EW) £1,250 Songbird Survival Trust (SST) £300 Yorkshire Charity Clay Days (YCCD) £4,150 Bolton Castle Grouse Charity Clay Day £1,175 Nidd Parish Church (on Lord Mountgarret’ s Days) £380 South Stainley Church (on our Farmers Day) £340 ---------- £19,345 ---------- Many thanks to everyone who has made this possible. Available Days I would like to thank everyone who has already booked shooting in the New Season and particularly those of you who have paid your initial shoot fee. For everyone who shot with us last season it is still not too late to take advantage of our “Early Booking Discount” of 10% which runs out on 30th April 2025. A list of our Available Days is attached. As is normal at this time out of season, a number of days have changed with some new dates coming available. So please check this new list just to see if there is anything new to suit you. I have also included four additional days on: Thursday 18th September 2025 Monday 29th September 2025 Thursday 9th October 2025 Monday 22nd December 2025 ~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷ I look forward to hearing from you if would like to book some days in the New Season.
MOUNTGARRET SHOOT MOUNTGARRET & NIDD March 2025 NEWSLETTER No. 3 : MARCH : 2025-2026 SEASON At last Spring is actually here! But the world is in crisis and sadly thanks to our Labour Government our Countryside is no better. I am pleased to keep you updated on the continued relentless attack by this Labour Government on our Farmers, our Countryside Traditions and Heritage. Trail Hunting This government plan to ban trail hunting. I just wonder if they have considered the far reaching affects this will have. In England there are 170 registered Hunts with 8 in Scotland. If each hunt has 25 to 30 couples of hounds it is possible that over 10,000 hounds would need to be destroyed together with many horses. There is always much talk about mental stress, has any consideration been given to the huntsmen. hunt staff and hunt members who would no doubt be required to carry out the terrible task of putting down their much loved hounds. All carried out with the aim of destroying yet another part of our countryside heritage. Greyhound Racing The Welsh Government plan to ban Greyhound Racing “as soon as practically possible” on its one remaining Greyhound Track. There are 19 other tracks remaining in the UK. Although not as popular as in the past there is a dedicated following. Some greyhounds are in training but more are held by individuals in training as pets. Here in the North East we have Whippet Racing which is a very popular pastime. Most racing Whippets are kept as pets. There is also Terrier Racing as a fixture at most Country Fairs. Finally and most importantly to ourselves there are Gundog Trials and working Gundogs on every shoot. If any of these sports and pastimes were to be banned it would all lead to many of our animals., mostly pets being needlessly destroyed. After this what next?. It would open the gates to banning Horse Racing and even Pigeon Racing. This Government are a very cold hearted lot and just wish to sanitise and destroy our rural way of life in every way possible. Shotgun and Rifle Ownership As part of the Labour Government’s continued war on our countryside and particularly farmers. I understand they intend to consult on the matter of shotgun and rifle ownership later in this year. Under proposed changes, applicants would need to have good reason for owning a shotgun or rifle. Every gun would be licensed separately with the holding and purchase of ammunition limited. The most worrying consideration is that farmers and game keepers may no longer be able to store a shotgun or rifle on their premises. There would be a central store in each area. The whole idea of a farmer or game keeper having a firearm immediately available is to deal with vermin. However more importantly in the case of livestock farmers, need to be able to deal with an injured animal immediately. Where will this all end, will it be further restrictions on law abiding shotgun and rifle owners next? Release of Wolves Possibly the most bizarre proposal is to release a number of wolves in Scotland in order to control the deer population. One hundred animals have been proposed. Wolves were native to Scotland many years ago but habitats and farming practices have changed considerably over the years since the last wolf was killed. I recently read about wolves in The Netherlands, where they are protected. Causing considerable damage to sheep and other livestock. If this were to be permitted I see the following scenario. There would be the equivalent of 10 packs of wolves released to roam free in Scotland. As deer are pretty agile creatures it is only the old or injured deer which would be taken by the wolves. It would be sheep and other livestock including calves and ponies which would fall victim. Possibly with a number of defenceless hikers and general public. Once people were killed which they inevitably would be, the wolves would be hunted and destroyed. As the people who make this kind of decision are quite often animal lovers, which is kinder to the animal. To be shot and killed instantly by a bullet or the slow death of being mauled by a pack of wolves? Phase Out of Lead Shot On 13th December 2024 the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) outlined its proposal for a phased restriction of lead ammunition in Great Britain over a five year period to address environmental and health risks. So we may need to be lead free by 2030. Unfortunately this change may happen sooner than 2030 if there is pressure for lead free game meat, particularly form Europe where the majority of our game meat is consumed. For further information please visit the HSE document at https://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/restrictions/rr-aavi-0821 We plan to stay with lead shot for the time being. Our 2024-2025 Season Every season is different and we have just completed what was possibly our best ever season. So what happened? Everything seemed to come together. Our rearing field went really well and we produced some excellent birds with few losses. We experienced the usual hot still conditions during September and early October but our strong fit birds flew really well and did not let us down. During most of the season the weather was good, possibly too good. We sadly had very few windy days even lacking any kind of breeze. Except on three occasions when we had severe gales which tested both our birds and the guns! The least memorable thing about the season was the relentless bright sunshine which certainly spoilt some drives on some days. I feel our real success was due to the way our team worked together each day. Callum and Jared ran the days so well and I always enjoy listening over the radio how they bring it all together on each drive. This is what makes for a successful Shoot. I am pleased to give details of our returns on birds released/bird shot for the last three seasons. Forecast Average Per day Actual Average Per day Return on Pheasants Released Return on Partridge Released Overall Return on all Poults Released Shot to Bird Average 2022/2023 235 252 36.63% 49.37% 40.90% 3.58 2023/2024 264 294 40.26% 44.05% 42.26% 3.55 2024/2025 250 271 37.02% 46.88% 40.71% 3.26 The return for last season is slightly misleading as there are more birds than ever remaining on the ground. Our New 2025-2026 Season We have much to look forward to with everything now in place to produce the quality of day you have all become accustomed to. We have had some staff changes. Tom Riley has left our team of Keepers to join the Shoot on The Swinton Estate. Steff Bennett is also no longer with our Shoot. Losing Tom has put some pressure on Callum and Jared so a local game farmer Tommy Taylor has joined the Shoot part time to look after some drives Exclusive Members 10% Early Booking Discount for Days Booked before 30th April 2025 Everyone who shot with us last season has automatically become an Exclusive Member with all benefits. So if everyone who was with us last season were to book now we would be sold out! We have in fact had a good take up with over 40% of our days now sold. So there are still plenty of days to choose from. If you were not with us last season. All you need to do is to book two days and you will become an Exclusive Member. Available Days and Shoot Fees I would like to thank everyone who has already made a booking for the new season. Particularly those of you who have not only made a booking but have also paid your initial shoot fee. On the enclosed list of Available Days there are a number of changes and new days so it is worth checking to see if there is now something new to suit you. ~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷ When our world is in such chaos I know every Shoot can offer a strong dose of sanity. So now is the time show your support to your Shoot or Syndicate.
MOUNTGARRET SHOOT MOUNTGARRET & NIDD 1st February 2025 NEWSLETTER No. 2 : 2025-2026 SEASON We are now at the end of possibly our most successful season ever. The weather has been reasonably kind to us but the sun on some days has been very tiresome. This success is due to everything falling into place and most of all the hard work put in by Callum and Jared our two Keepers. All in all a great success. New Season Take Up of Days We have had an excellent take up of days with a number of guns returning to the Shoot after shooting elsewhere and now rebooking for the New Season. As most of you are aware the majority of our days are taken by individual guns or small parties of likeminded sportsmen and sportswomen. Given this policy I am often asked why do I not run the Shoot as an actual Syndicate. Well I do, the Shoot is made up of over 170 Exclusive Members. Normally a Syndicate is tied down to a number of actual dates. Whereas by the way I offer days, each Member has a variety of bag sizes and over 60 dates to choose from. Exclusive Membership : Early Booking Discount Normally an Exclusive Member takes a few days during the season often choosing to shoot with friends and other guns they have met on the Shoot. I have always tried to give our Exclusive Members a number of benefits. So in our New Season anyone who was an Exclusive Member in 2024-2025 will have their Membership carried over to the new 2025-2026 Season. Last season everyone making an early booking received a 7% discount. In the new season Exclusive Members will receive a 10% early booking discount for any days booked before 31st April 2025. There will also be a number of other Special Offers throughout the season which in the first instance will be offered to Exclusive Members normally at a higher discount compared to non-Members. Anyone who was not an Exclusive Member in 2024-2025 can become an Exclusive Member in our new 2025-2026 Season by booking any two days from the enclosed list of Available Days. Any further days booked before 31st April 2025 will receive our Exclusive Members 10% early booking discount,. There are also a number of sporting retail stores where I have arranged special rates for our Exclusive Members. Should you book a day and find you are unable to shoot or wish to move to another day, this is not a problem provided I am given at least 30 days’ notice. This also applies if you are unable to shoot, provided this is for a valid reason, a full refund will be given on any fees paid. Shoot Fees Due to the disastrous budget on 5th November it is inevitable that many costs will rise over the next few months. I have however decided to keep our Shoot Fees at the current season’s rates. Given cost increases, next season’s Shoot Fees should show an actual reduction in cost to Members compared to the current season. Available Days I would like to thank everyone who has already made a booking for our New Season which as always I do appreciate. Since issuing our initial list of available days, some days have been moved around and I have also added a few new dates. I hope there may be something new in the attached list to suit you and look forward to hearing from you.
MOUNTGARRET SHOOT MOUNTGARRET & NIDD 7th January 2025 NEWSLETTER No. 1 : 2025-2026 SEASON We are fast approaching the end of what has possible been our most successful season. During the Summer we had an excellent rearing field and were ready for the season. The Country was then faced with a snap General Election on 4th July. Myself like many others appreciated that after 14 years, much of it in chaos, the Conservatives may not be re-elected. What I did not appreciate that after just six months how devastating a Labour victory would turn out to be for our Country and particularly our Countryside. Labour must have a check list of what they will attack each week. Not sure how far down this list Fieldsports features but it will certainly be there. Much of the success of our Shoot is down to the support given by our Members, which I do appreciate. As most of you are aware the majority of our days are taken by individual guns or small parties of likeminded sportsmen and sportswomen. Given this policy I am often asked why do I not run the Shoot as an actual Syndicate. Well I do, the Shoot is made up of over 170 Exclusive Members. Normally a Syndicate is tied down to a number of actual dates. Whereas by the way I offer days, each Member has a variety of bag sizes and over 50 dates to choose from. Exclusive Membership Normally an Exclusive Member takes a few days during the season often choosing to shoot with friends and other guns they have met on the Shoot. I have always tried to give our Exclusive Members a number of benefits. So in our New Season anyone who was an Exclusive Member in 2024-2025 will have their Membership carried over to the new 2025-2026 Season. Last season everyone making an early booking received a 7% discount. In the new season Exclusive Members will receive a 10% early booking discount for any days booked before 31st April 2025. There will also be a number of other Special Offers throughout the season which in the first instance will be offered to Exclusive Members normally at a higher discount compared to non-Members. Anyone who was not an Exclusive Member in 2024-2025 can become an Exclusive Member in our new 2025-2026 Season by booking any two days from the enclosed list of Available Days. Any further days booked before 31st April 2025 will receive our Exclusive Members 10% early booking discount,. There are also a number of sporting retail stores where I have arranged special rates for our Exclusive Members. Should you book a day and find you are unable to shoot or wish to move to another day, this is not a problem provided I am given at least 30 days’ notice. This also applies if you are unable to shoot, provided this is for a valid reason, a full refund will be given on any fees paid. Shoot Fees Due to the disastrous budget on 5th November it is inevitable that many costs will rise over the next few months. I have however decided to keep our Shoot Fees at the current season’s rates. Given cost increases, next season’s Shoot Fees should show an actual reduction in cost to Members compared to the current season. Shoot Days Unfortunately one of our Under Keepers Tom Riley has left the Shoot. Normally I would not have hesitated in replacing him. However, given the present uncertainty due to this Labour Government I have decided not to replace him for the time being. Callum and Jared are happy to Keeper the Shoot with a few less days fielded and with a reduction in the number of birds released. This will in no way affect the quality of our shooting. In fact this should improve as we will be making overall fewer visits to each drive, which always improves the sporting quality of our birds. Full Team Days Each season a number of days are taken as full teams and most return each season. I am happy to sell more full teams but wish to avoid anything commercial. Of our days fielded in the current season we fielded 18% of our days as full teams and none could be classed as commercial. If you would like to take a day as a full team now is the time to consider this. Once a gun is taken on any day it is no longer available for a full team. Shoot Day Information I am pleased to give details of our New Season which together with further information available on our website www.mountgarretshoot.com gives a full background on what you are likely to expect on a shoot day and what is expected of you ! List of Available Days A list of proposed dates for the New Season was sent out to all Exclusive Members before the holiday. So far just over 30% of the days have been taken up. Now maybe the time to consider some days in the New Season. An up to date list of Available Dates is now attached. Arthur Bell It is with great sadness that I advise the passing of our very good friend Arthur last Friday, 3rd January. Further details to follow shortly. None of us like uncertainty and we are living in uncertain times. Sadly with the present Labour majority there is little we can do as even our treasured “British Freedom of Speech” seems to be in jeopardy One thing you can be certain of when you visit The Mountgarret Shoot. You will experience a full days’ shooting in our stunning North Yorkshire Countryside. From breakfast when everyone has the opportunity to meet each other. Then throughout the day when you will experience some testing but not impossible birds, accompanied by refreshments with a tasty lunch with good wine to end your day. All this together with the opportunity to meet old and new likeminded friends. A day on our Shoot is just what a proper Driven Game Shoot should be, or what I hope will continue to be, well into the future.
21st May 2024 NEWSLETTER No. 3 : 2024–2025 SEASON I appreciate I have only just issued my Newsletter No. 2. However, as much has been happening I am pleased to keep you updated. Lead or Non Lead, that is the Question? Four years ago all the organisations involved in our sport/industry signed a declaration that there should be a voluntary move to phase out the use of lead shot over the following five years. Those five years are now near enough over and sadly we seem to be little way forward on this matter. In support of this initiative the Mountgarret Shoot has been lead free for the last two seasons. Myself and our Members have supported this initiative and are very disappointed there is no definite indication of the way forward. Although the findings of the Health & Safety Executive consultation are due to be announced some time this year. All indications are that there could be a further five years before lead shot and lead in ammunition is finally banned. Cartridge manufacturers have produced some excellent non lead products. However given the supply problems with components, which has been made worse by the war in Ukraine. It will take at least this period of time to fully supply the market. I understand a number of other Shoots who like ourselves have gone lead free, have now reverted to allowing lead to be used. Given this present position I have decided our shoot will revert back to the use of lead shot in the New Season 2024-2025. I would like to thank those of you who have supported my shoot policy on non lead over the last two seasons. Although lead shot may now be used. All cartridges must be free of plastic wads, fibre or degradable wads only please. As in the past when we shoot the lake at Ripley Castle the Mountgarret Shoot will provide suitable non lead shot cartridges at no cost to the guns. The only directive which may possibly change our position is that there are rumours of a European ban on the import of any food products containing lead (approximately 70% of the game shot in the UK is exported in feather to Europe) There is however no definite time scale for this move. As a sport/industry we must act responsibly. Once there is a clear direction on the future of lead, we must be prepared to accept any change New 6 Gun Days You will recall I introduced my 6 gun day “experiment” in the recent Newsletter No. 2 supplement. The days have been well received so I have decided to field 3 additional 6 gun days making 7 days in total over the season. I would like to remind you why I have decided to field these days. There is much discussion on the size of bags and the number of game birds being released. On Mountgarret our average bag over the last few years has been 260 birds per day. If we field 6 guns not 9 with a target bag of 175 birds, “in theory” this would give each of the 6 guns a similar number of birds and shots to what they would experience on a 260 bird day. You never know what something is like until you have tried it, so we need to see if my theory is correct. I am now pleased to offer 1 No. 6 gun 150 bird partridge day and 6 No. 6 gun 175 bird pheasant and partridge days. I appreciate this is very much unknown territory. So in order to encourage you to try them I am offering these days at a 20% discount on our current prices. An additional 7% discount is available to everyone who has already made a booking this season. As always, we will aim to shoot 10% over the target bag with no overage charged. Double guns were a suggestion by one of our Members but I have found a good loader/stuffer is just as effective as double guns. Not everyone is used to double gunning so I propose staying with single guns at present but do strongly recommend a friend to stand with you or you hire one of our loaders. If you don’t load quickly, we may not reach the bag! One thought for the future is that if we fielded 250 bird 6 gun days each gun would experience a similar number of shots and birds to what they would expect to experience on a 375 bird day!! What I need to know is, if my theory is correct and just as importantly would the guns be prepared to pay the price. I do hope you will join one or more of these days, as this is the only way to see if they would work. Hotels and Accommodation Our Shoot is approximately four miles north of Harrogate in North Yorkshire. Although our area is very fortunate to have a good variety of hotels it is a very busy tourist and exhibition centre. Quite often it is difficult to find accommodation. In fact, on one weekend during our last season you could not find a hotel in our area under £300 for the night. Lynda is at present putting together next season’s list of hotels with prices. She is finding about half the hotels will only give a price indication or price on application. With the advent of “price comparison sites” and a good demand for last minute bookings where hotels can name their price, it is more important than ever to book your accommodation well in advance of your shoot day(s). Our new list of hotels for next season will be available shortly. The Inn at South Stainley, Ripon Road, South Stainley, Nr Harrogate, HG3 3DN Tel: 01423 779060 info@theinnsouthstainley.com www.theinnsouthstainley.com Over the last few seasons The Inn at South Stainley, which is only 5 minutes from our Shoot Lodge, has provided our breakfast and lunches. As part of my agreement with The Inn for the new season, they are offering improved discounts on accommodation to everyone joining our Shoot. Anyone joining the Shoot will receive a 15% discount on a single night accommodation, for two consecutive nights 20% discount and three consecutive nights 25% discount. Please quote booking reference ‘SHOOT15’ when making your reservation. Wherever you intend to stay I do recommend that you make your booking as soon as your shoot day is booked. Available Days Our days continue to move at a steady rate. As the attached list of Available Days constantly changes and includes dates not included in our last list. I suggest you have a look through the list as there may be days which have recently come available and may suit you. As our world becomes more challenging and insecure. It makes me more determined than ever to offer an enjoyable and relaxing days shooting as stress free as possible!!
8th May 2024 SUPPLEMENT TO NEWSLETTER No. 2 : 2024–2025 SEASON An Idea for the Future With the probability of a Labour Government sometime this year, whose policies are uncertain on all rural activities. No one really knows what the future of driven game shooting will be. The licensing of grouse moors in Scotland and an anti-shooting government in Wales gives an indication of what may be in store for us in the not too distant future. We must be positive and in order to avoid damaging measures against our sport we need to be one step ahead. There is much discussion on the size of bags and the number of game birds being released. On Mountgarret our average bag over the last few years has been 260 birds per day. If we were to field 6 guns not 9 with a target bag of 175 birds, “in theory” this would give each of the 6 guns a similar number of birds and shots to what they would expect to have on a 260 bird day. 175 birds divided by 6 guns gives an average of 29 birds per gun x 9 guns gives 261 birds. In short this is just what you are experiencing at present but with a smaller bag. You never know what something is like until you have tried it, so we need to see if my theory is correct. I am therefore pleased to offer 4 days in the new season fielding 6 guns with a target bag of 175 birds. I appreciate this is very much unknown territory. So in order to encourage you to try them I am offering these days at a 20% discount on our current prices. An additional 7% discount is available to everyone who has already made a booking this season. As always, we will aim to shoot 10% over the target bag with no overage charged. Dates for our 6 gun, 175 bird days: Monday 28th October Friday 15th November Monday 25th November Friday 13th December At £1,500 per gun including vat. If we were to increase the number of smaller bag/gun days in the future it would significantly reduce the number of birds we would need to release. I do however see a few problems. Would the days sell and would the exercise be financially viable? The only way to know is to try it. This would not be the first time I have experienced fielding 6 guns on Mountgarret. Over 25 years ago the then Lord Richard Mountgarret invited me to make up some 6 gun days with him, which we did over two seasons. I invited two guests and he did the same. These days were great fun and we all had plenty of shooting. I recall the bags were around 200 birds. Double guns were an option but I have found a good loader/stuffer is just as effective as double guns. Not everyone is used to double gunning so I propose staying with single guns at present but do strongly recommend a friend to stand with you or you hire one of our loaders. If you don’t load quickly, we may not reach the bag! I do hope you will join me in this “experiment” as a possible solution to future problems. Whatever happens, as always, the days will be great fun. 1st May 2024 NEWSLETTER No. 2 : 2024–2025 SEASON With so much happening it is difficult to know where to start. Considering the uncertain political climate with parties saying what they are planning for our countryside and countryside pursuits once in power, we are certainly in uncharted waters. Some of What Could or Will Happen In Scotland legislation is now passing through the Scottish Parliament which will see licensing of grouse moors this season. Together with a ban on snaring and restrictions on moorland burning. Another threat by the Scottish Parliament is that when any area of land comes onto the market it will be split up and sold to individual buyers in areas no more than 2,200 acres for each buyer. Wales is much worse as the Welsh Government seems determined to try to ban shooting and put small farmers out of business. It has already banned shooting on public land, the shooting of magpies and the use of snares. So there is not much hope for the curlew and other ground nesting birds in Wales in the near future. In England, the Labour Party plans to ban trail hunting but supports shooting “provided it is carried out within the law”. With a general election within 6 to 8 months when by all forecasts we can expect a Labour majority, I believe the extent of damage they will inflict on our countryside and all rural activities may depend on the size of their majority. This also applies in Scotland and Wales. However anything can happen and the irony is that some of these politicians threatening such damaging measures may not actually retain their seats. Some hope but we can only wish!! We can only wait and see. What Can We Do There are however a few positive measures we can take as an industry before we are faced with enforced legislation. Licensing of Shoots in England may be imposed but not immediately. It is therefore important that all Shoots should register to be audited by either Trusted Game or British Game Assurance before the licensing of Shoots is forced upon us. We were one of the first Members of British Game Assurance, however we have moved to Trusted Game. This scheme is administered by our vets and is an overall far more effective scheme. As it seems inevitable that the use of lead in all ammunition and shot will be banned sometime soon. Maybe as an industry we should all voluntarily change to non lead shot before being forced to do so. There are now a good variety of very effective non lead cartridges available on the market. We have shot our last two seasons free from lead. I have found that once guns become used to the change our ratio of shot to bird is the same as when we were all lead. However we need to position the line of pickers up further behind the line of guns than in the past. The use of non lead shot/cartridges opens up a large market for our game. If we could only create a demand for game larger than the availability, possibly this would go a long way towards saving our sport. One of the main factors which is used against our sport is the size of bags. It is up to individual guns to decide what size of target bag they wish to take. In the new season we are fielding 200, 250, 300 and 350 bird days and plan an overall average target bag of 263 birds per day. Countryside pursuits and driven game shooting has never before been under such threat and scrutiny. It is up to all of us to defend what we all enjoy and value. Our New Season I think this is enough negativity, as we have much to look forward to on the Mountgarret Shoot in our New Season. We have caught up hen pheasants for our laying field, which are now laying well and we have our first batches of eggs set in our incubator. The majority of our birds are bought in as day old chicks with our incubator producing approximately 25% of our requirements. We have more foxes than ever showing up which have been dealt with. It is lambing season for most of our farmers and our vermin control on foxes, carrion crows and magpies does certainly save many lambs. The consistent rain which started last October and has never really stopped, has affected our farmers progress but unlike many farmers in southern areas, all our farmers will have a harvest. The land has now started to dry out so our game cover will be fine. We are planning to release a similar number of poults to last season. These together with the birds we left at the end of last season should give us more than enough stock for our requirements. As always, we are tweaking a few drives to improve the overall performance of our birds. I can assure you we have much to look forward to. C haritable Donations Following Covid and in the present economic climate it is Charities which suffer due to lack of available funds. During last season thanks to the generosity of our guns and their non shooting guests in supporting our daily sweepstake and non shooting guest lunches. We have raised an impressive total of £19,345 which has been donated to the following: The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) £8,000 The Countryside Alliance (CA) £1,250 The Gamekeepers Welfare Trust (GWT) £1,250 The Country Food Trust (CFT) £1,250 Eat Game (EG) £1,250 Songbird Survival Trust (SST) £300 Yorkshire Charity Clay Days (YCCD) £4,150 Tanfield Grouse Charity Clay Day £1,175 Nidd Parish Church (on Lord Mountgarret’ s Days) £380 South Stainley Church (on our Farmers Day) £340 ---------- £19,345 Many thanks to you all for making all this possible. ---------- Available Days I would like to thank those of you who have booked days in the new season. There is still a good variety of days available each month throughout the season, as detailed on the attached list. It is worth looking through this as many days were not included on our previous list of available days. I do hope there is something workable for you. With all the challenges and uncertainty around us, I invite you to join us for a large dose of sanity on the Mountgarret Shoot in our New Season.
20th February 2024 NEWSLETTER No. 1 : 2024–2025 SEASON Our 2023-2024 Season Every season is different and we have just completed a season which can only be described as exceptional in many ways. So why was last season such a success? In the Spring and Summer of 2023, the weather was very kind to us and gave excellent rearing conditions. We always aim to rear athletes and in order to achieve this our chicks must be fed on the best possible diet available from day one. We certainly achieved this by changing our game feed pellet supplier to A1 Feeds of Dishforth, North Yorkshire. Both our partridge and French Common Ring Neck strain of pheasant chicks grew really well from day old chicks. At one time we thought they were young turkeys!! With little disease and few losses from day old we kept our pheasant poults in the rearing pens until 8 weeks and partridge poults until 14 weeks old. In the past we have found less predation on well grown poults from raptors if kept on the rearing field for at least this length of time. Once taken off game pellets our birds are given a diet of 40% split maize and 60% wheat for the remainder of the season. The weather in September and early October proved to be far too hot and still. At times it was unbearable and we were actually out shooting on the hottest day on record. However, due to their excellent condition, this did not seem to affect our partridge who performed particularly well considering these conditions. We also knew the same would apply to our pheasants as they showed what they would be like later in the season when driven with the partridge in September. Then in mid-October the rain started and has hardly stopped ever since and we are now in February! I cannot remember a day when the ground was dry. Although these unwelcome conditions persisted, our well fed athletes performed exceptionally well even when wet through. Considering we released the same number of poults as normal there was certainly no shortage of birds throughout the whole season. So why did our birds grow and hold so well? Our shoot area is best described as rolling, mainly arable countryside with woodlands and wild bird cover positioned to produce challenging but not impossible birds. Included in our area of 4,500 acres, last season there was in excess of 450 acres of feed maize, mostly in very large blocks which were impossible to drive. In addition to this feed maize we had our own 250+ acres of wild bird cover which also included maize, plus our extensive areas of woodland. These areas offered excellent dry cover for our birds. Feed maize is normally harvested by early to mid-October at the latest. However, due to the waterlogged conditions many areas were inaccessible to any kind of harvester. The outcome was that much of the maize was still standing in late November. Although we were unable to drive a number of our main drives the birds did not wander as is normal in mild Autumn weather when there is an abundance of natural food. They just stayed put! Callum and his team did an excellent job of ensuring all our birds had sufficient feed. However, I feel these conditions and the large areas of dry cover available to our birds played a major part in our being able to hold and still hold an increased number of birds. Given these consistently wet conditions which prevailed on many of our shoot days. Our guns and particularly our Keepers, Beaters and Pickers Up coped really well. We never actually lost a day although on some days we included less drives with the day finishing early but we always achieved the target bag. I thank everyone for their resilience in these unwelcome conditions. Although we try you cannot control “Mother Nature” and we must accept and learn to live with everything she throws at us. All in all, we have experienced one of the best if not the best ever season in my 34 years of running Shoots. I am not sure if I want a repeat of these tiresome conditions in our new season. May be a little less rain would be appreciated!! Considering we still have a large number of birds on the ground, the following are our returns for last season compared to to previous seasons. Please contact us for these figures. Our New 2024-2025 Season Last season is going to take some beating but I can assure you all we will be doing our absolute best to achieve this. Due to Covid and Bird Flu and all the problems these events have caused it has been very difficult to accurately cost our shoot days. Fortunately, the costs have now levelled out. I have identified areas where some costs have actually reduced and have passed these savings onto our Members, by offering a 7% discount based on last season shoot fees to everyone who books days before 30th April 2024. All shoots should have made similar savings so overall shoot fees throughout our industry should be reduced in the new season. We propose releasing a similar number of birds to last season with approximately 50% pheasants and 50% partridge plus a few English partridge. However, due to farmers possibly only being able to sow feed maize in the areas still waterlogged once they have dried out. It is highly likely we will be faced with a repeat of last season’s large blocks of feed maize. If by some miracle it is harvested in good time, we should be fine. As miracles do not happen, we may be again faced with some main drives being inaccessible until December and January. However, our birds will have plenty of cover and should hold. An Additional mule As some of our Members are getting older but may not like to admit it!! Walking to the pegs can prove difficult. So, in addition to the all-terrain Kawasaki Mule which pulls the game cart and is also used to transport guns to their pegs. I have purchased an additional Kawaski Mule with four seats not just two. I plan to have this available each day to take guns to their pegs. Unfortunately, delivery is quoted as between 2 to 12 months. I do hope it arrives before our season starts.!! I am planning a number of further improvements in the new season and will keep you advised of our progress throughout the closed season. The Lead Shot Saga Continues As you are no doubt aware we are awaiting a report, or best described as a directive, from The Health and Safety Executive HSE, as to the future use of lead in all forms of shot for cartridges and in ammunition used in the UK. So far, all indications are that the use of lead except in air rifles will be made illegal within the next five to six years or possibly sooner. Should common sense prevail, it should be at least this period of time in order to give manufacturers time to be able to produce the variety and volume of product available to satisfy the market demand. Sadly common sense does not normally prevail so we must wait and see. I am not sure if this is good or bad news but HSE have requested additional time for their consultation. What does not seem to be public knowledge here in the UK is that according to our Game Dealer, lead and other so called toxic substances in all meat and food may be banned in Europe during 2024. Considering that approximately 70% of game shot in the UK is exported to Europe frozen in feather, may have some bearing on how the UK proceeds with a ban on the use of lead. As normal nothing is clear as to how we stand on this. Our Shoot has been lead free for the last two seasons. Last season our Game Dealer took 70% of the birds we shot and paid for every bird. Of the remaining 30% of birds, 18% were given away and 12% were too damaged to enter the food chain so were incinerated. Our dealer has recently advised that due to all our birds being lead free together with their consistently good size and quality. He is in the process of negotiating a contract which will guarantee not only a market for our birds but also that we will receive a significant increase in the price we receive. The Veterinary Audit of our Shoot under Trusted Game has assisted with this contract. As I have always said if we can create a market demand larger than the supply, this will go a long way towards saving the sport of driven game shooting. As a foot note. During our last season it is worth mentioning that more and more guns moved voluntarily to using non lead shot. In order to be certain, I checked with any new guns that they had suitable non lead cartridges with no plastic wads. I was surprised by the number who told me they had already changed to non lead, many some time ago. This may be an indication on the direction we are heading. Available Days and Shoot Fees I would like to thank everyone who has already made a booking for the new season. So far 50% of our days have been taken. So there are still a good variety of days to choose from in the remaining 50%. I am pleased to attach a list of our Available Days and do hope there is something workable for you. As advised, I have been able to reduce our shoot fees compared to last season, by giving a 7% early booking discount for all bookings made by 30th April. I also appreciate selecting your days so far ahead can be difficult. So, if you book just two pegs or more before 30th April you will receive the 7% discount on all days booked after 30th April. I am also the first to appreciate when things are tight as they are at present there is always the temptation to cut corners in order to reduce costs. I can assure you all that this will certainly not happen on The Mountgarret Shoot. Although I have identified where savings can be made this will in no way affect the quality of the shoot days you have become accustomed to and particularly the quality of our birds and hospitality. An Amusing Episode at the End of Last Season I gave up actual shooting three seasons ago in order to concentrate on picking up and assisting on our shoot days. Some may call it disrupting the day, however this has gone really well!! As I was so fed up with the abundance of cock pheasants we had at the end of last season I decided to take my gun out and stand as a back gun. My first drive went quite well with 4 cocks and 2 wounded partridges accounted for with 12 shots! However, my second drive was not so good, 3 cocks and sadly 1 hen. I was already thinking about asking our guns to shoot cocks only. I now realise it can be difficult to tell the difference between a cock and a hen when they are coming straight towards you. By the time you identify what it is, it is too late. So, I decided against this request. My day did not end there. I was stood next to one of our Pickers Up, Malcolm. A cock came over and I thought I had hit it and so did Malcolm but we saw nothing fall. The bird had flown on and then flew back toward us and then dropped on Malcolm. Luckily, he was fine but I decided it may be safer for everyone if I left my guns in the cabinet!! So, What Will the New 2024-2025 Season Bring? Unfortunately, as a possible change of Government seems likely. We must be prepared to face more unwelcome challenges for our sport. How long we will be able to enjoy our sport as we know it, no one knows. So more the reason to enjoy it whilst we can. All I can say is that The Mountgarret Shoot will always offer a “Proper Days Driven Shooting” for as long as we can.
21st December 2023 NEWSLETTER No. 8 : 2023–2024 SEASON With only 24 shoot days remaining we are fast approaching the end of what has been a really successful season, possibly our best ever. We achieved excellent returns from our rearing field. Due mainly to the hard work by our Head Keeper Callum McIntosh and his team. Also due to working closely with our Vets under the Trusted Game Audit Scheme. Compared to previous seasons we administered a reduced amount of antibiotics which certainly helped in producing some very fit and healthy poults. The quality of our poults has given us some very exciting sport this season. The run up to the season was not without its problems. Due to the very dry conditions during the growing season, there were times when I wondered if we would have any wild bird cover. As it transpired my concerns were unnecessary as once we had some rain everything grew really well. s always with any field sport our success is dictated by our wonderful climate. We started the season with some hot, sunny and still days. Just what you don’t want on a shoot day ! However, due to the quality of our birds they flew exceptionally well. Since mid-October we have been faced with possibly the most exceptional wet weather I have ever known. Although challenging for everyone, Guns, beaters, pickers up and most of all our birds we have come through well so far. Our move to non lead shot continues to prove to be a great success. Most guns by the end of last season commented that they experienced little difference between lead and non lead. The real success has been with our game dealer as he now has customers queuing up for our game. As a sport if we can only create a market larger than the supply it may well save our sport. Europe is going non lead in 2024 and as 70% of the birds shot in the UK are exported to Europe, mainly in feather. Most game dealers will only be taking game shot with non lead next season. Shoot Fees : New Season 2024-2025 We will field 200, 250, 300 and 350 bird days, with Clear Up Days at the end of our season with bags of 175 birds. On our 350 bird days we will include the Lake at Ripley Castle for some testing duck. I estimate our target bag for the new season will average 260 birds per day. As my current costings are showing a small reduction in our overheads compared to the present season. I have decided rather than an overall reduction in shoot fees. In appreciation to those of you who book your days early and pay promptly. All bookings made before 30th April 2024 will receive a discount of 7% on our current shoot fees for all days booked before this date . Providing your initial 30% shoot fee is paid before 31st May 2024. With other instalments paid on time. This gives an average saving of £125 to £150 per gun per day compared to the current season. Another change I am making, in order to become an Exclusive Member of The Mountgarret Shoot, you now need only book one gun day to be eligible for all Exclusive Membership benefits including Special Offers which will inevitably be available as the season progresses. Payment Terms are as in the past: 1st February 30% 1st May 40% 1st August 30% Shoot Day Information : 2024-2025 I am pleased to attach our Shoot Day Information for the New Season. It details what I hope will happen on a shoot day and answers many frequently asked questions. Shoot Dates and Costs : 2024-2025 Finally I am pleased to attach details of our Available Shoot Dates together with the cost of a gun on each day including vat. As always, I really do thank you all for the support you give to The Mountgarret Shoot and look forward to having you with us again in the New Season. Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and hopefully a Prosperous New Year.
10th October 2023 NEWSLETTER No. 7 : 2023–2024 SEASON Over the 34 years I have been running shoots once the new season starts, I am always a little apprehensive and concerned that our fat young partridge and pheasants will actually fly on our early days! I am pleased to report that although the very warm sunny weather was against us for most of September. Our partridge did not let us down and flew magnificently. As for the pheasant, these young birds really showed us what we can expect to experience during the season. This season I changed our feed supplier which has proved to be a great success. The chicks/poults ate less and thanks to our Vet through the Trusted Game Scheme we used less antibiotics than in the past. The results are that we had fewer losses on our rearing field compared to precious seasons and the birds have survived well since being released due to their excellent condition. I know we have much to look forward to with plenty of fit and testing birds. EXCLUSIVE MEMBERS SHOOT DAYS and SPECIAL OFFERS In the past you have been required to take £2,500 value of days before vat to be eligible for Exclusive Membership. This season all you have needed to do is to take one day to become an Exclusive Member. There are a number of other benefits for Exclusive Members but the main benefit is the availability of Special Offer Days. When I entered into the world of driven game shooting, I hate to say this, but now 57 years ago, most Estates kept their shooting in hand so there was little opportunity to experience the real quality of driven game shooting I was looking for. As always if you persevere opportunities do happen. I said to myself then that if I ever had my own shoot, it would be open to individual guns who like myself at that time was looking for quality driven game shooting. Over the years I have been supported by both full teams, small parties and individual guns, which I really appreciate. The quality of shooting is a very important part of the day and I know we can provide this. However, may be as I get older, I find the company of like-minded friends from all walks of life is just as important. Hospitality is also important and find by starting our shoot days with breakfast is a real ice breaker and everyone has the opportunity to meet each other before the day starts. Refreshments throughout the day are well received as is our lunch at the end of the day. The Inn at South Stainley who have been our caterers for the last two seasons have brought their quality to a new level this season. In the past I have been very fortunate and have visited more shoots than I wish to confess to. During this this time I have experienced what I feel are both the good and bad points of a driven shoot day. On Mountgarret I have tried to plan our days as to what I would expect if I were in the line of guns each day. The outcome of the way I run the shoot. Mainly to individual guns and small parties is that there are some days when not all the guns are taken. I have tried running days with as little as six guns but it is hard for our Keepers to funnel the birds over such a short line. 8 or 9 guns are far easier. Faced with this problem I have asked myself what is the best way to fill the pegs on these few remaining days. The answer it to sell the remaining guns at a discount. This is fine but as a true Yorkshireman if I am giving something away it must be to everyone who has already supported the Shoot. I am delighted all our October days are now taken. So in order for you to plan your season. I have decided to offer all our remaining November days through to and including 9th December as a Special Offer . For Mountgarret Shoot Exclusive Members In appreciation for all your support I am pleased to offer to all our Exclusive Members a 40% discount. For GunsOnPegs Premium Members GunsOnPegs have been great supporters of my Shoot since they were established. So I am pleased to offer GunsOnPegs Premium Members a 30% discount . For everyone else on my mailing list who has shown an interest in the Shoot I offer a 20% discount . There are now just 11% of our original days remaining as detailed on the attached list of Available Days. I would like to move these as soon as possible so I can get on with the job of running the Shoot I do hope there is something to suit you. So don’t hold back and please take as many days as you wish. Looking forward to seeing you in the season.
1st August 2023 NEWSLETTER No. 5 : 2023–2024 SEASON I am pleased to advise that with only six weeks to our first shoot day, everything is now in place for hopefully another successful season! We have had a very successful rearing field with most of our pheasants now released. Once the harvest is complete, we will be releasing our French and English partridge. With no rain for eight weeks. In early July I was becoming very concerned regarding the very sad state of our Wild Bird Cover. I had forgotten we are in North Yorkshire where it always eventually rains. Sure enough the constant rain mid July soon solved the problem and all our corps are now growing well. All now looks very promising for the new season. However not all is looking bright and beautiful for the future of driven shooting. No sooner did we get over the tragedy of Covid. We were faced with and are still faced with the problems associated with possible further Avian Flu outbreaks This devastating disease looks like being with us for the foreseeable future. If all this were not bad enough. Possibly due to a small number of people in Government positions both elected and employed who do not approve of our Sport, a number of restrictions are possibly on the way. In Scotland there are moves to license grouse shooting, In Wales shooting has been banned on Government owned land and there is a move in the Welsh Parliament to prohibit the release of pheasant and red legged partridge throughout the whole of Wales other than under license. In England as a precaution against Avian Flu being transmitted from game birds to other wild birds. Natural England have decided that in areas on and 500 metres from an SPA (Special Protected Area) such as Moorlands, some Riverbanks and Coastal Estuaries. For the next two years a license is required from Natural England to be able to release pheasant and red legged partridge on these areas. As far as I am aware there are no scientific grounds for this somewhat draconian measure. This legislation was brought in with zero notice and without consultation. I am hearing that not all the 200 shoots affected have been granted a license to release. I understand, even some of those who have been granted a license have been restricted to not releasing before 30th September. Many shoots and game farmers are unable to hold their birds penned up until September. So there is an obvious welfare problem for the birds. Sadly, some Shoots may close and keepers lose their jobs. Which as we all know is something some in authority want to happen! So what is next? Particularly if we have a change of Government next year. When I meet shooting friends of my generation the topic of conversation is often around the future of our sport. Sadly, the consensus is that we have seen the best days of driven shooting. I really do hope that this is not the case. However, as always, we must be prepared to face whatever the future has in store for us. Our shooting may be restricted in a number of ways but a day out in our beautiful countryside with like-minded friends cannot be taken away from us. We hope !! With all this looming over us possibly now is the time to enjoy driven shooting as we know it, whilst you can! With this in mind the good news is that there is a large variety of excellent driven shooting available throughout the country at the present time. As an individual gun or small party in the past availability has been restricted due to most shoots selling days only to full teams. Fortunately, this has changed with much more availability for individual guns. When I took up serious driven game shooting over 50 years ago. All the best driven shooting was held in hand by estates. Shooting partridge other than English was frowned upon and no pheasant were shot before November. Thank goodness things have changed! With this large variety of driven shooting at present being available, I have detailed what I would hope to expect if I were in the line of guns on a driven game shoot in the 2023-2024 Season. With recent significant increases in the overall cost of running a Shoot. The cost of your shoot day should be competitively priced compared to other similar Shoots. Testimonials on the experiences of other guns are available on shoot websites and from GunsOnPegs. These give a good guide as to what you can expect on a particular shoot. For a Shoot to be situated in beautiful rolling countryside with a good variety of testing drives. There is nothing more boring as every drive being the same. For a Shoot to offer individual guns as well as full teams. For a Shoot where non shooting guests are welcome just to enjoy the day. For a Shoot where Lady and Novice guns are welcome. The size of bag is up to each individual. Some guns wish to shoot 500 to 1,000 birds in a day. To me it is unacceptable to shoot this number of birds in a day. It only fuels the fire for those who are against our sport. I find most sporting driven guns are looking for bags of around 200 to 350 at the most. With 250 to 300 being quite sufficient for most guns. Only non lead cartridges with degradable wads should be used. This ensures every bird you shoot enters the food chain and you do not pollute the land and water with plastic wads. For a Shoot to be clear on its “overage” policy. Preferably no overage charged over the agreed target bag. Similarly the Shoot’s policy with regard to cancelled days due to bad weather or if the number of birds under the bag is achieved. For a Shoot which aims at around 10% over the target bag with no overage charged. For a Shoot to be hosted in a relaxed no rush manner, in order that everyone has an enjoyable day. To start the day with breakfast where everyone has the opportunity to meet the other guns. To be given a shoot card at the start of the day with the name of each gun. For a detailed briefing by the Shoot Host over breakfast so everyone knows what to expect and what is expected of them. To shoot with a convivial team of like-minded people assisted by a polite and happy team of experienced keepers, beaters and pickers up. Not to have to walk too far to each drive. If walking is difficult, for a rough terrain vehicle to be available to take you to your peg. For transport available to drive you around the Shoot if you do not wish to use your own vehicle. Instructor/loaders and shot gun hire all being available. For each drive to be pegged and stands clearly numbered. For well grown fit pheasant and partridge to show on every drive up to the end of the season in January. Possibly with a few English grey partridge. To be presented with challenging but not impossible birds, spread over the whole line of guns on each drive. For the number of birds presented to the guns to be in sufficient quantity for the guns to be able to be selective in order to achieve the target bag. Once on your peg not to have to wait for ages for the birds to show. A mix of partridge with pheasant achieves this. It should be accepted that duck and/or geese may fly over any line of guns on any Shoot but the guns should have the option of whether or not they wish to shoot them. A duck drive should be available for those guns who wish to shoot them and no day should be dominated by duck and/or geese. No woodcock, snipe or ground game should be shot. To have fellow guns who exercise a degree of etiquette by being selective and respecting their neighbours’ birds. To have your spent cartridges collected at the end of each drive. When you hopefully leave them in a tidy pile! For guns to be welcome to bring their dogs providing they are pegged and not picking up during a drive. To have plenty of time to work your dogs at the end of each drive without your birds already being vacuumed up by the pickers up and not being rushed to move to the next drive. To experience a full days shooting with four to five drives. To have refreshments available throughout the day with any alcohol taken in moderation, together with soft drinks, tea and coffee, after each drive. With pie and soup at midday. The day should end with a tasty lunch specially prepared for the team, in a private Lodge or similar accompanied by a delicious wine, not cheap plonk. A debrief of the day given over lunch by the Host together with a card detailing the bag for the day. In order to support The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), Countryside Alliance (CA), Gamekeepers Welfare Trust (GWT), Country Food Trust (CFT) and other organisations connected to our sport. To hold an optional sweepstake with prizes on the bag from the day. At the end of the day to look after the Keepers and receive a pack of dressed pheasant or partridge crowns chilled and ready to cook or for the freezer. With further birds in feather being available if required at no additional cost. It is also very important to have a choice of competitively priced comfortable hotels and accommodation near to the Shoot to reduce the time spent driving to and from a shoot day. For the hotels to be prepared to accommodate dogs and have secure storage for your shotguns. There are many other aspects of a shoot day but if a shoot can achieve these, I am sure everyone will go away happy. So where can you find this “Proper Driven Shoot Day.” You need look no further than THE MOUNTGARRET SHOOT !! After 34 years of running Driven Game Shoots, the above details what we set out to achieve. Every Shoot Day is its own Special Day. However there are three elements which can make this a challenge. Our unpredictable weather, wild creatures and humans. So some days can certainly be better than others !! Included with this Newsletter No. 5 is the following information which you may find of interest. For hard copies please contact Lynda on 01423 323321 or e-mail info@mountgarretshoot.co.uk Revised Shoot Day Information 2023-2024 Season Although our Shoot is described in detail on our website www.mountgarretshoot.com . This Shoot Day Information gives you a brief outline of our Shoot. There have been a number of changes for the new season. Directions to our Shoot Lodge This map gives you the directions you require. Hopefully, this will avoid your becoming lost!! Hotels, Accommodation and Restaurants Being close the Spa Town of Harrogate we are spoilt for choice in Hotels and Restaurants. We also have The Inn at South Stainley only 5 minutes from our Shoot Lodge. The Inn also provides the catering for our breakfast and lunches in our Shoot Lodge. We have compiled a comprehensive list of 26 hotels and 10 restaurants, close to the Shoot, so you have plenty to choose from. Order Form for Non lead Cartridges Last season we moved to non lead only shot. This gave us a ready market for our game which we plan to build on in the new season. Initially there was some resistance to change by some Members. By the season end everyone told me following a brief adjustment from lead they found little or no difference. We are not cartridge dealers and offer a good selection of Steel, Bismuth and alternative shot to our shoot Members. All as detailed on the attached order form with all cartridges available from stock. If you could return your order form, your cartridges will be ready for you on your day. Dressed Game Order Form Our game dealer, Ox Close Fine Foods offers an extensive range of game products ready for the oven or the freezer. These products can be pre ordered for collection on a shoot day or posted direct to you. All orders and payment must be made direct to Ox Close Fine Foods. Contact Nick Lister on 07572 037428 or e-mail Sales@oxclosefinefoods.co.uk Shoot Calendar and Last Minute Check List The Calendar helps you plan your season and Check List ensures you don’t forget the many important items you require on a shoot day. List of Available Days We have experienced an encouraging take up of days with around 20% still available. The list has changed considerably over the last few weeks with a number of new dates coming available. I hope there will be something workable for you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking forward to seeing you in the New Season in “Gods Own Country,” our beautiful North Yorkshire countryside.