doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Llechweddygarth Shoot

If you have any doubt that some of the birds he shot were "out there", just look at the lead he puts on them. It appears he uses a "pull away" style lead quite often. I'll likely never get to partake of a shoot like that, but it would be a dream come true.
Beautiful country and I'm sure nice folks. Only thing that would hamper me at that shoot is trying to understand what they were saying!! Likely it would be the same for them!!! LOL

For those who haven't done driven shooting, the shoots featuring mostly tall birds (around 50 yards or higher) are the exception rather than the rule. Mainly because those shoots require a combination of the right terrain (and trees) to cause the birds to fly that far above the guns.

Just your standard, every day driven shooting--where a 40 yard bird is unusually "tall"--is sufficiently challenging for those who haven't done it. And it's the kind of shooting the big shots (like Ripon etc) did back in the day. Basically relatively light and not very tightly choked sxs. For high birds, you're talking something like a sporting clays gun, long-barreled and quite tightly choked OU. Heavy. 1 3/8-1 1/2 oz loads of Brit 5's or 4's, compared to the 1 1/16 oz loads of Brit 6's (close to US 7's) that were the classic driven bird load, and still work quite well on shoots where a really tall bird is the rare exception rather than the rule.

You must be about 120 yeas old Fox...

And what's wrong with a little alcohol warm up between haunts ?

He has a series of videos on Youtube. All well photographed.

Usually he has Jonathan McGee filmfor him. He�s about the best shooting videographer around. He has a channel.

Me too RWTF; I usually keep my shooting at 30 yards or under. I hunt with a Parker 32" VH, with a custom stock, but have learned my limitations.
Sam Ogle

Thank you Sam. I use a L.C. Smith Ideal Long Range 32" F&F, DT, AE for my "longish shots" at tower shoots, where we can still use lead loads. I have a stand partner who has a DHE 12- also 32" F&F, as is your fine Parker gun. Sometimes we "trade guns" between stands, I can shoot my Smith a tad better as it has a straighter stock- less DAH--

Our club rule is- actions open, guns unloaded between stands- There we might get 35-40 yard shots-- On those birds, if I can see the wing feathers in flight, they are "in range" for me--

A lot- Joseph. For me, at age 77- make mine hot coffee black please. But I'm not a member of the British upper class- perhaps over there that is an accepted thing to do. You and I have the same 2 chances of being invited to such a shoot- slim, and none. Right now, my $ is riding high on None- Win, Place and Show.

You guys seem to be thinking "The Shooting Party" and the way driven shoots used to work a century or so ago. There is still some trading back and forth among the wealthy . . . you invite me to your shoot, I invite you to mine. But the fact is, most driven shooting today is commercial. You're invited because you pay. But the traditions are still the same: Game keepers, beaters, pickers-up . . . it's something like a military operation (with very traditional aspects) to run a proper driven shoot. And how much you spend depends mostly on the number of birds bagged (divided by the number of guns doing the shooting) as well as on the accommodations. It's not going to be cheap . . . but then neither is visiting one of the high dollar pheasant lodges in South Dakota. Nor a visit to a quail plantation in Georgia. But what you get if you shoot something like a 200-250 bird driven day: The opportunity to shoot a lot more than you ever would at pheasants in South Dakota or quail in Georgia. (Those numbers are the total BAG for the day, not the number of birds you get to shoot at.) Not unusual to go through half a flat of shells on a driven day.


Where I've shot, there's always wine at lunch. But I've never seen anyone overindulge. And depending on how well you shot on the morning's drives, a glass of "barrel straightener" may improve your results in the afternoon.

There are a handful, if that many, of SW GA quail plantations that offer wild quail hunting to the paying public. Usually reserved for the owner's family and friends, a few days a year are opened on a limited basis. A friend took his son and another father-son to such a plantation and a day and half hunting was $25,000 for the 4. This included lodging and meals. A driven shoot in the UK seems like a bargain, but then an early released quail hunt would swing the bargain comparison back to the states. My buddy took a similar hunt this season in SW Ga. This year they found 49 wild coveys in a day and a half. While other regions of the US have healthy populations of wild quail, SW Ga has over 300,000 contiguous acres of privately owned quail plantations with extensive (replace the "t" with the "p" in extensive) management for birds, including predator control. Figure over a million a year per large plantation which includes costs for staff, property taxes, etc. Gil