I had the privilege of being out on the "Glorious 12th" this season and in so doing, achieved very much one of my shooting ambitions.
I, along with a good friend experiencing grouse for the first time, took the overnight sleeper train from London Euston (as our forebears would have done 80+ yrs ago), arriving in the Highlands of Scotland early the next morning. From there, the headkeeper collected us and from app 9am-4pm over the course of next two days, we walked miles and miles, from anywhere between 1,100 to 2,600 ft.
This type of grouse shooting is known as walked up grouse over pointers and it is an incredibly enjoyable, rewarding way of experiencing the UK's "king of the game birds" in its awesome home environment. The accent is not on numbers (we took home 6 brace between the two of us each of the two days), but more on challenging shots, working hard for your birds, enjoying good company and incredible countryside and watching some superb and skilled dog work. We walked some very hard ground so this is not for the unfit, but in doing so, were very pleased to see well over 200 birds each day in the ground we crossed. So in terms of the season ahead, and more importantly for longer term stocks, what we saw was certainly very positive. It is also worth noting that this type of shooting tends to be a lot more difficult to do as the season progresses as the birds get a lot more wary and generally rise out of gunshot as we move through September and into October. On the estate I have shot over, they have pointer days only until the middle of September and their driven days end that month also - still with 2 months left in the season!
This is not driven grouse shooting, so does not include the formality and structure of such a day. It equally does not cost anywhere near as much, but that is not to say I did not have to save hard over the months leading up to the seasons start! I enjoyed every minute, and this trip merely heightened my respect for the red grouse, its landscape, and for those whose living is managing this precious heather moorland habitat.
