doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The 'Glorious 12th.'

John Foster is 10 minutes of the A1 between Darington and Durham ,35 miles south of Newcastle .Usualy has some nice guns and has a good workshop.If you are heading north or south could be worth a call in.

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I don't know you but you sound like a twit.

In point of fact there is "rough shooting" in the UK

Learn to read and you won't be surprised.

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.

lotta killin...not much huntin?

Harry, Lagopus, CBL1 et al,

Fantastic country you gents have at your disposal, much appreciate the time taken to share w/us on this side of the pond. Much more than a thousand words in any of those shared pics. Thank you! CBL1's post looks quite close to heaven.

Its 104F in the shade here this very afternoon.

Ed - I am not really sure I understand your post, but if it is as I think, quite how you draw the conclusion that the "killin" was the point of our days on grouse I struggle to understand.

Read what I wrote again - this was hunting in anyones language on a noble quarry, which I love to see and respect enormously. We walked seven miles, on occasion down slopes so steep we were on our backsides (no ammunition in the guns), so I assure you, this was no cakewalk. And all birds shot were taken home by us for eating later this season.

tw - many thanks for the kind words.

Isn't there a troll convention somewhere you should be attending?

CBL1 - pay no attention to Ed, his interests are limited to provocation not hunting.

Great pictures and description. With so much attention paid to driven shooting in the UK, it is great to learn a bit more about walk up shooting. If I can ever justify a hunting trip to the UK, I will be hard pressed to decide whether to participate in a driven shoot or walk up some birds (perhaps both!). If golf is a good walk spoiled, walk up shooting in the moors must be a good walk perfected, IMHO.

Wonderful pictures!!! I don't think I would have to give even a second's thought to which hunt I would prefer, i.e., driven or this type of walk up. This to me would be far more appealing!! And, you get to keep and eat the game you shoot!! Feel free gents to keep the pictures of your beautiful countryside coming. Your photos allow me to visit that area in my mind. Of course, being a Sherlock Holmes afficianado (sp?) I have already seen some of that moorland before!! Thanks again.