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

Harry,
Just one question: with all the rain that you fellows "over there" alledgedly have, how the heck do you get a moor to burn?? Seriously, these photos are absolutely beautiful and make me want to visit there all the more.

Buzz,
Do you really think grouse is better tasting meat than pheasant or quail??

Here are a few photos I took last summer when my wife and I visited the homeland. The photos were taken a few days before the Glorious Twelfth. The quote by Burns I put on the first photo is a great description of a day on the moors. If you want to find out where these photos were taken then here is a clue. Robert Burns wrote the poem that the quote is taken from approximately 6 miles from where the photos were taken.

Perry: I really love fried quail and pheasant too. It's a very close call but my favorite is ruffed grouse. Have you ever eaten grouse?

Buzz, Dave, I was born and raised in the valley to the right of the last photo I posted. That was my playground as a kid.

Yes, grouse are good eating but not everyone agrees as they are a little gamey in flavour. At the end of the shoot the grouse are sold off to anyone who wants a few brace. Shot game straight from the shoot is very cheap to buy as the money is made from the shooting. Some of the pheasant and partridge shoots I go to all the game is given away to the beaters and pickers up at the end of the day if they want it. Duck too. Lagopus.....

Gents,

Wonderful photos and thank you for sharing. Hoping to make it back there next fall for some stalking and if I can swing it some grouse over pointers.

Thank you all again!

I spent a half day on the moors in the Outer Hebrides several years ago chasing grouse and never had a shot. Some of the roughest walking I've ever seen, every one of us was wet to the waist by the time it was over. You never knew when you were going to step into a grown over peat cutting and take a soaking. Having never walked that sort of ground before, it took us a bit to learn to spot the soft areas. To have bagged what you boys did I'm sure you certainly worked hard for your game. Excellent!


Destry

Outstanding photo's one and all, beautiful country, great sport........

Cheers to you all................


Best Regards,

Perry,

Heather dries out very quickly, the stems being very woody and the heat generated usually scorches the other plants until they too are dry enough to ignite. The top foliage stays on the plant in the Autumn, but as all the nutrition has been taken down into the roots by the plant the foliage has also dried out and is very easily ignited.

The trick is not to get it too hot as the underlying peat may catch fire and then you have a real problem putting it out. In County Durham the moors are over very thin peat, with glacial clay beneath that. In Northumberland some of the underlying peat can be upto 30 feet in depth. Some of the best peat bogs in the world are in Britain, many have moorland vegetation growing on top of them. Burning is a skill and like many country crafts still in use, the secrets of doing it successfully take a long time to learn. I'm happy top leave it to the experts. Without correct moorland management the Grouse would soon become extinct.

Harry

Great posts! Red grouse shooting is at the top of my bucket list! One day....

Adam

where are the orange hats, blue jeans an pick up trucks? an how come no pitchers of pump guns and auto loaders?

also, did you shoot dem funny lookin birds on the ground? or did you jump up out of yo fox hole an shoot em as they flew by, scared half to death by some wogs beating on pots an pans wid ah spoon?

yo dogs are nice. do any of em tree coons or possums?