doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Anticipation

"Now, Maitland, Now is your time."

"Up Guards"

The famous Foot Guards now the Grenadier Guards who guard the Palace with their bearskins.

Thank you all for your kind comments.

I shall attempt to answer some of the points raised.

"There seems to be an extremely small selection of hunting boots available over there." & "Not to mention hats"

Well, nothing to do with Wellington I'm afraid, since the majority of the boots are Le Chemeau and made in France, ironically enough! See www.lechameau.com They are very good boots, well made, comfortable, warm and reassuringly expensive! As for hats, I'd say the flat cap is the predominant headwear amongst my shooting friends. It was the first time my brother in law wore that deer-stalker and he rather liked it - despite our ribbing him about it!

"Clarke? I'm not familiar with that maker"

Henry Clarke of Leicester, which is where our family are from. I have posted about him on here before. He was especially well known for making wildfowling guns.

"A hunt/shoot in the UK is still on my list of things to do." & "A driven shoot in the UK is on my bucket list when I retire."

Gentlemen, I would be more than happy to put together a day for DGBBS members if there is sufficient demand. 8 guns, fly in to London, accommodation and transport laid on, a day in town to see the sights, including a visit to Purdeys, a day at H&H shooting ground to get your eye in, transfer to the shooting estate, stay in the big house to include dinner and breakfast for two nights there, say a 150 or 200 bird day with all the trimmings, guns and cartridges supplied, return to London and either fly back or extend your stay. Wives/partners can come along too. I can do that at cost.

"We see your sister, but not you! Lemme guess, viewer's far left with your dad to your left?"

Nope! L-R my bro in law, my father, my best friend, my sister, me, old family friend and the two shooting brothers. My best friend, me and the brother on the right all used to beat on the same shoot as school boys and then started shooting our .410s together.

"... were you at Okeover?"

Nowhere quite so scenic I'm afraid Lagopus. We were down in the south west of your county at Catton.

"At the start of each hunt, whether I am shooting or guiding, I am full of excitement, anticipation and very eager. Guiding 10 hunts a week for 7 to 8 weeks is very gruelling but it is the anticipation not only of myself but also my hunters that gets me up a 4am every morning to do it again!"

Glad to read that, it destroys a prejudice I have! I have to say I have never shot more than two days in one week so have no idea what it is like shooting four or five days a week. Just that I'd imagine it is difficult to get excited about yet another day shooting towards the end of the season and to recall all the previous days.

Tim

Great thread! Tim's family Estate Shoot makes our southern dove shoot tradition seem a little shabby; but we do have way more boot and hat styles to choose from...Geo

Thank you Tim for the invitation.

Is it a hassle to bring your own double over from the states?

Great pictures and report. Thank you, Tim. I have to agree with Tamid about the anticipation. I'd like to know what it is like to hunt so much that I got tired of it. But, being the eternal optimist that I am, I wouldn't expect that to ever occur.

As has been mentioned here, Southern dove shoots, especially the opener with the fellowship and meal, is probably the nearest we can come to experiencing the camaraderie and fun of a traditional driven shoot over theah'. And, I would expect the difficulty of the bird's presentations would be approximately equal on the two, from what I have read about shooters' ratios of hits to misses.

Again, I love the pics.

SRH

Tim, never thought about Catton when you said 'on the Derbyshire Staffordshire border'. I know Catton too. My very good friend Derek Fearne had his gunsmithing business at Catton Hall in the stable block. Sadly he passed away a couple of years ago. You were only ten minutes from Garlands gun shop and shooting ground. Lagopus.....

Treblig, not too much hastle, no, just a bit of paperwork to go through and you need a good 'airport handler' proof guncase!

Lagopus, sorry to read of your friend's loss. Catton have always looked after us very well.

Tim

Tim, you are spot on about LeChameau boots. Until I bought mine with the gusseted full length zipper, I couldn't keep my feet dry despite buying boots made with Goretex. My high instep prevented wearing other rubber boots for years. I've worn them the past two winters woodcock hunting and one spring season chasing gobblers and they are the most comfortable boots I've had. Not snakeproof, but I'll probably wear gaiters on the outside this spring gobbler season. Gil

Gil, no snakes here for us to worry about!

They make the boots in a variety of calf sizes so its comparatively easy to find a pair that will fit. I've had mine for nearly 20 years now and they remain waterproof and very usable. I wear them for country walks and gardening, as well as shooting.

Regarding headwear, as I wrote the flat cap predominates, but I have seen quite a few trilby's, the odd, very odd, few deerstalkers and only once a tweed basketball hat!

Tim

Small world.

I used to live in Alrewas, the nearest village to Catton, had a wonky firing pin fixed by Derek and regularly shot wood pigeons on the estate and the arable areas t'other side of the Trent. Shot OT and skeet at Garlands every Thursay night for years, and held a couple of corporate days there too.

Anticipating beaters day next week ..... flak jackets and tin hats de rigeur!

Eug