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Posted By: ClapperZapper Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/13/21 06:43 PM
At some point in time, I signed up for the email distribution list at Delaney and sons.

Can’t remember where, or at what shoot.

I know that they coordinate a number of shooting excursions each year.

They recently sent me an invitation to a driven shoot held in Maryland on the 25th.

I am just curious if anyone here might be attending, or has any experience booking holidays through Delaney and sons.

The event is sxs’ only, period attire, hospitalities, etc.

I think it’s a 350-400 bird day.

Anyone?
Posted By: Nitrah Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/14/21 01:55 AM
I was scheduled last year, if was delayed until this fall , maybe. I have two friends that have done been with them and spoke highly of them. We had a web call today with new owner of J Dickson , organized by Sean Delaney, very interesting
Posted By: L. Brown Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/14/21 01:04 PM
Driven shoot in Maryland? Is it a tower shoot or something like that? I've done one sort of driven shoot in the States (not a tower shoot), and I was not impressed. Haven't done any tower shoots, but from what I understand, when they talk about numbers, they're talking about birds released, not birds bagged. Shooting in Scotland, whatever number bird day always referred to the bag, not the number of birds driven over the guns.
I don’t know Larry. I read the description, looked at a video, it looks like there’s an estate/club in Maryland that has enough topography to push released birds over a team of guns.

I don’t think it’s a tower shoot, I don’t think they are using air cannons, I think they’re just released and driven.

Everyone has their own view of these things.

Winter birds, well presented, it could be great fun.
Posted By: Nitrah Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/14/21 03:59 PM
I used to shoot at a driven shoot in Illinois, where the birds were thrown from within a big stand of trees. Gunners were well spread out around the trees. It was great the first two times, birds coming fast on one side where the window was small and on the lower side of the woods birds reached height and got up speed before in range. Then it changed to guys loading up repeaters with duck loads and blasting at the birds right as they reached height but hadn't started their down flight. Totally destroyed it for me standing in the field with my 100 year old sxs and 1 oz loads.
I think the price on the handful of shoots I’ve looked at that do this, reflects your anxiety.

I’m also confident that in the US it’s a hard sell outside of a handful of Markets.
Posted By: Geo. Newbern Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/14/21 05:51 PM
I kind of like tower shoots because it is fun to shoot at pheasants which are not our local gamebirds. They are good to eat as well. I'd much rather go to the Midwest and attempt to shoot wild ones. I shot released birds the last years of my quail hunting career just for the sake of my bird dogs. I've never been on a European style driven bird shoot and don't expect to ever do it.

One outfit around here tried to have 'flighted' mallard shoots where the boxed birds were tossed up by handlers 100 yards up the hill from the 'duckpond'. The trees weren't thick enough. It was a joke...Geo
Posted By: Tamid Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/15/21 05:49 PM
My club here calls it a continental. The throwers get in a large clump of bushes/trees surrounded by the gunners. Then the birds are thrown/released. After so many birds the gunners rotate. I've never tried it. Sounds like a slaughter, not what i'm interested in.
Posted By: Geo. Newbern Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/15/21 06:31 PM
Originally Posted by Tamid
My club here calls it a continental. The throwers get in a large clump of bushes/trees surrounded by the gunners. Then the birds are thrown/released. After so many birds the gunners rotate. I've never tried it. Sounds like a slaughter, not what i'm interested in.

It is a slaughter. I think of released birds as high priced poultry. The slaughter doesn't bother me any more than chicken houses, but the practice has raised a lot of money for good causes...Geo
Posted By: Imperdix Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/15/21 06:31 PM
Sounds appalling! A sportsman`s nightmare,why can`t they do it properly?
Posted By: Geo. Newbern Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/15/21 06:36 PM
Originally Posted by Imperdix
Sounds appalling! A sportsman`s nightmare,why can`t they do it properly?


Shortage of peasants over here. I guess we could use democrats as beaters, but they won't do it. They may be wrong, but they're not stupid...Geo
Posted By: pamtnman Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/15/21 06:47 PM
I know Sean personally. He is passionate about everything associated with bird hunting, tradition, double shotguns. He’s a hard worker in general, so I would suppose that whatever event he has organized will be done right. 2020 was covid. It screwed up everything for just about everyone.
Posted By: pamtnman Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/15/21 06:50 PM
Originally Posted by ClapperZapper
I don’t know Larry. I read the description, looked at a video, it looks like there’s an estate/club in Maryland that has enough topography to push released birds over a team of guns.

I don’t think it’s a tower shoot, I don’t think they are using air cannons, I think they’re just released and driven.

Everyone has their own view of these things.

Winter birds, well presented, it could be great fun.
I have shot at this particular big Maryland club. They throw and launch the birds out over the guns lined up below. It’s a slaughter and not very fun, pretty awful, actually.
Posted By: Geo. Newbern Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/15/21 07:04 PM
I once went to a local charitable tower shoot. Among the pheasants a single Rhode Island red hen was tossed off the tower. I was hoping to get that one because I knew it would have been better eating.
Sadly the little red hen just helicoptered to the ground and ran under the wagon carrying the scissor lift. Clearly not her first rodeo!..Geo
Posted By: MattH Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/16/21 01:23 AM
I cannot speak to this shoot in Maryland, as I have never been, but I went on one of Delaney & Sons shoots in England a few years ago. It was a great trip. Everything was done right and I got in plenty of shooting. I wrote about it in the Vintage Gunners newsletter (see link below). I expect I will travel with them to England again (in fact I am attending a quail hunt with the Delaney's and some of their past customers next month).

https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/39...ds/Vol2Issue1-2017.pdf?ver=1606249527590

I know some other members here have traveled with Sean and Liz and may chime in.

Hope this helps.
Posted By: Owenjj3 Re: Driven Shooting with Delaney & sons - 02/16/21 10:45 PM
I recently attended their shoot at Primland in VA. Every detail was attended to and the resort, as always, was impeccable. Five star cuisine, unbelievable accommodations, and an amazing wine list. It was a true continental driven shoot with 20 beaters, pairs of guns, loaders, English attire, pickers-up, elevensies, and tall birds presented off towering hillsides to 8 gunners lined out below. They presented about 500 birds over the line and drives continued in various locales around the 17,000 acre property until 300 were marked down. Simply amazing.
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