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All positions have now been filled for this season. thanks nick

The amount of birds/guns is important however it depends if you also want some good banter and a social element as this can’t be bought! If it is a syndicate that has its own ground some allow members to shoot vermin during the close season and also many have duck flights after the days shooting so all these things will have a bearing on the value for money. lastly these sorts of syndicates may need you to help feeding and building pens etc so arguably this could lessen the value for money.

We try to keep costs down but everything keeps going up on price! The amount of fun I get from shooting crows and pigeons during the spring/summer makes me feel Iv had good value for Money before I even fire at a pheasant! Talking of which the shoot has its own decoys/flappers/magnets etc We have workparties every couple of weeks from April to July but as long as you attend a few that’s perfect. everyone takes a turn to feed however it’s not a tough shoot to get about and we have a shoot quad bike for those without 4x4’s We have had quite a bit of interest this year thanks to the forum!

Quick update Agm was today so a couple of spaces available. 2500 pheasants and 200 partridge being released. 13 main drives and 9 walkday drives plus several larger blocks of heather/woodland. Fees are £1200 for a full gun (8 driven shoots, 3 walkdays, shooting outer areas at any time during season and pigeon/crow shooting all year) £600 for half gun same as above apart from 4 driven days instead of 8. additional £50 for fortnightly duck flights From September onwards over 4 ponds. Good spot for geese also!

I paid £40 yesterday for my letter up here in Turriff, Aberdeenshire. Wasn’t particularly happy at this but just part of the process now I guess. Firearms officer is coming round today so fingers crossed everything goes well!

Due to a couple of members dropping out due to health reasons spaces are available on our syndicate shoot near Banchory. Half guns and Full guns available on over 2500 acres of ground which should increase to over 4000 in the next couple of weeks. If interested please feel free to message me with any questions you may have. Nick

We have seen more woodcock this season than we have for the last 3-4 atleast! On our two walk days on Thursday/Friday we seen 23 with only 1 being shot so fingers crossed this will continue in the future.

Unfortunately not can shoot everything else but estate keeps the roe. Plenty medal heads kicking around too!

Hello everyone. We had a meeting with the other syndicate shoot on the estate which borders ours yesterday. They have lost a few members so we have discussed the possibility of taking on their ground and merging members. This would give us 11 good drives and another 15-20 lesser ones on over 4000 acres of land so looking positive! We have our Agm next Saturday so if members vote in favour and the estate confirms their approval it could be an exciting year for our shoot. initial thoughts are we would release 2500 pheasants and 150 partridge however this may change. if anyone fancies joining our shoot then feel free to Pm and I can give more info. Average bag was 63 partridge/pheasants over 8 driven days with an additional 4 walk days last year we released 1300 pheasants and 250 partridge in our original ground.

Thanks! Its been a great season so has been enjoyable writing about our days! Our partridges hold really well probably due to the fact we have stubble right through the winter and a fair number of hedges around the fields which they love. They are smart though and seem to be one step ahead however the variety they provide is well worth the occasional frustration! We had two wild broods last summer so fingers crossed we have a favourable spring!

Our last day of the season was yesterday and It was sad hanging my tweeds up last night knowing they wouldn’t be needed for a while. My idea yesterday was to focus on the new ground we acquired but haven’t really shot much in the morning followed by the regular haunts in the afternoon. First drive of the day was Harestone which is a hardwood block which runs down a very steep hill towards a burn. Iv always loved the topography here however the wood is on our current boundary and as it’s not a huge area it’s never been utilised. With the temperature sitting at -5 there was a crunch when walking through the snow to the top of the wood. The snow giving away the presence of pheasants from their prints was a positive sign and when bill and hamish had got into position at the bottom we started. An early hen flushed followed by a nice cock which bill folded. I then got an nice bird breaking out the side. From here we walked through the minklets and coy wood, both were full of woodcock which was great to see before lining out along the back of Baldaroch. This is a drive I thought would be a success this season however it hadn’t quite lived up to expectations but as soon as we entered the drive it was obvious from the footprints that there were plenty of birds. It was a hectic 10-15 minutes with birds flushing in all directions giving the majority of us some shooting! We had walked over 6 miles so everyone was glad to head back to the bothy for some pie and chips for lunch prepared by my mum. Our bothy is always well stocked with various whiskys and with the fire blazing and the sofas extremely comfy it was surprising all 8 of us left to try our luck at the ruinwood. The estate keeper Craig joined us in the hope of getting a pheasant with his 410 however it was some escape artist partridge which gave him his first opportunities. The ruinwood was quiet with the partridges all escaping but a couple of pheasants were added to the bag. Next up was the Containerwood and like yesterday it provided some cracking sport with curling pheasants offering some testing shooting. I had a nice pigeon and Craig christened his 410 with a cleanly killed cock pheasant. Last up was Kilduthie, a wood which seemed like it would never end for the tired guns and dogs but the effort was not in vain with several pheasants and a few pigeons giving us a few last shots to end the season with. It had been a great couple of days and it was nice to see several pheasants heading back into the Containerwood to roost. These birds have given us a fantastic season and now we will concentrate on making sure there is plenty food to get them into the warmer months to come. Total bag 23 pheasants 2 pigeons 1 jay 106 shots

Great write up! Brilliant to hear of some fresh blood coming into the sport!

Hello everyone! thanks for the kind comments it’s great to hear some positive feedback! we had a boundary day today and will have another tomorrow. Six of us started our day at the bothy before heading towards jaffreys where I had a couple of misses at a long partridge. From here we headed to the sunflowers and through the snipe bog however we only seen a solitary cock bird which don duly added to his game bag. Glashmore is always a “pheasanty” bit of ground and usually the mix of clearfell and brambles holds a few birds however with the snow and the fact it was -7 the birds seemed to have more sense than us and were tucked up in the woods. I did however have a cracking shot at a snipe which I was very surprised to see fall and after a quick search my springer Isla retrieved it. We had almost finished the reeds at the end of the drive when Harries pointer Freda went on point. Harrie gave the command and a woodcock burst from the cover only to be missed by him and Dave before I again surprised myself and hit it. Isla did the business and retrieved it so i was a happy Hunter! After this it was a case of walking to the Ruinwood however we did note a large (for us) covey of between 20-25 partridge at the Lwood so that will be a drive for tomorow as they were pretty spooky to try and get round from the position we were in. The Ruinwood was fairly quiet however a few birds were flushed including a nice long partridge which I tumbled with my first barrel, my species shot size was slowly increasing! From here we headed to the Containerwood via Jaffreys and a partridge beat us all before it’s partner flew past while we were all empty... typical! The container looked to be pretty quiet however as we neared the end birds started to flush and I bagged a left and right at a cock and hen pheasant with Charlie also adding a cock bird to the bag. With that it was back to the bothy for a quick bite to eat and to hang the 10 birds shot in the larder. Once we were refuelled we headed to Matt steeles however surprisingly only two pheasants were flushed one by Isla which I missed clean and the second by a lovely roe buck in velvet which was too far out for any of us to attempt! We then did the Kale which as always had a good number of birds which gave us some sport, 4 pheasants being added to the bag. After this it was a walk back to the cars via the broom where a few more pheasants and a snipe were shot. With that it was a return to the bothy before heading home to prepare for round two! it had been a banter filled day with good friends and just under 7 miles walked. I would take this sort of shooting over any driven day! Total bag 14 pheasants 2 partridge 2 snipe 1 woodcock 70 shots

Nice write up! Sounds like the birds were more than a match for the guns!

Hello everyone! We had our extra day yesterday and with 13 of us assembled it would be a challenge to do some of the bigger drives but everyone was looking forward to hopefully adding a couple of pheasants to their tally before the end of the season! First drive of the day would be Kilduthie with my team shooting first. I was a walking gun and would be walking up a willow plantation which is split in two between us and the estate. We had agreed to do this first as the estate would be doing their half at the same time. This was a good thing for me as a lovely hen pheasant flew back towards me and folded with my first barrel! I was disappointed not to have made the beaters day so atleast i got one bird! There wasn’t a huge amount of birds however minus an easy cock bird i missed our team was shooting well with Dave taking a left and right (or a two as his son calls it) and Harrie bagging a nice cock bird. Next up was Matt Steeles and with the other team only having 6 guns the beaters would shoot anything going back or out the side. It didn’t take long for birds to start flushing over the guns and my dad had his bird of the season which made his day. I bagged an old cock bird who thought he would be safe flying back and after the first two drives we were sitting around the 20 mark. Our last drive before elevenses would be the Containerwood. It was going to be a challenge covering the drive with only seven guns however we tried to place the guns in the hot spots as best we could. i was out of it this drive with only a high pigeon giving me a shot but everyone else had some shooting and quite a few were added and quite a few missed! I was definitely glad to get a nice glass of port and something to eat and as always the banter and leg pulling was in full swing with missed birds being miles out of range and shot birds almost being mistaken for sparrows because of their height. The ruinwood was next and this raised a few eyebrows as traditionally it doesn’t hold birds at this time of the season. The 6 guns tried to cover it but typically 10-15 pheasants rose at once and went through the side of the line which had been stretched to the max. This was followed by a good stream of birds which gave the guns some good shooting. It was nice seeing the drive work like it used to in the past with strong birds gliding down the gentle slope before rising over the line of oak trees at the bottom and accelerating over the guns. The big pen another old stalwart was next and despite being fairly quiet their was still a few pheasants in the drive with one in particular making me laugh. Most birds here fly back so the guns had all been placed along the side of the drive with myself and Charlie about 80 yards apart at the end of the wood. A cock bird made it to the fence early on and you could see him weighing up his options as he strutted fairly confidently up and down the fence. Fearing I was being outwitted I started to cross the barbed wire fence to cut off his escape however he beat me to it and lazily flew back towards the Ruinwood! He deserves to make it until next season! The willows was the last drive for the other team and despite being a huge task for 7 beaters we did our best and provided some good sport. The only issue being the 6 guns simply couldn't cover the entire drive and birds had an easy escape in certain places. Because the Big pen hadn’t been great we did the kale as a last minute drive which was a great shout as 25-30 pheasants were flushed and gave us some great shooting. Unfortunately I had a dud cartridge which wouldn’t fit in my barrel so I missed out on a great flush! I still managed to get two nice birds which was a great way to end the day! With the rain starting again it was time to head back to the bothy for a coffee and a bag count. As always the birds were placed on the grass beside the bothy to be admired before being split between us all. 37 pheasant and 2 jays had been shot for 177 shots so a great day to end the season!

Sounds like a great day and excellent shooting from you!

Hello everyone! I have fallen way behind on the shoot updates so will just give a brief overview on how we have been getting on. This has been our best ever season with driven day bags averaging at around the 60 mark which is way over our normal. Its hard to pinpoint what’s helped however Toms daily dogging in helped hugely at the start of the season. Other things we have changed is netting our pens and trickle releasing the poults once they have grown a bit and aren’t so vulnerable to birds of prey. The birds seem to hang around the pen more when their buddies are inside still so definitely something we will continue doing next season. Gamecrops have helped massively this year so again moving forward that’s something we have to try and get right in the future. We have a extra day tomorow and a mop up day for anyone who fancies it on the 31st and 1st so I will write up about the day tomorrow and the 31st. I’d love us to get over the 500 pheasant mark for the season but seems unlikely!

Morning everyone! its shoot day! Just wanted to put up a quick post to wish everyone a merry Christmas in advance. Hope you all have a good one and I’ll hopefully get a post up about today before the new year. Thanks for looking Nick

I think you did the right thing however as others have said the picker up may have been following instructions. It can be hard to get a chance to pick up so you have to play by the estates rules when given the chance as keepers talk and you might get a bad reputation if your doing your own thing. The shoot I pick up on leaves us to use our brains and decide what needs picked up during the drives and what can be left until the whistle. All the beaters clean up round the guns and I tend to be 200-300 yards back looking for runners.

Hello everyone! Our 6th shoot of the season was on the 8th of December and after such a long break since our last formal day everyone was looking forward to seeing how we would get on. My team would be shooting Kilduthie first and expectations were high as the drive hadn't been shot since the middle of October. A few early birds broke out either side giving the walking guns some shooting and this was followed by a couple of sizeable flushes of birds which manly broke to the left hand of the line giving myself and Bobby some good shooting.It was a good start however I had hoped to see a few more birds! Next up was Baldaroch which again had not been done for over a month. it was concerning at the start as the Dogs didn't seem to be hunting with enthusiasm and by the end of the drive not a single pheasant had been flushed. On a more positive note a very healthy amount of Woodcock were seen and despite the guns best efforts all with live to fly another day. The Containerwood is probably our best drive and even when parking the vehicles it was clear there were plenty of birds with between 40-50 being pushed back into the wood. Strangely however the first birds to test the line were a large covey of Red legs which was great to see as they hadn't been seen here much this season. After this there was a steady stream of Pheasants flying all across the line and providing a manic 15 minutes for the guns. Once the 22 birds that had been shot were picked it was time for elevenses before heading to the Opposite pen. It was first time through for this drive and I was hopeful we could finally flush a few Pheasants over the A team. It seemed to be one of those days however as the walking gun told us that 15-20 birds had escaped through a hole in the fence! They really are getting smart now and moving forward we really have to make less noise and cut off any escape routes! Despite the setback we still managed to flush a decent amount of birds but after having been given such a great show at the Containerwood it felt a bit of a let down. The Containerwood may be our Signature drive however Matt Steeles always provides a good show of birds with the only negative being the fact they tend to be quite low. Today they flew well with a stream of good birds and several very tall ones giving the line some great sport. I managed 3 cleans kills and all different, the first being shot infront , the second shot high behind and the last a crosser. As much as I enjoyed this drive I was starting to feel the pressure to provide a good end to the day for the A team. Happily the Willows is another good spot and it didn't take long to hear shots in the distance as we battled through the thick crop of willow. There was plenty of birds here and some really fast high birds that frustrated some and caused big smiles for others! its always difficult to judge the amount shot here as the line is split in two to cover both sides of the drives however the game cart was full so it was looking like a good bag for the day! Back at the bothy the bag was laid out be admired and distributed between everyone before we had a well earned Cup of Coffee Total bag 64 Pheasants 6 Red leg Partridge 252 shots

Some soup and pate and crackers with a hip flask for me! oh And some dried meat treat things for the dog as they do much more work than me!

Hello everyone! We had our first walk/boundary day of the season on Saturday and after seeing a fair amount of birds on the outskirts of the shoot recently we were hoping to get a few birds between the 10 of us assembled at the old bothy. It would be the duck pond to kick things of and as the guys lined out in front of the pond I walked in and flushed a handful of duck and a few pheasants which gave the guns some shooting. After this we carried on to the red moss to see if we could add a few snipe or woodcock to the bag. Unfortunately the snipe were plentiful but getting up way in front so i was the only one to add one to the bag. On the way back to our bothy at the containerwood I lined the guns along the hardcore road leading to it and after blanking the rough ground and broom in front of the road a few pheasants broke back to the wood and although a few were too low there was some shooting to be had. After some hot dogs and and cup of coffee we headed to the sunflowers.This had been a popular strip for the pheasants and it would prove to be the same today with strong flying birds testing the guns and also a solitary jet proppeled partridge beating everyone. An old cock bird which had broken out to my left and to safety on previous shoots tried its trick again however one barrel from my berreta meant it’s luck had run out. We were starting to get a decent bag and the pessimists were now sweating on their sweeper numbers! The Lwood added a few more pheasants to the bag before a surprisingly good drive at Tall trees where both pheasant and Partridge were added to the bag. I think it goes to show the birds get wise to where we normally shoot and trying the outer areas sometimes can provide some good sport. Baldaroch and Hattonburn were to follow and both were disappointing in that only one bird was flushed out of the den at baldaroch and all the birds went back at hattonburn which meant we couldn’t shoot safely. I had hoped to end with a flurry at the kale near Matt steeles drive however it was wet and time was marching on so i was beginning to doubt our chances. As we lined up along the kale we all got a shock as a flush of between 50-60 pheasants gave us all a mad couple of moments where you could hardly pick which bird to shoot at! The only issue was picking them in the thick crop so given we had all had plenty shooting the decision was made to call it a day and concentrate on retrieving the downed game. After they were all picked it was back to the bothy for a count of the bag and some sausage rolls. Despite being a walk/boundary day it had been my favourite shoot of the season and I’d be surprised if that view wasn’t shared by some of the others who attended. total bag 30 Pheasants 3 Partridge 2 Teal 1 mallard 1 Snipe 1 crow 140 shots

Sounds like a great shoot! keep us updated on how the rest of the season goes!

Every day out in the countryside is a great day! its an unusual position this year as we have a huge amount of birds left despite being half way through our days so it’s just a case of hoping they hang about for the remainder of the season! Our next day is this Saturday and will be a walk up day shooting some of the boundary drives and some of the bogs for snipe and woodcock. These are some of my favourite days as you never really know what your going to get! ill have my headcam so will try and add the footage from last shoot and get some from this one. cheers Nick

Hello everyone. Our 4th day of the season was on the 10/11 and after seeing a lot of birds whilst pegging out on the Friday it was looking like a bumper bag could be had! It would be the containerwood first today and despite always getting a good bag off it we decided to try driving it a different way. unforunately many of the birds appeared to have moved out into the sunny red moss which runs alongside the drive so despite there being a fairly good show it wasn’t quite upto it’s normal standard and only 10 were hung in the larder. next up was the Ruinwood for the B team so I’d be standing at peg 4. Yet again the partridges decided they would vacate the drive upon our approach so it was a bit of downer especially after struggling the previous drive. Despite this a few pheasants were flushed but again it wasn’t it’s usual self and suddenly the bumper bag seemed less likely! Next was the Sunflowers which is an extra bit of gamecrop planted by the farmer. We decided to beat it from both ends and hoped the birds would fan out over the guns. Within the first 20 yards we were flushing large numbers of pheasants some of which escaped the line but the ones that did go over the guns were a challenge. Despite not a huge amount being added to the bag it was at least a positive end to the mornings shooting. After lunch it was the willows and like the previous shoot there were lots of birds here and all of the line seemed to get plenty of shooting including myself having a shocker! Matts Broom would be an interesting one as it hadn’t been driven for many years so nobody knew how it would work. Early signs weren’t great as most of the birds swung out wide and escaped the guns however as the drive progressed the birds started to fly over the line and gave the guns some good sport. Worth a try for sure but might be back to the normal way next shoot! Last up was Jaffreys for my team and again plenty of birds were flushed however many escaped the line and made it to the safety of the big pen! This drive seems to be a tactical nightmare at its wedged between two pens and the birds don’t seem to be easily pushed the way we want! With the horn blown for the last time it was a walk back to the Bothy for a well earned cup of coffee! Total bag 41 pheasants 1 partridge 168 shots