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Showing results for tags 'High Birds'.
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Last Friday a team from our syndicate to a day at Whitehouse and Borland Estate north of Bridge of Cally on the Glenshee road. This is real high bird shoot with the birds being launched from the top of heather clad hills where the keeper feeds them resulting in extremely testing shooting. The first drive was mainly pheasants and having drawn peg 1 I was out of the pheasant shooting but I had my own private battue at some ducks that flew high off a pond at the top of the hill resulting in 4 high mallard for about 20 shots. The next drive was a duck drive off of another hill pond. The ducks just kept coming and provided very sporting targets. The whole line got some shooting and I ended up with 5 mallard for about another 20 shots.e Drive 3 was again a duck drive the ducks being fed up to the top of a hill and then driven over a conifer wood with the guns standing in a deep valley down below. The birds were exceptional. I shot the highest duck I have ever shot, one of a pair that came over early. I was so thrilled at having hit it I didn't get off the second barrel off at the other one. The gun next to me said he was astonished and had wondered why I was lifting the gun to a bird he thought was unshootable. I ended with 6 ducks for 24 shots. I was shooting with Gamebore Black Gold 30g through my Berreta Ultra Light 12B> After a good lunch it was off to a pheasant drive called the Coldrach where the keepers feed the birds up to the top of a heather clad hill and then fly them off back to the pen behind the guns below. The birds get up and soar and then set their wings and glide down the hill like German Stukas. They glide slide and side slip in the wind their wings making a whistling noise as they speed past. There was some exceptional shooting all along the line with myself accounting for 3 birds for approx. 25 shots. There was a delay before the last drive which was the Crags. The keeper revealed that this had been due to a goshawk appearing and scaring the birds off the hill so that he had to start again and whistle them up. The Crags is the highest drive on the estate, The birds are launched from the top of a crag over narrow valley below. Unlike the previous drive the birds do not glide but soar upwards from the top making many of them out of range. The birds came in wave after wave and I never touched a feather of one! I fired about 20 shots and could have fired more but they were too difficult! I stood back and watched as the whole line saluted the passing birds with very few succumbing to the barrage. We had a great day, the shooting was incredibly testing the hospitality was good and the company excellent. The bag of 130 head for 950 shots reflected the high quality of the birds rather than poor shooting!