How many remember those halcyon days?

[Walker570]

How many of you remember those halcyon days when you could drive up to Scotland , around Blairgowrie and get a weeks sport for a couple of bottles of good Scotch and a round of drinks in the local bar?  This photo was taken in 1972 after a morning on a potato field.  We had been given details of a cottage we could hire self catering between Blairgowrie and Butterstone and told if we made a few local enquiries we could get some shooting.  We drove up a long single track road to find a cottage set on a bank and told that we might find some locals at the bar down the road at Kinloch.  We walked into this small bar and a dozen pairs of eyes turned in our direction and conversation stopped. I walked up to the bar and order three pints and turned and said , "what are you guys drinking?"  at that the atmosphere changed and we eventually exited in the early hours with five full days sport arranged.   One farmer who owned our cottage even got his wife out of bed at 1am to cook us all something before we turned in. Great people.

The photo shows what we decided to shoot that morning as geese just kept pouring in. Our landlord had indicated the label of whisky the farmer liked best and a bottle was presented and accepted gratefully.

As said ...Halcyon Days for sure.

 

[6.5x55SE]

Well done 

I to have been lucky to have shot various places just into Scotland to the far north like yourself for a Bottle of Scotch a Box of chocolates or Both.

The only place i paid for the shooting was Islay on a certain Estate i wanted to shoot just once in my life time Cost £25 for 5* Hotel ( which we had to stay in as part of the shooting ) which included breakfast Evening 3 course meal and the shooting was £25 per .

Found memory's never too be forgotten also most of the time you'd not see another shooter if you you did they seemed to be of the same nature as yourself .

[Rimfireboy]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing.

[marsh man]

I have never had the good fortune of going shooting in Scotland but I have been as far as Inverness on holiday , and like somebody had already said , we also found them very friendly and likeable people , very similar to Norfolk folk, no I am only joking , I first met the Scotch when they came down to Yarmouth for the herring fishing in the 60s and the friendliness left a lasting memory right up to this day. 

[motty]

From what I understand, these kind of opportunities still exist!

[m greeny]

Fantastic thanks for sharing but sadly most decent shooting in scotland is tied up by guides  but as already mentioned there will still be odd places to get shooting with a bottle of scotch as payment

[Gerry78]

Brilliant mate you walk into a local pub now and there all siting on there mobile phones lol dont want to make you feel old that was 6 years before i was born A neighbour of mine in the early 80s went over to scotland for salmon same thing went to the local pub found the farmer whose fields ran onto a well known SALMON river where rich Toffs fish a few bottles of scotch and a promise of a salmon got him 3days free fishing plus 3 nights free sleeping in the barn HE kept hes side of the bargain a 13ib salmon caught on the fly for the farmer

[Mightymariner]

Remember a few trips to Perthshire and the Solway area, and it was as described, shooting was fairly easy to come by. Not been up for many years so don't know how much has been snapped up by guides. I've seen prices as high as £80 for a single flight. If you want some real nostalgia, have a read of Goose Fever by BB.

[JDog]

14 hours ago, motty said:

From what I understand, these kind of opportunities still exist!

My Cotswold shooting buddy and his uncle go up every year without making prior arrangements and they always have good sport. 

[7daysinaweek]

Not big or rare bag but here are a couple of photos from the early 80's. Before ghillie suits had been thought of I had made me own. The pic of me with the rabbits that I would have ferreted and a much, much younger 7days.

Ahh the eighties, ferreting, shooting, fishing, lamping and snaring. Great memories!

atb

7diaw

[marsh man]

9 hours ago, Mightymariner said:

Remember a few trips to Perthshire and the Solway area, and it was as described, shooting was fairly easy to come by. Not been up for many years so don't know how much has been snapped up by guides. I've seen prices as high as £80 for a single flight. If you want some real nostalgia, have a read of Goose Fever by BB.

I have got the book Goose Fever , it do feature B B in most of there trips up to Scotland in pursuit of geese , a very good book, and for any wildfowler it is well worth reading.

I am not being big headed or trying to prove you wrong M M , something I would never do , but the author was Douglas Mc Dougall  who lived at Catfield Hall near Stalham  in Norfolk and not B B , I met him several years ago on the Fenland W A stand at Holkham , at the time he had some serious health problems with part of his leg missing but he still had a twinkle in his eye when the subject got round to goose shooting , sadly he have been dead for a while now.

As a footnote , his boy Keith died last year aged 82 , he was also a first class wild fowler , punt gunner , farmer and a first class conservationist .

[Mightymariner]

15 hours ago, marsh man said:

I have got the book Goose Fever , it do feature B B in most of there trips up to Scotland in pursuit of geese , a very good book, and for any wildfowler it is well worth reading.

I am not being big headed or trying to prove you wrong M M , something I would never do , but the author was Douglas Mc Dougall  who lived at Catfield Hall near Stalham  in Norfolk and not B B , I met him several years ago on the Fenland W A stand at Holkham , at the time he had some serious health problems with part of his leg missing but he still had a twinkle in his eye when the subject got round to goose shooting , sadly he have been dead for a while now.

As a footnote , his boy Keith died last year aged 82 , he was also a first class wild fowler , punt gunner , farmer and a first class conservationist .

I am sure you are right, I should have got my copy to check....I really enjoyed his stories too.