Rough shooting, walked up mixed shooting / hunting advice and information

Introduction First of all, some clarification about the terminology used. The term walked up mixed shooting is self explanatory - this effectively means all legal species and the bag may include ground game such as hare and  rabbits if these are present.   The confusion arises with the term 'rough shooting'. Some operators use this term to apply to walked up mixed game shooting where the guns may expect 10-12 head of game per gun or equally to days where no expectation is given and the density of game is much lower - if the guns shoot a few rabbits and the odd pigeon and pheasant, then this would also qualify as rough shooting. You may be offered rough shooting on grounds where no game is released at all and therefore the success or otherwise of the day will depend entirely on the weather and time of year.   

The way around the problem is to ask the organiser or the estate for bag expectations or better still, some previous bag records. As a general rule, true rough shooting will cost much less and takes place where there is a lower density of game. In addition, the best time for rough shooting will be in October to mid November. Mixed shooting (which may still be called rough shooting) , however, is just as likely to be good from the beginning of October up to late January.

When clients ask me for bag expectations, I can give approximate, average figures. I much prefer to give past bag records (if available) as this reflects a more accurate picture. The other figure which is of interest is the number of cartridges fired!! Some groups of hunters assume that they are guaranteed the bag quoted regardless of the number of shots fired and regardless of the ability of the hunters to shoot and to walk. Another fair rule of thumb, is that if you fire a box of cartridges (25 in our UK boxes), then you can reckon you have had a very good day.

What to expect.   The ideal number of folk for a walked up day is probably 6. That said, I often look after groups of 3 up to 16. Large groups of more than around 6 guns, would be broken up into smaller groups. The cost of the day you booked will include not only the actual shooting itself, but also guides with dogs which are used for flushing and retrieving the game. You can expect to be walking most of the day, but some or all of the party may often be standing for a flush of duck from a pond  or to stand at the end of a wood whilst others walk through towards the standing guns. Walking may be tough on some grounds and easy on others. If any of the party are less fit or unable to walk over rough terrain, then check with the organiser about this - it is usually quite easy to take account of this as long as you state this when booking (it's no good turning up on the day and expecting the guide to be able to work around this at such short notice.)

The day would begin at around 9 or 9.30 in the morning with a stop for lunch at around noon or 1pm. Walked up shooting stops by around 3.30 or 4 pm at the latest. This allows birds such as pheasant peace and quiet to go to roost. Some estates include an evening duck flight as part of the day - but this practise varies a great deal.

The whole point of walked up shooting is not so much the size of the bag but variety.....which after all, is the spice of life! Countrysports uses Perthshire as its main area for mixed shooting simply because there is probably no other county in the UK which can offer such a wide variety of species to shoot without having to travel for miles and miles. If groups book more than a couple of days shooting, we try to use different estates so that hunters will experience variety of scenery as well as quarry species. Other areas such as Northumberland have been very successful for low ground mixed shooting, and as with all things, each area in the UK will have its advantages and disadvantages.

A typical  mixed day may include the following species, listed in rough order of likely quantity for most areas: pheasant (our mainstay quarry game bird), mallard , rabbit, partridge (2 species- red legged & grey),pigeon, snipe (mainly Sept. Oct. & early Nov. before the harder frosts arrive), woodcock (mainly from mid November onwards), brown hare, greylag & pinkfooted geese , wigeon, teal, if high ground is covered - red grouse, white hare, black grouse (but, remember that Grouse & Blackgame can be very difficult to shoot from mid October onwards, and Red Grouse closes on December 10th.) . In addition, there are the various species of vermin which are fair game on a rough day, and these include crow, jay, grey squirrel and fox.

A couple of points should be mentioned regarding safety. Walked up mixed shooting and walked up grouse are arguably the two potentially most dangerous forms of shooting (with driven grouse and driven partridge not far behind) . The reason for this is that the guns are walking and firing more or less instinctively. Hunters  should always keep in a straight  line and never take shots where there they are unsure of what is behind the quarry being fired at. Whilst you are still walking, it ought to be easy to keep checking every 10 seconds or so to your left and right to see if you are in line. This should mean that when you take a shot, you know without checking, that you are in line. Swinging the gun through the line is another dangerous and forbidden activity. If a bird gets up in front and then turns and flies over or through the line, then you should raise your gun (so that it is off your shoulder), turn around and then remount the gun to fire safely behind the gun . When you are carrying your gun in the line, point it downwards and forwards all the time - do not carry it across your arm 'Indian Style' and not over your shoulder - if you do this, it is odds on that loaded gun will pointing at someone and if it's pointing at me, then I'll swear at you and a repetition may result in termination of your shooting - after all, would you mind if a loaded gun was pointing at you?!!

And a point or two about ethics and etiquette. I have often seen shooters take a second shot at a wounded bird which is on the ground. This can be dangerous and is often pointless - the guide's dogs will retrieve wounded game more efficiently and quickly and you only have to call the guide if he did not see a bird drop. More often than not, the guide or his dogs will have already seen what happened and a dog running in to collect the wounded bird is likely to be shot by an over enthusiastic shooter trying to finish off the bird. Any game which rises or runs away from you should not be fired at close range. It is hardly ethical or sporting to 'blow up' game which gets up at your feet.

Cost  The cost of a day will give you another indication of the likely expectation for the day. On ground where no birds are released, and you might only expect the odd rabbit and pheasant, the day may cost as little as £50 to £60. Mixed game days where a decent bag is expected can range from £170 to £190 per gun per day (inclusive of VAT).  

Shotguns & Cartridges  Lightweight 12 gauge or 20 gauge guns are normally used as you have to walk and carry them all day. UK shotsize 6 or 7 with 30gm or 32 gm loads are the most popular cartridge for this type of shooting (as long as you remember never to take long shots at hares or geese with such small shot size). It is often a good idea to have some size 4 cartridges if you expect to encounter reasonable numbers of  ducks or hares during the day. If I know my groups may have a chance at geese, I always give them two size AA or BB cartridges to keep in a pocket.

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