Words and image by Matt Kidd
Excitement was palpable as we toured through quaint Lincolnshire villages to the GunsOnPegs Christmas Shoot Day, the finale of our incredible fieldsports roadtrip.
So far, Digby and I had completed five days of privileged sport, helped conservation initiatives, travelled 806 miles in our Grenadier prototype across seven outstanding estates, and amassed a varied ingredient list for the Shoot Day Lunch. We’d loved every minute of it, but we had one last day ahead of us.
With the number of shoots operating this year significantly reduced by the supply of game birds due to bird flu, the team decided to search for a very modest shoot day measured heavily by the overall experience than the weight of the final bag.
As such, the prestigious Grimsthorpe Castle with its Capability Brown parkland put on a 20-bird day for the six guns, which was to be run by the headkeeper Brett, with three beaters and a dozen dogs, hosted by Aaron Freemantle.
A mixed bag
As Aaron went on to explain in the shoot room after our reunion with the rest of the GunsOnPegs team – who were very eager to hear the full highlights of our week – the day would be as follows: two duck drives (one reared, one wild); elevenses; a pheasant drive; lunch; a mixed drive; and a final pheasant drive.
“Half of you will be pegged while the other half will be walking Guns on the majority of drives. Being selective on the first and fourth drive will be required. Anything outside of pheasants, partridge and duck that is legal is fair game, and won’t count towards the official bag.
"Please do shoot any legal geese as they are migratory and spreading bird flu, so we are trying to limit the spread as much as we can,” Aaron concluded. With that, we finished coffees, geared up and split between the Gunbus and the Grenadier.
Despite a foggy start, the ducks flew exceptionally well on the first drive, with five being added to the bag with well-placed steel. What was an additional bonus, though, was a squirrel which Digby quickly added to the bag of ingredients – the loins from which will make a delectable treat for lunch – along with a woodpigeon.
Ancient grandure
Drive two and three were a little less fruitful but that didn’t matter, for on these we were treated to true Capability Brown paradise with ancient oaks whose last remaining leaves offered a gorgeous autumnal hue to an otherwise grey and wintry day. It was time for lunch...
Wild dining
Making the lunch a little more special, it had been arranged that Dan Cooper of Weber – arguably the most known barbecue manufacturer in the UK – would be our chef for the day. From our five days and one morning, our Sterling Silver Grenadier had taken us through some of the toughest terrain one could ever wish to encounter on a sporting trip, enabling us to provide six pheasants; three grouse; one mallard; one squirrel; and one woodpigeon.
Dan had already taken receipt of our bag to prep for lunch after the second drive and had created a selection of kebabs and burgers, leaving breasting and the removal of grouse and pigeon legs to the last minute, which were smoking away on our arrival.
Supplemented with a couple of BYO ingredients – a soup made by James Horne, some venison burgers from Frank, and a hotly contested skewer-off between George Browne and Chris Horne – the three Webers under Dan’s masterful eye produced a sublime alfresco banquet, with more than enough food to satisfy the guns, as well as the team from Grimsthorpe Castle.
For me, the grouse legs, simply seasoned with salt and a touch black pepper and chilli, charcoal grilled and rested to perfection, were the best of all.
Reflections
“Had we taken every opportunity and been a little luckier, we could have given Dan a couple extra fresh ingredients from our travels,” says Digby. “But there are no guarantees when after wild quarry and in unfamiliar locations, which is what bucket list destinations are all about. If everything went to plan and we never missed nor lost a fish, it would be far less enjoyable.
Go anywhere
“It has been made even more special by our Grenadier, allowing us to reach corners of land only ever reached by ATVs or on foot, carrying all our various kit without having to use the back seats. And what a stunning estate for it all to come to an end, where one might be lucky in shooting a brace of birds which will inevitably end up on our tables.”
The final two drives saw us move to a different side of the estate, with half a dozen testing birds added to the bag in the waning light, concluding what was an absolutely epic week. The final total was 22, and each of the birds shot (plus a squirrel) and missed would be remembered.
But we weren’t done there... in the same fashion upon which the road trip was conceptualised, we finished in the pub, where mine and Digby’s stories were told for the first of many, many times.
Final bag: 6 pheasants; 3 grouse; 1 mallard; 1 squirrel; 1 woodpigeon
Miles completed: 848
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