The Lammermuir Shoot is found in the Berwickshire Hamlet of Westruther in the Scottish Borders with the shoot’s hills sitting at an elevation between 500 and 1,100 feet above sea level. Could one read of a better set of numbers in advance of their 250 bird partridge day?
Not only the home of deep fried Mars bars, Braveheart and strange sporting events involving chucking huge logs around, but truly some of the finest shooting topography and scenery in the United Kingdom. I’d been hosting an event in Edinburgh the night before so took the train down to Tweedbank to find my hotel in the small and unassuming village of Melrose. As I rolled away from the concrete backdrop, more and more rolling hills, steep banks and glorious views began to pass the window.
“Where is the coward that would not dare to fight for such a land as Scotland?”
Every element of this country ignites a fire of deep excitement that only shooters will understand. One begins to reminisce of steep birds shot across the years and to imagine your own perfect drives within the countryside that unfolds in front of you, something that Scotland has in a unique way perhaps only contested by areas of North Wales.
After waking early with thoughts of the day to come, I stepped out of the hotel and was met with a sight that every shooter hopes for – shop signs flickering in the gloom, thick bulbous clouds overhead and a coolness in the air. Today, I was sharing the peg with a friend of old, Joshua Atkins, and hosting guests David Thompson and Sam Jones. Dave and Sam had clearly been at this before revealing the most impressive walnut cabinet in the boot of the Range Rover. There was little space for guns and cartridges amongst all the glassware. After checking on several occasions that the guns were indeed still there, we were all set.
Shared experiences become cherished memories
Before continuing, it’s important we cover the wonders of sharing a peg and my disappointment that it is often viewed with unnecessary snobbery by many. Our sport is already highly inaccessible as it is with days only becoming more expensive, bags more commercial and teams littered with pacemakers. We must encourage youngsters to take up the torch of this wonderful sport and sharing the peg makes it significantly more affordable.
Furthermore, it is a fabulous way to shoot – possibly even preferable to shooting the peg alone. You can share in someone else’s joy, always have someone present to witness that monster bird you just pulled down and, if things are going wrong, there is good friend standing behind to put you right again. Some would challenge this by saying they have too often experienced shared pegs being loaded at the same time. However, most people are extremely safe and sensible and this behaviour should be nipped in the bud by the host just as low bird shooting and dangerous behaviour from a single gun should. If you haven’t tried sharing, I implore you to do so and, if you currently don’t allow it on your shoot or syndicate, I urge you to reconsider. It should be encouraged as an important part of the sport.
The no. 1 rule of partridge shooting: go where there are partridge - ‘The Roadside’
With our glassware clattering in the back and our favourite shoot day music blasting away, we pulled up to the first drive. Our host for the day, Doug Virtue, had designated it a warm up drive and with the gentle slope that lay in front of us this seemed accurate. However, Doug had certainly succeeded in achieving rule no. 1 as there were plenty of partridge floating around.
This had the potential to be a nice little drive with trees at our backs to encourage the partridge to overcome their laziness and tip over the tops of the furs. Unfortunately, the perfect weather we had awoken to had quickly turned into scenes reserved only for Spanish partridge shooting. We confirmed that partridge still hate flying into the sun – they hugged the ground with frustrating success. Still a pleasant drive to start things off, with my first left and right of the day and Josh shooting 1:1 but we let the majority pass us by.
“Better spared is a pheasant than one shared” – ‘High Mound’
The second drive of the day demonstrated that this shoot has was it takes to compete with some of the famous names. To describe the setting as a steep hill would be a shameful understatement; this was the topography of dreams. As is often the case with shooting though, it was not our peg that was showered in glory but slightly down the line to our right. Dave and Sam had some true screamers over them and I commended Dave in particular at the end of the drive for bringing them down with a seamless technique.
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We found ourselves right under a power line, with our feet stuck in a bog and the birds splitting on us. This combined with some incredibly testing birds of varied height and speed meant we didn’t quite get on to them consistently. I, of course, decided that this was primarily caused by the new Fiocchi Golden Pheasants I was trying which, unlike their stupendous clay cartridges, seemed to be slightly useless. Instead of regularly completely folding them up, they left an unsatisfying and uneventful puff of feathers in their wake. I suspect failing to move our feet effectively didn’t help much either – that and B**x*t…obviously.
Everest – ‘High Rise’
The third drive had to be up there with one of the finest partridge drives I have ever shot. An absolutely sensational valley drive. The sun retreated and a tantalising wind started to bluster through the valley. Partridge came over in droves and both turned and rose as they caught the wind. They flew like bullets and at a serious height. Having changed cartridges to RC Sipe Extremes, the birds began to fold with a clean regularity. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a bird at enormous heights and to watch it fold. There were was one bird in particular on this drive that I suspect will stay with me for years. We comfortably piled through well north of 50 cartridges on this drive and both agreed it made the day. It would have been worth the trip for this one alone.
“No one has ever become poor by giving” - ‘The Shed Drive’
For the final drive of the day, we challenged this proverb with great effect. Peg 1 and standing at the top of a very steep slope, we proceeded to watch partridge pour down the hill towards more fortunate members of the team. We failed to pull the trigger on this drive which you don’t really expect on a day of this size. However, we remained content due to the highs of the previous drive and it was a testament to keeper that we finished on 256 when the final whistle was blown.
The secret to success is to know something nobody else knows
A visit to the Lammermuir hills is something I would recommend for any keen partridge shooter. The shoot is a real gem of the borders providing all of the glories game shooting has to offer and great value too. The sustenance for the day was lacking in some respects so do ensure you take a fully packed car of refreshments and expect some light pies rather than a hearty lunch. However, we all concluded a quick, light lunch was preferable than breaking up our fun with a lengthy meal.
The only thing that surpassed the shooting was the company – I’ve never laughed so hard. A reminder that sharing this sport with friends and making new ones in the process is what it’s all about.
To see availability at Lammermuir, visit their GunsOnPegs listing.
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