A true test for any game shot

Last year I wrote of my frustration that an unexpected period of self-isolation had meant that I was unable to attend a day at the Oxfordshire simulated game shoot “Truly Simulated”. Back then I wrote that I had seen the video and imagery that emerged from the day I was supposed to attend and felt something akin to envy. I am pleased to report that the green eyed monster has been vanquished, because some eight months later I have finally managed to sample the delights of what is claimed as the most realistic simulated game day around. It was well worth the wait.

The most realistic simulated game shoot

In case you’ve not come across Truly Simulated yet, the operation was created by Tristram Allen, an enthusiastic game shot, and his American wife Stephanie upon their return from the States, where Tristram had been working as a sporting agent. Their mission was to create a simulated game shoot that not only offered the most realistic shooting possible, but also the most accurate facsimile of a proper driven day, with every aspect of the day considered, from the spacing of the pegs to the hospitality.

Truly Simulated is found just north of Banbury, not far from the M40, on the Edgcote Estate, a gentle cruise from my parent’s place in Hampshire. Upon arrival I was warmly greeted by Tristram and ushered into their beautiful shoot lodge - a converted barn - and introduced to some of my fellow guns. The team was a mixture of sporting agents, gunshop owners, shooting instructors, shoot owners, plus me and Tristram’s father Martin. I’m getting used to being the least capable shot in the line these days, but this was a particularly strong team, by my reckoning.

After a bite of breakfast (serious pheasant and fois gras sausage rolls) and a cup or three of coffee, we were into the vehicles and away to the first drive. Under normal circumstances the guns would travel in a gunbus, but the “great unlocking” had been delayed, so we were denied that pleasure, which was a shame, but after the year we have had, I was just happy to be out in the fresh air.

The joy of sharing a peg

As on other sim shoots, each peg is shared between two guns, who take it in turns to shoot or load, with a whistle blown half way through each drive to signal a change over. I was paired with Ollie Severn from William Powell, who I have had the pleasure of shooting with before. Very kindly, he insisted I take first stab on the first drive.

I enjoy the peg-sharing element of sim days, especially when you’re sharing with someone as good a shot as Ollie. First it gives you a chance to gauge your own performance (in this instance: poor), and second, it gives you the chance to see how it is meant to be done. We had drawn an end peg, on the outside of a mature conifer wood that sat atop a decentish rise. Poking over the tops of the trees we could just make out one of the two hydraulic lifts upon which sat the clay traps. The whistle blew, and after a pregnant pause the clays began to fly. 

You can say this about Truly Simulated’s shooting offering - it is challenging. You can also say this: the realism is pretty impressive. Owing to the pitch, yaw, and the up and down, side-to-side oscillation of the traps, the targets presented were incredibly varied - different heights, speeds and trajectories. There was a stiffish breeze blowing, and this added another element to the mix. I think I probably fired half a box of cartridges before I broke a clay. The ones that gave me particular trouble were a remarkably good impression of a sly late-season pheasant breaking out of the side of a drive and curling back. I had lots of fun blazing away fruitlessly at them. When it came to his turn, Ollie immediately showed my how it should be done, though it gave me some hope that he was finding the wide ones a challenge as well.

Although less frantic than some sim shoots, side-by-side users will definitely want a glove

One aspect of Truly Simulated that Tristram is keen to emphasise is that things are somewhat less frenetic than on other sim shoots - the air is not black with clays from whistle to whistle, and drives last around 20 minutes. Despite this, there’s still plenty of shooting, and I confess that the red mist did descend upon me somewhat, and despite having followed the instruction to take 150 shells for the first drive, I found that I was perilously close to running out of ammo. 

Putting your foot in it

It is my feeling that shooting writers are apt to paint themselves in the best light possible, and were I in this class of scribe I might not include the following story, but in the interests of honesty, and humour, here goes: As the guns reassembled following the end of the first drive, we were chatting about how well or badly we had all shot. As the stragglers arrived I took a step backwards to make room for them to join the huddle, whereupon the world went past on an up-and-right sort of an angle and I found myself looking at a collection of knees, where moments before there had been faces. I had put my foot into a large burrow or hole and had disappeared up to my thigh in said excavation.

Once I had been unearthed, we made our way back down to the vehicles for a refresher in the form of what I can only describe as the best homemade lemonade I have ever had - the recipe is a closely guarded secret, but Stephanie has promised me that one day she’ll share the grown-up (ie boozy) version with me for a podcast episode.

Testing... but not impossible

With our thirst sated, we walked from the vehicles to the second drive, which mimicked a classic woodland snapshooting scenario, with the guns placed in a ride cut in a mixed wood. Here I was able to do the clays a bit more justice; perhaps I had relaxed somewhat thanks to the foot-in-hole, feeling that I couldn’t humiliate myself any more than that, perhaps the clays were flying a bit more true, perhaps the style of shooting just suited me better. I have always enjoyed snapshooting, in part because it feels like I have less time to overthink myself into missing, and in part because I enjoy the instinctive nature of it, but being into the wind this time judging the pace of the targets was quite tricky, with some of the higher ones offering a particularly frustrating shot - I loved it.

Another hundred shells or so later, the gunsmoke drifting away on the breeze, the caravan moved off for elevenses, which was served in a wooded glade. I really can’t be complementary enough about the hospitality at Truly Simulated. At elevenses we were served a selection of bitesize treats, from roasted pork belly to pigeon skewers, scallops and more tasty morsels than I have space to name.

If you’ve seen pictures or video from Truly Simulated, you’ll likely recall an image of the green hydraulic lifts towering over a belt of trees - it is, so to speak, a signature visual of the shoot. It was to this drive that we went next, and I have to say that approaching the drive from the bottom of the valley, it is an imposing and somewhat intimidating sight. Walking onto the pegs, I commented that the partridges we show at home are probably coming over at a height similar to the belt of trees. And when I say the traps are towering over them, I mean it, as you’ll see from the picture.

I mentioned before that I enjoy sharing a peg with people who are better shots than I. There is one more reason for this, though it is somewhat less charitable. You see, as a very average shot, I find it comforting when someone better than me has a bad time of it - not out of schadenfreude (ok, maybe a little bit), but because it reminds me that even the best can have a bad day, or a bad drive. Unfortunately for my peg partner Ollie, this is what happened to him on this drive. I’m not saying I was gloating… just that I felt a bit better about my own somewhat extravagant ratio for the day.

What's in a shoot lunch?

You can tell a lot about a shoot - simulated or otherwise - by the lunch. Show me a shepherd's pie or a hearty stew, and I’ll show you a down-to-earth, honest-to-goodness, no-nonsense shoot. Similarly, show me a perfectly cooked slice or two of roasted venison with an artful swirl of pea puree, and I’ll show you a shoot where attention to detail is everything. As you might have guessed, Truly Simulated falls firmly into the latter of these two camps - it was a tremendous treat to be served what looked (and tasted) like top-quality restaurant fare. Venison aside, special mention must be made of the wonderful potato rosti, a particular favourite of mine. 

With full bellies we headed back out for the final drive of the day. It is common, on such days, for the last drive of the day to be something of a showpiece, and Truly Simulated is no exception. Once again, Ollie and I found ourselves on the end of the line, and if anything, this presented some of the most exciting shooting - we had clays curling over us right to left, streaky straight ones zooming out to our left, and the chance to poach some to our right as well. It was the curling ones - which started a couple of pegs further down the line, but ended up coming directly over my head - that I took particular pleasure in breaking, needing a conscious mental effort to get right. I was thinking about those on my drive home… a sure sign of a memorable day.

I’m not going to sugar-coat it - the clays at Truly Simulated were too good for me, and I mostly had my arse handed to me. It is often said that guns are by-and-large terrible judges of range, especially height. The lifts I have mentioned raise the clay traps to 40 yards up, and knowing this it made me realise that most of my shooting in the last 25 years I have probably never shot a 30 yard pheasant. A clay that’s a further ten yards up from there looks a really long way, and I realised that I’ve got a way to go before these are bread and butter to me. But, if I needed to shoot at 2:1 to enjoy a day on the peg I’d have given up a long time ago! Despite my inability to do the shooting justice, I absolutely loved Truly Simulated - from the welcome to the hospitality and food to the (very) challenging clays - I would unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone. And certainly don't make the mistake of thinking of Truly Simulated as a season warm up or practice ground; though it would certainly make an admirable venue for that kind of thing, the day really does stand up as a great day in and of itself. 

Truly Simulated has plenty of avaiilability for the coming months - see the shoot profile for dates.