Shoot Review: Titsey, Warren Barn & Botley, Surrey

Nestled in the North Surrey Downs not far from Oxted with half of the shoot inside the M25, you really couldn’t get much closer to London if you tried. I was contacted by Neil Morris from Shootdays LTD who was working alongside Buster Ansell to reinvigorate the shoot. Buster is highly regarded in the South East as a fantastic keeper and hugely knowledgeable about all things shooting related. Running two other shoots himself as well as being head keeper on the renown Piddinghoe (Hoddern) shoot in East Sussex, Buster keeps himself busy shooting six days a week in the season. I’m not sure quite sure when he sleeps! With Buster backing the shoot and managing its operations, Neil has been helping sell days through his bespoke agency and hosting clients through the season. With these two at the helm and Lee Morgan as the head keeper, I was extremely excited when I was asked to shoot over a beer at the Game Fair.

The summer rattled on, and when speaking to Neil about sales, he said guns were cautious about booking early on, as the shoot's new management regime was yet to be tested. With some fantastic early days under their belt the word got about, and by the time December 5th came around, the shoot was being spoken about in quite a few shooting circles, so I was suitably geed up and raring to see what the hype was all about.

We met at the recently refurbished shoot lodge, which is based on the Titsey side of the shoot. It’s nothing fancy but very warm and welcoming inside by the log burner with a nicely decked out dining table and a comfortable sitting area. Bacon butties in a brioche bun and a strong freshly pressed coffee was the perfect start to the day. The gun line was made up of single guns, a couple through GunsOnPegs, a couple of Busters close friends and some guns who are regulars at Hoddern, a lovely bunch who all shared a love for their sport. Buster, our host, gave the safety talk as we pulled pegs for the first drive. As we travelled over to the Warren Barn part of the shoot which sits inside the M25, we passed some of the shoots signature drives in sand quarries. On Saturdays they can stand guns at the bottom which I can assure you is a long way down. In fact the birds take off some 70 meters above where the guns are standing, so you can only imagine when in full flight the kind of heights they are reaching.

Coming off the main road and descending hard into the bottom of a deep glacial valley I saw what all the fuss was about - ground that many shoots in Devon could only dream about. I was bewildered that my 50-minute drive from London could end up in such spectacular topography whilst feeling so far from the big smoke. Having pulled peg 7, I presumed I might just be out of the action but at the deepest point in the valley I didn’t mind because I knew whatever did come my way off the top of the epic bank would be nothing short of spectacular. How wrong I was, peg seven turned out to be the hot seat along with the majority of the line. As the beaters bought in both sides of the bank towards the flushing points, coveys of wily partridges pinged off the top and burst over the guns in style. The control Lee and his team had over the drive was remarkable, a steady flow of birds entertained the whole line. As the beaters approached again the pheasants started coming, and I mean these were big boy pheasants, strong from months of flying, and they got on their tails and challenged the guns ability. I was like a kid in a candy store being in pole position for the skyscrapers, each bird bought down was a bath time bird! After what must have been 45 minutes of constant shooting I was convinced that this was certainly a worthy signature drive.

Before I had time to fully appreciate how brilliant a drive that was, we were onto the next. A smaller, tighter valley with guns along the bottom with their back to a rising wood. A good mix of partridge and pheasant came out across the line providing quick and exciting sport. I saw the highest bird of the day, a small hen bird that picked up off the back of the game cover and decided it wanted to land on the moon, with a nine gun salute it was well on its way! After we picked up we ambled back to the cars for elevenses, a pleasant selection of soup, sausages and other nibbles were accompanied by a few sloegasms. Chatting with the other guns, they were all very impressed with the morning's performance and proclaimed how they will either be taking full days next season or encouraging their mates to do so.

The next drive I was up the valley at peg two with Buster standing behind me where we had sweeping views down over the gun line and across the rest of the shoot, this place was made for shooting. We were told to shoot the Green Parakeets as they populated the area in their thousands having been released many years ago and prolifically breeding since. The Shooting Times I actually believe did a recipe for parakeets that supposedly make great eating……….not quite sure how! With a tall row of beech tress in front of me the stage was set for another blinder of a drive. Again, I was wrong when thinking I was going to be out of the action. Conscious of the bag and my contribution I was being very selective which is hard when you are overwhelmed with quality birds from start to finish. Thankfully I was shooting pretty straight and with some memorable R & L’s I made sure Buster didn’t have much ammo when it came to the leg pulling over lunch. The birds that took on the middle of the line which included a brace of parakeets (which carried on their way) were stunning, rising high as quickly as the ground dropped away.

We were stopped for lunch before the last drive, as no doubt we must have been close to our bag. Arriving back to the shoot lodge we were offered delicious canapes including homemade pheasant goujons and a wide selection of drinks from the cabinet. After a good catch up on the day so far we were seated and served what could only be described as a feast! Rare roast rib of beef with enough vegetables to last you a weeks’ worth of your 5 a day along with good wine and a hearty desert of apple crumble and custard. We were all suitably full.

Rolling out of the shoot lodge to the last drive was a struggle I must say, but once out it was good to work off the lunch. As expected we did a small drive close to the lodge due to almost being at the bag. There were talks of some English partridge being shown form this drive but as ever they seemed to outwit the guns and never arrived. With some nice birds shot along the line the final whistle went for the day where we returned to the shoot lodge once more for tea, homemade scones and jam. It was the icing on the cake for what had been the best days sport I have encountered this season. All their hard work and effort over the summer months had paid off and to pull it off in such style in their first year was a huge testament to the team.

This shoot will be dead mans shoes in no time at all, you don’t get hidden gems that shows birds like that within the M25 that aren’t.

If you are interested in taking a day or finding out more about Titsey, Warren Barn and Botley then please view their profile page.