Shoot Review: Withycombe in the heart of Exmoor

In between Withypool and Winsford, Withycombe is in the premier league of pheasant shoots although it doesn't try and compete with those who are as much about the hospitality as they are the shooting, and that's acknowledged by being a few pounds per bird cheaper. That's by no means a negative though, for many it's entirely the opposite.

The shoot is run with great enthusiasm by Chris Jones who is also the head keeper. Chris loves this place and you can tell from the moment you arrive. He'll take as much pride and enjoyment in showing you a corking pheasant as you would shooting it. His constant smile and care for the guns throughout the day made it a real pleasure to be a part of. This also means that when you bring down a bird that you want to tell everyone about, there'll be someone there to listen to you when your mates don't want to hear it!

I had the pleasure of visiting WIthycombe on the 21st January, the second of back to back days, the other being at Molland just down the road. I'd been spoilt royally by ending the season with these two but I suppose that enables you to compare and contrast the best with some degree of authority. It was a 'roving day' so the team of guns were made up of 3 different groups, although most new each other from shooting together in the past. There were some high pheasant aficionados here too and I was about to find out that I wasn't quite as good as I thought!

The guns met at Chris' farm at the bottom of the valley and enjoyed a cup of coffee and bacon rolls in the shoot room, a rustic barn with a roaring wood burner just next to the farmhouse. The shoot enjoys full use of this long complex valley with drives both sides all the way down. You've got some moorland edge and wooded drives on one side and large cover crop plots on the other, both with very steep banks which guarantees good quality sport. As it was the end of January, the first drive involved blanking in the 2 drives either side in order to produce one big one. We were hoping for a bag of 250-300 depending on what the guns could do in the conditions provided.

It was a very bright but chilly day and like my previous day where the sun had made it a challenge for the keeper, Chris was likely to have his work cut out again. The drive was a real beauty though - strong birds got up from the crop on the top of the hill and were really motoring by the time they reached the guns. The amount of time you had to see the birds coming just built that wonderful anticipation and excitement that no-one has ever successfully explained to someone that doesn't shoot! Given I'd had a day to warm up, I knew where to point the beautiful Purdey Sporter that I'd been lent for the weekend and mixed with some Hull High Pheasant Extreme 34g 4's, it was a pretty effective combination.

I got beaten by lots but fortunately brought down enough to make me happy, the rest of the line however were on blinding form. It was clear that some of these boys get down here a fair bit and they informed me whilst enjoying a drink after, that this quality was normal for Withycombe and I didn't know what I'd been missing!

Above: One of the lower cock pheasants on the first drive.

The second drive was similar to the first in layout and produced some lovely birds, but not quite to the quality of the first for me. I was pegged at the top end of the line and being the end of the season, a few had got wise but that's being very picky, I took a good number of great birds from the drive. Those down on 2 and 3 saw and killed some of the finest birds I saw all year. In fact, one particular unlucky cock pheasant got stopped, stone dead, at a good 80 yards. It was probably the finest bird I saw shot all season. If it had been me, I would have grown wings and flown back to the shoot room for elevenses but this humble team carried on as though they did it every week, maybe they did!

For the third drive, we left the farm and through the famous ford at Winsford to a drive that to describe, I'd ask you to simply look at the photos below. I had some lovely birds on peg 1, partly as a walking gun, accompanied by one of our hosts to look after my slip and cartridge bag and share his knowledge of the drive with me. I must admit, I was a touch jealous of those further down the line although the birds had the ability to leave one demoralised.

With land like this greeting you as you arrive to a drive, you can instantly tell what it will produce.

Look carefully for the bird in the photo above, most got through!

Above: One of the lovely birds over peg 1 on the third drive

Chris had recently taken on a new patch of land adjacent to the famous Miltons shoot a few minutes up the road which he wanted us to try out as a shorter fourth drive. He'd put some partridge down after taking it on earlier in the season and as he's always keen to expand and in search of new quality, this opportunity seemed to him too good to pass up. His one problem will be getting a return on the birds put down because it's isolated from the rest of the shoot, but I can tell you now that the preview we had of the quality that came off it will get people driving hours to shoot it. A good number of birds that were sent over were on the limit of what a shotgun can do and the rest were just fantastic. I'll admit to being guilty of not seeing a bird over my head whilst I was laughing and pointing at one over my neighbour that was on its way to mid Devon!

You probably can't see the hen bird above, but it is there!

The finale was a large drive within a bowl back at the farm with the guns lined down the middle of it. Due to the nature of the land, we were pegged fairly close together which, with this sharp team of guns, got us a bit competitive! Fortunately though, there was enough volume to stop us shooting each other's birds too regularly. The first set of beaters made their way around the bowl and so you turned on your peg during the drive. At the mid point, we were lined one in front of the other so if a bird reached me at 6 then it would have to be a bit special! The second flank of beaters were pushing the moorland high behind us towards the guns and the first flank acted as a stop to funnel the birds over the line. As ever, at this stage of the season, you need a bit of luck, but what we had was great.

We headed over to the neighbouring farm for a gin and tonic with a stunning Exmoor view to marvel at before a hearty dinner around the table to relive our favourites from the day. Fortunately I wasn't driving which I'd heard prior to the day is a great straw to draw if you planned on staying for a Withycombe late lunch! A few hours, several drinks, and hundreds of calories later we departed back to the hotel. Secretly, we'd rather have been joining Chris in his weekly darts match down the pub, maybe he'd politely avoided asking having seen me shoot? I'll never know!

We were staying at The Royal Oak, Withypool, which had a number of other shoot owners in on the Saturday evening. We enjoyed great conversation at the bar until no-one was left, the perfect end to a special day.

It is a lovely shoot that made me realise how much the passion of the owner or manager makes a difference. If I was describing Withycombe like a hotel, it's one of the best, in the best location, but without an unnecessary ironed newspaper.

Looking forward to going back.

The team after a lovely day, back at the farm in the Withycombe valley

Withycombe offers days for single guns and full teams, please click here to view their availability.