Treasure Island - Isle of Luing

GunsOnPegs: How long have you been running shoots?

Archie Cadzow: Our first real season was in 2019/20.

GoP: What led you into it?

Archie: I moved home to Luing in 2017 and had always wanted to start a shoot on the place as well as a few other projects. Traditionally the tourist season in the Islands tailed off pretty sharply in September and we wanted to keep getting people up to stay in the Autumn.

GoP: What’s your role on the shoot?

Archie Cadzow: My brother Jack or I act as shoot captain, sometimes both of us if we’re free. Mum can often be seen with the pickers as well and Dad with the sausage rolls.

GoP: What’s your philosophy when it comes to putting on a great day for your guns?

Archie Cadzow: The shooting, the people, the other parts… in equal measure. By other parts I mean excellent food, a standout elevenses (occasionally with some home-grown oysters!) and all the little things that put a smile on people’s faces.

GoP: Who were your influences/heroes in shooting?

Archie Cadzow: Toby from the Isle of Muck was a great help and source of information, there aren’t too many island shoots about like ours, so I was very grateful for the help and encouragement when we started up.

About Isle of Luing

GoP: Describe Isle of Luing in three words?

Archie Cadzow: Outrageously good fun!

GoP: What makes Isle of Luing special - how does it stand out from the rest?

Archie Cadzow: As with all shoots, when we first started on Luing there were a lot of unknowns about the way drives might work and how to best present the birds, so we said to ourselves well lets get what we can right, lets make sure everyone has the best trip possible even if a couple of things on the day don’t go to plan. Let’s make sure the food and accommodation are superb, guests are feeling spoiled and everyone, including beaters, pickers and even the keepers are having a great day.

Since then the shooting has gotten better and better each year. We’ve planted hundreds of thousands of trees, improved access, tested new bits, found new drives, all the while keeping to the original mindset and attitude.

Today it makes for a potent mix and when you add in that you’re shooting some very unique drives in a very unique setting, that there’s boats involved, shooting partridge over sea cliffs, sundowner drinks, mackerel fishing or great evening flighting as well as some brand new and incredibly comfortable private accommodation to stay in... I think it makes Luing a pretty special place to come and shoot.

GoP: What are your ambitions for the shoot?

Archie Cadzow: To have a season without a global pandemic, a national shortage of birds or a cost of living crisis!

GoP: What are the biggest changes you have made in your time running the shoot?

Archie Cadzow: Well starting from scratch means changes have been constant, but getting more cover down in the right places has had the biggest effect though I’d say. Before last season we were predominantly a partridge shoot but last year couldn’t get hold of any partridges, we surprised ourselves though and produced some really excellent pheasant drives, some that had never been tested, which was very satisfying.

Looking ahead

GoP: What significant changes do you plan to make over the next few years?

Archie Cadzow: Changes will happen as the woodland grows and our ability to hold pheasants gets better and better later into the season. We’re also planning a good bit more woodland and cover planting around field margins etc. This should be great for rough days which we often bolt onto a 200 bird driven day, that’s a pretty standard package for us.

GoP: What conservation / wildlife projects do you run on the shoot?

Archie Cadzow: As mentioned, we’ve planted about 200,000 native broadleaf trees, through both a woodland creation scheme and just on our own. The shooting works alongside the farming and we run three agri-environment schemes from 2017- 2025. We’ve just applied for a nature restoration fund and our grey partridge seem to be doing okay!

Alongside that we love our wading birds and since fox and crow management began properly, we’ve seen an increase in just about everything from lapwing and curlew, oystercatcher, snipe, migrating godwit and teal.

GoP: What are the unique challenges you face at Isle of Luing?

Archie Cadzow: Islands in Scotland face some pretty tough challenges currently thanks to public sector neglect; our ferry is 50 years old, and its maximum loading is constantly being revised lower and lower. Its fine for cars but getting wheat onto the island wouldn’t be possible if we weren’t running a farm as well.

The other half of the estate is on an island named Scarba... now there’s some truly unique challenges! We stalk Red & Fallow deer over there and occasionally walk-up woodcock, accessing only by private boat, it’s a truly beautiful place with no resident population, just deer, eagles and plenty of other wildlife.

GoP: How many people do you have on your gamekeeping/shoot management team?

Archie Cadzow: Head keeper Darren, part-time under keeper Robin, and Chef Iain. Our accommodation named Wild Luing also employs a couple of people.

GoP: Where on a 1-10 scale would you rank the difficulty of the shooting?

Archie Cadzow: I’d put it at about a 7/8. We’re not a high bird shoot by any account but we have a few drives that can produce some pretty testing pheasants. What we do get a lot of is variety, even within a single drive you’ll have to move your feet! I’m all for this personally, as I don’t really want to see the same bird come over every time.

GoP: What kind of teams / guns would most enjoy Isle of Luing?

Archie Cadzow: We really only cater for whole teams given our circumstances, and we’ve had a great variety of teams old and young, local and foreign who’ve all loved their stay so I think we’ve got something for everyone. Having said that if you like to be driven to your peg (although if someone has a dodgy knee this can of course be arranged!), don’t like variety or trying something new then maybe Luing isn’t for you.

GoP: What’s your favourite drive on the shoot?

Archie Cadzow: Really hard to say, we’ve got one named Angela’s Garden where we push birds from one island to another and several guns have to take a small water crossing by boat to their pegs. Another great partridge drive is in an old slate quarry that can be really tough.

We have a pheasant drive named the Devil’s Drive which has the most beautiful setting looking out towards Mull and some pretty tough birds as well.

Our highest birds come from the middle of the island from a hill called ‘The Black Broad’. We have two new Partridge drives out over some sea cliffs we’d like to try out this year if we can get a few more days booked in September, I’m really excited about those.

GoP: What’s your role on a shoot day - are you in the beating line, watching from behind with a radio, hosting etc?

Archie Cadzow: Hosting and herding cats.

GoP: What are the best and worst things about running Isle of Luing?

Archie Cadzow: When you get those perfect days and everything’s gone to plan, weathers played ball, birds have behaved, clients are beaming and the whole place has a good buzz, those are the best. Pandemics are the worst!

GoP: If you could run a shoot anywhere else in the country, where would it be?

Archie Cadzow: I’m not sure I would, Luing is our home, the shoot is just as much about driving the island economy and diversifying our business up here as it is about sport. Being able to meet and host new people in the autumn and have friends take days or come as a guest is a huge joy as well.

GoP: What are your favourite types of teams to host?

Archie Cadzow: Teams who are up for something new and different and who have come to Luing to enjoy themselves and get stuck in.

To experience the Isle of Luing for yourself, visit the shoot's GunsOnPegs profile to see the availability