5 ways to find affordable shooting

Let’s make no bones about it, shooting can be an expensive hobby to indulge. This year's Game Shooting Census revealed an average price per bird of £45 (before VAT) so a peg on an average day of 127 birds can set you back close to a thousand pounds, and that’s before you’ve accounted for cartridges, tips, travel and all the other little expenses.

In these times of increased cost of living and sky high inflation, many of us are looking to tighten our belts, but the idea of going a season without the odd day in the field will be unthinkable to lots of us. Indeed, in troubling times, a little fun is key to keeping our spirits up. So how do we resolve the dichotomy of high costs vs the desire to get out and enjoy some shooting?

If you know where to look, there’s some great value shooting to be found. Whether we’re talking smaller bags, no-frills driven days or walked-up and rough shooting, you don’t have to spend big money to have a great day out. Indeed, some of the most enjoyable days I have had have been at the rough and ready end of the shooting spectrum.

With thousands of shoots listed on GunsOnPegs there are few better places to find great deals, and that’s before you’ve taken into account the big discounts on shoot days that available to GunsOnPegs Premium members. Here are five ways to find shooting that won’t break the bank.

1. Have a mate with a shoot

“A friend in need is a friend indeed, a friend with a shoot is better.” So late-nineties rock band Placebo,  nearly sang. If you’re in the fortunate position of having a friend who has a little (or not so little) private shoot, this can be a great way to enjoy some shooting for the price of a bottle of something decent at Christmas and a tip for the keeper.

2. Befriend a keeper

Gamekeepers are great people to know. Not only can they invite you to attend Keeper’s day, the traditional season closer, but there are also opportunities to do pest control, perhaps a bit of duck flighting or the occasional boundary day. Get out beating on your local shoot, get pally with a local keeper in the local pub and see what comes of it!

3. Wildfowling

Don't let the comparatively small bags put you off, wildfowl can offer some of the most exhilerating shooting there is. Whether we're talking teal dropping into drainage dykes in East Anglia on a stiff east wind, geese on the foreshore, walked up snipe on marshy ground or a simple duck flight around a pond, you can have a fanbulous time and put some game in the freezer for a fraction of the cost of a driven day.

4. Own an estate

Simple really. With 4,000 acres of ground to call your own you can have a lovely time. Sell the odd day here and there and you could off-set the cost of your own shooting. Obviously you’ll need to lay out a fair bit of cash in the first place, so if that's not an option...

5. Use GunsOnPegs, duh

However, effective though the techniques above can be, they’re not suitable for everyone. Speaking for myself, I certainly don’t have the time to join syndicate work parties, for example, though I’m fortunate that my brother is the keeper on our family farm shoot, so I sort of tick off the first couple in one go. However, even if you can’t use any of those techniques, there’s still plenty of shooting available at commercial shoots that won’t leave you eating beans on toast for the rest of the year. 

GunsOnPegs has thousands of shoots listed, from the very smartest, most expensive to more low-key, affordable affairs. I spoke to Digby Taylor, our Shoot Account Manager, to harness his encyclopaedic knowledge of the shoots on the site and highlight a few shoots that can offer you a great day out for under £400 per gun.

Multi-species walked up and mini-driven days in the Yorkshire Dales

Pheasant | Partridge | Duck | Woodcock | Snipe | Pigeon

Double Stones Shoot - West Yorkshire - 50-75 bird days - from £230 per gun

Set on the moorland edge, Double Stone Shoot is run as a driven syndicate, butt sells the odd walked up / mini-driven day here and there throughout the season. With some rugged and wild terrain, the challenge is as much physical as it is one of marksmanship, but the payoff is a wide variety of species, from pheasant and partridge to snipe and woodcock.

To keep the costs down, guns are invited to bring their own lunch, but the shoot will provide tea and coffee for the morning meeting and drinks at lunchtime.

Driven snipe and woodcock in Devon

Woodcock | Snipe 

SC Woodcock and Snipe - 20 bird days - from £170 per gun

Shooting over 20,000 acres of the culm grasslands of South West England on the Devon and Cornwall border, this full-team day for 10 guns will provide some exhilerating and challenging walked up shooting. Snipe are widely regarded as among the most difficult birds to shoot, so although the bag may be just 20, you're sure to remember every bird for years to come. Lunch is provided, but you'll have to earn it!

Multi-species walked up trips in the Borders

Pheasant | Wildfowl | Woodcock | Duck | Snipe | Geese | Pigeon

Bob Glynn Sporting Services - 40 birds - from £270 per gun

Shooting over open but mixed terrain Bob Glynn Sporting Services has availability for single guns or full teams on a number of walked up shooting trips in the Borders between now and the end of the season. The Wigtown Woodcock area includes forestry, gorse banks and the Solway marshes, so there's plenty of opportunity to shoot a wide variety of species. The ground is generally rolling rather than steep, so the walking is comparatively easy.

Wildfowl evenings on the High Weald

Wildfowl | Duck | Geese

Barelands Farm Wildfowl Shoot  - from £270 per gun

Enjoy an evening of truly wild duck, goose and wildfowl shooting over an exquisite stream-fed 3.5 acre lake on East Sussex's High Weald. Surrounded on two sides by woodland and sloping ground, the birds coming in from the surrounding area make for challenging shooting. 

Round off your evening with drinks and nibbles in the tap room, before repairing to the local pub for a pint or two of Harvey's and a good feed.