Duck shooting in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

Budby Shoot  The shoot is set in the heart of Sherwood Forest on part of a large private estate. The soil is a free draining sand land meaning that boots rarely get clogged and heavy with soil. The topography is of gently rolling hills covered with large amounts of woodland interspersed with arable fields. We shoot over an area of 3-4000 acres. We have the river Meden flowing through the middle of the shoot; along its path are several ponds, flooded areas and a 40 acre lake that attracts a lot of wild duck and geese, we also release a few duck onto the ponds. With the ponds being surrounded by woodland it allows us to have mixed duck and pheasant drives with the duck providing some good sport. There are approximately 30 different options for drives, mainly from woodland but also from game/cover crops, we also shoot over some of the arable crops such as sugar beet, usually this is early in the season whilst it remains un-harvested. For example from the sugar beet we would hope to shoot pheasants and French partridge driving them back to the woods. The normal order of the day is to meet at 8.45-9.00am so that guns have the opportunity to grab a coffee or tea. Pegs are drawn followed by a safety briefing prior to loading onto the gun bus with the aim of being on the pegs for the first drive at around 9.30am. Normally we would expect to shoot 2 drives then stop for a quick drink and some warm sausage rolls before proceeding to shoot a further 2 drives. Then it’s back for a two course home cooked lunch in either the new shoot room cooked for us by a chef from a local pub. The food is always excellent and plentiful! Once all are suitably weighed down with lunch and a few drinks we try our hardest to prise you from your chairs to the final drive of the day before we all retire back to the shoot room for a cup of tea and a slice of homemade cake. Shoot cards are filled in and the winner of the lunchtime sweepstake is announced to great fanfare prior to departure. The day is run by Andrew Naish who will greet guests on arrival and will be your host for the day. He normally drives the guns around in the shoot trailer and places them on their respective pegs, he can usually be found waving a flag but always in site of the action and always in constant radio contact with the keeper. It is our intention that everyone gets some shooting on every drive, we try to share the shooting out as much as possible by manipulating where and how we drive the birds, whilst we aren't always successful its not from want of trying. There would be no shooting at all without a very loyal and willing bunch of beaters that come and enjoy the day whatever the weather, working their dogs to provide the guns with as much sport as possible. We shoot 18 days (normally 9 guns) and our landlord has 2-3 days for his guests. There is a rough termed syndicate that takes about half of the days and the other half are let as days to full teams. There is no membership of the syndicate it is just a bunch of about 20 individuals that book days with us some have shot together for years and others come and go, we always welcome new faces. A full time game keeper is employed; he has been with the shoot from its outset, some 40 years ago. If guns wish to bring dogs then we welcome this but we do have a team of very respectful pickers up to stay behind and find the ones that we don’t always have time to look for. We aim for a mixed bag of duck, pheasant and partridge with the intention of getting between 200-250 per day from day 1 to day 18. Whilst we can’t offer the highest flying birds we can offer some very good sport, in a lovely location, with a great friendly atmosphere. We try hard to shoot as many on the last day of the season as the first in order that we all have good sport even for those that book days in January. As mentioned above we have several let days, either corporate customers or roving syndicates; these can be tailored to specific requirements but likely to be in the order of 200-250 bird days. We have the Thoresby Hall hotel about a mile away that can accommodate parties should they wish to stay locally. From London to Newark by train is only 1hr 20mins, we are a further 20 minutes in the car/taxi North of Newark. Being in the centre of the country we are blessed with an excellent road network being only 7 miles from the A1 and about 10 miles from the M1. I am afraid we can't offer for cancellation due to bad weather; guns are expected to take out insurance to cover this unlikely event, we have only cancelled one day in all the years of operating the shoot and that was due to 19" of snow, plus Covid ended our season early. Our policy would be to try and accommodate a cancelled day later in the season so that nobody loses out. It is our intention that everyone goes away having had a most enjoyable days sport in the fresh air of Sherwood Forest, wanting to return again next year! Some of the drives. Paintball game crop Guns are lined out in an L shape half way between Little Oaks wood (the pheasants home) and the Paintball game crop. Birds are driven from the game crop with the wind in their tails back towards home. Don't miss because evryone can see how each other is performing on this drive. Grove This drive is one of the oldest drives on the shoot and as the drive has been done so many times the beaters and keeper have gained a huge amount of experience on how and where they fly. The guns stand in a clearing between two woods and are in a small valley which means the birds are always that bit more challenging being that little bit higher. The wood itself which the guns face has Thoresby lake on one side which could always provide the odd duck or even some geese and arable fields on the other which means the birds are likely too fly straight over the guns to get to the next piece of cover. The guns on this drive line up to form an L shape with some guns with there backs to the lake, every gun is guaranteed some shooting on this drive! Top Carrs This drive is where most of the reared duck are released and whether it is done early in the morning or last thing at night this drive always produces some reared duck but also a few wild ones too, with the guns pretty much standing in a straight line with four guns on the flood plain down by the river where the duck tend to fly, three guns are then stood in the trees and these guns may not see as many duck but will get there fair share of shooting as pheasants are also plentiful. The last two guns then go and back gun (stand with the beaters) these guns are often bombarded with high amounts of duck flying back over them after hearing the forward gun line shooting. The 2 back guns are the ones that often get the majority of the shooting due to the duck knowing that is there best way out. Reservoir Game crop This drive can be one of the best on the shoot if the weather conditions are good, this drive would usually be done in the morning. Similar to "Grove" the guns stand in an "L" shaped line, half out in front of the game crop in the arable field and other half behind one of the farms reservoir banks. As the birds fly out of the game crop they tend to curl to follow the hedge line passing in front of the half of the guns standing in the arable field before passing over the guns behind the reservoir bank. This provides good high crossing birds for all of the guns in the field, the guns down behind the reservoir bank however get the most challenging birds as they whip across the reservoir giving you a split second to shoot before they disappear into the trees behind There is also the chance of duck catching the guns by surprise from behind as the river and ponds are only metres away.

Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

Babbington Spring Syndicat Shoot is a 80 mixed bird day comprising of partridge, pheasant and duck. This is a driven shoot set in beautiful farm land in the heart of Nottinghamshire (Tuxford). The shoots land is made up of meadows, arable and cattle farmland with spinneys, hedgerows and several ponds. Your level of fitness does not need to be great as there is no over strenuous walks between drives, the land is fairly flat and transport is provided where needed. This shoot is made up of 10 guns and rarely does the opportunity occur for someone to join them for the day.  However on occasions we do have the odd day to offer. We welcome people of all shooting abilities as everybody as to start somewhere. All shooters must have insurance and a up to date shot gun licence. If you would like to bring your own dog this must be well trained and is your responisibility whilst on the shoot. We do have beaters and pickers if you do not wish to bring a dog, so not a necessity. We includes full hospitality comprising of a hot cup of tea or coffee with a sausage cob to set you up for the morning and after 3 or so drives we stop for lunch which consist of a hearty bowl of home made stew followed by cake and a hot drink to see you through the rest of the day. We are a friendly and welcoming shoot If you have any questions about syndicate openings putting your name down on are waiting list or available let days please get in touch.

Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

TWO WILD GOOSE FLIGHTS AND A DAY OF 30LB+ PIKE FISHING WITH BREAKFAST AND LUNCH We are an old gypsum quarry based in Nottinghamshire offering a unique experience and great day out, two goose flights with Pike fishing in between and plenty of food and drinks! Off-grid wild Goose and Duck shooting by fishing lakes in Nottinghamshire countryside A 15-minute drive to Belvoir Castle, and 20 minutes to Newark-on-Trent Woodland pitches and angling. Encompassing a 232-acre site in glorious Nottinghamshire countryside, Belvoir Waters is an eco-friendly, wild-shooting spot with one golden rule – to provide a great day out.

Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

Nestled in the lincs/Notts border just outside of the market town of Newark upon Trent,Danethorpe Sporting covers over 800 acres of a mixture of arable/grassland which provides fantastic drives,which includes sugar beet,turnips,woodland, spinneys,ponds and a number of excellent cover crops consisting of maize and various wild flower mixes/wild bird covers which are situated in excellent positions, near wood sides, orchards etc, providing lovely cover for our pheasant and partridge. Here at Danethorpe Sporting we are excited to offer limited number of days for the forthcoming season.2024/25 Walked up days * Full teams of 4. * 25/30mixed head days,teams can expect a variety of target species to include; pheasant, partridge, snipe,woodcock and duck. * Hospitality: breakfast sandwiches tea/coffee,light elevenses bring your own dinner, tea and cake to finish the day. * Drives: sugar beet,turnips,woodland, spinneys,ponds and a number of excellent cover crops consisting of maize and various wild flower mixes/wild bird covers. * During the day, the guns will walk in a line working there own dogs and shooting game as it rises in front. * well behaved dogs are more than welcome although you must consider the other guns in your team about your dog running in and possibly ruining the drive and please don’t be offended if I ask you to keep your dog closer. * Price £1,000pus keeper tip. Duck flighting * Wild Duck flighting is available on a number of the Estate’s well feed duck ponds. Duck flights can be included in a day’s sport Duck flights £80 per gun.

Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

A well established friendly shoot based in North Nottinghamshire. We provide a superb variety of sporting birds driven from expertly planted game cover & mature woodland. Perfect for the experienced shooter and those new to driven shooting.