Woodcock shooting in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire, United Kingdom

We are a relaxed, friendly and traditional shoot offering a really attractive series of woodland drives in beautiful rural Northamptonshire.   We shoot mostly pheasants, with a few partridges, and have a simply brilliant duck drive (no one enjoys just shooting ducks off a farm pond!). We present really good quality birds and there are plenty of them. We stand 9 guns and bags vary between 150-200; if there are more birds we shoot them. In December, we see a really good number of woodcock and have some fantastic snap shooting in lovely mature woodland. A great seasonal shoot. Good hospitality is a really important part of the day for us, and we all travel around in a comfortable gun bus towed by a tractor. There is plenty of laughter and everyone is made to feel very welcome. Great quality food and drink are provided, including tea and coffee, bacon rolls in the morning, and a lovely hearty lunch, which is prepared back at the yard by the gamekeeper’s wife. The core syndicate shoot on most days, which is supplemented by a few regular guns who take 2-3 days. We are also looking for a couple of new syndicate members as we expand the number of days we shoot in the coming years. We have recently launched a Facebook page, Denton Wood Shoot, which will show photos and a bit of the banter plus our shoot dates.

Northamptonshire, United Kingdom

A DRINKING CLUB WITH A SHOOTING PROBLEM! Yardley Chase Shoot is located on the historic Castle Ashby Estate on the border between Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire just north of the small market town of Olney. About 15 minutes from Junction 14 or 15 of the M1. The shoot consists of some 1,300 acres of mature and managed broad leaf woodland riven with grass rides and intersecting concrete roads. There are also some 1,200 acres of arable land. We shoot a couple of walked up days in the pre-season, which could include partridge and cock pheasants flying away from the wood.  The remainder of the season is dominated by driven pheasant and woodcock shooting in ridings but also out of managed rough areas back to the wood.  In addition to syndicate shooting we offer a number of let days for driven woodcock dependent on the quality of the migration and numbers in general. When the founder members took over the shoot four years ago we decided we would not shoot with people we didn’t like and so far we have been very fortunate to meet some lovely people.  The shoot has a wonderfully informal and slightly irreverent feel to it and is centred around our WWII ammunition bunker located within the woods.  We welcome family members who’d like to join the beaters for the day and take part in the general fun.  We aim, where possible, to introduce people to shooting be it in the beating line or as guest guns so that we do all we can to encourage the growth of the sport.  The emphasis is on enjoyment for all and integration with the beaters and pickers up. The format of driven days is as follows: 8am – Guns and guests meet for breakfast (full English) at the pub in Yardley.  Beaters and Pickers Up meet for bacon rolls at the bunker. 9am – All congregate at the bunker for drinks and to receive our plan for the day 9.30am – Move off to the first drive (beaters in their wagon and guns in their mobile bar) 9.30am – 12.30pm drinks served as seen fit and shooting 3-4 drives 12.30pm – 1.30pm – Lunch, taken together, of hot bacon or other meat rolls, soup, home baking and coffee.  Wine and cocktail of the week! 1.30pm – 3.30pm – Conclusion of drives and round up at the bunker. 4pm – Adjourn to the pub for a wash up and gentle pint before home. Our aim is to shoot circa 125 bird days on driven pheasant and 15 to 25 brace of woodcock, though we cannot guarantee these numbers. Safety and good sportsmanship (with gentle poaching encouraged) is paramount. We have invested heavily in the shoot over the last few years and consider our efforts to be work in progress in the search for improvement in both the sport and overall experience.  Guns are encouraged to attend working parties during the off season and to use what influence they have to further the cause of the shoot be it in terms of infrastructure or entertainment. Please get in touch with Dan Goodwin for information on let days.