With another season behind us it has been wonderful to reflect on one that was unmarred with any anomalies, such as bird flu or a pandemic and it was indeed a breath of fresh air to have what was predominately a good season.
Early prospects for the 2023 grouse season were very encouraging, with pleasing spring counts and generally very good breeding conditions at key times. Sadly, though, the unpredictable nature of the sport did not translate to an abundance of grouse in all parts of the UK, quite like we all hoped. We enjoyed some wonderful early days on the moor in the Yorkshire dales and more latterly in the North Yorkshire Moors. A very hot and sticky start to September had an impact on the numbers seen. As the temperature dropped as the month went on, teams had some classic grouse days. We also enjoyed a handful of great days in southwest Scotland for the first time since pre covid, unfortunately this fortune wasn’t to be, for the whole of Scotland.
Early season partridge days kicked off in brilliant style at the start of September, albeit rather warm, with most estates benefitting from very strong, thick, cover crops after what was a wet summer. As October came around, early pheasant days were a success, although many keepers had experienced a tough few weeks struggling to hold onto their birds due to the warm bright weather and plentiful supplies of natural food. Leaves on trees are noticeably lasting much longer in recent years and they are having greater effects to the start of a lot of early pheasant days, due to the milder autumns we have been experiencing.
As the season came to an end in the UK, the most memorable factor will be quite how wet a season it was, and how wet the last 12 months have been . This being said, many shoots enjoyed the benefits of the wet weather keeping their birds close to home and in the drives.
It has been another very successful season in Spain, with clients from both the UK and around the world experience brilliant shooting and hospitality for which Spanish partridge shooting has become so renowned for. We have hosted teams at Los Melonares, Ventosilla, La Cuesta, La Nava, Las Barracas and Las Golondrinas. There is no better way to extend your shooting season than to head over to Spain for some mid-winter sun.
Looking ahead to next season, demand has been very strong, with a handful of the top estates already reporting to be fully let, so please do not hesitate to contact us as soon as possible if you are interested in a days shooting or even peg next season, as we would be delighted to help.
We would like to thank all of our clients who continued to support Eat Wild (formely the BGA) last season through kindly paying the 50 pence a bird levy. We hope you will continue to support the levy this season. As a thank you for those that do contribute, we’re donating a 200 bird day on our shoot in North Yorkshire, Arden, for the 2025-26 season. A name will be randomly and independently drawn at the end of this season, so we hope you’ll continue supporting theses fantastic initiatives whilst having the opportunity to win a great day’s shooting. Most importantly, a huge thank you to everyone for their efforts and dedication to make last season such a memorable one and a great success for everyone involved in shooting last year.
