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Confidence in 2008 partridge shooting

“Partridge shooting is as popular as ever.”

By Selena Masson, Shooting Times

Tuesday, 26 August 2008

With just three days to go before the start of the partridge season, sporting agencies are confident that this year’s shooting will be a great success, but are anxious about how the 2009/10 season will be affected by the current economic climate.

“Partridge shooting is as popular as ever,” Roxtons’ John Duncan told ST. “However, this year some of our clients are holding back from booking up too early in the hope there might be some late grouse shooting, as it has been a bumper season for many.”
Craig Denman of Cowans Sporting Holidays echoed these sentiments: “Days are selling well, though slower than the past few seasons. However, I have found the normal trend to be that once September is upon us, the phone starts getting busy again. Hopefully this season will be a good one, the weather has been very wet locally [Dumfries and Galloway] making it hard going for the partridges. Losses are fairly low, which is great. All being well, this season should
match past seasons.”
Strutt & Parker’s Mark Merison was concerned by how late the harvest is this year: “The wet weather has caused real delays in harvesting. This could result in some early days being postponed. Shooting has been unaffected by the economic climate, as most companies had already allotted funds to corporate entertainment before hard times hit. However, I have heard rumours that some have forfeited deposits of up to 50 per cent. My concern is that 2009/2010 will be tough.”

The rest of this article appears in 28 August issue of Shooting Times.