The Countryman: sun, rain and partridges as the bag reaches 104 at halfway

Our partridge shooting at the Castle Shoot is concentrated into the first few weeks of the season. We shoot on six of the first seven Saturdays with a day off between the third and fourth. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, to get the partridge shooting over before we start pheasant shooting; secondly, to make the most of the good (we hope) autumn weather; and, perhaps most importantly, to shoot them while we still have them, as they seem to have a tendency to wander off the shoot come late October. Accordingly, three weeks into the season, we are halfway through our programme already. It has been a bit of a mixed bag.

A near-perfect opening day

Our opening day was good, bordering on perfect. There was a moderate north-westerly breeze and a bright blue sky littered with a few fluffy clouds. The bracken was dry, there was not too much heat in the day and we had two full teams of Guns plus a good showing of extras to help with the beating.

I wasn’t shooting – I have a half-gun in the syndicate – but it was an ideal day for taking photographs. Partridges are difficult to capture on film when they are skimming low over the hill on a dull day and blending into the background but outlined against a blue sky they show up beautifully. After drawing for pegs and the regular safety talk – stay in line and try not to shoot each other – we moved off to the first drive.

The first two drives went according to plan with a decent show of birds coming over the line. One biggish lot came forward early in the first drive and pitched in on the reverse side of the slope in front of the Guns, who were standing below them in the Rowan Burn. A few of them ran back around the end of the beating line, but the majority got up in twos and threes to offer some steady shooting.

Quick reactions over the brow of the hill

The second drive was even better, with birds getting up well back and crossing the Guns with the wind under their tails, demanding quick reactions and snap shooting as they appeared over the brow of the hill. We stopped for elevenses with a dozen and a half in the bag, then trailed off along the track for the next two drives.

One of the problems in the early part of the season is that the partridges sometimes get up in a bunch, and while the sight of 40 or 50 birds coming towards the line is exciting, it severely limits the amount of shooting the Guns get.

At the third drive a big bunch found a gap between numbers two and three and got away unsaluted. At the final drive of the morning another bunch appeared round the side of the hill, saw the Guns and flared out in all directions. Things were extremely lively for a few moments, and the shooting was spot on for once, with a couple of the Guns getting right-and-lefts.

After lunch most of the team walked the hill back to the starting point while half a dozen Guns stood at the end for any birds that came forward. I lounged on the quad bike with camera at the ready and clicked away whenever there was any action – and there was plenty of action with partridges coming over the Guns at regular intervals as the beating line closed in. We ended the day with 36 partridges and a thoroughly satisfied bunch of Guns and helpers.

The second week was something of a contrast. Mr Keeper had absented himself to go and shoot elsewhere, and the night before had been one of heavy rain. It had eased off by the time we were ready to start, and I took up my peg with a full pocket of cartridges and high expectations. I ended the drive with a full pocket of cartridges and those expectations dashed. Not one partridge came over the line: indeed, none of the Guns saw so much as a partridge feather, though the beaters did report a few getting up and flying over the boundary into the forestry. It was not the start to the day that we were hoping to enjoy.

The second drive was better, if not spectacular, and there was a bit of shooting at the third. The fourth was much the same as the first with not a shot fired, though we did see a big bunch of partridges sail over just out of shot of the Gun at the end of the line.

A disappointing day after heavy rain

Lunch was a rather more solemn affair than the previous week. A few birds came forward at the end as the line walked back, but our total of just 16 head was disappointing this early in the season. I suspect the problem was that the birds were soaked from the overnight rain and wouldn’t, or perhaps couldn’t, fly. We approached the third day’s shoot with some trepidation.

Never fear, though: Mr Keeper was back and at the helm again; the weather was forecast sunny with just the chance of a shower around midday; and we had another good turnout of Guns, beaters and dogs. I armed myself with the camera again, decided to leave my coat in the car assuming that the forecast shower would only be light, and sat on the quad ready to capture all the action.

As it happened, there was a reasonable amount of shooting on the first drive, but it was all at the top of the line and out of sight from where I was sitting. The second drive, though, was spectacular and almost certainly the best since we started the shoot about 25 years ago.

The partridges came in twos and threes, and they kept on coming. The wind was quite strong from the north-west again, and it spread the birds out all along the line, with quite a few swinging downwind and giving the higher-numbered pegs crossing shots rather than birds coming on to them. At the end of the drive 19 birds were picked, and Mr Keeper went out on the Sunday morning and found another three, of which two were probably from this drive, making 21 in total.

Soaked through, and a partridge in plain sight

We stopped for a bite and a beer, then went on to the third drive, at which point the promised shower arrived and I began to regret leaving the coat in the car. It poured down for about half an hour, by which time I was thoroughly soaked and feeling decidedly chilly. The last drives both went well, though, and by the time we broke for lunch the sun was peeping out and restoring a bit of joy to the day.

I swapped the camera for the gun for the last bit of the action and was pleased to get a nice overhead partridge for the one shot I fired. I heard it thump down behind me and at the end of the drive asked the neighbouring Gun if he would like his Labrador to pick it. One of the beaters joined us with his two springers, and they hoovered up the ground behind me with very little result.

At this point one of the Guns coming off the hill spotted the partridge lying in plain sight in the middle of the track. The two springers went over and were both standing virtually on top of it before one of them looked down and lifted it. I suspect that scent wasn’t great, or I am sure they would have found it straight away.

We finished with 49 head, and this was boosted to 52 when Mr Keeper took a trip round the hill with his picking-up team on Sunday morning, which took us to a total of 104 partridges for the first half of the season. I suspect that most of us would have settled for that in advance, though if the weather had been kinder for the second day we might well have done even better. It’s a day off next Saturday, then we have three more days to round the season off, and I, for one, am very much looking forward to them.

David Hudson is a photojournalist with a passion for shooting, gundogs, field trials and stalking.