It was during the 17th century that driven shooting became a pastime of the gentry in the UK. It coincided with the evolution of engineering technology to create far more refined paired, double barrel guns. As shotgun design and manufacturing improved, so did the attractiveness of game shooting, especially amongst royalty and the wealthy landowners.
On the shoot day, the team of ‘Guns’, typically 8 people, line out at numbered pegs along a ‘drive’. Meanwhile, a group of ‘beaters’ and their dogs move through areas of woodland or covert, flushing the game to push the birds to break cover and fly high over the line of Guns to provide sporting shots. Over the past 30 years of our operation, we have seen the evolution of this historic practice, and expectations are growing not just in the quality of the shooting but also the hospitality and entire experience. This is something we strive to perfect at each estate.
What's included
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Itinerary
DAY 1
A Typical Day
First, we meet at the shoot lodge, and you are given a briefing by the host. We will begin the drawing of pegs and set out on our first drive. After a light hospitality break, we embark on drive two. We take a brief break for Elevenses – normally a light bite of soup and local specialities accompanied by champagne, ideally served in the field if the weather is kind. Next, we go on our third drive and have lunch at the lodge. if we don’t ‘shoot through’, lunch is then served at the end of the day. You're in for a treat as each estate chef has their own signature dish. We then go on our final drive of the day.
We're treated to afternoon tea and then depart.
Each day is always filled with convivial, excited and sometimes nervous anticipation about the upcoming days' shooting.
About the location
An Iron Age Burrow provides the topography and scenery for a dramatic pheasant shooting UK location. Kempton lies just inside the English border, and is synonymous with traditional Shropshire pheasants, with hospitality to match. Kempton was one of the first shoots added to our stable and has regularly been featured in the top shoots in the UK.
The shoot lodge sits on the pinnacle of the estate and is approached by a meandering driveway which has an elevation of over 1000 ft, and offers a panoramic view of both the Welsh and English countryside.
The layout of the drives and the undulating valleys allows the guns to see the shoot in its entirety from a number of vantage points, meaning that it is possible to get a level view of just how high the pheasants and partridge were when looking from one hill down into the previous valley.