Gamekeeper

It may be lonely but gamekeeping brings the chance to witness what so few people get to see Ñ a glimpse of the way the natural world works

As the leaves on the trees start to tumble, the shooting season begins to pick up some pace. Some of the wild partridge shoots have held their first days. Bags have been reflective of the summer past and the titanic effort made to create the environment to allow success to prevail.

Many recall the summer of 1976 and the production that followed an idyllic spell of weather, which helped that season become one for the record books wild game wise. The summer of 2018 will be remembered as one of the best in recent times but the prolonged drought has, for some, impacted negatively on wild bird production. It has not been the best grouse year and this has set the standard for some wild species. In this part of the country grey partridges have been successful enough to create a harvestable surplus.

Focus

My first shoot day of the season at Bywell is in sight and I am full of plans to make it a success. attention to detail is remembering every little thing but this focus will pay dividends when, at a critical point in the first drive, a strategically placed flanker pops up just at the right moment to turn an escaping covey over the Guns.

I’ve been out on a few days already this season helping friends and colleagues. It is a great boost to morale when I meet with friends and acquaintances seldom seen. a good friend from Reeth Moor said “helping out on shoot days is good for your health”. he is so right. That indescribable sense of belonging when you meet your fellow professionals does make you feel good.

Gamekeeping, for the best part, is a solitary existence; many hours are spent in lonely places at crazy times of night and day. I’m not complaining — these special times are often the most rewarding and can be among the most productive in terms of the professionalism of the job. But depending on the topography of where you work, days can be remote and lonely. So the relatively short time spent in like-minded company is a tonic that helps you feel better and healthier in every aspect of life. The other huge positive is the opportunity to share tips and tricks that any keeper-related conversation inevitably turns to.

I have recently been reflecting on times past when I was involved in representing the industry at political and Pr-related meetings. So much of the way we conduct our lives as gamekeepers means we have a very personal relationship with nature. Time becomes insignificant when you immerse yourself in both your work and the environment you work in.

Many don’t realise that the relationship you build with nature allows you to see, in great detail, the workings of the natural world in a way that very few people get the chance to witness. This experience shapes our opinions and gives us a unique argument. But in pure scientific terms, this is classified as anecdotal.

Evidence

I don’t know how many times I’ve been told “we understand but that is just anecdotal and isn’t really what the science is telling us”. But as gamekeepers we often only see life in this way. It then becomes difficult to understand when in the pivotal point of delivering your message you are knocked back by people unwilling to believe your experiences because they say they are not based on science. We see with our own eyes and there must be a way of quantifying and presenting this evidence when needed.

This season I have visited several shoots that started working with wild game many years before the Bywell project began. It is reassuring to see these projects maturing 10 to 12 years on from the fledgeling hedges planted here at Bywell.

It is hard sometimes to see the future, especially how the environment will look, but seeing these now quite long-running projects has given me fresh enthusiasm to continue the work to make the lasting changes that I can see has so many environmental benefits.

“Gamekeeping is a solitary existence; hours are spent in lonely places at crazy times of night and day”

Keepering is a rewarding career, but depending on where you work, days can be remote and lonely