Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Keeper of the month
Richard Gould has built a reputation as a fine keeper of wild birds, but his career is heading in a new direction, as he tells Richard Negus
Richard Gould is one of the most highly regarded wild bird keepers of his generation. Described by the judges of the Purdey Awards as a “one-man dynamo”, they created a special award by which to recognise his great vision and outstanding success in creating a most impressive lowland game shoot at Ixworth Thorpe in Suffolk, where he was headkeeper.
Richard started his career as a YTS trainee at Hilborough, the van Cutsem family’s estate in Norfolk. He said: “My headkeeper at Hilborough was Gerald Gray. He drilled into me that you look with your eyes, not with your feet. I learned that to be an effective keeper, you have to be a great observer of nature.”
I asked him if there were many youngsters keen on becoming wild bird keepers today. “Not so many,” he said. “When you are young, the idea that something might take five years before you see the fruits of your labours seems like forever. If you remind yourself that a 16-year-old trainee was only aged 11 five years ago, you can understand why it can seem like a lifetime to them.”
Of some of the unique challenges posed by wild birds, Richard said: “Landowners often want to see immediate results. There are so many factors that stop that from happening. Some bad weather at the wrong time can ruin a year’s work.
“When you are building up a shoot, it can be a lonely time. You may not even have one shoot day all season, which is hard to take. Imagine a farmer working all year and not having a harvest.
“The hardest thing is the self-motivation required to work with wild birds. You have to be proactive and adaptable to the challenges thrown up. Your plans for the day can be turned on their head through discovering one paw print of a predator.”
Legions of gamekeepers admire Richard’s pest control skills and I am keen to know his secret. “You have to be able to spot the smallest of signs and understand how a predator behaves,” he said.
What are the hardest things to trap? “Females, be they rats, stoats or foxes.
They are a greater threat, too, because they
“I learned that to be an effective keeper, you have to be a great observer of nature”
are feeding young as well as themselves. They are more suspicious. Their maternal instinct makes them extremely cautious. If you know a predator is there and it evades your efforts to catch it, then it has beaten you — that demands respect. It is then particularly pleasing when you change your tactics and eventually succeed.”
Winning a Purdey award specially created for you must have been a highlight? “It made me very proud,” he said. “When we put in our submission, I went through a lot of my old records and it made me realise just what a positive impact we had made on the grey partridge population.”
On his future plans, Richard added: “After a quarter of a century spent working for others, I have decided to become my own boss. In the near future, farming and land management is going to undergo a lot of changes. The ELM (Environmental Land Management) scheme is going to require landowners to not only manage their land in a more wildlife-focused way, but also to physically prove that this management is making a positive impact upon wildlife.
“I will be helping farmers and landowners to do just that. Running pest control operations to work in conjunction with crops planted to increase game and wildlife will be one part of it. I am also offering advice and practical help for those who want to improve their farm shoots. Wild game is going to become a highly valued thing once more.”
To accompany Richard on a farm walk is a remarkable experience. He is a true nature detective and countryman.
If you have a gamekeeper you would like to nominate for Keeper of the Month please send details to steditorals@futurenet.com