Frosty keeps his cool

Steve Lound’s pointer FTCH Frosted Elfin at Fleetstalk takes the top spot at the 2018 Champion Stake. David Hudson reports on the action

Cold spring weather followed by a heatwave summer has not been good for grouse stocks, with many estates already cancelling or curtailing their shooting plans. The adult birds were weakened by the late snowfall, then the hot weather meant a shortage of water and insect life when the chicks hatched. The Duke of Roxburghe’s Byrecleugh moor has not escaped unscathed but headkeeper Drew Ainslie was able to find a good supply of birds for the competitors in the 2018 Pointer and Setter Champion Stake.

Perfect conditions

The weather was also partly responsible for a smallish entry, with several qualifying stakes having been cancelled due to snow in the spring or small birds in the summer. For the two days of the trial, however, we enjoyed almost perfect conditions for pointer and setter work: dry and sunny with a steady breeze; warm

28 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE enough for “shirtsleeve order” but not too hot for the dogs.

There were worrying signs of heather beetle damage as we drove over the hill roads to the first day’s beat and Drew said the beetle had hit the moor hard on some beats. Our first day’s ground was ideal though, with the heather nicely in bloom and enough grouse for every brace to have a good chance of finding birds.

There was a sombre start to the day as steward of the beat Jon Kean called for a minute’s silence in memory of Alan Neill, a stalwart of the pointer and setter world who was tragically

“Jon Kean called for a minute’s silence in memory of Alan Neill, a kind, friendly and knowledgeable man who lived for his pointers and setters”

Brian Morris’s young Irish settershows great enthusiasm for the job at hand

Gun Rory Butler watches as a grouse goes away from Bill Connolly’s English setter Ballyellen Cara handled by Gerry Devine