Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Ptarmigan or willow?
This white grouse in my photograph was for sale in a shop in Arctic Finland. As both ptarmigan and willow grouse occur in the area, can you tell me which this bird is? It was priced at €120, so I resisted the temptation to buy it.
Perhaps surprisingly, this is a difficult question. Both willow grouse and ptarmigan turn completely white in winter, though retain black outer tail feathers, so visually are almost identical. With live birds, habitat is a vital clue. The ptarmigan is found at higher altitudes, usually on barren, rocky terrain with little vegetation. Willow grouse prefer boreal forests, preferably birch, at lower altitudes. Size is also a help: the willow grouse is a larger, more robust bird than the ptarmigan, with a heavier beak.
A cock ptarmigan has black lores — the gap between the beak and the eye — but this is lacking in the hen and both sexes of willow grouse, and isn’t apparent in your photograph. Judging the size of a stuffed bird by photograph is difficult, but by looking at the beak of the bird I believe it to be a willow grouse — the beak of a ptarmigan is rather more delicate.
Incidentally, some years ago I went willow grouse shooting in northern Sweden. In three days we only saw one covey of grouse, but the local general stores had a large supply of stuffed white grouse for sale. I didn’t find out how much they cost. DT
It’s a joy to discuss fieldsports with a clothing distributor who shares the same passion as his customers.
Tony Laughton certainly falls into that category. Since he joined Stoney Creek two and a half years ago, he has seen back-to-back seasons disrupted by Covid and now the avian influenza pandemic. As a keen and regular
Shot, he shares the frustration of many who shoot driven game.
Like the majority of syndicates, Tony’s pheasant shoot in North Yorkshire has struggled to get birds down. While shooters’ attentions turn towards rough shooting and wildfowling, he explains that business remains good despite the uncertainty of the season.
“Work has kept me busy, so I’m not missing the sport quite as much,” he says wryly as he unloads a container of new deliveries. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the business has seen a boom in its sales of rural and lifestyle clothing. Nevertheless, Tony says that the hunting and sporting clothing, for which Stoney Creek is established, still accounts for almost 70% of business.
Tony credits the success to constant innovation. “There’s always something on the horizon,” he explains. “We start by testing products in New Zealand and making sure they are suited to the shooters and stalkers who will use them here.”
Tony’s own experience comes from a lifetime spent in fieldsports. As well as running pheasant shoots, he is also a seasoned stalker. “I’ve had stalking ever since I left the military 26 years ago,” he adds. “I’ve run stalking syndicates and shoot days – I also had a retail gun shop where I sold Stoney Creek as my only clothing line and distributed guns, boots, and gun cabinets. It’s my passion.”
Although distributing clothing may seem a world away from selling Italian shotguns, it still gives Tony the opportunity to work with innovative brands. Stoney Creek’s most iconic design is surely the Tuatara camo. Named after the indigenous New Zealand reptile, the camo design is included on a range of their products — from technical jackets and gaiters to sports bras and babygrows. The next generation will certainly be prepared for their adventures with rod, rifle and gun.