The beet goes on

Editor Matt Clark joined Nick Ridley’s COT syndicate for a day at Hexton Manor Estate in Hertfordshire, a shoot graced by royalty and top shots, too

Over the past seven years my little rough-shooting syndicate, the COT (Circle of Trust), has been lucky enough to hunt with our dogs and occasionally shoot the odd pheasant and partridge in some of the loveliest countryside in the UK.

Some of the shoots we have had the privilege to pull our triggers on have shut down, alas. As a result, we have had to find alternative estates that “get what we are about”. And what we’re about is not how many head of game is hanging up at the end of the day or, indeed, how many empty shells are rattling around in the game bag, but having fun with our friends and working our gundogs. A contact flush, a shot and a tidy retrieve are what floats our boats. We are not so interested in guns, cartridge ballistics or chokes; our shotguns are simply a means of getting a retrieve for our dogs and providing something for the dinner table.