Small but perfectly formed
Sporting Gun talks to Rob Brown and his wife, Helen, who run Purdey Gold Award-winning Howesyke Shoot in Yorkshire
The project included the planting of more than 100,000 broadleaf trees, a black grouse re-establishment scheme, more than 900 acres of peat restoration, the creation of five new wetland habitats and the repair and rebuild of nearly a mile of drystone walls.
How did it feel to win the award and to be described by the judges as a “perfect small sporting estate”? We were really delighted and it was a total surprise. A friend suggested we enter but we never thought we would win. We’re just so lucky. I guess we’re fortunate in our location to have such a mix of birdlife – grouse, pheasants, partridge and duck. That’s the beauty of being in Yorkshire. I’ve loved shooting ever since I was a child with my brothers, father and grandfather, so to have our own place has been really fantastic and a lifelong dream of mine. Basically, when we first bought the farm it was a hill farm focused on livestock production with little woodland and no sanctuaries for other wildlife. We put Howesyke into all the various schemes with Natural England and through these Helen and Rob Brown have made Howesyke more wildlife friendly
schemes we planted 100,000 trees to create more wildlife habitat, which also supports the shooting. For us it’s as much about conservation as shooting. Howesyke was a blank canvas when we got it. In that regard we were lucky. We have worked well with our neighbours over the past nine years and we also have a very good gamekeeper, who has done a great job creating new drives and really steering the shoot forwards. Howesyke is an ongoing project. The conservation is very important to us as it goes hand in hand with developing the shoot. We get quite extreme weather in the Yorkshire Dales, so the trees that have been planted need yearly maintenance and we are always keen to plant more trees.
It’s a kind of labour of love. If you’re doing it, you’ve really got to enjoy what you’re doing. We’ve got three children, who hopefully will be interested in it in the future. At Howesyke any day is a good day up there for me, and every day is different due to the variety of birds and the weather conditions. I’m not massively interested in being the best shot or shooting the most birds – it’s all about friendship and the fun you can have in the outdoors with a great bunch of friends.
What is the greatest challenge faced by the shooting community? I do worry about the future of shooting and what is going on, with growing bag numbers and the idea that you need to shoot a lot to have a good time.
It worries me that despite all the work that we have done at Howesyke, and that everyone else in the shooting community does, shooting could all be stopped in a few years’ time.
We want to carry on for a long time into the future and I think if that’s going to happen people need to act responsibly.
“At Howesyke any day is a good day up there for me”