Something for all the family

Will Gilman finds a balance between a fun day out and serious shoot while nurturing Guns of the future, says Richard Faulks

The Pickworth Syndamily has been running for two years now, ever since Will Gilman decided that he’d like to change the emphasis of his farm shoot.

“We wanted family days mainly for the kids – they like beating, they like shooting and obviously harvest time is our busy time so we don’t have time to do all the rearing and releasing pheasants, so we thought we’d have a half-syndicate, half-family shoot [for 15 years it was a syndicate-only shoot].

“There’s no keeper and all of the work is shared. I have four Guns and the remaining eight Guns are paid up syndicate members,” Will says. “The costs are kept as low as possible to take the pressure off and to allow the freedom to have all of the kids and family come along, beating and shooting, etc. It’s as relaxed and family friendly as we can safely make it and the syndicate members join knowing that it’s not taken too seriously and introducing the youngsters to shooting is the primary objective.

“I wanted it be a shoot like I remember as a kid when I used to go beating for my dad and was introduced to shooting. If I charged a lot of money, the Guns wouldn’t expect to see loads of kids running around causing havoc.”

It costs £650 per gun for syndicate members and they shoot five days standing 12 guns. It’s a DIY shoot covering 1,000 acres of arable and sheep grazing land surrounded by woodland in Rutland.

Challenging

They have two small plantations that are about 15 years old and hold birds well. Will has certainly realised his dream. I joined them on a blustery and slightly damp day. It was a perfect mix of relaxed shooting and

enthusiastic children, who, unsurprisingly, seemed to have boundless energy. The birds were some of the best I’ve seen in this area, too, and proved to be a challenge.

The land is roughly divided in two and the syndicate members, run by Richard Hartley (shoot captain), look after one of the two release pens and three of the seven cover plots, while Will and his three boys – Seth, 6; Jack, 9; and Tomos, 11 – look after the second pen and the four cover plots at their end of the farm. The cover plots are all biennial, with an eye to helping the birds survive throughout the year.

“I do prefer biennial plots because we’re not spending a lot establishing covers and also it means we can feed the covers all year and the birds have a habitat,” says Will.

It does help the wild birds thrive and it’s great for the hedgerow birds, along with being less cost and work. It’s a win-win situation. One thousand pheasants are released in mid-august to tie in with the end of harvest and are divided between the two pens. Getting them this late may be a problem for some shoots but with no let days to worry about and shooting on the farm not starting until mid-november, this seems to be a very workable solution for the family and syndicate alike.

Will wasn’t shooting but running things on the day I visited. He is a charismatic, humorous host with an easy manner, which jollies the day along nicely without feeling forced. Mickey Johnson seems to have taken on the role as mentor for a Gator load of children, as well as managing the beating line. He must be doing something right as the kids seem to love working for him, and all day.

Difficult

I joined Tomos on the first two drives as he had drawn the ‘hot peg’. This was his first time out this year after plenty of practice and lessons at the local shooting ground. His brother, Jack, had shot the first day of the season. There are plenty of wild duck about and one or two are shot per day. Originally, duck were released onto a pond on the first drive, which subsequently dried up in the hot summer a couple of years ago and the duck disappeared. This year they reappeared and so a very small pond has been created on the first drive home. There are around 150 of them living there now but they are difficult to get around. They’re more often than not seen heading away from the first drive before the guns are on their pegs. Today was no exception but Richard Brewster did manage to bag a left-and-right as they broke cover and set off into the distance.

Tomos shot the first drive well with the family 20-bore and managed to bring down a couple of birds that were curling in the wind. They are also surprisingly good birds considering the rolling nature of the countryside in Rutland – it’s not Wales, Devon or Yorkshire, but with a stiff breeze the birds can muddle the Guns up.

No beaters are paid for their efforts but there is still no end of volunteers. Each of the Guns brings along food and drink, which is shared by all, and the deal for the beaters is that they’re all bought beer in the Willoughby Arms pub at the end of the day (age permitting).

“We have no problem finding helpers and quite a few have come to me to ask if

“He is a charismatic, humorous host with an easy manner, which jollies the day along nicely”