Festive Greetings
The Season is well underway and the weather is turning colder. After the difficulties we experienced in the early part of the year, caused by the lack of availability birds for release resulting from the effects of avian flu the Season has been a resounding success. Scotland has fared rather better than much of the rest of the UK. We are thankful for our good fortune and we are far from complacent, but we are delighted to report that as we write, we and the all the shoots that we use remain unaffected. When we publish these newsletters we normally have some inventory that we highlight to you our readers. It is particularly pleasing to be able to say that we have no availability for the current Season. Quality product benefits from high levels of demand and we are virtually sold out. Our new shoot in Speyside has gone from strength to strength and we have more than doubled the number of days there this year compared to last year. We hope to offer some extra days next Season, but be quick, especially if you want to shoot some very seriously testing birds in dramatic surroundings. Newsflash: There is a possibility we may have a day or two become available this January. Please call to discuss.
Avian Flu and Non Toxic Shot
Avian flu doesn’t look likely to go away before we start taking bookings for 2023. We always encourage clients to make early decisions, but this year we would like to really emphasise this point. If we want estates to make the necessary commitments to buy poults for release in order to allow us to shoot next winter, then we need to give them the certainty they need to allow them to pay for what will almost certainly be expensive poults as early in the year as possible. We have every reason to expect next Season to be as busy or even busier than this one has been. We advise our clients to secure their Sport whilst it is available. The other major issue affecting our sport at this time is the transition to non-toxic shot. Whilst steel will almost certainly dominate this space there will be clients for whom bismuth is the preferred solution. Although it is expensive relative to the price of lead based cartridges, if we consider the cost in the context of the price of the day it is a very small element of the total. For those clients who want bismuth cartridges we hope to offer a bulk purchasing facility a couple of times during the year. Do please get in touch if you would like to find out more.
Doing our bit
The Shoot Charitable Trust - HRW Team Collecting the Trophy for the Flush.
Opportunities for 2023
Spain continues to be very popular with clients, for obvious reasons. First class Sport, wonderful hospitality and accommodation and frequently shirt sleeve weather. Whether you want partridges as high as any you will find anywhere, traditional good quality birds in beautiful surroundings conveniently located close to Madrid or a smaller more “British” style bag size we have an option for you. For those who would like to venture a little further afield and with International travel now fully opened up we have some superb dove and pigeon shooting in Argentina. Often, these trips end up revolving around “high volume shooting”. Whilst you can definitely shoot the big bags if you want to you can also be as selective as you like and our hosts will help you to tailor your days to manage the difficulty to suit the individual requirements. We are growing our inventory of stalking, especially for red deer. We have some fantastic Sport available in stunningly beautiful parts of the country. We are running some Introduction to Deer Stalking Courses, ( Download the brochure ) in February and March 2023 so please contact us for more details and to get yourself booked onto one of these great value for money courses that promise to give you a great foundation before doing your DSC Level 1. In addition to this, we have some limited availability for people wanting to come and do their DSC Level 2 stalk with an accredited witness, so please call or e-mail in order to take advantage of one of these opportunities. Contact us here We wish you all a Merry Christmas and All the Best for the New Year and we hope to see as many of you as possible during 2023. The HRW Team.
Vernon P Waters