Fastest game bird in the UK
The red grouse is the fastest-flying game bird in the UK, their flight speed can exceed 70 mph, making hunting a challenge and appealing to shooters all over the globe. The wild bird, unique to Britain, is found on heather moorland. During the breeding season in March, the aggressive cock birds may fight to the death. The males are identified by a bright red stripe, called wattles, above the eyes, which attracts the female. The largest grouse moors are found in Scotland.
Shooting driven grouse from butts
Perhaps one of the most exhilarating and expensive birds to shoot (prices from upwards of £80 GBP per bird), driven grouse shooting attracts shooters with fast reactions as the birds fly at a rapid speed – blink and you will miss them! It is a thrilling day’s game shooting, and more dangerous than any other form of driven game shooting so safety is paramount. Listen carefully to the safety briefing from the head gamekeeper before the shooting party travels uphill to the heather-covered grouse moors. You are shown to a grouse butt (screened stand), there will be sticks (canes or safety frames) placed on either side of the butt to avoid shooters swinging through the line and shooting at a neighbouring butt.
Tradition dictates shooting with a side by side shotgun but the more modern over and under is a popular choice. The birds are driven over butts by a team of beaters, and flankers on the outer edges of the line. The birds flight is speedy and low over the heather: they use the wind (upland grouse moors are almost certain to be windy), and change flight direction in an instant. You move to a different area and grouse butt (some are historic) for each drive, typically, you shoot three drives in the morning, stop for lunch on hill, and shoot two more grouse drives in the afternoon.
Scotland is the hunters natural arena for traditional walked-up grouse
Many game shooters want to shoot grouse over dogs in Scotland, the highlands of Scotland provide a wild and challenging environment for guns and dogs to work together for a day’s sport. Shooting grouse over pointers moves at a different pace to driven grouse shooting and requires well-trained, steady dogs (pointers are popular: German short and wired haired pointers, Vizslas). American Chris Godfrey returned to Scotland for the first time since a childhood visit in 1976, after seeing grouse in their wild habitat. Chris told all4hunters.com about his love of Scotland and the grouse, “I just see those birds and I feel Scotland, those who have been there will know what I mean when I say feel the country. I knew I had to return and hunt red grouse in Scotland.”
American hunter makes his hunting dream come true
Chris dreamt about his return to Scotland to shoot walked-up grouse: shooters walk across the moorland, flushing birds using trained pointers to locate them. Chris told all4hunters.com, “I felt it right that I wear a kilt when shooting grouse to honour the Scots tradition.” Chris borrowed a kilt from a local gamekeeper, to wear with his Texan Stetson and snake-boots for his traditional day of shooting walked-up grouse.
“It was the best day of my life, I shot well with a borrowed boxlock shotgun. I was a joy to see the grouse-keeper’s pointers quartering over the heather to locate the grouse and going on point. I shot selectively, picking only the older birds. We finished the day on five and a half brace (a brace is two birds).”
The red grouse shooting season
The grouse shooting season opens on 12th August, referred to as "the Glorious Twelfth" (it’s the first bird on the shooting season calendar), high-end London restaurants race to get the first shot grouse transported to the city to cook and place it on their menu.
Scottish grouse count
Red grouse is a wild bird, and numbers fluctuate, in March the birds are counted and, again, in July, and if numbers are low, no grouse are shot to allow numbers to recover for the following year.
Chris's dream hunt
all4hunters asked Chris about his dream hunt, Chris said, “Well, I’m off to Argentina for red stag in March, and in August, I arrive by floatplane to a remote camp above timberline in Alaska and introduce a brace of young setters to Willow Ptarmigan and shoot over them and show them so many Ptarmigan in a week that by the time quail season in Texas rolls around they are finished dogs.
Another dream hunt for me would be a traditional hunt with a bush-tracker for Kudu and Gemsbok in Namibia.” It sounds as though Chris will be making his dreams a reality!
Here you will find links to all other contents of our "Dream Hunt series" on all4hunters.com:
- Dream hunt: wild boar hunting in France with David Gauthier
- Dream hunt: magic in Croatia
- Dream hunt: hunting chamois in Slovenia
- Dream hunt: hunting waterbuck in South Africa
- Dream hunt: hunting in Latvia
- Dream hunt: hunting in Namibia
- Dream Hunt: hunting in New Zealand, South Island
- Dream hunt: hunting in Australia
- Dream hunt with Ryan Baudhuin: duck hunter, photographer, videographer, and adventurer
- Dream hunt: alligator hunting in Louisiana
- Dream hunt: upland bird shooting in Illinois, USA
- Dream hunt: white-tailed deer hunting in Illinois, USA
- Dream hunt: moose hunting in Sweden
- Dream hunt: affordable hunting in Sweden
- Dream hunt: bear hunting in Alaska
- Dream hunt: hunting caribou and Dall rams in Alaska
- Dream Hunt: red stag stalking in Scotland with traditional Highland ponies
- Dream hunt: dove hunting in Argentina
- Dream hunt: goose shooting on Orkney with Raymond Shearer
- Dream hunt: hunters shooting high-flying driven partridge in Spain
- Dream hunt: Balearic Boc hunting in the mountains of Majorca
Who is Linda Mellor?
Linda Mellor is one of Scotland’s foremost shooting, fishing and hunting female writers and photographers. She is the product Ambassador for Venator Pro, a premier hunting company and stockist of the European brand Hillman. With a lifetime of countryside experience, Linda’s passion, enthusiasm and respect for the outdoors and hunting is explored and shared across her writing and photography.
For more information on Linda Mellor, please visit Linda Mellor's website, Twitter (LindaMellor) and instagram (linda_mellor)
