Took a very pleasant drive through Gloucestershire to Longridge this morning, no wonder the cotswolds have some of the best pheasant shooting in the land, lovely steep wooded valleys and rolling hills. Love the cotswold stone houses and drystone walls too, but enough of the scenery lets get to the ground /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-laugh.gif Found the ground quite easily and parked up in the field carpark, on a bit of a slope but even with the rain we have had lately the sandy soil drains very well and, as was the case all round the shoot, was very mud free. Not a problem for anyone not blessed with 4 wheel drive. Went and booked on, Nice clubhouse with toilets opposite and a permanant burger van doing breakfasts and the usual burgers and bacon/sausage rolls. Nicely priced at 2-3 quid for burgers/rolls and a fiver for the full english which was by the look of it very full, bacon, sausage, black pudding, mushrooms, beans, tomato and not stingy with the portions! Had a quick chat with Steve Lovatt and saw Optima on my way out to shoot, then it was down to business. The shooting area itself is very reminiscent of Wylye Valley in the stands are arranged along the bottom of a high bank. I started off with a low teal going up the bank with a higher teal heading off to the right, then a nice crossing report pair l-r then r-l. Another pair of teal up next, this seemed to be a bit of a recurring theme along with the high curling crossers at various ranges. To be honest the rest isnt too memorable apart from the last stand, a close r-l battue coupled with a tasty l-r crosser a fair way out. Overall a decent shoot with nothing silly, they were all there to be shot and even the distant ones were showing a bit of belly. A minor critisism would be it was a bit samey, as said before lots of going away teal types and high curling crossers. Only the battue and a chondel to really break it up. I would personally would have liked to have seen a couple of driven off the high bank or even a nice high stalling incomer a fair way out and a bunny just to break it up a bit. That said, would I go back? Definitely. Maybe not the most exciting shoot but some tasty birds that all needed some thought. I shot well in patches but bloody terrible in others, 6 stands with only 1,2 or 3 away and 5 stands with less than 50% including two 2's shows some patchy concentration /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-frown.gif 58 was the final total /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-embarassed.gif
