INTRODUCTION

Scotland's grouse shooting and red deer stalking are renowned throughout the world - they take place on open heather-covered hill land and are carried out in a way which is unique to Scotland and its sporting traditions.

We welcome thousands of visitors from abroad every year to explore these traditions and to experience the excitement of well-organised sport.

Scotland has more than these two specialities to offer the sportsman and woman: in recent years landowners and shoot managers have seen the value of extending the range of sport available to the visitor and also the advantages of having other attractions to interest wives and sweethearts while they are here.

Scotland's castles and cities have a special atmosphere which mixes a rugged past with a very sympathetic present.

In this Section, you will find these and some of the other sporting experiences which can be explored in Scotland; Scotland applies a traditional formula to enhance its country sports and we hope that visitors will appreciate the history and custom which provides high quality sport and a sustainable, well managed environment which is rich in wildlife and dramatic scenery.

Grouse - Bird of Sporting Legend

Every year in the month of July or late June, gamekeepers, sportsmen and their dogs start an annual ritual on the high open Mooreland of the Scottish high ground: it is the annual grouse count.

On the results of this will depend whether a large section of rural Scotland will enjoy substantial gains in its local economy in the months of August and September for after this count, telephones will be ringing throughout the world, confirming or cancelling dates which have been in shooting diaries since the previous season and which have been keenly anticipated.

All over the world may sound a little over-dramatic but I assure you it is so. Scotland boasts one of the world's most sought after sporting experiences in driven grouse shooting; it is unlike any other form of sporting shooting and provides a fusion of breathtakingly beautiful natural surroundings with the thrill of fast-moving wild birds which vary their speed and direction with the contours of the hill beneath them.

Added to the difficulty of the target itself is the need for concealment until the very last second before standing to take aim. The gun who is able to take two birds ahead of the line of butts can be counted a very competent shot: butts are placed so that they are hidden from the line of flight as far as possible which usually means that birds appear suddenly in a group about fifty yards ahead, coming over a rise of ground, flying very fast.

Why should these birds be shot at all? The answer is the same as it always has been when the question is about predation by man: to harvest nature and to provide food. Although many people never eat grouse, there are very few sportsmen or women who do not count them a delicacy and the annual provision of grouse on the tables of our better hotels and restaurants in the months of August and September shows that they are right. This harvest is the same as that from the sea or farm which provides the basis of our daily diet, whether meat, fish or vegetable.

In fact it is nature's way that, every year, most wild creatures produce more young than can be fed over the bleak winter months and these harvestable surpluses become the building blocks in the natural food chain, with mankind at its head. Being the most intelligent predator of all, man carefully monitors and plans the taking of his annual harvest which is why the moors are receiving the attention of gamekeeper and dog in the months of June and July.

If we are to retain our reputation as a world class destination for sporting visitors, we must ensure that our red grouse, that emotive symbol of Scotland, thrives as in the past; we need to return to the time when man's sympathetic management of this species allowed its economic importance to be fully recognised and, at the same time, encouraged the welfare of other Mooreland bird species such as pipit, ring ouzel and wheatear which are showing such a sad decline today.

Pheasants and Landscapes

Pheasants can be shot in almost any part of the world: the common Ringneck is of Chinese origin and is found almost worldwide while other more exotic species are found in many countries of the East. Whether it is walked up with dogs or shot driven, the pheasant is a very special bird which provides hunters with a genuine challenge and excellent table qualities. On this species rests a large rural industry of rearing, keepering, shooting and game dealing.

It is no different in Scotland where game rearing has been exercised since the turn of the century and where shooting sports are an integral part of rural life; what is added here however, is the almost unquantifiable premium of magnificent terrain and landscape.

From the rocks and heather-clad hills of the North to the rolling low ground, grass and arable farms of the South, Scotland rewards the country sportsman with a contentment of being among Nature's finest works of art.

Of course, pheasant shooting takes place not on the high hill but on the medium to low ground where cover and natural feeding are to be found; intensive rearing is not a feature of the sporting scene in Scotland and stocking rates are designed to satisfy the demands of the discriminating sportsman rather than the "big bag slave".

A daily bag of about 200 birds for eight guns is considered good for driven days but walked-up days with bags of 50-100 are commonly available. Some estates can offer very much larger daily bags of driven pheasants and they specialise in presenting birds which test the skill of every sportsman and woman: these estates can be best approached through Sporting Agents.

Whatever the type of pheasant shooting you seek, Scotland's rich winter and autumn landscapes will delight you with colour and variety; there will be castles to see and whisky to taste, preferably in the distilleries from which they spring. You will be taking part in a traditional sport with codes of behaviour and dress which will emphasise their origins in good practice and common sense.

Partridge Shooting

Similar in appearance to the Grouse, this compact, rounded bird is one of the most popular quarries, whether encountered on a rough day or on a formal driven Partridge shoot.  Both Grey partridges, our native species, and Red-legged partridges are reared and released throughout the UK

This is a bird of the lowlands, mainly found on arable estates and farms, and generally agreed to be one of the best birds for the table.  Traditional driven partridge shooting on arable land is one of the most exciting forms of shooting.  Hedges are allowed to grow to around three times the normal height, and the guns are positioned 30-40 metres back from the hedge.  Birds are driven over the hedge in coveys, and their speed and manoeuvrability are legendary!

In recent years, due to regional reductions of grouse numbers in some areas, landowners are planting areas of game cover crops on suitable Mooreland, and releasing substantial numbers of birds onto the hills.  On shooting days, the birds are driven over the disused grouse butts, providing a very similar experience to grouse shooting.

Hill Hares

Scotland has some of the finest hill hare shooting it is possible to find. The annual production of hares on heather moor is astonishing and hare shooting is a necessary part of management if they are not to suffer from winter starvation and a lingering death from natural causes.

Shooting is carried out by parties of guns, with hares being driven towards them or by guns walking in line over the open moor.  The animals are wild and wary so grouse butts are often used for concealment during hare-driving operations.  Shot between the months of September and February, hill hares can be in either their summer coats or, from December onwards, in their pure white winter coat - in either they are a beautiful work of nature and a welcome addition to any dinner table