With Linda Mellor

by Linda Mellor

SCOTTISH COUNTRY LIFE

Earlier this year, when the shooting season closed on 1st February, I couldn’t help but ponder on what the shooting season in Scotland will look like in 5 years’ time? Before I got any deeper into my thoughts, I found my mind wandering (nothing new there!) and reminiscing about the last forty and more years of my countryside experiences. At 57, it’s actually very surprising when you look back how many decades you have chalked up. Over the decades, the shooting season many of us had grown up with really hadn’t changed much. The estates we visited were numerous across Scotland, and we would see familiar faces, know the landscapes, the nooks and crannies, the boggy parts best avoided, and the expectations of the day and whether or not the estate provided a hearty lunch for everyone: this was always a much-talked about bonus of a shoot day especially on an estate that treated the beaters, picker-ups the same as the shooting guests. Everyone was equal.

My experience of shoot days started in childhood with my dad, visiting various shoots locally and some further afield, where he picked-up with his dogs and occasionally shot. I have fond memories of these days, big country houses, even some spooky ruins and dilapidated buildings. They were always great days out in good company, admirable gundog work and handling by all involved, and lots of team spirit and laughter. After a morning in the beating line, you were starving, usually muddy and keen for the last drive to hurry up and finish before lunch. You’d eat your sandwiches outdoors, and a seat on a straw bale in an open farm shed was considered a luxury.

Over the years, and during a couple of decades living down south, I often travelled back to Scotland to go to shoots with my dad (my antidote to busy London life), and took comfort in seeing not much had changed. More than two decades ago, when I returned to Scotland, I worked as a freelance photographer and writer: my specialists subjects were country sports and the Scottish outdoors. I would be commissioned to visit shoots around Scotland taking photographs as groups from all corners of the world enjoyed shooting in Scotland, and I’d also continue to go out to shoots with my dad. Again, I’d take comfort in the familiarity of the grounds I trampled over as a child and teenager, I’d recognise the smiles on the faces that now had some added character and few extra wrinkles. After the shoot, the bag was divided up, people cooked and ate the day’s shot game, they also shared it around with family and friends, so nothing new there.

Things have changed. Change happens for a number of factors but maybe one aspect of change is due to social media and nearly everyone owning a smart phone and the desire to be looking their best for a selfie on their Instagram account. Outfits are matched up, everything is clean, polished, and shiny, lunch is a grand affair consisting of comfort, silverware and three courses. It’s all very business-like. Of course, it is a business, and it must turn a profit to survive but has it lost its identity in doing so? A day out on a shoot was always fun, first and foremost. You didn’t plan on wearing matchy-matchy outfits, in fact, it doubt ever occurred to plan your outfit, so you’d look the most coordinated out on your peg (maybe it is a good luck theme for some?). The best gun, the best boots, and matching accessories – the pressure is relentless. ‘All the gear and no idea’ was a popular phrase whispered around years ago when someone turned up on a shoot day with all the best of clothing, gun, car, and accessories. It’s all become very sleek, and akin to a performance.

I guess everything changes. Life doesn’t stay the same and the shooting season is going through a period of change. Shooting for sport is coming under increasing pressure from lots of different directions. Some estates have closed down their shoot days and sadly made their gamekeepers redundant. The shoot day drives have been replaced by tree plantations and rewilding schemes. Where will it all end up? I do not know the answer to this, but one thing is for sure, a shoot day in 5 years’ time will not look like it did 20 years ago.