The Small Shoot

The Small Shoot is a wry look at the two seasons the author spent setting up and running a shoot on the border between England & Scotland. The book looks at the practical approach to running a small shoot and has useful advice for both the beginner and for the more experienced shoot manager. This is an evocative account which will entertain as well as enlighten the reader. The Small Shoot is based around a popular series of articles which appeared in The Shooting Times. It is a wry look at the two seasons the author spent setting up and running a shoot on the border between England and Scotland. This informal rough shoot somehow developed into a full blown syndicate shoot. On the one level the book looks at the practical approach to running a shoot and alongside this is the story of very real problems, frustrations, setbacks and triumphs. The tragedy of the foot and mouth outbreak, the contrast between the present and the great days of the Estate a century ago, the characters who added so much to the pleasure, and sometimes the pain, of shoot days and the inevitable tensions that develop in every syndicate are all covered; sometimes seriously, sometimes humorously but always with deep insight into the countryside, country sports and a way of life that may not survive very much longer. This is an evocative account of running a shoot which will not only entertain the reader but which contains much valuable information.