[Doctor Damage]

Nigel Twiston-Davies, horse trainer.

https://postimg.org/image/8wtvsoo37/

 

[xcubbies]

Here is a video I posted to youtube of some strung together stills of the clothing worn on my last driven shoot in Yorkshire.

If you have 18 minutes of your life to spare, here is the amateurish shoot video I put together for our team as a momento of our two days in the field. My daughter was the camera person, a good first effort for her. At 6:20, I actually kill a pheasant. Blind pigs, acorns and all that....

These images provide a "in the field" view of what typical UK shooting attire looks like these days vs what one sees in the Holland & Holland and Purdey catalogs.

Cheers,

BSR

What's the etiquette for taking selfies on a hunt, or is there an official photographer?

 

[FLMike]

Quite a bit different from the pheasant hunting I’ve done in Kansas and South Dakota.

 

[Oldsport]

Quite a bit different from the pheasant hunting I've done in Kansas and South Dakota.

How so?

 

[FLMike]

How so?

It's upland bird hunting. Walking hedge rows, food plots (milo, corn, etc) and other managed habitat with a guide and pointing/flushing/retrieving dogs to flush and retrieve the pheasants. Attire consists of upland bird boots, briar pants or tin cloth chaps, and shooting shirts with blaze orange hat and vest or jacket. Nothing too fancy, except maybe the shotguns. Lots of great eating, drinking, and storytelling.

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

What's the etiquette for taking selfies on a hunt, or is there an official photographer?

I was too busy shooting to even have a sit down. My teenage daughter was the "official photographer".

Cheers,

BSR

 

[Doctor Damage]

The last couple days I've started wearing one of the two vintage Musto Highland shooting coats I got a year to two ago (stuff piles up and I sometimes don't get around to wearing things for a while). The torso, shoulders, and sleeves fit taller/thinner men extremely well and the huge collar comes halfway up my ears and does a spectacular job of keeping the wind out. I'm delighted!

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

The last couple days I've started wearing one of the two vintage Musto Highland shooting coats I got a year to two ago (stuff piles up and I sometimes don't get around to wearing things for a while). The torso, shoulders, and sleeves fit taller/thinner men extremely well and the huge collar comes halfway up my ears and does a spectacular job of keeping the wind out. I'm delighted!

Musto is an excellent brand. A similar maker is Harkila. They make excellent tech field gear and have a waterproof trad tweed line. I have Harkila waterproof technical shooting jacket that is excellent.

https://en.harkila.com/en-150/shop/hunting-clothes-for-men

Cheers,

BSR

 

[Doctor Damage]

I ordered one of these el-cheap-o waxed jackets recently as a gift for my dad to replace the old Barbour Bedale he's pretty much destroyed (which I posted about above). It arrived today. It's made in the UK and price was £29.95 and shipping £12. It's a heavy cotton, a bit heavier and rougher than Barbour's old "heavyweight", well waxed, and well constructed. Sure, it's not as refined or sophisticated as Barbour, but it will do just fine. It's excellent value for money at the price point. A glance at the interweb shows that the Bedale currently goes for around £205 in the UK, which is definitely not 6.8X better than this "Game" brand jacket. Apparently you can get these in insulated and non-insulated versions; I got the latter. I ordered size M and the chest is 24" with 35" sleeves and 32" length. Overall, two thumbs up for anyone looking for a cheap waxed British country jacket.

https://postimg.org/image/g9vudh68b/

If anyone is interested in them PM me and I'll send you link to an e-bay seller.

Got another one of these cheap-o waxed cotton jackets, this time from Walker & Hawkes, for myself. It seems all these coats are made by one company called Bronte and are re-badged for a bunch of retailers. Anyways, here's the measurements for the size M and L.

chest = 24" M, 25.5" L
length = 31" M, 32" L
sleeve dress shirt = 35" M, 36" L
sleeve underarm = 20.5" (both)
sleeve side to hem = 31" M, 32" L

 

[Patrick06790]

I got one and tested it out today. My only beef is the hand pockets are small. It's a nice alternative to the more expensive jackets.

 

[GregorSamsa]

I recently picked up a Hoggs of Fife waxed jacket, which is another super cheap option. Roomy pockets too. The zipper is plastic but that is my only real issue with it.

 

[Oldsarge]

And zippers can be replaced . . .

 

[Leonard]

FYI. The "British" shooting tradition is alive and well in the United States. Many dress the part and shoot around the world.

Take look at Covey Rise magazine and the web site of Blixtco.

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

FYI. The "British" shooting tradition is alive and well in the United States. Many dress the part and shoot around the world.

Take look at Covey Rise magazine and the web site of Blixtco.

I don't wear my shooting tweeds in the field in the US.

In many regions of the US, it is typically a state DNR requirement to wear blaze orange in the field, thus I usually ditch my UK tweeds for a more "North American" aesthetic. In the American South, it is simply too hot to shoot in wool 90% of the season and the briars can shread one to bits when walk up shooting.

When bird shooting in South Africa, one would be laughed out of the field if one showed up in plus fours. Some of the English shooters wore more upscale cotton sporting gear in the African field but the Afrikaners dressed rough and ready, some wearing sandals and shorts while shooting in the bush. Ticks and acacia thorns be damned! They would come out of the bush bloody, but unaware of the numerous bloody scratches on their legs!

Bird shooting was senselessly banned while I was living in Kenya. But we did clay shoot in the bush. The attire in the Kenya Colony was blue jeans/khaki shorts and safari shirts. The English "Kenyan Cowboys" are mostly a hearty lot of chain smokers and hard drinkers with skin like leather hide.

Cheers,

BSR

 

[Leonard]

I agree entirely. Appropriate clothes for the region in which you shoot and the shooting in which you will be participating. There are at least 2 "traditional" driven shooting establishments in the US and 1 true traditional shooting establishment where breeks, etc are worn and, in some cases, encouraged. The people who shoot at these places use their clothes for similar shooting throughout various parts of Europe.

 

[Oldsarge]

And they pay upscale UK prices. I looked into one in January. I'm sorry, the experience couldn't be worth $10K. I'll just go wander around in the corn fields in search of my pheasants.

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

And they pay upscale UK prices. I looked into one in January. I'm sorry, the experience couldn't be worth $10K. I'll just go wander around in the corn fields in search of my pheasants.

$10,000?

A days pheasant shooting on a 300 bird day with Ripley Sporting in the UK is £1300, with breakfast at Ripley Castle, snacks/drinks in the field and lunch in the shoot hut inclusive. One must still tip out the head keeper and loader as well as pay for ammo and shotgun hire, so round it out at £1600 for the day. It would be impossible to have a better experience than I have with the Frank Boddy and his team in Yorkshire.

Cheers,

BSR

 

[Leonard]

That's a great price. Although you still have to pay for a hotel and, possibly, birds if there's a limit. I shoot with Blixt in Idaho. a true driven pheasant and partridge operation. Approximately $12000 for 2 1/2 day, all in. there's no bird limit. It's expensive, but they have a bout a 90% return rate. For Americans, it's a great alternative to getting to the UK

 

[Oldsarge]

I'm not sure but what I would rather go to the UK. Heck, there's direct flights to London from Portland or Seattle and even including airfare it wouldn't come out to $12K. I'll think about that. Ripley Sporting, huh?

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

That's a great price. Although you still have to pay for a hotel and, possibly, birds if there's a limit. I shoot with Blixt in Idaho. a true driven pheasant and partridge operation. Approximately $12000 for 2 1/2 day, all in. there's no bird limit. It's expensive, but they have a bout a 90% return rate. For Americans, it's a great alternative to getting to the UK

Ripley Sporting does not charge per bird shot or for overages of the set daily bag. This eliminates any concern on the part of guns that one might be charged for birds not actually shot.

All in, airfare, transport, room and board and shoot fees for 2 day Ripley Shoot totaling 500 birds, mixed bag of pheasant, partridge and potentially duck....$6200.

But one must still be properly attired! I was able to suit up for less than $1000 with Holland & Holland using ebay!

Cheers,

BSR