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the MountGarret shoot

The Mountgarret Shoot is set in 2,000 acres of rolling North Yorkshire countryside just north of Harrogate. The Shoot
is steeped in tradition and for as far back as records show it has been run as the Mountgarret Family Shoot. Its heyday
would have been in the Victorian/Edwardian era. I understand it was then a wild grey English partridge and hand reared
pheasant shoot. It would be wonderful to bring back English grey partridge but sadly the ever increasing uncontrollable
number of raptors together with modern farming methods makes it difficult. However we will be releasing a few grey
partridge into some quiet corners where we can leave them undisturbed.

Having shot on the Mountgarret Shoot for a number of years I know it can produce some very challenging pheasants.
Since taking the lease I have now been able to study the whole shoot area. I knew it would be good but did not appreciate
how good it really would be. The land is best described as rolling countryside with woodlands established over many
years to produce good quality sporting birds. These are complimented by areas of well-placed game cover. I am
confident this combination together with an increase in the area of game cover will produce a good variety of drives with
some very testing birds.

In recent years the Shoot has been very successfully run by the Agent and Trustees as a traditional driven pheasant shoot
with a few French partridge. With most of the latter straying from the Nidd Beat of The Mountgarret Estate which
borders and is part of The Ripley Castle Shoot. At least I will now be able to shoot my own birds!! I appreciate it may
be hard to improve the Shoot, however I have identified a few areas where this may be possible.

I propose running the Mountgarret Shoot as a stand-alone Shoot separate to my Ripley Castle Shoot but under my
management as Ripley Sporting. I have retained the very capable Head Keeper, Martin Nesham who has been with the
Estate 18 years. He will be assisted by his son Liam.

There are a number of very challenging pheasant drives and I propose improving these even further by changing the stain
of pheasant to Bezante together with a few Kansas cross Bezante and Manchurians. These have given excellent sport at
Ripley Castle over recent seasons which has taken Ripley Castle into a new league of driven shooting.

Although pheasant will remain the mainstay of the Shoot, the untapped potential is in partridge. With the support of the
farmers I have agreed an increase of 80% in the area of game cover which has also increased the number of drives by
30%. Most of these new drives will be predominately for partridge. I propose a substantial increase in the number of
partridge released although they will be French! I am confident we can expect some stunning partridge.

I plan fielding teams two days each week where each day will be a mix of both pheasant and partridge (except in
September). The increase in drives will make it possible to rest each drive for a longer period. All our birds will receive
a mixed diet of maize and wheat in order to produce the strong high flying birds we have all come to expect. I propose
bags of 200, 250 and 300 but as always will aim to shoot in excess of the target bag each day with no overage charged.

Guns are encouraged to invite non shooting guests and there will always be ample time between drives to work your dog.

We are fortunate in having a very comfortable, well appointed traditional Shoot Lodge where we start the day at 8.30
a.m. with a full breakfast. We plan to shoot 3 to 4 drives in the morning with drinks breaks and pork pies mid-morning.
At around 12.30 p.m. we will take a tasty lunch in the Shoot Lodge and the day will end with afternoon tea at around
4.00 p.m.

I recommend a 4 x 4 vehicle although the well maintained estate roads connect most drives. We also have a courtesy
Land Rover Station Wagon available each day with a driver, if you require this some prior notice would be appreciated.

The days will be run at a leisurely pace with walking kept to a minimum. As on my other Shoots we particularly cater
for single guns and small parties with a few days available for full teams.

Although I plan a number of changes to the Shoot it is most important that we maintain past traditions as you will
experience when you visit. I look forward to your joining me on this new driven shooting adventure.

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