Hot Barrels!

Guns and Shooting Days

There's a lot of ritual attached to shoot day preparation, much of it based on practicalities - although there are those who prepare in a certain way because of their own self-imposed superstitions!

From the practical point of view it makes sense to lay out as much of your clothing and equipment as you can the night before as then there's less chance you'll forget anything due to a last-minute rush. Some can even be packed in the car in readiness but, in the interest of safety, that obviously doesn't include one's shotgun or rifle. Sporting dogs may also influence how much you can prepare ahead of time as, for many, just as soon as they see everything being gathered together, they tend to become extremely excitable and vocal!

A checklist is always a good idea and, once you have perfected it, it may pay to get it laminated for longevity and place it somewhere near the back door or, if you are fortunate enough to own one, in the gun room.

Small items such as dog leads, dog whistle, spare ear defenders, anti-midge spray (for those August days on grouse or late summer forays after pigeon), sunglasses and a towelling cravat to keep the rain from running down your neck can all be kept together in a small game bag or fishing bag used solely for this purpose. In that way, you are only carrying one thing out to the car rather than a handful of relatively small, easily misplaced items.

ONCE FORGOTTEN .

Lots of people have forgotten guns - and on occasion, gun dogs. Some have even taken the wrong dogs home with them. This story was told quite recently: 'A Gun and a picker-up on our shoot both had black Labradors. Each drove about 30 miles home (in opposite directions) and, on going to let their dogs out of the back of their respective vehicles, couldn't understand why the dogs just sat there looking at them.' Seemingly, the wrong dogs had been taken and a return trip to the shoot venue was necessary in order to reunite the right dogs with the right owners.

Anecdotes abound as to what people have forgotten or mislaid prior to a shooting day - some are apocryphal and some retold as rural myths . others, such as these, are absolutely true!

Once drove from Edinburgh down to the borders to shoot; we had a coffee before we started and it was only then that I realised that my comfy footwear were my slippers - and I'd forgotten my boots. Luckily, a fellow Gun was able to help out with a spare pair.

I was once loading and, after getting cartridges, bags and gun slips out of 'my' Gun's car, asked him where his gun was - he went as white as a sheet . and it turned out that he'd put it in his son's car some 150 miles away.

On another occasion, I pulled the Gun's gun from its slip on the first drive - only to discover it was a rifle . he'd been stalking the evening before and forgotten to change guns.

A checklist is always a good idea

I remember a stalker I was out with being somewhat peeved about his client the day before not turning up. When he contacted him, the stalker apologised profusely, saying; 'I knew we were supposed to meet at Abersomething, so I went to Aberfeldy' . he was so nearly right . he should have gone to Aberfoyle.

DON'T BE LATE!

Today, satellite navigation can get us to the meeting point for a day's shooting (even so, it seems that some people manage to be continually late on such occasions), but it wasn't all that long ago when all we had to rely on were maps and verbal directions. Nevertheless, even the most modern technology doesn't always include the out-of-the-way places sometimes chosen as a meeting point for a shooting day, hunt meet or stalking foray and it's often necessary to resort to old-fashioned mapping skills. Yet, somewhat worryingly, according to research carried out by the RAC Direct Insurance, half of today's young drivers don't know how to read a road atlas.

The RAC results suggest a growing dependence on digital technology is to blame for poor map reading and say that road maps are becoming increasingly redundant, with more than one in ten (14 per cent) drivers admitting to never using one. This figure rises to one in five (20 per cent) drivers aged under thirty-five, whilst more than a quarter (26 per cent) of this same age group don't even carry a road map in their vehicle.

Where am I?

In remote and difficult terrain such as is occasionally encountered out shooting or stalking, it might be advisable to plan ahead and acquaint oneself with a map of the area. As an Ordnance Survey download, Advanced Map Reading, points out:

Interpreting the shape of the land on a map using contour lines is an extremely useful navigational tool. Looking at the lines and creating a mental picture of the landscape will allow you to plan . effectively. Orange or brown contour lines on maps join points of equal height above sea level together, and are usually measured in 5- or 10-metre height intervals. One of the easiest ways to convert contour lines into a mental picture is to imagine the lines as high tide marks left by the sea. As the water level drops it leaves a line every 5 or 10 metres on the landscape, forming the contour lines.

It is, however, well worth knowing that smaller features may be missed by contour lines. If a feature is 9m high on the land it may not appear on a map with contour lines at 10m intervals - which can be very confusing when you see the actual landscape and it contains features you haven't imagined because they don't appear on your map! The Ordnance Survey download further mentions that:

When interpreting contour lines you can use symbols and features around them to get a better understanding of how the landscape will appear in reality. In particular, you should look for the symbols for cliffs, outcrops, scree and streams, as they will give you a valuable insight into the formation of a landscape.

A BRIDGE TOO FAR?

En route to the shoot, satnav or an Ordnance Survey map may well take you under a bridge. Particularly superstitious travellers are sometimes known to touch the roof of their car - a gesture seemingly intended to hold up the bridge as one passes underneath. Should you feel the need to do so whilst driving, it's probably not a good idea to use both hands as, letting go of the steering wheel entirely is far more likely to create disastrous consequences!

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Smaller bridges may be encountered actually on the shoot itself - and they are not without consequence if of a suspicious, superstitious mind. At the end of the day, never say goodbye to a friend whilst actually standing on a bridge for to do so means you are unlikely to see them again. Why? A bridge, by its very nature is suspended between two pieces of land and saying goodbye on a bridge indicates separation.

Building bridges

New footbridges are often built on the grouse moor or lowland shoot. Although they are likely to have already been traversed by the keeper, estate maintenance staff, or agricultural contractors whilst being built, it may be just as well to check as it's considered bad luck to be the first across a new bridge no matter what its size, where it spans or in whatever location. Doing so is supposed to anger the Devil who, or so we are led to believe, is incapable of building such a structure. To counteract his anger, some bridge builders traditionally leave a small amount of money tucked in the stones, concrete or wooden beams used in its construction.

If you are unsure as to whether or not a new bridge has been previously trod, you could always send your dog across first as a preventative measure - animals are supposedly exempt from the wrath of the Devil in this particular instance!

SERIOUSLY SUPERSTITIOUS

There are many Guns and keepers who are somewhat suspicious about what to wear and how to behave on a shooting day.

One particular individual always has to wear red socks with blue flashes - and put his left boot on first. Another apparently wears certain ties on certain days (but doesn't disclose how he arrives at a decision).

A surprising number of people seemingly insist on starting out a day's shooting with an uneven amount of cartridges or bullets.

In the world of clay-shooting, some even go to the trouble of turning their cartridges so you can read the manufacturer's name the right way up in both barrels.

Some Guns like to start and end their game season/shooting day with a successful shot - and think it a bad omen if they don't.

Science of the occult!

There's even more shooting superstition to be found in the 1903 book, Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore and the Occult Science of the World; which includes these little gems:

Save whatever shot you find in the first wild duck you pick in the autumn; it will bring you good luck.

For the guns of two hunters to accidentally strike together when out hunting, it is a sign they will be together next year.

If you count the bullets before you start out shooting, you will have bad luck.

If you drop a shot [cartridge] whilst loading a gun, that is your lucky shot.

If a woman touches a gun, it will not shoot straight (that, apparently from the Turks...