Simulated game shooting at great Tew Estate in the Cotswolds

Great Tew estate in the Cotswolds has been hosting simulated game days since the 1990s, and on this evidence, they have rather got the hang of it.

A flurry of birds starburst above the bank of gorse in front of me, and I find myself momentarily caught off-guard. Even as I start my swing, I know that my footwork has let me down. I never manage to catch up with them – and as my shot string pointlessly fills the empty sky, the little blighters pass unassailed to my right.

I pause, to berate myself, but the gruff command comes in my ear: “Come on. Reload.” This is exactly what I need. A good friend on a peg will never allow you to wallow in disappointment after a bad shot.

Fortunately, the ‘birds’ we have in our sights today are not the type covered in feathers. We are on a simulated shoot, and with the promise of over 3,000 clays to be thrown over the line of Guns during the course of the day, there thankfully will be plenty more opportunities to redeem myself.

Along with my friend, colleague and excellent shoot photographer Matt Kidd, I have travelled to the Great Tew Estate in the heart of the Cotswolds to take part in one of their syndicate days. While most of the shooting here is taken by teams of up to 16 Guns, these syndicate days are a great opportunity for individuals and small groups to enjoy a day’s shooting during the off season on this beautiful estate. Talking to our fellow Guns during the obligatory bacon buttie breakfast, we learned that many are returning customers – a good sign that the day was going to offer some great sport.

Simulated game shooting at Great Tew Estate

At the peg on ‘Gorse Bank’, Matt deftly reloads my Browning B325, as he gives me some unsolicited advice about footwork, which I naturally completely ignore. Of course I know that not moving your feet into position before addressing the bird is likely to result in a miss behind. It is probably the most common mistake seen on a game shoot. If you don’t move your feet into the correct position for where you plan to kill the bird, the movement of the gun will be greatly restricted, leading to a miss behind or underneath and behind. I know this.

I hear the whirr of the hidden traps, and get ready. I choose a similar bird to before, move my feet into the correct position as soon as possible, mount the gun, swing through and fire. That’s better, I think as the clay shatters to the right of me. “Ah, now you’re smoking them!” comes Matt’s encouragement in my ear.

More than 30 years of simulated game days

Great Tew has been running simulated game days since the 1990s, and was among the first estates to offer this version of the sport. In fact, the idea to use the estate for this purpose was the brainchild of one today’s shoot hosts, Roddy Richmond-Watson, who grew up on the farm next door, and still hosts many shoot days on the estate. Roddy represents the third generation of the Richmond-Watson family to run the hugely respected West London Shooting School in Northolt.

“The land at Great Tew Estate is really quite unique,” Roddy reflects, “and I really just felt that it lent itself to simulated game shooting. The contours of the rolling ironstone hills here are perfect to put on a great variety of drives – and are quite different to most of the downland escarpments you see across most of the Cotswolds.

“I put the notion to Nicholas Johnston, the estate owner, and I was absolutely delighted when he embraced the idea. Nicholas loves his shooting, and there is a longstanding syndicate game shoot on the estate, so the set-up was already there. He built the grouse butts using the iconic blue and brown ironstone quarried from the estate, which you see in many manor houses and farmhouses in these parts.”

The landscapes and wildlife of Great Tew Estate

The drives are laid out either on or nearby the estate’s existing game drives, and as we move around, Roddy and fellow shoot host Roger Bryan point out some of the woodlands and cover crops used to hold birds during the season. The natural beauty here is breathtaking.

It is hard not to descend into tired clichés when one is faced with the bucolic setting of a Cotswold stone keeper’s cottage, nestled into a grassy valley, beside fields full of spring lambs. But Roddy puts it perfectly when he describes the estate as one that is frozen in time.

“The owners of Great Tew have historically worked the land here with quite a light touch,” he says. “While many farmers have ploughed the fields, and taken various government grants to remove hedges, these modern practices have largely passed us by here. The result of this means that the estate is home to historic grasslands, magnificent trees, a network of historic hedgerows – and some impressive swathes of brambles. The owners are now embarking on huge efforts to preserve and enhance these habitats. As you can imagine, the result of this is that there is a surprising amount of natural life here, which is supported by the work done by the gamekeepers on the shoot.”

A peg on a sim shoot doesn’t simply give you the opportunity for an exhilarating day of sport. It also offers access, for a short while, to enjoy this spectacular natural history.

Challenging simulated drives in the Cotswolds

As Roddy recognised all those years ago, the landscape at Great Tew offers a superb variety of drives – just what you want from a simulated day.

A short walk from the lodge where breakfast is served is ‘Polly’s’: a charming line of native hedging and cherry trees, where the clays mimic a typical partridge drive. The birds were certainly not presented too high here, but they could be fast, and they gave the ideal opportunity to get your eye in before the trickier drives to come.

A neighbouring drive, named ‘Spike’, which is overlooked by the lodge terrace is more of a pheasant drive, with the targets appearing out of the gorse.

After Elevenses, we head to ‘Cottenham Bank’, where Matt produces his side-by-side – an old shotgun acquired from an estate sale which attracts a bit of attention along the line. One of our fellow Guns had shot exclusively with side-by-sides until a couple of years ago, when a change in his eye dominance forced the switch to an over-and-under. He regards Matt’s gun in the way one might regard a photograph of an old friend.

Under what is now a sunny sky, the barrels get hot quickly; there are a lot of cartridges going through them.

Shooting grouse butts on a simulated game day

The final drive here is always ‘Grouse’, a line of stone grouse butts created with a team of grouse experts to ensure the experience is as authentic as possible.

The grouse explode like tiny missiles from the horizon in front. I miss one behind. I overcorrect, and miss in front. In fact, in the space of a single drive, I manage to demonstrate almost every possible way to miss a driven bird.

But the great thing about a simulated day is the repetition of the targets thrown. In traditional game shooting, you might miss a bird and then not see a similar one for a number of weeks. On a sim day, you are able to practise a particular presentation multiple times and cement the technique into your muscle memory.

Why Great Tew remains a favourite with returning Guns

As the day comes to a close, with a delicious lunch served back at the lodge, the team of Guns reflect on the day. We enjoy the last of the sunshine, crack open a cold beer, and swap notes on the small details that made the day.

I pat the head of a cocker puppy who is just starting its training to become a peg dog for one of the Guns. So many adventures await that pup in the field. They wait for us, also.

To enquire about simulated or game shooting at Great Tew Estate, contact the team at wlss1901.co.uk.