Pheasant & Partridge Shooting

Quotes from the Guns

On many shoots it is rare for all the guns to be in the shooting on every drive throughout the day – Wykeham is obviously an
exception

The curving high birds on the Spinney drive are something else!

The ‘Old Kitchen’ is a magnificent venue for lunch and coffee at the beginning of the day. Quite a privilege to start the day at Wykeham Abbey

A wonderful welcome by the keeper and host. I felt the Estate was my own for the day!

  • Matthew Steadman, Head-Keeper.
  • Ian Blacker,
    Under Keeper.

  • Partridge Shooting
    September and October.
    150 to 200 birds at £32 per bird inclusive
  • Pheasant Shooting
    Traditional: November, December and January.
    150 to 200 birds at £33 per bird inclusive.
    High Bird: November, December and January.
    200 to 300 birds at £40 per bird inclusive.
    Boundaries: November, December and January.
    100 birds at £30 per bird inclusive of VAT.
    These smaller days commence at the Downe Arms Country Inn where breakfast and lunch can be booked.
    Single guns:
    In the 2012/13 season certain days will be set aside for single guns, with prices ranging between £800 and £975 per gun based on 200 birds, inclusive.
  • It should be noted that once the type of shooting, bag, estate and price is agreed, the arrangements for the day are fixed and there is no additional charge for overage. In the majority of instances Guns can expect to shoot between 10 and 20 birds over the bag estimate at no additional cost.
  • It is important to the Estate - and hopefully the Guns - that on the day it is the Guns’ Estate, and that the day is informal, relaxed and enjoyable.

The Abbey Shoot – Wykeham Estate

  • The start of the day
  • Gun
  • Enjoying the sunshine

The “Abbey Shoot” at Wykeham offers a wide variety of partridge and pheasant shooting. Partridges are driven across the rolling countryside lying on the southern fringes of the North York Moors and leading down to the Parkland surrounding Wykeham Abbey. “Traditional” pheasant shooting takes place over the more traditional arable and grassland and wooded dales, or spectacular “High Bird” pheasant shooting over three steep wooded valleys: Bedale, Yedmandale and Sawdondale, the latter described by one team of guns as “an island of Devon shooting in Yorkshire”!

  • The start of the day

Bags vary between 150 - 200 birds for the partridge and ‘Traditional’ pheasant shooting and 200-300 birds for the High Birds pheasants. Prices start at £30 per bird (inclusive) and peak at £40 per bird (inclusive) for the High Birds. The quoted prices are inclusive of VAT and hospitality and are fixed for the day with no additional charge for overage.

  • The start of the day
  • Gun
  • Enjoying the sunshine

All the partridge and pheasant shooting commences with a drive through the Park arriving at the magnificence of Wykeham Abbey, the Dawnay family home. Introductions to the keepers and host take place at the “Old Kitchen”, Wykeham Abbey with a mug of coffee. The host will explain the procedures for the day and carry out the draw. There is a midmorning drink and snack out in the field followed by lunch (with a choice of menus) in the “Old Kitchen” either at lunchtime or, if preferred, at the end of the day’s shooting.