We run simulated game shooting days on very similar lines to game days. We are lucky here in rural Devon to have fine in-country shooting on the edge of Dartmoor. The farm you will be a welcome guest at is a family farm, run for generations with hopefully more sporting generations to carry on in time. The land is old pasture with rolling hills and deep valleys, there are beautiful ruined barns and age old orchards, and wonderful views from the hilltops – we have a beaters wagon to drive you to the tops of those! We will meet for tea or coffee and a bacon sandwich between 9.00 – 9.30 am, when we will also have a safety talk and draw pegs. Then we move off to the first drive where you will be pegged out as if on a game day, although the gaps between pegs are closer; one of the big differences between game and simulated game is poaching other people’s birds is not frowned upon and when safe it’s encouraged.

We can cater for teams between from eight to eighteen guns, we split you into two teams so while one team shoots the other team loads. Because clay pigeon traps are so easy to control unlike pheasants and partridge we can stop the drive halfway through, reload the traps and swap teams. Don’t worry that you’ll feel as if you haven’t had enough shooting, it’s more likely you will have had too much and you are struggling to touch your barrels!

After two drives we stop for an early light lunch giving you a chance to take a breather, then we’re back out onto the farm to shoot the last two drives, these are usually much higher birds as you should have your eye in by now. As simulated game is so flexible we can tailor the day to suit your needs, if you want to shoot the morning or maybe in the summer start at lunchtime and go into the evening, finishing your great day out in the fabulous pubs or hotels in the area for dinner – the choice is yours. We can recommend various local eateries and places to stay, please see the Shoot & Stay page on this website for further information.

A simulated game day is different to shooting at a clay ground. Our grounds are working farms, so our stands work around the farming year. For example before we visit to decide the layout the farmer will have taken into account which fields have been cut or are still standing, if he has young-stock close by, if the bottom meadow has half a foot of standing water on it and is therefore not for walking on, let alone trying to drive through it and stage a clay shoot, but none the less there will always be fabulous drives with a variety of ‘birds’.

We would recommend lighter load cartridges such as 21g due to the amount of shooting you will do in a day – 36g 4s are not advisable as you will have a very sore shoulder! A team of eight can expect to see 2000 clays, a team of eighteen will have 4500 targets to aim at. Remember though this isn’t a competition, no one is keeping score although we can count the misses per team if you want us to. If you are in the lucky position of having a choice of gun to bring along an over and under is the gun for the day, the barrels will be less hot than those of a side by side. Fibre wads only please – we shoot on a working farm and we do not want the farm littered in plastic wads for the livestock to eat. We always keep cartridges with us should you run short, please let us know in advance if you would like us to supply all of your cartridges for your shoot.

As for clothing, many teams may normally wear shooting clothes i.e. breeks, shirt, tie, waistcoat etc to make the day feel more ‘real’, there is no necessity for this however especially as the weather will hopefully be warm! We would suggest that you wear whatever you’re comfortable in but sensible footwear is a must, walking boots or wellingtons and most importantly a hat and safety glasses and ear protection must be worn whilst in the gun line due to noise and the potential of clay fragments falling close by. If you forget to bring your eye and ear protection we do carry spares.

Whilst we’re on the subject of safety, the Keepers word is law – he or she is your ‘go to’ person and you will have been introduced at the beginning of the day. Any problems, queries or concerns should be addressed to this person. They will let you know when to start and stop shooting, will tell you where to stand and what’s happening next throughout the day.

We have automatic traps only, the majority being Promatic and Laporte. The centrepiece is a Promatic Huntsman trailer with three traps all of which oscillate and produce random flushes. This in combination with other traps makes superb stands, showing you various speeds and sizes as we use standards and midi clays, and also throw in the odd looper.

With two front-linked traps that oscillate side to side, and a rear side to side standard trap, the Huntsman is ideal. With the use of the inbuilt flurries, you can simulate all of your favourite game birds such as pheasant, ducks and geese. Extend your season, make full use of the estate, train for the season ahead or train novice shooters, the Huntsman is the perfect machine for the keen Game shooter.

• Can throw up to 100 birds in 60 seconds
• 630 bird capacity with 20/40/60/80/100 bird inbuilt flurries
• 3 throwers, 2 side to sides (front), 1 side to side (rear)

Extending your team to include partners, family, friends etc this may be possible, but numbers would be limited, for safety reasons, and we would need to know in advance for catering. Still on catering, when completing your booking we will need to know of any specific dietary requirements, which can be easily catered for.