Is a Boxing Day shoot perhaps the jolliest of the lot? A welcome dose of fresh air to curtail the Epicurean excesses. Everyone sharing in a residual grogginess but looking resplendent in their new kit. Cold turkey for Elevenses.
Better described as an armed ramble than anything approaching an organised, driven outing, a Boxing Day shoot is an excuse to gather the tribe and kit them out, very much according to age and inclination. Indeed, the Boxing Day shoot is traditionally the one where youngsters try the sport for the first time. For the more experienced shots, it's also the one day of the year that an “unusual” gun might make an appearance – grandfather’s old sidelock, for example, given its annual outing to pay respects.
Here we hear from three shots for whom the Boxing Day shoot has become a much-loved annual tradition.
“The freshness of the cold breeze on your face after spending Christmas day indoors by the fire, eating and drinking to excess makes it feel special – combined with the holiday spirit. Turning up in new items gifted the day before, often regardless of taste or subtlety. Boxing Day shoots tend to be family affairs. I remember a snowy Boxing Day in Lincolnshire close to the fens, shooting with my godfather and one of his 16 bores. Few birds, even less accuracy and a huge amount of fun, with mince pies and mulled wine at Elevenses.”
Dan Jago, Chairman and CEO of James Purdey & Sons
”Having grown up as a gamekeeper's daughter and lived and worked on various estates throughout the United Kingdom, from Cornwall to Dumfries and Galloway, I've been lucky enough to enjoy many Boxing Day shoots. In my experience, these days are always far more relaxed and family friendly, where almost anything goes and usually involves more low-key walked up sport, whereby the guns and an assortment of dogs join the keepers in doing the beating and picking-up themselves. There's always plenty of fun and laughter and often an informal lunch on the hoof in the field, accompanied, of course, by a few warming tipples and a welcome chance to get off the sofa in front of the fire to enjoy a great day's sport in pursuit of a small, but much-prized, bag of mixed quarry.”
Paula Minchin, Managing Editor & Features Editor at Country Life magazine
“Boxing day shoots tend to be entirely private family affairs. They are usually very relaxed with lots of youngsters and hangers-on joining in to watch or perhaps burn off some turkey in the beating line. Or, for a lucky couple, perhaps stand on the peg and bag their first birds.
“Boxing Day can be one of the best days of the year for small family shoots, as there will probably have been a considerable break in their shooting calendar leading up to the day so it will have given the birds chance to settle back to their territories and the ‘keeper chance to catch up on his feeding. Therefore, if the conditions are right on the day it can make for a plentiful sport. A dusting of snow adds to the festivities and a cold bite to the air only makes the roaring fire or log-burner at the end of the day all the more inviting.”
Matt Smith, Sporting Agent at Purdey Sporting Agency