THE RISE AND RISE OF THE PARTRIDGE

“If I were given the choice of only shooting one bird I’d go for partridge over pheasant every time. Whether barrelling over hedges in the Home Counties or soaring over valleys in the West Country, they’re such an enjoyable quarry to shoot”. So says Andrew Blowers, and I for one agree with him.

Andrew owns and runs the Mornacott shoot on Exmoor. He bought it a little over 10 years ago and with a huge amount of time and effort has turned it into the highly regarded shoot it is today.

Although primarily a pheasant shoot, Andrew has always added partridges to the mix. “We love them as an add-on to our pheasant shooting and, over the last few years, we’ve increased numbers such that they now represent around 30 per cent of our bird stock,” he says. Mornacott’s season doesn’t start until October but they offer mainly