Great news at The Gearach this year, Eleanor Piper shot a Right and Left at Woodcock!

On Wednesday 28th January 2009 - The Glen in North Gearach Forestry! It was particularly good news as Eleanor had two witnesses, thus qualifying to join the Shooting Times Woodcok Club, held in such high esteem by so many!

We are not sure if there have been any other Lady guns achieving a right & left at woodcock and if there has been, there wont be many we are sure.

Actually, that doesnt matter to Eleanor, she is just over the moon to have achieved her sporting ambition. We are so proud of Eleanor at The Gearach, as obviously, its never easy, despite 2009 being a bumper year for woodcock and 'The Gearach' always getting its fair share of woodcock.

Mark of course couldnt however resist telling her ' Well I suppose you had to get lucky sometime ', only then to be mobbed by the team of guns present!!

Picture (left to right) is of Mr Nick Dymoke-Marr (2nd Witness), Eleanor Piper, 'Maddie' 14 year old Springer (retriever of pair), Mr David Wilson (1st Witness) The Woodcock Club is looking back in their records to 1949 - just to double check the achivement title of 1st Lady member of the Club! Watch this space!

To mark and record the achievement of shooting a right and left at woodcock, Eleanor decided to commission the very talented and renowned stick maker, Mr Paul Colbert, to hand carve a commemorative stick based on the individual colour markings of her woodcock.

The stick incorporates the actual beaks and pin feathers in resin. The silver collar is engraved with historic details of the Right and Left.

We met Mr Paul Colbert at the CLA Game Fair 2009 on the Field Sports Magazine stand where we saw Eleanor's incredible carved stick.

Mark shot a Right and Left on Thursday 13th January 2005 during the evening flight.

He had the great honour of having the event witnessed byAndrew Cherry and Ian Haddon, Chairman of the Woodcock Club. Mark and Eleanor donate two auction lots each year to the Woodcock Club Dinner Dance.

These auction lots help to raise money in support of the Shooting Times Woodcock Club. The witnesses were members of the Hamish Grant Team.

Mark comments: " We are lucky here at the Gearach as the guns get many opportunities to shoot pairs of woodcock each season".

Mark was again successful in shooting a Right and Left over Bonnie, during the Anne Kedward and Nigel Scholes Team in January 2006.

The Gearach is pleased to support the hugely successful Shooting Times Woodcock Club Dinner in raising funds for vital research by the Game Conservancy Trust.

There is an exceptional fall of woodcock on Islay during their migratory visit from November through to January, and our blocks of forest, larch plantation and young plantings/more open areas are especially attractive to them.

Teams of ideally 6 guns are strategically placed on rides within the forestry. Beaters and spaniels then flush the birds.

After a day of driven woodcock there is the additional excitement of evening flighting on the forest boundaries at dusk.

By nature Woodcock fly in an erratic pattern, providing the most testing of British sporting bird shooting.

Your sporting break includes three days driven woodcock shooting and two evening flights.