Don't shoot the messenger
‘Matt - how tall are you?’
Not the question I was expecting from my editor one morning but it soon turned out it was for a good reason.
The editorial team had kindly been invited to go clay pigeon shooting at the Grimsthorpe Estate Shooting Ground by Sophie Coups, who owns the business.
I was pretty excited as I’d never done anything like it before and never picked up a shotgun (that’s probably a good thing).
We drove along narrow country lanes to get to the beautiful shooting ground on the edge of the glorious Grimsthorpe Estate and were greeted by Sophie at an impressive brand-new lodge.
It’s a family affair at the vast ground with Sophie’s dad, Mark Russell, one of the instructors alongside son, Rob, and mum Elaine running the kitchen with Angie Schwarz, a former chef at nearby Grimsthorpe Castle.
The shooting ground has been in business for 30 years but a bigger venue was needed and the new, cosy lodge, opened in March this year, ‘representing a significant investment’, according to Sophie.
She was keen to stress that shooting is for everyone and open to all demographics as they try to move away from the tweed and blazers stereotype.
“We’re keen to introduce people to the sport,” she said.
“You don’t need to be fit - it’s something that everyone can pick up.
“We teach here five days a week and we’re trying to grow into a bigger venue.
“There are not that many shooting grounds locally - the nearest one is about 45 minutes away.
“We’re well known in the industry but I still meet people who don’t know we’re here.
“There’s a stigma attached to shooting but it’s very friendly.”
After the all-important safety briefing, we set off to a practice stand for our first shots.
The guns we used had a 60 to 80-metre range and all of the 12 stands at Grimsthorpe, feature a 300-yard safety zone.
Andrew, one of the senior reporters, proved to be a one-shot wonder, hitting five out of five clay disks along with our photographer Lee.
Editor Kerry, senior reporter Andrea and me, also got off to a good start.
I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous stepping up to take my shots.
I don’t really remember much about any of my shots other than the bang and the successful ones that hit the target!
But like most things in life, if you keep practising, you’ll keep getting better.
This mantra summed up Steve Wood, our approachable, enthusiastic, helpful and hilarious instructor.
His first shooting experience was when his dad threw an empty tin can in the air for him to shoot.
Steve, a father of two and new grandad from Bourne, had a career in engineering and instructed at Deepings Swimming Club.
After teaching daughter Georgie to shoot, she suggested he take up instructing as a job and is now British Association for Shooting and Conservation accredited and an associate member of the Association of Shooting Instructors.
He has been teaching since October 2014 but only at Grimsthorpe since this January after brazenly walking in and asking for a job!
“Teaching and shooting are different classes,” said Steve.
“This is my lifestyle and I’m doing something I love. I absolutely love every day of my life.
“I love to see people improve.
“Shooting is in my blood.
“Grimsthorpe is a renowned shooting ground and the best I’ve shot at.”
As well as the 12 stands at Grimsthorpe, there is an arena and a new, enormous tower to simulate driven targets for live shooters to practice on.
“It’s a sport but it can be as competitive as you want it,” said Steve.
“It’s all about hand-eye co-ordination.
“We want you to enjoy it.”
And his main piece of advice?
“Always have respect for the gun.”
After the practice shots, we then moved to a more challenging target where it moved across in an arc and once again, Lee and Andrew proved to be more than useful with a gun in their hands.
The promise I had shown on the practice stand went to pot here and I struggled to get to grips with the target.
We then moved on to our final stand, with Lee proving again to be a good shot - and signing on the dotted line for his next lesson.
I managed to hit the target once and Andrea impressively smashed a target with her only shot.
After all that shooting, we had worked up quite an appetite and had a delicious lunch back at the lodge.
I had a fantastic morning shooting and with a bit of work on my technique, I don’t think it would be long before I was hitting more targets out of the sky.
“It was something different,” said my colleague Andrew. “It was quite a lot of fun and something I would be quite keen to do again.”
Overall, the whole team and I really enjoyed my day at Grimsthorpe and would highly recommend it to anyone.
Welcoming, friendly and affordable, it offers the perfect opportunity to get into shooting.
