Shoots across the country are diversifying, playing to their strengths and offering more than just well-presented birds. At the Ashbourne estate in Sussex, the McDougal Challenge involves shooting a male rooster in the morning and then, after a hearty lunch, tying a fly with a tail feather and then fishing for a trout in the clear waters of the lakes. We joined a group of guns/rods hoping to join the exclusive McDougalers club. This film first appeared on Fieldsports Britain, episode 153. To watch the full programme, visit Join Fieldsports Nation and fund our fight for field sports in the media; for complete details on YouTube membership for the same via Patreon. To become a more structural shareholder, visit Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter Fieldsports Shop Go to We are proud to promote the enjoyment of field and country sports. There are three guiding principles for everything we do at Fieldsports Channel: Hunt, shoot and fish responsibly Respect the game Ensure a quick, clean and humane kill Engage in nature. Join Fieldsports Nation’s risk warning: investments of this nature carry risks to your capital as well as potential rewards. Approved as a financial promotion by Envestors Limited. Which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (No. 07236828). Why hunt game birds? Game is wild, natural and free-range, and is one of the healthiest meats available today. It is low in cholesterol and high in protein. Results from research commissioned by the Game-to-Eat campaign (Leatherhead Food International Research 2006) suggest that eating wild animals has real health benefits. Both rooster and partridge contain high levels of iron, protein, vitamin B(6) and selenium, which helps protect cells from damage caused by free radicals. In addition to the nutritional benefits of hunting, hunting is worth £2 billion annually to the rural economy and supports 74,000 jobs. There are 480,000 (UK Government figures) active shooters in the UK who enjoy bird hunting according to the principles of the Code of Good Shooting Practice. In the UK, over 2 million hectares are actively managed for photography, creating proven conservation benefits (PACEC, 2014) and preserving important habitats for a wide range of flora and fauna, particularly farmland birds. UK game suppliers spend £5.4 million on cover crop seeds each year and maintain more than 25,000 hectares of wild bird cover.
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The McDougal Sports Challenge
