Glorious Twelfth opens British game season

Probably the most important date in the shooting man’s diary is 12 August. The date – known as the Glorious Twelfth in sporting circles – marks the beginning of the game season in Britain.

Across the country, sporting estates buzz with excitement as shooters, keepers, beaters and dogs prepare for the big day.

With luck, the moors and uplands will be looking their best, with heather flowering in its full purple glory and skylarks in full song under a blue, high summer sky.

Pheasants: low, slow and part of the countryside

Phasianus colchicus does not always get the best of press.

The common pheasant (for it is he, or she, of whom I speak) is thought by some purists to be a bit too easy game. 

They fly low, slow and lack the brainpower to be regarded as serious quarry, argue some.