Shooting Season 2012/13

Driven pheasant shooting on Morghew Park goes back at least 150 years. This handsome Estate has been shot commercially for the last eight years, and this will continue until the end of the 2011/12 season. Thereafter, the Estate’s management wishes to see the land shot less intensively – perhaps with one driven day, one walked-up day and a wild duck-flight each week throughout the season.

The Estate has established an enviable reputation as an excellent Kentish shoot which is able to show the most demanding of high birds. The Estate comprises about 2000 acres of arable and woodland in a ring-fence. There are three outstanding high-bird signature drives among the twenty or so pheasant drives located on the Wealden upland at the northern end of the Estate. This land holds its birds exceptionally well.

The southern end of the Estate is made up of marshland and includes a five-acre reservoir. If appropriately fed, this can support a large wild population of mallard, teal, widgeon and geese. The Estate does not wish to see any more reared duck on the land. 

For the right team of guns, Morghew Park could provide a shooting paradise, with a single team enjoying driven and walked-up shooting, as well as duck-flighting. Alternatively, it may be possible to offer the duck-flighting to a separate wildfowling syndicate.

In truth, the Estate’s management has an open mind on the format of the 2012/13 season at Morghew. A large syndicate with a part-time keeper may be the most obvious outcome, but there are many other possibilities. For example, a large team of local Guns could enjoy excellent sport by putting down a small number of birds in the existing release pens, and sharing the work between them. All serious propositions will be considered, and income generated for the Estate will not be the only consideration.

As far as shoot infrastructure is concerned, the Estate has a large storage shed for gamekeeping materials, a number of release pens in good condition, and a mess room will be available on shoot days.  The Estate will be prepared to sell wheat at prevailing market prices, subject to availability, and land for cover crops is also available at an annual rent of £500/acre.

Finally, the Estate currently runs a pigeon shoot outside the game season, and it’s anticipated that this will continue.

More background information is available on the current operator’s website, which can be accessed directly from www.morghew.com  

To discuss matters further, please contact Tom Lewis at tom.lewis@morghew.com.