These days, my shotgun hardly sees any action. It would be wrong to say I’ve never shot pheasants before, deer being the bulk of what I do, but it’s been a long while since I shot game. So when I received an invitation to join my fellow Shooting Times contributor Laurence Catlow on a rough day in Cumbria, I was delighted. I made my way there on a cloudy morning, and as I drove into the old Viking town of Kirkby Stephen, the dramatic landscape and farms had me giddy. However, I hadn’t picked up a shotgun at all over the past year and I felt a touch nervous.
On arrival at High Park, I