Spanish Partridge Shooting

Spanish partridge shooting is criticised for three main reasons:

1. "All the wild birds are far from wild - they are simply tipped out of boxes the day before the shoot."

Not so at Las Beatas - the owner Jesus Alberto Muela is determined to have the very best partridge shooting in Spain and this can only be achieved by releasing birds in the spring and not over shooting drives where wild birds are predominant. In some areas a wild bird drive may only be shot once a year or not at all if there is an insufficient stock to sustain a days shooting. Where birds are released this is usually in the more mountainous country which can provide exceptional quality shooting from the start of the season in October.

We have been to shoots in other parts of Spain where bad practices are employed and, as one might expect the quality of birds and the way in which they fly are totally different. Even in the rain and snow when other shoots cancel their days Las Beatas can still provide outstanding sport in the foulest of conditions - a true testament to the health of the birds and dedication of the owner and his staff.


Cargadors and Secretarios at work

2. "You always shoot more than you originally contract for and end up with a monster excess bill"

True, but we think that this is only a problem when individual guns join together and some may be shooting on a tight budget whilst others want to shoot until they drop!

If the shooting party want to keep the bag strictly under control, this is not a problem provided the Estate is told in advance of the day and that a sensible minimum daily bag is set of 500 birds.

When individual guns join up to form a traveling syndicate party we prefer to give each gun an individual bird allocation which he or she can shoot when they want to without the pressure of having to shoot at everything early on to get their fair share of the bag. In this way each person can shoot what gives them pleasure and if they decide to shoot a larger bag than anyone else then that is entirely their choice. Alternately the team may prefer to split the cost equally or pay for birds which each person shoots individually and either of these systems can be adopted - provided we are told in advance!


	A successful bag of perdiz roja

3. "We don't believe the bag - we can't possibly have shot that many birds"

Birds are always available for inspection if the team wants to see them. Your secretario or bird boy will tell you how many birds you have shot on the drive and he will probably take some pride in having pinched some of your neighbours birds! It is a good idea to count the birds you shoot and if you disagree with this total - tell him so! He is only trying to flatter you as the secretarios take great pride in their guns' performance -- they probably have a bet riding on you as well!

Counting birds as you shoot them is a good discipline and we can guarantee that you will return home knowing more Spanish than you did when you arrived!