Enjoy Grouse Season With Bentleys and Birds for $96,000 a Day
Tweed, grouse and a chilly summer’s day—could you get any more British? Every year on Aug. 12, shooters take to the heather-filled moorlands of rural Scotland, Northern Ireland and England for the official opening of grouse season. The wild bird is considered one of the toughest to shoot. Its flight is fast—up to 70 miles per hour—and unpredictable. At day’s end, the race is on to deliver one of the most delicious meals of the year. Photographs by Matthew Lloyd and Jason Alden
It’s known as the Glorious Twelfth, the start of grouse season, and a key date on Britain's social calendar, when some of UK's wealthiest and best-connected take to the moorlands for a day of shooting with family and friends. You can buy your way into a shoot as part of a syndicate, which can run upwards of £75,000 ($96,000) for a small group, but the best option has got to be an invitation onto land belonging to someone with a title.
“We were at one yesterday owned by a duke,” said Simon Davis, country pursuits manager and a chef for the Epicurean Collection, a group of British country pubs and inns. “You need to find the right people, and get onto the right moors. It’s relatively exclusive.”