June hopefully means bright sunshine and the chance for game shooters across the country to take their pre-season preparations up a gear. One of the ways we can all enjoy our summertime practice even more is by indulging in a simulated game day, which is the closest we’ll get to the real thing without a seeing a pheasant, hearing a beater or working our gundogs.

The popularity of this form of shooting has exploded over the past few years, not only helping experienced shots to sharpen up but also bringing new people into the sport, giving them a realistic taste of what driven game shooting involves.

Robin Scott and Chris Hanks are two guns who’ve enjoyed their fair share of simulated game days over the years. In this issue, Robin is charting the development of simulated shooting, from its humble beginnings to the elaborate affairs so common across shooting grounds and estates nowadays.

Chris, always keen to lend a helping hand at Lady’s Wood, has a few words of advice about how novices can get the most from a simulated game day, whether they are between drives or pitting their wits against scores of challenging targets.

Elsewhere in this issue, Roderick Emery explains how relatives of young guns can help to give them a solid introduction to game shooting, Wendy Bardsley examines the benefits of taking your gundog training with other like-minded individuals, while Chris Warren spends the day with an Anglo-American alliance in Wiltshire. A very special sporting relationship indeed, just like driven game and simulated game shooting, wouldn’t you say?

Enjoy the issue!

Martin Puddifer
Editor