If you’re interested in getting into shooting but don’t really know where to start, one of my biggest recommendations would be to go beating!
Beating is such a brilliant introduction to the shooting world because you get to experience a proper shoot day from behind the scenes, meet people within the rural community and learn how a day actually works — without needing to own a gun or have loads of shooting experience.
For anyone completely new to it, beaters are the people who work their way through woodland, cover crops and fields to help move the birds towards the line of Guns. You’ll normally be part of a beating line with a mixture of other beaters, gamekeepers, dogs and pickers-up, moving from drive to drive throughout the day.
And yes… you’ll probably get muddy!
My First Proper Season Beating
Last season, I spent time beating on a large commercial shoot here in the Cotswolds with some of my friends from university, and it quickly became such a fun way to spend a day off.
Instead of sitting around at uni, we could head out into the countryside, spend the whole day outside together and earn a little bit of extra money at the same time.
Most shoots will pay their beaters for the day — often in cash — and you’ll usually be fed too. Depending on the shoot, that might mean breakfast when you arrive, elevenses halfway through the morning, lunch or something warming at the end of the day.
There’s something very British about standing in the middle of the countryside eating something hot after you’ve spent the morning walking through wet cover!
But for me, one of the best parts was the social side of it.
You meet such a mixture of people: gamekeepers, farmers, students, local people, experienced shots and people who have been involved with the shoot for years. There’s a real community around a good shoot, and beating gives you the opportunity to become part of it rather than simply turning up to shoot.
You Learn So Much Without Realising It
If your eventual goal is to start shooting yourself, beating is also a really useful education.
You start learning how drives work, where the Guns stand, how birds are presented, what the keeper and beating line are trying to achieve and, importantly, the etiquette surrounding a shoot day.
Watching experienced Guns from the beating line can teach you a lot too.
When you eventually step onto a peg yourself, the whole environment feels far less intimidating because you already understand what is happening around you.
And Then There’s Beaters’ Day…
One of the biggest perks of beating throughout the season is the possibility of being invited to Beaters’ Day at the end of it.
Many shoots hold a day towards the end of the season where the people who have spent the year beating and helping the shoot get the opportunity to swap sides and have a day shooting themselves.
Every shoot operates differently, and you’ll normally need to have turned up and helped on a good number of days throughout the season to earn your place, but it can be an amazing and much more accessible way to experience driven game shooting.
For someone wanting to progress from clays into game shooting, it can be the perfect introduction.
You’ve already met the keeper, you know the shoot, you understand the drives and you’re surrounded by people you’ve spent the season getting to know.
How Do You Actually Start Beating?
It can feel like one of those parts of the countryside where everyone somehow already knows everyone — but you really don’t need to have grown up in the shooting world to get involved.
Ask around locally, speak to shooting grounds, gamekeepers and friends who shoot, or look for local shoot and beating groups online. Shoots regularly need reliable people throughout the season.
The biggest thing is simply being dependable.
If you say you’re going to turn up, turn up. Listen to the keeper, be prepared to walk a lot, wear proper waterproof boots and clothing, and don’t be afraid to ask questions when you don’t know something.
You also don’t need to own a gundog. Plenty of people beat without one, although spending the day surrounded by working spaniels and Labradors might make you desperately want one by the end of the season!
More Than Just a Route Into Shooting
Even if you have no intention of eventually standing on a peg, beating is still a genuinely lovely way to spend a day.
You’re outside, walking for hours, earning a bit of money, being fed and spending time with friends and people from the local rural community.
For us at university, it was such a good alternative way to spend a free day — and certainly more memorable than sitting around at home!
It’s also exactly the sort of thing I want She Shoots Collective to encourage more women to try.
Getting into shooting doesn’t have to begin with buying a shotgun or booking an expensive driven day. Sometimes it can simply start with pulling on your wellies, finding a local shoot that needs an extra pair of hands and joining the beating line.
You never know — by the end of the season, you might find yourself standing on the other side of it with a gun in your hands for Beaters’ Day.
And you’ll have made plenty of countryside friends along the way. ♡
