Latest on the Shooting Times Woodcock Club – this year’s dinner, the speaker, the venue …
Are you a member? Or are you eligible to join?
Gun Simon Dixon with his right and left
Membership of the Shooting Times Woodcock Club can be applied for after a person has achieved the exceptionally skilled feat of bagging a right and left woodcock. At game fairs and on shoots up and down the country, members can be spotted sporting club lapel badges displaying a logo with four pin feathers.
The club was established in 1949 and has established a worldwide reputation. In 1983 Shooting Times stepped in to run things.
Members of the Woodcock Club get to sport this badge
Each year the members, currently numbering 1,400, are invited to an exclusive dinner which next year is taking place in the Saville Club in London on Thursday 21st March 2019. The dinner gives members the opportunity to meet, catch up with old friends, exchange news and discover aspects of the latest woodcock research. An auction takes place in aid of woodcock conservation carried out by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). Over the years, as people have started encountering fewer woodcock in this country the GWCT has started focusing their efforts on why the apparent decline is happening, the club has started raising money to fund research into the issue. It is very hard to put an exact figure on the decline of the elusive species but estimates range from 29% to 56% since the 1970s.
One of this year’s auction lots is a bespoke pair of tweed breeks from royal warrant holders Campbells of Beauly
The 2018 Woodcock Club dinner at Hatfield House
Who are the members?
Members of the Woodcock Club are a mixed bag, literally. However what they all have in common is the qualification of having shot a right and left woodcock. This year’s after dinner speaker is Sir Nicholas Soames, who will doubtless have plenty of anecdotes from the field to share.
Clothing company Seeland are sponsoring this year’s Woodcock Club dinner. Aptly they offer a range named Woodcock II.
Patrick Galbraith, Editor of Shooting Times, chatting with members at last year’s dinner
In addition, this year’s dinner is being sponsored by Seeland, a name held in high regard by stalkers and shooters who have worn the company’s performance clothing. Company spokesman Simon Esnouf commented: “Seeland are delighted to be sponsoring the 2019 Seeland Woodcock Club Dinner. This unique club for members who have achieved the simple but testing entry criteria and the fantastic research carried out by the GWCT is something that we at Seeland feel strongly about supporting. That coupled with our range aptly named Woodcock II, this is a partnership that we hope will continue to thrive.”
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Becoming a member
If you think you qualify to become a member contact ollie.harvey@futurenet.com. You will need to have two witnesses to your right and left shot. Sounds easy? Note that the gun must not be lowered between shots.
As a member of the club you will be sent a certificate, a badge and an invitation to the annual dinner, which provides an opportunity for members to meet, exchange news and bid for the fantastic lots in the charity auction (in aid of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trusts research into woodcock). Next year’s Seeland Woodcock Club dinner is at The Saville Club in London on Thursday Thursday 21st March 2019.
