Gamekeeping students aim high at college clay shoot

Left to right: Liam Ambrose, Will Allan, Rupert Clarke and Matt Davies
Left to right: Liam Ambrose, Will Allan, Rupert Clarke and Matt Davies
Left to right: Liam Ambrose, Will Allan, Rupert Clarke and Matthew Davies

Gamekeeping students from Hartpury College in Gloucester won the BASC Gamekeeping College Clay Shoot, coming first out of 21 teams from colleges across the country.

The event, held at the Doveridge Clay Sports Club in Derbyshire saw the teams compete in an 80-bird sporting layout.

The winning team from Hartpury College consisted of Liam Ambrose, Will Allan, Rupert Clarke and Matthew Davies (pictured).

Second place went to Sparsholt College, Hampshire. Newton Rigg, Cumbria, took third place. The top three teams received prizes including gun slips, cartridge bags, game bags and boot bags.

The individual high gun of the day was Nigel Coning from Bishop Burton in East Riding of Yorkshire.

Glynn Evans, BASC’s head of game and gamekeeping, said “We had a great day and a big thank you to all of those who helped make the event a success. Having been a keeper for 25 years, speaking to many of the students throughout the day I was really impressed by them and they were definitely a credit to their colleges.”

The event was sponsored by Honda, Swarovski, Biolink, Marsdens, Arthur Carter Fieldsports and Modern Gamekeeping Magazine.

All of the competitors were entered into a prize draw. The top prize, a pair of Swarovski binoculars, was won by Josh Hill from Myerscough College.