Three finalists are vying for the title Farmers
Weekly/CLA Game Fair Gamekeeper of the Year 2009. This week
Tessa Gates meets a contender from Devon
Wild boar, beavers, a music festival in the middle of the shoot,
visitors by the thousand - tenant-farmer-turned-gamekeeper Reg
Hawkins takes them all in his stride on the Escot shoot.
Reg grew up on Escot Estate, near Ottery St Mary, Devon. It has
been both home and workplace, as, like his father before him, he
was a tenant farmer there.
"I handed in my tenancy in 1999; I have three sons, but none of
them was interested in farming," says Reg (59), who used to beat on
the shoot he now manages.
He has seen many changes not least the impact of the A30 dual
carriageway being driven through the estate and the best covert,
when it was built in 1997.
With the A30 came "Swampy" and his band of protesters, who,
having failed to stop the road, turned their attentions to the
Escot syndicate shoot, threatening to fall from the trees claiming
to have been shot at on shoot days. The shoot was disbanded.
Eventually they moved on and a year later John-Michael Kennaway,
who with his wife Lucy, runs the 1200-acre estate, decided that the
shoot should be revived, but in a new form.
"We wanted a no-stress family shoot; 10 guns, all relatives and
friends, with a part-time keeper. There would be no vehicle costs,
and beaters who worked at least two days would not be rewarded
financially but with a skittles and supper evening, a brace of
birds each day and shooting on three or four days in January," says
John-Michael, whose family have held Escot since 1794.
John-Michael had retained the keeper from the old shoot, but he
was suffering from back trouble and that is where Reg came in. "He
asked me to feed his poults for a few nights and I have been doing
it ever since," jokes Reg.
From temporary help, he eventually took over the 600-acre shoot
as a self-employed gamekeeper. "I had never worked for anyone, but
myself until I was 50 but the boss is fine," says Reg, who also
does work for John-Michael's aquatics business.
The boss seems pleased with him, too. "Being a conscientious
farmer all his life, Reg's attitude to livestock and wildlife is
first class - he cares for his surroundings and is a true champion
of the countryside," says John-Michael. "Also he excels at liaison
with tenant farmers, foresters, dog walkers, local and visiting
public, explaining the benefits of all the conservation work we do
here."
The conservation work includes the restoration of water meadows.
Old leats once again flow, water splashes in the meadows attract
wild duck and are now part of a water vole release programme. The
river Tale flows through the estate and that, too, is much improved
since fencing to keep cattle out has been erected.
"Its made a tremendous difference and there are more fish in it
now," says Reg, pointing out the wild brown trout.
Mink are trapped and sent to Exeter University for research, but
they are not the only pests to be "recycled". A constant war is
waged on grey squirrels and these go to the survival school on the
estate, where students skin and cook them for supper.
With the benefit of various Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
short courses under his belt, Reg has proved himself skilled and
enthusiastic in his "second" career. He manages a shoot under
circumstances that would daunt a lesser keeper.
For a start, this beautiful estate attracts thousands of
visitors each year to its gardens and woodlands. They come to see
the wild boar, red squirrels and seahorses (the estate is home to
the Sea Horse trust), to take falconry courses and even to get
married. Then there are the schoolchildren who visit the outdoor
educational centre, or attend birthday parties complete with muddy
swamp walks. If that wasn't enough public access for any keeper to
contend with, there is an annual music festival that attracts
13,000 people.
"We buy in pheasant poults at the end of August, once the music
festival is over, to avoid stressing the birds," says Reg. He tends
the 1000 pheasant and 250 mallard he releases, alongside a range of
other duties, including the sole charge of a pair of beavers in a
2-acre natural enclosure, and a troupe of wild boar.
Shoots begin in November, once a fortnight until Christmas. Bags
varied from 45 to 87 last season. "The first drive is usually duck
and we get some really sporting birds," says Reg. "I like
everything done properly and for the sport to be enjoyable."
There are seven drives - most of them variable - mainly round
the park. They produce good high duck and pheasant. Some 40-50
acres of woodland are not shot until January, then guns can expect
to see some woodcock.
Reg has proved a success as a gamekeeper, but hasn't given up
farming entirely - he still keeps a few animals. "Play farming my
wife calls it," he says, happy to have the best of both worlds.