In the world of 'haute cuisine' it is an accepted fact the more does not equal better.  So punters are happy to spend a £100 a head having dinner at a Michelin starred hostelry and savouring small to minute portions of delicious foods instead of calling in at the local carvery and piling their plate as high as possible for £6.50.   If only the world of shooting was the same.  Instead we have developed the system of guns paying on a 'per bird' basis which, if you think about it, is as absurd as paying on a 'per potato' basis in a restaurant.  In fact the mind boggles at how appalling restaurants would be if their pricing was based on that used in the shooting field.  Bye bye to Gordon Ramsay and his ilk, and hello to heaped plates of overcooked vegetables and meat. Ugh!

So why is it that so many shooting people, most of whom would never dream of being seen dead pigging it out in a carvery, seem to believe, as far as a day's shooting goes; 'The bigger the bag the better the day? ' It is all a bit of a mystery.  There is so much more to a day's shooting than letting your gun off 400 times and on that sort of 'big day' you miss out on so much pleasure.  So instead of savouring that exquisite moment when a very high pheasant crumples to your shot and falls like a stone to the ground, to the general admiration of your fellow guns who, unlike you, don't know it was a complete fluke, you are frantically reaching for your second gun so you can blast away at the endless stream of birds which is passing overhead and none of the other guns has noticed your moment of sublime skill.  How sad is that?  Very.  As in restaurants so on the shooting field, more is not necessarily more pleasurable or better.

So what makes a perfect 'Michelin star' days shooting?   The most important ingredient of all are the other guns.  The finest food or the finest shooting is dreary if your companions are tedious (it is odd how many really rich and successful people are incredibly uninspiring, leading me to the conclusion that many successful men literally bore themselves to the top).   Secondly I favour a relaxed almost chaotic air to proceedings and abhor the over officious shoot 'Captain.'  Thirdly my dog likes to come shooting with me and finds his day often ruined by busy pickers. Fourth a good lunch at a proper time with a proper tea at the end of the day are also essentials. Fifthly and finally we come to the shooting. We all like letting our gun off and a day when you have a had between seventy and a hundred shots at good birds and end up with a bag of between 150 and 200 birds is very good fun by any standards. Later when you lie soaking in a hot bath with a glass of whisky balanced perilously on the edge you will relive that magnificent moment when, for an instant, the world seemed to stop as you  watched that very high bird fall to earth, killed dead to your own gun.