ROUGH SHOOTING IN IRELAND. By Douglas Butler.

2006 1st edition. 4to (198 x 250mm). Pp183,ads. Colour photographs. Red boards, spine titled in gilt.

The author "writes with forthright enthusiasm ...the gundogs, the approach to different sports, the behaviour of the birds, the methods - all coloured by his lively knowledge of the history of Irish game shooting and his modern specialist knowledge of the quarry." "For those who shoot game in Ireland, the sporting opportunities are many and varied. there are the challenges of snipe in the marshes and wet pasturelands; woodcock in the forests and scrubland; grouse on the heather uplands and pheasants and wood pigeon in all the counties. Vast flocks of golden plover descend on the country as autumn progresses." "Mallard, wigeon, teal, shoveller and many other species of duck abound on Ireland's loughs, bogs and marshlands. With so many game birds about, it is hardly surprising that game shooting is a popular sport throughout the country." Chapters include: Of game birds and seasons; A wild goose story; Waiting for the season to open; September at last; October - the month of migration; November - the month of the pheasant; December - the month the woodcock; The fickle month of January; The years to come.