Beth, said, “When Byron and I had been going out for a few months he suggested we go shooting. I thought, if I am good at this then it’ll be good for our relationship!”
After target shooting with the Sako and the Bergara, Beth was keen to explore more, so Byron took her rabbit shooting, and taught her how to shoot rabbits with his .22 CZ rim fire 452, and Beth shot her first rabbit, before moving onto shooting clays with a shotgun.
Byron gave Beth her first clay shooting lesson, using his Browning B-725, 20 bore, and she scored 23/25.
Later that same year, Beth, accompanied by Byron on a stalk, and shot a Roe deer doe in a tree plantation on a local farm.
“It was on one of Byron’s permissions (land owners give stalkers consent to shoot over their land, and it is referred to as a ‘permission’). The doe had gotten into the plantation and was unable to get out, it was thin, and suffering from poor nutrition. It was evening when we stalked the plantation; we headed down the valley and up the side searching for the deer before we sat quietly, watching for an hour or so, and suddenly the doe appeared from nowhere.”
Beth took a broadside shot at 80 yards with a Tikka T3 .243 just before the light faded. She was delighted with her first stalk and her shooting, and wanted to do more.
Beth’s passion for shooting and the outdoors is reflected across her working life, she runs Hawthorn and Hare, a mixed media graphic design consultancy focused on the country sports sector.
Two years ago, Beth became the Scottish host for the Femmes Fatales, a nationwide volunteer run ladies clay shooting community, and has organised a number of ladies clay shooting days across Scotland. “I’d love to see more women get involved in shooting, it’s a great activity and you can get so much out of it, and it’s great fun when you get a group of like-minded ladies together.”
Read also the story of Emma Perrott: hunter, stalker and shooter on all4hunters.com
Who is Linda Mellor?
Linda Mellor is one of Scotland’s foremost shooting, fishing and hunting female writers and photographers. She is the product Ambassador for Venator Pro, a premier hunting company and stockist of the European brand Hillman. With a lifetime of countryside experience, Linda’s passion, enthusiasm and respect for the outdoors and hunting is explored and shared across her writing and photography.
For more information on Linda Mellor, please visit Linda Mellor's website, Twitter (LindaMellor) and instagram (linda_mellor).
