Comfort from ghosts
Along with wildfowl, grouse have been the cause of some of the most evocative shooting writing. There is something about the wildness of the bird, and the hostile places it makes its home, that appeal to the romantic in us in a way which the silly pheasant will never do. Hard to hit, subject to wild fluctuations of population, predated by all and sundry, exclusive eater and with little that man can do to make its life easier, the red grouse possesses all the qualities of a worthy quarry.
On the eve of the first day of the grouse season, I make a habit
