| Grouse killed on Blubberhouses Moor—2200 Acres | |
|---|---|
| Year. | Total bags in braces. |
| 1829 | 60 |
| 1830 | 77 |
| 1831 | 14½ |
| 1832 | 31 |
| 1833 | 82 |
| 1834 | 69½ |
| 1835 | 90 |
| 1836 | 12 |
| 1837 | 25 |
| 1838 | 42½ |
| 1839 | 26½ |
| 1840 | 26 |
| 1841 | 35½ |
| 1842 | 21 |
| 1843 | 91 |
| Grouse killed on Blubberhouses and Dallowgill Moors in Seasons following the above | ||
|---|---|---|
| (About 1862 a little driving began) | ||
| Year. | Year’s bag at Dallowgill. | Year’s bag at Blubberhouses. |
| Braces. | Braces. | |
| 1865 | 239 | |
| 1866 | 691 | |
| 1870 | 478 | |
| 1871 | 2149 | |
| 1872 | 2417 | 807½ |
| 1873 | 208½ | disease. |
| 1874 | 177½ | disease. |
| 1875 | 508 | no record. |
| 1876 | 1576 | 725 |
| 1877 | 1345½ | 781 |
| 1878 | 1892 | 704 |
| 1879 | 781 | 241 |
| 1880 | 1015½ | no record. |
| 1881 | 945 | 388½ |
| 1882 | 1551 | 770 |
| 1883 | 2948½ | 346½ |
| 1884 | 2519 | 622 |
| 1885 | 1620½ | 277 |
| 1886 | 1312½ | 646 |
| 1887 | 2125½ | no record. |
| 1888 | 2501½ | 919 |
The last figure was given to the author by Lord Walsingham about the time the bag of 1070 grouse made in the day by his gun was discussed, and might possibly have been added to later in the season.
Two points are likely to arise in an examination of the bags. First, was it that the birds were not upon the Yorkshire moors, or only that they could not be killed, that made the season’s bags so poor prior to driving?
The other point is: Do big day’s bags point to great stocks of game on the moors; and arising out of that, do great bags help to improve the stock?
The answers, from the bags to be mentioned, will be found to be that in the early days the birds were not on the Yorkshire hills, and if they had been there they could have been killed in numbers, except the wild old cocks. The proof is to be found in the facts that, as lately as 1872, there were 1099 brace of grouse killed in a day on Bowes moor over dogs, and that the day after Lord Walsingham made his great one-gun bag at Blubberhouses by driving, he walked up and shot in half a day 26 brace, or more than the whole moor had yielded in many a previous anti-driving season. It will be found, also, that big day’s bags do not necessarily point to big stocks of grouse, since, at least twice, one gun has in one day taken more than half the season’s total bag off a moor. But that very big driving days on a small moor are better than a constant worry by smaller drivings of the grouse is almost too obvious to name.
Lord Walsingham killed to his own gun in one day of 1872 421 brace of grouse when the season’s bag was 807½ brace; and in 1888, after a very bad breeding season, he killed 535 brace to his own gun in the day, and there were 919 brace bagged in that season. Similar proof of the skill of drivers and shooters when the stocks of game were but moderate are to be had elsewhere. The late Sir Fred Milbank’s best year at Wemmergill was in 1872, when he got 17,074 grouse, and his best bag was 2070 grouse. Lord Westbury, his successor on that moor, had a best day of about the same number, but his best year gave but 9797 grouse. Mr. R. Rimington Wilson killed 2743 birds in the day in 1904, but the season was not perhaps as good as that of 1905, when only 1744 grouse were shot on the best day, when Mr. Rimington Wilson was good enough to inform the author that the season was above the average, and that the direction of the wind makes all the difference. In 1906, the day, chosen months ahead, happened to be one of those heat record-breaking ones that caused the grouse to refuse to fly more than once, and only about 1320 grouse were killed on the first day, which, however comparatively bad there, would be absolutely splendid as times go elsewhere.
Again, in 1905, Mr. Wynne Corrie had his record season, but his big days were larger in the previous season. In 1904 they were 760½ and 781 brace respectively, and in 1905 there were 638½ brace shot on the best day. This is not as remarkable as the fact that in 1901 there were killed there 3341 brace, before big bags were started; and there were but 2103 brace killed in the year of the record bag.
The apex of grouse stock having been reached in Yorkshire in 1872, within a decade of the general beginning of driving, it was felt that the way to enormous stocks was discovered, and that these stocks were worth every attention and large capital outlay in the improvement of moorlands, but as a matter of fact it is difficult to find that all the improvement since has done any good to the head of game. If it has, it can only be discovered over periods of years, and not by comparing any one year with the results obtained in 1871 and 1872. The period of years is the better test if it can be fairly applied, but results come out differently altogether in accordance with the arbitrary selection of dates to begin and end these periods.
It has already been mentioned how wonderfully grouse have done in the absence of one of these improvements, namely the removal of sheep on the Ruabon Hills, and sheep are just as plentiful at Askrigg, in Yorkshire, where nevertheless Mr. Vyner has killed on a moor of 2000 acres, in 1894, 2775 grouse; in 1897, 2959 grouse; in 1898 there was a total of 2095 grouse; in 1901 there were shot 2686 grouse; and in 1902 there were 2898 grouse bagged.