Top shooting schools – the perfect places to hone your skills

With challenging targets and first-class tuition, these top shooting schools are the perfect place for game shots to hone their skills, writes Miles Malone

Here are listed some of the top shooting schools in the UK and what they offer for the traditional game shot; pick the one that suits you, book that lesson, take the gun from the cabinet and enjoy the whole journey.

Bisley Shooting Ground, Surrey

Sit in the café at the National Clay Shooting Centre (NCSS) at Bisley long enough and you will get to see some serious shooting: perhaps even one of our recent Olympians, who are regularly spotted training on the Olympic skeet or trap ranges. The white tent-like covers of the layouts stretch into the near distance. It is not only competition shooting that is catered for, however: the sporting ground at Cottesloe Heath is equally impressive, with 40 stands covering every simulation and sequence the game shot could wish for. (Read clay shooting in the off season.)

COACHING PHILOSOPHY: Patience is a virtue, particularly as an instructor. Book a skeet lesson with David Dale, who truly personifies this, and you will learn a huge amount about the mechanics of shooting. Then take these skills on to the sporting layout, and finally out into the field.

FOR THE GAME SHOT: The tower and crane simulation stand at Cottesloe spits clays at all angles and heights, keeping you both busy and tested.

Bywell Shooting Ground, Northumberland

This ground is well known for hosting national and international trap competitions but there is also much here to lure those who are more inclined to feather and fur than competition shooting. There is a renowned gunroom, which serves not only the UK market with a range of brands but has a sizeable export to the USA and elsewhere. A recent customer from Zimbabwe flew over to collect their gun, twinning it with a week of lessons, patterning and gunfitting before heading home to tackle the native guinea fowl and francolin.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY: The coaches, led by Scottish international Sandy Burn, are welcoming to all levels of shot, from scratch beginners to well-known ‘lifers’. They work on incremental changes, gradually building on the client’s natural style.

FOR THE GAME SHOT: The 90-foot high tower takes some mastering. After major competitions, the layout remains set up and ‘masterclass’ lessons are provided to coach guns on these most testing of targets, getting them ready for every challenge of the season, from grouse to January pheasants.

EJ Churchill, Buckinghamshire, North Yorkshire, Aberdeenshire

Not one ground but three. Known as the home of shooting, the original ground in West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire is a mere 40 minutes from London and provides a place of tranquillity away from the madding crowds of the city. Further north at the Swinton estate in North Yorkshire is a destination ground among the beautiful rolling countryside. Beyond the border in Aberdeen is Seal’s Cove, the latest addition to the portfolio, where you can shoot clays against the dramatic backdrop of the North Atlantic swell. Caddied rounds offer expert guidance to refine skills, and all grounds offer the inimitable EJ Churchill top-notch service.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY: EJ Churchill’s expert instructors cater to all skill levels, from complete novices to seasoned shots. Beyond the technicality, the instructors emphasise the importance of the ‘human factor’ when coaching: the need to be approachable and build a relationship to get the best out of the client.

FOR THE GAME SHOT: World-class grounds are immaculately laid out and offer the game shot a wealth of challenging targets, including an award-winning grouse butt.

Eriswell Lodge, Suffolk

No list could be complete without my home ground. Eriswell Lodge is set in the Norfolk Breck, an area of sandy soils and pine trees, centred in East Anglian shooting country. This family-owned ground offers a warm welcome and all the help you need on your shooting journey. It is about friendly people and serious shooting. Eriswell Lodge is well known for hosting national level competitions in skeet and has a wide range of disciplines but it is equally geared for coaching and developing game shots.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY: The coaches here aim for a collaborative approach with the shot under instruction, realising that often more can be achieved by dialogue than excessive shooting alone. This ‘joint venture’ approach originates from the high-level coaching methods employed in competitive shooting but can also be used to get game shots ready for the field.

FOR THE GAME SHOT: There is expert in-house tuition for all levels of game shot. You can get specialist advice in the on-site gunroom too.

Grimsthorpe Estate Shooting Ground, Lincolnshire

Set within the rural beauty of the Grimsthorpe estate, Lincolnshire, this ground offers every possible variety of sporting clays in a stunning setting. The family connection can be felt in the friendly way this ground is run, with everyone – and all levels – catered for. Once you have shot the challenging sporting layout or the carefully considered novice stands, make sure you do not leave without paying a visit to the cafe situated in the stone-built clubhouse. It is worth a trip for this alone.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY: Coaching is tailored to the individual’s skill level, ensuring all are made to feel supported and welcome. The team here reinforce safe gun handling as the foundation of all coaching while ensuring that every shot understands the etiquette and responsibility that comes with the sport.

FOR THE GAME SHOT: The grounds offer a natural shooting experience that closely mirrors the conditions of a day on the peg. The high tower will challenge the best.

Holland & Holland Shooting Grounds, London

This name requires little introduction but the ground does not rest upon the fame of its gunmaking past. It is perhaps one of the most prestigious shooting schools in the country, not only thanks to its charming rural setting with easy access to central London but for the incredible lodge, which is a destination in itself. To walk into the gunroom is to experience a mixture of history and craftsmanship, of shooting heritage alive and working.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY: Harris Holland was himself a renowned shot and sought to perfect his craft. Holland & Holland (H&H) is keen to retain this DNA in the company today. The emphasis is on steadily building shooting prowess and skill, not just the more obvious artistry evident in the H&H guns themselves. A renowned team of coaches is at hand to make this a reality, for both gunfitting and tuition.

FOR THE GAME SHOT: With more than 150 traps offering challenging birds to the game shot on 40 different stands, shooting here is an incredible experience. Once you have mastered those, there is the only non-military indoor live-ammunition shooting cinema in the UK, where you can fire rifles up to .500 Nitro Express.

Ian Coley Shooting Ground, Gloucestershire

Founded by renowned game shot and former Team GB manager Ian Coley in 1970, the ground has occupied its current site just outside Cheltenham for 15 years. Named the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association’s Ground of the Year in 2025, the company is also one of the UK’s largest shooting sports retailers and sporting agents.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY: Tuition is tailored to individual goals. The atmosphere is friendly and welcoming; whether you are just starting out or are a seasoned pro, you will be presented with challenging targets and the right support to get breaking them.

FOR THE GAME SHOT: Rolling hills and valleys allow a variety of testing game targets to be shown, from rabbits to high pheasants from one of a number of towers. The company also holds a huge range of game guns, cartridges and clothing to get you kitted out.

Purdey at The Royal Berkshire Shooting School, Berkshire

Occupying 100 acres within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Berkshire, this was formerly the Royal Berkshire Shooting School. Perhaps one of the most stunning shooting grounds in the country, it is also known for the breadth and quality of targets on offer. Big plans are under way at the site, with ongoing major refurbishments, a new gunroom and upgrading of all traps. The ground remains very much open for business throughout.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY: This is a shooting school through and through. There are deliberately no self-operated traps: guns are accompanied by highly experienced instructors who work on reinforcing the core principles of technique in a glorious and peaceful, quintessentially English setting.

FOR THE GAME SHOT: From grouse moor simulations to a range of towers delivering testing high-bird representations, there is something for everybody.

Thimbleby Shooting Ground, North Yorkshire

Nestled on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, on the idyllic Thimbleby estate, this ground blends heritage with innovation. It is as tranquil as it is inspiring. Make sure you visit the clubhouse for a serious breakfast (they scale them as either 20- or 12-bore on the menu).

COACHING PHILOSOPHY: The focus here is on building confidence, developing consistency and keeping it fun. For those training for game shooting, the coaches teach ‘game awareness’ from an early stage, instructing the gun on how to read birds and adjust for different conditions.

FOR THE GAME SHOT: The ground holds half-day ‘Game Changer’ lessons that can be tailored: novices will learn about etiquette, safety and gunfitting, while keen shots can use the time to dust off the cobwebs.

West London Shooting School, London

Twelve miles as the partridge flies from Marble Arch is this gem of a shooting school, set in 150 acres within the M25. The place exudes history. Having first started in 1901 and remaining under the ownership of the same family to the present day, it has been situated in its current location at Northolt since 1931. Interestingly, the ground never closed during the Second World War, when the instructors were put to work teaching Spitfire pilots how to ‘lead’ a moving target.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY: The instructors here have seen it all; they want you to enjoy the sport, knowing that this is half the battle in succeeding. The approach is calm, considered and full of good humour.

FOR THE GAME SHOT: Every type of driven game target imaginable can be simulated. There are five high towers, towering partridges driven off high banks, and five grouse butts. You will never get bored.

Shooting is a great leveller

Shooting can level us all. Many of us have suffered the ignominy of the day when things have just not gone right, when our shots find open sky without touching a feather and we cannot conjure up any way to correct ourselves back into ‘form’. Worse, perhaps, are the pre-shoot-day anxieties this then brings to future outings in the field. The answer, we all know, is to build confidence through tuition and practice. Alarmingly, a fair proportion of guns fail to take heed of their inner voice. It remains, for a few, somehow unsporting to train and improve their shooting: a bizarre Edwardian legacy of thinking that is, fortunately, now being steadily consigned to the past.

Shooting is undoubtedly a skill; something that must be learnt, trained and maintained in order to perform. Many will be horrified by the association but golf and shooting do require the same controlled physical movements, sense of timing and focused concentration. Few golfers take to the tee without ongoing lessons and time on the driving range, yet many game shots put their guns in the cabinet in February and do not touch them again until their next invitation, be it to the purple moors of August or the September stubbles. The worst a golfer can expect is a lost ball but for game shots the responsibility lies altogether more heavily.

The Code of Good Shooting Practice, co-written by all the major countryside organisations, including BASC and the GWCT, emphasises the need for all guns to be ambassadors for the sport at a time of ever-increasing public scrutiny. This charter states that it is the responsibility of guns to shoot within their limitations and to seek to improve their shooting skills on clays before taking to the field. Game shooting holds a moral and ethical responsibility to our quarry and this applies whether we stand on a peg, walk behind spaniels or shoot from a hide. Guns who are proficiently trained and regularly practise are undoubtedly more humane because confidence with the gun leads to tighter shooting, clean despatches and fewer winged birds.

But enough of the seriousness. For me shooting is a year-round pursuit and all the more enjoyable for it. I am still regularly coached myself as well as instructing others, as shooting is a sport where it is hard to self-diagnose your faults. And faults are always there, ready to creep in unnoticed. A good instructor is a must and is an investment in both time and money, particularly with the increasing price of cartridges. They will unlock your shooting potential and let you enjoy all that shooting has to offer. For there is a true joy to shooting better, to working on a fault and overcoming it on clays, then taking these skills into the field for your much-anticipated day.