Please find below our beating clothing guide for shooting clothing and footwear that is ideally suited to beating. For those of us who love country side pursuits, beating offers the chance to learn about the benefits of shooting and how a shoot works while getting some fresh air, exercise and providing the opportunity to meet new people. Not only that, anyone can participate in beating, itis fun and without a doubt a great day out!
The shooting season starts on the 12th August (The Glorious 12th) for grouse, 1st September for partridges and the 1st October for pheasants. All these seasons come to an end in February – for more information please see our shooting seasons guide. Because the season runs throughout the winter months it is important that you have shooting clothes that keep you warm and dry while you are beating. Lightweight layers that are easy to take on and off are highly recommended as while beating you are likely to be very active but also have times when you need to remain very still and quiet. This means that your body temperature can alter considerably during the day’s shooting and layers are ideal for combating this.
Beating involves walking in a line in a controlled fashion to flush the birds out into the direction of the guns, these are usually assembled around the woodland or crop that you are beating. Beaters usually use sticks or flags to help them get into the bushes, brambles, dense undergrowth or other cover where the birds are likely to hide.
Beating is great fun and a fantastic social event. It’s also good exercise, you are surrounded by beautiful countryside and if you are lucky enough you may even get a brace of pheasants to take home with you at the end of the day.
Recommended Shooting Clothing for Beaters…
Beaters Shooting Jackets
It is important that your shooting jacket keeps you warm and dry while Beating. If you get soaked in the first drive you will be wet or damp for the rest of the day.
Other aspects you should take into consideration when buying a shooting jacket for beating is the weight of the jacket as well as the breathability. Think about the where and when you will be beating as this will play an important role in picking out your new shooting jacket.
The weather may vary when you are shooting and as you may be beating through wooded areas, a hood may be something you wish to have at your disposal.
So what do we recommend? We’ve highlighted 5 of our favourites below:
For Men:
Hoggs of Fife Ballater Waterproof Field Pro Jacket
Seeland Woodcock Advanced Jacket
For Women:
Hoggs of Fife Rannoch Ladies Hunting Jacket
Clothing Layers – Fleece, Thermal Tops and Leggings for Beating
Shoots go on in all weathers, rain, shine or snow, so it is important that you are equipped for all situations. Layering is a great way to ensure that you’re prepared.
As you can often be standing around for a while after a drive because the guns or pickers are looking for birds, it is important that you are warm enough. It is better to be too hot and be able to de-layer than be too cold and not able to do anything about it.
Lightweight clothing layers are recommended so they are easy to take on and off when needed and they will not be too heavy to carry around, this means that they will not compromise movement because as a beater you need to be able to easily move around trees, under broken bushes and may even need to crawl along the ground.
For Men:
Woolpower 200 Crewneck Long Sleeve Baselayer Top
For Women:
Deerhunter Lady Chasse Fleece Jacket
Woolpower Womens Long Johns LITE
Beaters Shooting Trousers
Waterproof shooting trousers are highly recommended. We would recommend full length ‘Shooting trousers’ that are waterproof, thorn-proof, breathable, flexible and hard wearing. As a beater you will have to walk through long grass – if it has been raining the night before it is more than likely that you will be soaked through by the time you have made it to the other side. This can be avoided by buying the correct trousers.
With that said, we’ve handpicked five of our shooting trousers as a recommendation for the different seasons:
For Men:
Seeland Buckthorn Overtrousers
For Women:
Hoggs of Fife Green King II Waterproof Trousers
View Shooting Trousers
View Shooting Overtrousers
Beaters Clothing Accessories
As the shooting and beating season is from August to February and inevitably the weather will be ever changing, it is important that you are always protected from whatever weather is around the corner. Depending on the conditions hats, gloves & scarves may well be essentials, which is why we always recommend them for beaters.
We’ve picked some of our favourites out below:
For Men:
Deerhunter Muflon Light Gloves
For Women:
View Shooting Hats and Caps
View Shooting Gloves
Beaters Footwear
Before you slip your feet into some comfortable shooting footwear, we highly suggest a pair of woollen socks! As you will be on your feet all day and as you can sometimes be waiting around for birds to be collected, woollen shooting socks will keep your feet comfortable and warm.
As a beater we highly recommend wearing wellington boots. Walking through thick mud, water (small rivers), marshy fields and long grass is not something you should be tackling in a pair of slip-on shoes.
We’ve picked out some shooting footwear below:
For Men:
Hoggs of Fife Plain Turnover Top Sock (Twin Pack)
Gateway 1 Sportsman 18″ Wellies
Aigle Parcours 2 ISO Neoprene-Lined Wellington Boot
For Women:
Hoggs of Fife Braemar Classic Wellington Boot
Gateway1 Field Master Lady 17" 3mm Wellington Boot
View Shooting Socks
View Shooting Footwear
For more shooting articles and guides, please see shooting guides page.