My West London Life

chris wheatley-hubbard

Chris Wheatley-Hubbard

October
29

Founder of The Four Feathers Shooting School Chris Wheatley-Hubbard on working with the natural world, respect for firearms and London's best game restaurants

You’ve been shooting for most of your life. What first got you hooked?

I spent many hours as a boy with our old traditional gamekeeper, who showed me every aspect of what he did and how it fitted into the natural world. The countryside is as dynamic and diverse as the stock market and it had me hooked from the start.

Had you ever considered another career? If so, what would have been your backup plan?

I graduated as a Graphic Designer from Ravensbourne College in London and worked for Redwood Publishing for five years as a designer/photographer. It seems a bizarre leap to what I do now but both professions require you to look at the world in a different contexts and see things that aren’t immediately apparent.

What is your favourite thing to shoot?

Deer are without question the most engaging animal to hunt. Not only do they have exceptional senses to pit yourself against, but they have vastly intricate habits and lives that you have to learn to be a truly good hunter.

Have you or any of your students ever had an accident?

Not to my knowledge — all good coaching in today’s sport is structured around building in preventative measures to ensure that an accident doesn’t happen. Safety is the first thing that you teach people and you keep reinforcing it until it becomes second nature.

Four Feathers is based in Wiltshire, but where do you hang out in London when you’re in town?

I used to work next to Trafalgar Square and I love the mix of galleries, theatres, bookshops and restaurants in Covent Garden, Soho and Bloomsbury. It’s my first port of call whenever I’m back in town and want my ‘London hit’!

Where is the best place in the world to shoot, and why?

For me it has to be Scotland. It has such an amazing range of wildlife, scenery and people who are involved in shooting on a day to day basis. A lot of people think of it as a bleak wilderness, but some of my best photographs have come from there and I go at least twice a year.

What is the worst thing about your job?

I think that a lot of people are quick to judge shooting without understanding it. It is always going to be an emotive topic on a number of levels, but if people are open-minded and willing to listen then usually you can offer them a different and often much more positive attitude towards shooting.

Where is your favourite place in the world to wake up?

Under canvas without a doubt. Every country has its different rhythms and feel so the best way you can get to know it is by being out in its wilderness. That first early morning light reveals so much that most people miss from inside four walls.

Do you have a favourite gun?

I was taught and learnt most from my .22 rimfire rabbit rifle. I’ve had it for nearly 15 years now and I use it to teach beginners with. It’s still as accurate as ever and a faithful friend in all weathers and hours of the day and night.

Are you a fan of any other country pursuits?

I’m happy to admit I’m a useless fisherman but always love being near a river. A good childhood friend is now a professional fishing guide and is extremely generous with his time (and kit, which I specialise in losing in trees!).

Who are the best London shooting outfitters?

Holland & Holland, in my opinion, are superb in every way. I am lucky enough to work for them on occasion and every time I am on the ground they deliver a fantastic balance of style, professionalism, tradition and practicality across everything they produce.

Do you have a favourite London restaurant or watering hole?

For game you cannot beat Rules. That said, Great Queen Street and The Canton Arms take some beating too — English rural fayre done to perfection.

Where do most of your students hail from?

I have a lot of local clients who range around Wiltshire and Hampshire, but many are London-based during the week and live in the west on a weekend.

Developing a relationship between client and coach is an extremely personal process, so people tend to work on word of mouth when choosing someone to be taught by. I like it that way as you get to work with like-minded people on the whole.

Talk us through a typical day in your life?

It’s very much a year of two halves:

In winter when the game season is open I am up early about 6am to ensure all the coaching equipment I am using on the ground is prepped and working well. Client sessions then are back to back all day, so come 5pm I’m pretty knackered.

In summer I often wake up in the woods, so being up before our clients is essential to make sure they can come to the fire for a cup of coffee. We go by daylight hours in the woods but time flies by when you’re out teaching people to track and follow animals… it’s a very addictive past-time!

After a long day out in the field, what’s your favourite meal to come home to?

Something simple and home-grown but indulgent makes me extremely happy. Venison is top of the list, so probably some saddle steaks with a damson sauce, dauphinoise potatoes and some greens.

What’s the first thing you teach a beginner when they come to you?

Respect for everything. Anyone who is taught to handle a firearm is taught to respect it, not fear it. You take on a great responsibility when you shoot but to be afraid is paralysing — you need to develop a healthy respect for what you are capable of doing and adapt your behaviour to ensure you are not dangerous.

If you wish to then be a hunter you need to learn that if you abuse or disregard the world around you it will either punish you or shrink away, leaving you stranded. It’s a delicate balance.

We hear you run courses to take people totally back to nature, hunting and preparing their own food and living in the wild. This is hugely original, what prompted the idea and what does it really entail?

It came from my concern that more of my clients were learning to shoot with no understanding or empathy for the natural arena in which shooting takes place, which I don’t agree with. Anyone who is willing to take an animal’s life should be skilled enough to not only understand what removing that animal will do, but also have the abilities to make full use of it in the food chain.

Most people who come to us on our summer courses have had little to no experience of hunting, so the main thing we ask people to do is to open their eyes and their mind. Everyone has a preconception of the natural world, but if you want to be a genuine hunter you have to come down to its level and work with it, not dominate it. It’s tricky at first but everyone leaves with an enormous sense of wellbeing and exhilaration, having been face-to-face with so many previously unseen elements.

The Four Feathers Shooting School; www.fourfeathers.co.uk; 07770 820 222; bookings@fourfeathers.co.uk

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