Once in a lifetime experiences on offer in the GWCT’s Big Online Auction

From the very best shooting experiences the UK has to offer, to watching golden eagles from a converted Lochside bothie and a chance to achieve a ‘Norfolk McNab’, the GWCT Big Online Auction offers experiences unlike any other.

“2020 has been a challenging year for charities with normal fundraising activities cancelled or on hold,” says Jeremy Payne, Director of Fundraising at the Game & Wildlife Trust (GWCT). “But, thanks to hugely generous donations, we are excited to be able to run our Big Online Auction. All proceeds will support the GWCT’s vital conservation science, working to improve the biodiversity of the British countryside for the public benefit.”

The Big Online Auction features more than 100 lots, many of which are unique and not available to the general public. Lots can be viewed at www.gwct.org.uk/auction. Bidding is open until 12pm on Thursday 5 November. The auction caters for a range of budgets, from shooting days with starting bids of £10,000 to gun dog training with bids from £25 upwards.

Lots to appeal to guns include some of the finest shooting in Britain. An extremely rare opportunity for 8 guns to enjoy a day of mixed partridge and pheasant shooting on the renowned private family shoot of Crichel House, Dorset, can be had for bids starting at £13,000. A partridge day for eight is on offer at the glorious Dell Estate on Loch Ness and there is a unique opportunity to shoot on 4 of the finest North Yorkshire estates plus 5* dinner, bed and breakfast and lunch. A day’s grouse shooting for up to 9 guns on one of the most sought-after grouse moors in the UK, the Gunnerside Estate in North Yorkshire, is available. And bidders can bag a day’s shooting at the GWCT’s own Allerton Project demonstration farm in Leicestershire.

The GWCT Big Online Auction is also offering one lucky bidder a once in a lifetime chance to achieve the famous ‘Norfolk McNab’: to shoot a pair of geese, stalk a muntjac and a roe and catch a pike – all in 24 hours.

For the adventurous, there is an international hunting experience on a private estate in Northern Bohemia (Czech Republic), or bidders can vie for a stay in a converted lochside bothie on Loch Torridon in Wester Ross, with two day’s trout fishing and the opportunity to see red deer, otters, white-tailed sea eagles and golden eagles.

Many of the GWCT Big Online Auction lots give bidders the chance to access locations and experiences unavailable to anyone else. One such is a chance for 4 guns to enjoy an evening goose flight on the remote and secretive Foulness Island off the Essex coast – a location off-limits to the general public. Bidders can also spend a day tagging woodcock with the GWCT’s head of Wetland Research Dr Andrew Hoodless, visit a black grouse Lek in County Durham with GWCT expert Phil Warren, or work with the Trust’s research team on the smolt trap at East Stoke in Dorset or electro-fishing on the River Frome in Dorset to catch and tag salmon parr.

For fishermen and women, lots include two day’s fishing with a ghillie on the Upper Tay, brown trout fishing on the Wiltshire Avon and fly-fishing the ultimate chalk stream, the River Test in Hampshire. There are also fishing lots on the North Tyne, the Wylie, the Exe and the River Conway

For those looking for rest and relaxation, lots include a stay in a private house on Colwyn Bay, as well as short breaks in the Lake District, St Ives and a shepherd’s hut in Devon. Bidders can also try for a stay in the Jockey Club Rooms at Newmarket with a tour of the Godolphin stud.

A weekend’s deerstalking is on offer on the Thoresby Estate in Nottinghamshire, as well as deerstalking experiences in Essex, Oxfordshire and Norfolk. For gourmands, there are several lots of fine food and drink.

All lots can be viewed via gwct.org.uk/auction.