Phoines Estates

Outstanding game shooting
in Scotland and South West

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Tel - 07834 489343
Email - natasha@mellspark.com

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Michael Samuel: Michael grew up learning to shoot in summers at Phoines he has gone on to be passionate about the place and its shoot. He has since made his home at Mells Park and continued the running of its well-established shoot. While Withycombe has been a new addition that he has taken keen interest in over recent years with considerable investment to bring it up to standard as a high quality Exmoor shoot. Michael moves between all three shoots throughout the year to ensure they are running at a high standard.

Natasha Ascott: As Michael’s daughter Natasha grew-up at Phoines and Mells and has only started to see them from a professional perspective in the past year. She is passionate about the shoots and that they are well-run. Natasha has been particularly involved with the take over and expansion of Withycombe shoot, and runs the commercial side of all three shoots from the Estate office. She tries to make it out to as many shoot days as possible at all three estates.

Richard Chant is our newly appointed headkeeper at Mells Park. Richard has worked on shoots in and around Somerset from an early age. For the past 5 years he has been working at Mells Park helping on the shoot amongst other things and this year has stepped in the role of headkeeper on Chris' retirement. Richard looks forward to maintaining the high standards of Mells Park as a testing and varied shoot.

Headkeeper of Phoines Lodge – Michael Glass: Michael has been a keeper at Phoines for 37 years and headkeeper for the last 20 years. He is largely responsible for the development of the partridge and pheasant shoot at Phoines, which was one of the first partridge shoots in the Highlands. He is an enormously energetic person who throws himself wholly into providing a phenomenal day’s shooting for every team of guns.

Headkeeper of Withycombe Farm – Chris Jones: Like at Mells, Chris had been working at Withycombe shoot for 10 years before the Samuel’s arrived. He is an extremely dedicated keeper who has embraced wholeheartedly the investment in and expansion of the shoot in the past year. He puts a great deal of thought into each day’s shooting to ensure guns are suitably tested and he is constantly thinking of small ways to adjust drives in order for them to be at their best.