Eleven hundred hectares in a single block, made of woods, hedgerows, valleys and plains. Game has been hunted here for three generations on part of the estate around the chateau. There are two ways to shoot: walked-up, behind your own dog, or driven, with beaters.
On your own or with friends, behind your dog, at the pace of the cover. Up to 10 guns a day, €400 per gun per day, lunch at the château included.
Discover walked-up shooting
For teams of 8 to 16 guns, with beaters and flushing dogs. A bag of 80 to 120 head over the day. By quote.
Discover the driven shootWhich one to choose? If you are bringing your own pointing dog, we recommend walked-up shooting: a dog shows what it can do on continuous ground. A driven day suits an established team that wants a day organised from start to finish.
| Species | Shooting season |
|---|---|
| Common pheasant | Sept. → Feb. |
| American pheasant | Sept. → Feb. |
| Melanistic pheasant | Sept. → Feb. |
| Reeves’s pheasant | Sept. → Feb. |
| Grey partridge | Sept. → Dec. |
| Red-legged partridge | Sept. → Dec. |
| Duck (mallard) | Sept. → Jan. |
The estate’s 1,100 hectares form a single block of bocage, something that has become rare in the Bourbonnais. The ground alternates between oak woods, thick hedgerows along the field corners, low-crop plains and wetlands along the Aumance. This variety of cover, deliberately maintained, is what makes shooting at Le Creux: the pheasant does not flush at 70 metres because the hedge leaves it no choice.
Game is managed by a full-time keeper. Releases are gradual, spread from August to the September opening, with birds from a partner rearer chosen for hardiness rather than numbers. Health checks are carried out before every release. Density is kept reasonable: a bag of 80 fit birds is better than an inflated figure of disoriented ones.
Shooting has been practised on this estate since at least the 19th century, under the Nicolay family, who have held the château since 1837. The two styles share the ground without getting in each other’s way: driven beats and walked-up sectors are never worked on the same day. The shooting calendar follows the legal opening and closing dates for each species. The ground is left completely undisturbed from March to August for breeding.
Shotguns only; no guns are lent. Cartridges are the responsibility of the guns, lead-free over the estate’s wetlands, as required by regulations. Every gun must bring a hunting licence validated for the current season (validation through the French hunters’ federation).
To stay on site, a room at the cottage costs €150 a night, a room in the château €200.
Walked-up shooting is booked by the day, on your own or in a small group, from September to the end of January. A driven day is prepared in advance with a quote: number of guns, priority species, dates, with or without accommodation.
Book walked-up shootingRequest a driven shoot quote