Established in 1991, the facility is a clay shooting school at its core with the aim of teaching the art of shotgun shooting. Game is simulated in the training and every guest is provided with an instructor. Located close to London and catering for groups from 4 to 100 people, Managing Director of the
Royal Berkshire Shooting School, Dylan Williams explains, “There are three elements to the school - private tuition with 15,000 to 20,000 students a year and 8 fulltime instructors providing the coaching. We host up to 14 large charity functions every year and as of September2018 we have helped raise over £30 million for worthy causes since the school was established. The school also offers group sessions for businesses to conduct team building workshops, for entertaining clients, or leisure groups looking to celebrate events such as birthdays.
The MULE PRO-DXT has been faithfully commissioned to carry out a variety of duties that a hard working UTV can handle, from chauffeuring guests to moving equipment across the 100 acres of natural beauty at the venue.
“When we are handling clay pigeons, it is like handling eggs, so we need to know that when we are moving 10,000 clays, we need 10,000 clays to arrive intact at their destination,” said Dylan. “The torque of the MULE PRO-DXT is a pleasure and makes it extremely suitable to use on our turf or when climbing inclines.”
Being equipped with a Half Cab package including a windscreen, roof and rear panel, the four seater MULE PRO-DXT can be converted to two seats which simultaneously extends the cargo bed for increased carrying capacity.
“The windscreen is a no-brainer for the school. It protects the drivers from the elements as well as wayward clay pigeons. From a management perspective the MULE is incredibly manageable and economical, being a diesel especially,” Dylan said.
The scale of the Royal Berkshire Shooting School is vast with over 7 towers, 70 automatic traps and over 120 manual traps. “Everyone who attends is here to learn and get better and the profile of the clientele ranges from 10 year olds, many females and even a regular gentleman who attends three times a week who is in his 70s,” Dylan explains.
“We pride ourselves on making everything effortless for our customers. If they want to have a two or three hour shooting session that requires a lot of cartridges for example, we will use the MULE as a support vehicle to move cartridges and guns around ahead of them at certain shooting stands. We also have a number of clients that are physically challenged and the MULE will aid us in transporting them from A to B so they can embrace the whole experience along with everyone else. We also pride ourselves on the natural beauty of the property here and if we use other equipment like cars or tractors, they may have an adverse impact on the environment. Low flotation tyres taking large amounts of weight with careful driving means that this place can look as good in January as it does in July and to me the aesthetics are paramount.”
The partnership came about from recommendations by
Bettws Hall, a Kawasaki ATV/UTV dealer located in Wales who offer a sport shooting facility and have also managed a game farm for over 29 years. Local to the school is Kawasaki dealer,
TH White Ltd. who are known to the Royal Berkshire Shooting School and their clients, therefore it was natural for them to join the party and provide maintenance for the MULE PRO-DXT.
“I thought, Bettws Hall is running six of the best shoots in the UK in some of the most arduous terrain of any location and we were conscious of wanting a product that could do it all. From carrying our clients in relative luxury as they go up and down the valley on our property, to fulfil a tough work regime of putting out tens of thousands of clays per year, moving batteries, chain harrowing and the whole lot. There was no other real option than looking for the Kawasaki MULE PRO-DXT,” Dylan commented.
In the true style of dedication that is so prevalent in everything that they do, The Royal Berkshire Shooting School plan to organise RUV training for their staff, conducted by the European ATV Safety Institute (EASi).
Kawasaki Motors UK Product Manager for ATV and MULE, Simon Riches said, “The MULE PRO-DXT is a rugged and very versatile UTV which has proven itself over the years, not only in the farming market but as a workhorse in similar sporting environments. We at Kawasaki Motors UK are pleased to be associated with the Royal Berkshire Shooting School and look forward to the future partnership.”
Find out more about the Kawasaki MULE range here -
www.kawasaki.co.uk