Even hardened claybusters grow a little tense when the prize is worth up to £100k. That’s what was on offer to the finalists of the Stratstone Super 7 Challenge at the RBSS on February 21. All they had to do was clobber a minimum of 23 ex 25 of the clays, and one of them could choose and keep a Porsche 911 Carrera 2S Cabriolet, a Range Rover Vogue, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Jaguar F-Type V8 S, Morgan Aero Supersport, Jaguar XKR-S Coupe or the all-new 2014 Range Rover Sport.

Did we say “all’? The 25 targets came zapping off the Times Tower at the Royal Berkshire Shooting School at a steady Mach 3, against the sun, and sliding in the steady breeze. In fact, awfully like real pheasants. Which perhaps explains why the winner was John Heagren, an ex gamekeeper who’s now the head instructor at the Bisley Shooting Ground. Heagren managed to shoot 18 ex 25, beating off the competition from 14 other top shots.

Sadly, he was five targets shy of winning a car outright but does now have the use of the Morgan Aero Supersport for six months (though Lord knows where he’ll put his gundog).