How did you feel when you shot your first ever game bird?

Was there a sense of pride, overwhelming ecstasy, perhaps even relief?

When I took my first bird, a cock pheasant, a couple of weeks ago on my first ever game shoot as a gun at the Ashburnham shoot in east Sussex, it was a mixture of all three.

To have gone away from that shoot day empty handed would have made the drive back north to Stamford a very, very long one. I'm not a fan of long journeys at the best of times, but this would have been the equivalent of walking around China on my hands.

The first drive brought a number of opportunities to fire, but a mixture of nerves and being phased by the birds behaving quite differently to the clays at the West London Shooting School meant that I walked towards the next drive slightly anxious about what lay ahead.

When the covey of cock pheasant came over on the third drive, the fifth such grouping I had faced in quick succession, I suddenly began to feel an outside presence taking over my hands to raise my shotgun, follow the bird and then pull the trigger.

The bum, belly, beak, bang approach never felt so automatic. I was proud to have taken my first bird so cleanly, and the relief washed over me like an ocean wave.

As soon as these feelings came however, they were gone. I had no time to even think about raising one finger in the air in overwhelming ecstasy and racing down the time, Dennis Law-esque, to celebrate before the next birds came, but wouldn't you just know it, the previous shot went to my head and I missed.

The drive ended soon after but I still had a smile from ear to ear as we headed off towards lunch, so should be honest and say that I felt a little smug too? Yes.

That was until I found out how well everybody else had been doing that is.

Last night I attended a reception to mark the publishing of The Game book: A Shooting Anthology. This is the new book, compiled by Chris Catlin, which has 60 essays from well-known countryside writers on all topics related to shooting.

The reception was held at Purdey on South Audley Street in Mayfair and was attended by the great and the good of the shooting press. As ever the venue was perfect, both encapsulating all the great traditions which surround shooting and providing a relaxed atmosphere. And, of course, journalists being what they are there wasn't a drop to drink or a scrap to eat left by the end of the evening.

All profits from this book are going to be used to help more young people get involved in the sport and with such a great array of writers involved this makes it one of the year's best buys in my eyes.

Whether it's Piffa Schroder writing brilliantly about the nerves of her first game day or Frederick Forsyth explaining his decision to abandon driven shooting in favour of the challenges presented by the wood pigeon you will not be disappointed.

The book is published, rather beautifully, by Quiller Press and costs £19.95 so don't miss out. It will make the perfect Christmas present.

Tomorrow is my game shooting debut as a gun and I cannot wait.

I leave Stamford in a few short hours to head south to the Ashburnham shoot in west Sussex to meet the shoot's host, Jeff Jefferies, who will no doubt take care of everything as effortlessly as he normally does when he holds the annual Young Shots Day for Shooting Gazette readers.

All of my kit is packed; the Barbour has been cleaned, a new flat cap bought the, old Wellingtons buffed and my trousers pressed and there is a tip for the keeper is in my billfold. Be prepared as the motto goes.

I am in no doubt that the nerves will begin to set in after the pegs have been chosen, but they will be met by a awesome wave of adrenaline. I'm expecting that feeling I used to get when I read in front of the whole school during assembly and the first words were something like 'She sells sea sells on the sea shore'

I had the chance to get my eye-in during September when I travelled down to the Chavenage estate near Tetbury to shoot on one of the West London Shooting School's Game Flyer Days.

It was great practice and you'll be able to see how I got on in the forthcoming November issue of Shooting Gazette. Possibly the only thing missing from that day was the fact that I couldn't take my quarry away with me but that will hopefully all change come tomorrow.

I'll also have my editor Will Hetherington on the peg with me for some moral support although I'll have to make sure that I don't shoot too well!