With more than 4,000 acres of land to cover and duties which stretch from morning, noon, til night – gamekeepers on a country estate say they wouldn’t be able to do their job without their fleet of Polaris off-road vehicles.

The privately owned Sandon Hall Estate in Staffordshire is a luxury venue for weddings and getaways.

It is also one of the finest and sought after venues for shooting with shoots taking place Monday to Saturday each week of the September to February season.

Already this year, the newest Polaris to the fleet has clocked up more than 120 hours of work in five weeks.

There are five keepers working under head keeper Zak Fawcett and between them they use a fleet of seven Polaris Rangers – a petrol crew cab, a diesel crew cab and two diesel and three petrol single cabs.
Whether it is out feeding birds, transporting shoot guests, or managing the estate and carrying out vermin control, it couldn’t be done without the Rangers, or with a different UTV, says Zak.

“Five years I have been on the estate and since I started, we have used Polaris. We tried a CAN-AM and a CF Moto but, for us, we didn’t think it would handle the work we do.”

A typical day for the gamekeepers can see them up and out by 4am to feed birds, both in preparation for and during the shooting season, in remote and hard to reach locations across the Staffordshire countryside.

Zak explains: “The lads live on the estate and are using them in the fields for feeding for three to four hours a day, doing jobs to prepare for shoots, getting ready for chicks and also being in charge of their own beats. At night they are out doing vermin control.

“We use them all the year around, they get a fair bit of use. The 25 plate one we have has done 121 hours in just 5 weeks.”

It is also the extras you can opt to be added to your Polaris which appeals to the team.

Zak added: “We go for Polaris because of all the extras. They have full doors, they have heaters, crew cab with doors, electric windows and radios.

“Some have winches on for lads working in areas where they might struggle to get around. If we didn’t have these, we would struggle.

“A lot of the areas we use along the estate are small tracks and the areas they feed are high on the hill tops. We never feed in the valley bottoms; we feed where we want them to fly so we have to get to the top of the hill and woods.

“We tried last year with a 4 x 4 and struggled to get to the top of the hill.”

The oldest Polaris in the fleet is a 2023 registered vehicle. They are usually replaced every two years due to heavy use and Zak believes the newer models have improved significantly.

He added: “I would highly recommend the Polaris and think in the last three years they have changed for the better.

“They are better for towing. The diesel is 24hp and for the petrol ones there is more ‘oomph’ on it. They are better for driving with a lot more speed.

“I would rather have a higher spec one than a basic one that in six months has to go. I would rather spend that extra and have it for two years – you are saving money in the long run.”