"THERE are a lot of preconceptions about gamekeepers, but I spend more time with a chainsaw, creating and maintaining habitats, than I do with a gun."

Award-winning gamekeeper Guy Ledger is still reeling from being named first winner of the Bellamy Trophy last month, a prize which included a cheque for £500 from the National Gamekeepers' Organisation.

Praise from his colleagues in the industry means a lot, but Guy is also keen to educate the general public that his daily work is not all about killing.

It is true that among the tools of his trade are guns and traps used for vermin control, but he is eager to stress that 90 per cent of his job is spent tending wildlife habitats.

One way he spreads awareness of the varied nature of his job is by inviting schoolchildren and Scouts to the estate, where he oversees 2,000 acres.

With the help of the Countryside Foundation, he shows the youngsters in graphic detail the "messy bit" in between getting animals from the field to the plate. This includes skinning rabbits and gutting pheasants.

Guy explained: "There is the odd child who doesn't like it, but most want to know where their food comes from.

"They come here to learn about the reality of gamekeeping and that's what I show them, with no mollycoddling. Not everyone will agree with what I do, but I've got nothing to hide.

"It's a very old and honourable profession and if I can spark interest in the countryside in just one child, then I will have done my job."

Unapologetic he may be, but the irony of tirelessly protecting pheasants to later release them to be killed is not lost on Guy.

He answers honestly: "It is perverse how I protect them then let them go to be shot, but I don't have an issue with it. It's what they're there for.

"We wouldn't see pheasants in the hedges and cows and sheep in fields if they weren't bred for meat.

Much of his work is protecting his game from foxes – and egg-stealing magpies and crows – which he achieves using guns and traps.

But Guy is also keen to stress it is not all about slaughter, saying: "It's about creating a balance. I don't want to exterminate foxes and other animals. It's about keeping things in control."

Another key function of gamekeeping is creating habitats and protecting woodlands, particularly at this time of year, when the majority of Guy's work is concerned with wood-cutting.

The rest of the year, however, is devoted to the pheasants which arrive as young poults around July.

Guy will keep them in release pens in the woods, surrounded by mesh and electric fences to deter foxes, before they are released a month later to acclimatise to the wood.

After six to eight weeks, the birds begin to find their own way home to roost by themselves. Until then, Guy rounds them up with his trusty dogs, including a retriever, a Labrador and a springer spaniel.

The pheasants are then released to be shot and it is these organised shoots which pay for Guy to manage the estate the rest of the year.

He also gets his hands dirty, plucking and gutting the pheasants to make them oven-ready, before selling them to local shops and pubs.

Guy, who lives on the Torry Hill estate south of Sittingbourne with his wife Julia, 31, an equine vet, has been immersed in the countryside his entire life.

Interestingly for a profession not usually associated with academia, Guy has a degree in agriculture.

He explained: "Conservation has always been my passion and I feel lucky I can do it every day. I enjoy being outside and learning how animals behave and what they need and being a part of the countryside.

"If a tree has fallen down, I will notice the difference immediately on the horizon and I'm the first to know when the bluebells are coming out. I see every aspect of the countryside at all times of the day, in a very hands-on way.

"Gamekeeping is one of the few professions still attached to a long-gone era and I like that I'm left alone to get on with it."