Local butchers game for a new experience

Banging the drum for field sports is now more important than ever, so Simon Garnham offers three newcomers a day of pigeon shooting

- Simon Garnham

Alasdair Mitchell recently wrote something of a call to arms (Sharpshooter, 5 August), in which he challenged readers to consider whether we are “freeloaders in our sport — those who enjoy their shooting but make no contribution to protecting its future”.

His words reminded me of the hunting ban of 2004; how it sought to end a whole way of life and destroy something loved by so many. I remembered the joy of following beagles with my maternal grandfather and of proudly watching my paternal grandfather riding to hounds — activities they adored that were made criminal overnight. Activities that my children will never — barring some miracle — now know.

I was not able to attend the Liberty and Livelihood March of 2002 and I wonder still whether I might have done more. Too late now.

I reflected on the general licence debacle, on the campaign of misinformation pursued by our detractors, on Natural England’s intransigence over wildfowling and on the difficulties that we face in the coming season.

We have such a good story to tell: the environmental and economic benefits of our sport, the mental and physical health which shooting encourages, the wonderful wild meat produced. Our adversaries are a minority, but they are a vocal minority. We need to counter them at every opportunity. I resolved to do something to get our message across.

Sportsmen and women are not natural evangelists. In my experience, we prefer to blend into a hedge, stalk silently through a woodland or disappear into a glen. We tend to mind our own business and allow others to do the same. The same cannot be said for my local butcher’s.