As I write this article, we have been in lockdown (staying home and safe) for the past eight weeks. The virus has impacted the shooting industry on all levels, but now the dust has started to settle and we are getting more familiar to the ‘new normal’ of social distancing, regular washing of hands, and what we can and cannot do. People are having to plan their sport beyond the lockdown, albeit tentatively, for next autumn/winter without any firm knowledge of how or if it will proceed.
The game bird shooting industry provides employment for many people including game farmers, keepers, suppliers of feed, medication, etc. How will this impact them? To get a better idea of how game shoots plan to operate, I spent a day ringing around my network of keepers, shoot captains, and game farmers to try and get an informed opinion of who’s doing what, if at all.
Shoots
From many of the conversations, it soon became apparent that ‘clusters’ of shoots have emerged and are making decisions based on the local ‘big shoot’. So, for example, if Lord Highbird’s estate has decided to mothball and not risk a rearing season without a guaranteed shooting season, then other smaller shoots in the vicinity have taken his lordship’s ‘due diligence’ and followed suit; and vice versa in terms of the ones who have continued to rear birds and speculatively hope they will get a season.
This story is from the July 2020 edition of Sporting Shooter.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 2020 edition of Sporting Shooter.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
RSPB gives mixed message on shooting
Having recently attended the RSPB’s virtual AGM, Conor O’Gorman discusses the outcome of the charity’s year-long review of game bird shooting
Causeway for concern
Alan Jarrett’s renewed interest in reading takes him down memory lane to an offshore island duck flight that very nearly ended in disaster
Through a purple patch
The Garrows Estate is taking a conservation-focused approach to restoring the wildlife populations and biodiversity on the Scottish heather moorland.
When the wheels fall off
Losing form on a day’s shooting can be infuriating, especially if you’ve been shooting like a god up to that point. Simon O’Leary looks at some common causes and how to remedy them
Beaches, books & bad behaviour!
The annual Kay family vacation to Northumberland offers a chance to give the cockers a blast on the beach – although they don’t always shower themselves in glory, as Ryan Kay recalls...
Using the Stop whistle
Now you’ve instilled the basics, it’s time to up the ante with some more tricky distance work. Howard Kirby explains how to take the core Stop whistle command to the next level
The humble teal
They may be tiny, but as far as Rupert Butler is concerned, the appeal of this little duck is huge. He recalls some of his most memorable nights in pursuit of these aerial acrobats
Fab all-rounder
Mike is impressed with the Fabarm Elos B2 Field Notte, which offers great value for money, is suited to fieldwork or clays and is future-proofed for use with steel in all choke constrictions
CALL OF THE WILD
Dom Holtam reconnects with one of the purest forms of shotgun shooting as he walks-up woodcock over pointing dogs in the Scottish Highlands
A yen for the Fens
Tony Jackson recounts a memorable duck flight over an area of Fenland in Norfolk with his friend and author, the late Alan Savory
