Shooting participants report less loneliness and higher wellbeing

People who take part in game shooting report far less loneliness and higher wellbeing than the national average, according to research highlighted by the Moorland Association on Monday, 19 October. The association argues the findings belong in the policy debate as the Government weighs evidence on the future of gamebird shooting in England.

What did the study find?

The University of Northampton research, led by Dr Tracey Latham-Green and published in the journal Ageing & Society, surveyed 2,424 participants in driven game shooting, from Guns to beaters and pickers-up. Just 1.2% said they often or always felt lonely, against 5.9% of adults nationally in the Community Life Survey. Among syndicate members the figure fell to 0.9%, and to 0.5% for syndicate members over 65.

Wellbeing scores on the Warwick-Edinburgh scale beat the national average in every age group, with the gap widest among the over-75s. A typical participant walked 8km on a shoot day, rising to 9km for beaters and pickers-up, and 81.5% of the 1,265 syndicate members surveyed said everyone on their shoot ate and socialised together regardless of role.

Why does the association say it matters now?

Nine in ten respondents cited connection to the countryside as a reason they take part. The Moorland Association argues that policymakers should weigh these social benefits alongside environmental questions when considering changes to how shooting is run, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) call for evidence on gamebird rearing, release and shooting closing on 1 November.

The association is open about the study’s limits: the research shows strong associations rather than proof of cause, and the underlying survey was published in 2021. It argues the scale of the gap, measured against national benchmarks, is what ministers should note, particularly for older people in rural areas, where loneliness is a recognised public health concern.

The Community Life Survey, run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, provides the national loneliness benchmark the study measures against, and the Warwick-Edinburgh scale is the standard wellbeing measure used across public health research, which is what makes the comparison meaningful rather than anecdotal.

What happens next?

The association is promoting the findings to its members and to policymakers during the final fortnight of the Defra call for evidence. Shoots that want to put their own experience on the record have until midnight on Sunday, 1 November to respond, and the research itself is available through the association’s website for anyone citing it in a submission.