A pair of wellies by the door is the hallmark of a keen country type and they’re an item of footwear that can get hard wear. So we’ve searched through the best Cyber Monday Wellies deals around online so that you can save £££S on replacing yours – and maybe…
News
Grouse shooting still supporting economy of rural Scotland despite little actual shooting.
The grouse season in much of Scotland was effectively wiped out by snow and wet weather during the critical grouse breeding season. Many moors had no shooting at all and others had a very limited calendar. This led to average losses of £140,000 per estate this year. But despite this,…
Police slammed for failing to act over mass coursing event
Some shocking footage has emerged of illegal hare-coursing in Bedfordshire this week pic.twitter.com/MCFkQPMdAw — Johann Tasker (@johanntasker) November 12, 2021 Footage posted online shows multiple vehicles and several dozen individuals openly coursing hares in broad daylight. The vehicles are shown being driven across recently drilled crops with individuals hanging out…
Pheasant releases improve biodiversity, research suggests
The paper used data from the poultry register to work out where pheasant releases were taking place and matched it against citizen science data from the NBN Trust. The scientists also identified control areas where no releases were taking place. While the effect on biodiversity of releasing pheasants was unclear,…
Guntrader’s liquidation firm promises to investigate sale of database
As we reported last week, the online gun trading enterprise announced that they were going into liquidation to avoid claims from customers whose data was stolen in a hack. When a company is liquidated, independent experts called liquidators sell its assets and use the income from the sale to pay…
Black Friday offer on now: save up to 69% off a subscription to Shooting Times or Sporting Gun
Special offer For a limited time only, you can get a quarterly Shooting Times subscription for the low price of just £23.43 for thirteen issues or a six month subscription to Sporting Gun for £12 for six issues. If you’ve been thinking taking out a subscription to Shooting Times or…
Wild Justice continues to use environmental laws to attack shooting despite multiple defeats
This week the campaign group Wild Justice, whose multiple failed cases have cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds, said they will appeal a ruling which dismissed their legal challenge to the muirburn regulations in England. The case was summarily dismissed as “not arguable” on any of its grounds…
Gamekeepers Welfare Trust calls for greater help for rural workers who are struggling with their mental health
The appeal came as family and friends prepared for the funeral of a young Perthshire man whose body was found in woodland near Comrie in Perthshire. Andrew Eadington, who was just 26 at the time of his death, worked as a deerstalker and volunteered for Killin Mountain Rescue Team. Alice…
High Court throws out Wild Justice muirburn judicial review
Save money on your favourite fieldsports magazine by taking out a subscription today. Wild Justice’s attempts to disrupt the muirburn season have been thrown out of court at a judicial review. Wild Justice has been ordered to pay £10,000 in costs to Defra, the National Gamekeeper’s Organisation, the Countryside Alliance…
What’s happening with woodcock?
With the November full moon now just 4 weeks away the thoughts of game shooters are turning increasingly to woodcock and hopes are high for strong early falls. A few birds have begun to drift in with odd examples reported by shooters and birdwatchers however no substantial falls have yet…
Scotland’s final muirburn season gets underway
Save money on Shooting Times by taking out a subscription here. What seems likely to be Scotland’s final unlicensed muirburn season has got underway. The season officially opens on the 1st of October, but wet weather delayed the start of burning on many estates. Now a brief window without rain…
Scottish Gamekeepers Association attacks BASC over deer plans
In a scathing blog, SGA Chairman Alex Hogg questioned the motive behind the BASC plan. Alex said: “If this is about opportunism and winning new shooting grounds for members, then there is likely to be questions asked about how this will make things better for deer management in Scotland today.”…
Anger builds as New Zealand venison is marked ‘Highland Game’
Sybil Macpherson took to Facebook after spotting the product in her local Tesco. In a post showing the pack Sybil said “I was both surprised and disappointed to read the label on this pack of venison for sale yesterday. Why, when we have ample supplies of Scottish venison available, is…
65% of country’s shoots will be ‘lead free’ by end of 2023, according to survey
The Savills Game and Conservation Benchmarking Survey found that the vast majority of shoots had already got rid of plastic shotgun wads and that most were expecting to transition away from lead shot. Conservation work is also being given increasing priority by shoots with two-third of respondents saying they undertook…
Countryside groups ready for court action if fox control bill prevents humane practices
Shooting Times understands that countryside groups are in receipt of advice that they potentially have strong challenges to legislation under the European Convention on Human Rights and that they have been marshalling resources to take the case to court. Fox control bill Currently, packs of dogs may be used to…
Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association reaffirms opposition to lead shot ban
The Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association (SGA) has restated its opposition to a transition away from the use of lead shot. Now in a message encouraging members to engage with the Health and Safety Executive’s lead ammunition consultation, the Association has restated that position. The message said: “Some countryside shooting organisations, led…
Welsh Government announces plan to ban snaring
Ban snaring There had been signs that the Welsh Government might make a move to ban snaring when it issued a consultation earlier this year which said that, “It is the Law Commission’s view that, in the future, the operation and inspection of snares may benefit from additional regulations prescribing…
Antique firearms law changes 22 September 2021
Owners of firearms which were previously classed as antique will require a firearms licence for them from Wednesday 22 September 2021 when the antique firearms law changes. This follows legislation passed earlier this year on 22 March with the passage of the Antique Firearms Regulations 2021, which gave the definition of…
Shooting faces ‘enormous task’ after Scottish Government announcement
The Scottish Government has published its programme for government and shooting now faces ‘an enormous task’ to secure its future in the country. Fox control Among the planned bills was a “Fox Control Bill” and without providing further details, the programme simply said that the bill would relate “to the…
Illegal and unethical ‘falconry’ exposed
Shooting Times was made aware of the underground practice of ‘urban falconry’ after a link to a Tik Tok video was sent to the magazine by a reader who believed it may show criminality. The video showed a Harris hawk being flown from the window of a moving vehicle and…