Data released by the French agriculture ministry showed that in the last week of March, cases in the main gamebird rearing areas of Vendée and Loire Atlantique continued to increase, though the rate of increase appears to be slowing. Shooting Times understands that these figures are likely to go on…
News
Wild Justice moves against woodcock shooting
Wild Justice is calling for the start of the woodcock season to be moved from the start of October (September in Scotland) to the first of December. In its members’ newsletter the campaign group said: “The rationale for such a change has been set out by the pro-shooting Game and…
National Resources Wales approve change to general licences
The Board of Natural Resources Wales has voted to approve a set of changes to the Welsh general licences which will prevent their use to control magpies, jackdaws and jays for conservation purposes and will impose a limited time window to control carrion crows for conservation. The proposals, which were…
French game farms not sending eggs to UK due to bird flu outbreak
L’envol de Retz and Gibovendee have told customers to plan for the delay in response to the worsening bird flu situation in the Pays de la Loire region of France where they are based. The decision will cause huge disruption to the shooting season, effectively delaying its start for many…
Major avian influenza outbreak hits French game farms
The possibility of disruption to the supply of birds from farms was highlighted last week by Shooting Times. The west of France and particularly the departments of Vendée and Loire Atlantique are crucial to the supply of chicks and eggs to the UK game production industry. An outbreak began with…
Wild Justice’s victory claim incorrect
The campaign group announced earlier that it would challenge the inclusion of gamebirds as livestock for the purposes of using the general licence to protect them from predation. The group appear to have hoped that by preventing the control of corvids to protect gamebirds they could disrupt shooting activities. However…
Move to ban pump-action shotguns fails
Labour MP Luke Pollard introduced a private members bill in an attempt to restrict pump-action shotguns after the tragic shootings in his Plymouth constituency last year. The bill was debated as a ‘ten minute rule’ bill which strictly limits the amount of parliamentary time allotted to a proposed law. Introducing…
Scotland plans to ban trail hunting
Scotland has introduced the Hunting with Dogs Bill which makes it illegal to hunt a wild mammal using a dog except in limited circumstances. Trail hunting using an animal based scent will also be banned under the proposed laws. However exceptions will allow the continued use of dogs for falconry,…
Capercaillie could be extinct in Scotland in 20 years, says report
Scottish Capercaillie at risk The report commissioned by Nature Scot looked at the causes of the decline in the numbers of the birds and at how the decline could be addressed. In recent years, a number of very large estates in the bird’s core range in Badenoch and Strathspey have…
Gamekeepers struggle to save the life of eagle
The drama began when a gamekeeper, working on a Scottish Highlands estate, spotted an eagle struggling in distress while he was out on the hill. He called for assistance and other members of the estate’s gamekeeping team joined the mission to help the bird. The estate’s head keeper who has…
Could the “pest birds list” return?
Currently the control of pest birds such as magpies, carrion crows and jackdaws is permitted under the general licence which allows control of these birds for certain purposes. The general licence system was introduced in 1992 by Michael Howard who was the Secretary of State for the Environment at the…
Concerns raised over white-tailed eagle death
In a brief statement, Dorset Police said: “Sadly, two of the Sea Eagle England Isle of Wight reintroduced white-tailed eagles have recently been recovered dead on multi-agency operations in the south of England, including one in Dorset in late January. An investigation is underway to ascertain the causes death of…
Facebook group promoting illegal hare coursing uncovered
In mid 2021, Shooting Times was made aware of well-known hare coursers who were openly bragging about their illegal exploits on Facebook groups. In response, we began joining a number of these groups to monitor what was being posted. Most groups proved innocuous or their members were discreet about what…
Mountain hare numbers on the rise according to latest data
Mountain hares are Britain’s only truly native Lagomorph and in recent years their numbers have been in steep decline due to climate and land use change. However, the new data shows that under the care of Peak District gamekeepers they are doing well. In order to understand how populations of…
Wild Justice launches ANOTHER licence challenge
Once again Wild Justice has sprung into action, now challenging DEFRA’s updated shooting licences for England, which classify game birds as livestock, allowing keepers to shoot wild birds in order to protect pheasants and red-legged partridges. The new general licence, GL24, was issued on 1st January. Wild Justice has challenged…
New shadow minister for nature recovery is committed anti-shooting campaigner
Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds North West, was appointed as Shadow Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment in a recent reshuffle. Sobel briefly shot to national prominence in March last year, when he was Shadow Tourism Minister. His notoriety was caused by his description of business as “the…
Five men charged after group were allegedly assaulted at legal trail hunt
One of the men assaulted claims to have been punched in the face while the other two victims allege that they were forcefully pushed. In an online statement, the force said: “As a result of initial enquiries, five men from Greater Manchester were located nearby and arrested in connection with…
Scottish Government reject RSPB’s wildfowling ban efforts
The charity, which recently launched a crowdfunder ‘to tackle the outbreak’ of avian influenza, asked the Scottish Government to introduce the ban to limit ‘disturbance’ to Barnacle geese. However ministers refused the request, with the Scottish Government saying in a statement: “We are aware of the serious impact of avian…
Some police forces begin accepting new certificate applications again
North Yorkshire Police, Thames Valley Police, Kent Police and Northamptonshire Police had stopped processing new certificate applications, citing pressures arising from the COVID 19 pandemic. However, these forces have begun accepting applications again. Inspector Andy Palmer, North Yorkshire Police Firearms Licensing Manager, said: “We have re-started the processing of new…
Clay Shooting Classic 2022 Thursday 26th-Sunday 29th May
The Clay Shooting Classic is returning in 2022, and will take place at the fantastic Orston Shooting Ground from 26-29 May 2022. The Clay Shooting Classic is firmly established as one of the highlights of the clay shooting calendar, with a long history of exciting targets, stiff competition and a…