The Countryside Alliance has launched a new campaign seeking consistent and fair firearms licensing. It comes in response to the “failing” medical procedures introduced in 2016 for shooters seeking applications and renewals, which have been criticised for being applied inconsistently across different counties – with some applicants being charged up…
News
Keepers helped feed homeless this Christmas
Angus and Grampian gamekeepers teamed up to give more than 600 homeless and vulnerable people a freshly cooked meal of local game over the festive period. Members of the Angus Glens Moorland Group and Grampian Moorland Group worked to deliver locally reared oven-ready pheasants and partridges, as well as fresh…
Help to save grey partridges by noting your numbers
Keepers, farmers and land managers are being urged to take part in the Partridge Count Scheme this spring. The annual monitoring initiative, which started in 1933, is led by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) and collects information on the breeding success of grey partridges, which have been in…
Shooting dropped from Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
Shooting sports look set to be excluded from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, reportedly due to the lack of a suitable venue. This will be the first time since 1970 that shooting has not featured at the Games and shooters have expressed shock after the BBC reported that the exclusion…
BASC confronts West Sussex council over snare ban
BASC has criticised West Sussex County Council’s decision to introduce a snaring ban without holding a consultation first and accused it of breaching the Regulators’ Code. The council introduced a prohibition on the use of snares by tenants on all of its land following the tabling of a motion by…
Government airgun consultation underway
The Home Office has launched its consultation into the regulation of airguns, which was announced last year. Stakeholders and the public were asked to respond with their opinions as to whether existing legislation is sufficient to prevent children accessing airguns. BASC told the Home Office that no further restrictions are…
New maps help crack down on bird crime
New interactive maps have been hailed as a valuable tool in the fight against raptor persecution. The maps detail incidents involving the shooting, poisoning and trapping of birds of prey, and the destruction of their nests in England and Wales. They were developed by the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group…
Annual Woodcock Club dinner to be held at Hatfield House
We are delighted to announce the location and date of the 34th annual Shooting Times Woodcock Club dinner. The hotly anticipated event will be held at the Old Palace at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire on the 24th March 2018. The Old Palace at Hatfield House is charged with a unique…
Air weapons review opened this week
The air weapons review was announced in October following a recommendation by Her Majesty’s Senior Coroner for Suffolk, Dr Peter Dean, who wrote to the Home Office requesting a review after the death of Benjamin Wragge, aged 13, who was accidently shot by an air weapon. The review will seek…
Keepers and farmers can help wading birds
A new report by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has emphasised the key role that gamekeepers on grouse moors can play in the conservation of upland waders. The report highlights a pilot project in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which has been trialling methods for involving keepers…
New London shooting fair announced
A brand-new shooting show is coming to the capital next year with the launch of the first annual London Wing Shooting Fair. Held at the Business Design Centre in Islington on 23-24 March 2018, the show will run alongside the existing London Fly Fishing Fair in a neighbouring hall on…
GWCT calls for shooter restraint on declining woodcock
Shooters are being asked to reduce the number of migrant woodcock they shoot due to the species’ poor breeding season. Andrew Hoodless, head of wetland research at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) has called for restraint from shooters in the UK after concerns were initially raised by woodcock…
Game industry cuts antibiotic use
Reduction in antibiotics in meat from game Shooting and game bird organisations have welcomed a big fall in the number of antibiotics used in the rearing of pheasants and partridges in the UK. Figures endorsed by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) were released in October 2017, showing that antibiotics used…
Bywell estate shoot wins 2017 Gold Purdey Award
The Bywell shoot in Northumberland has won the 2017 Purdey Gold Award for Game and Conservation. Bywell estate owners Viscount Allendale and his son, the Hon Wentworth Beaumont, along with headkeeper Alan Edwards, were presented with the trophy and £5,000 by BBC Countryfile star Adam Henson at a ceremony in…
These changes to shotgun licence forms will make things clearer
The Home Office has announced that the new shotgun licence forms will ask whether an applicant has ever been diagnosed or treated for a relevant medical condition to remove ambiguity around the current wording. The new forms – which will apply in England, Scotland and Wales – come into effect…
Field editor made Master of Worshipful Gunmakers
Jonathan Young, editor of The Field magazine and group shooting editor at Time Inc UK Specialist, where he oversees Shooting Times, has been installed as Master of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers. Jonathan took the Master’s oath at the annual Gunmakers’ Company nomination dinner at the Goldsmiths’ Hall in London…
Hundreds hunt for the first time
Hundreds of people took to the field for the first time during Hunting Newcomers’ Week last month. The annual event, organised by the Countryside Alliance (CA), ran from 21 to 28 October and was supported by hunts across the UK, which invited people to attend a range of newcomers’ meets…
Gamekeepers and beekeepers work together on moorland heather
A new film explores how Scottish grouse estates are supporting local businesses, by teaming up with honey producers to give bees access to managed heather. Estates in Tayside, the Angus Glens and the Lammermuirs work with beekeepers who put their hives on the moors every August and September. The bees…
Don’t throw away money by handing in antique guns, says expert
BASC is asking shooters to check for “cash in the attic” in the form of unwanted guns, rather than handing them in. The call comes following the current national firearms surrender campaign, which is running from 13 to 26 November, during which people can hand over firearms and ammunition at…
Make your views count. Vote for the best of British game
The shooting, game meat and hospitality sectors have come together, with leading British businesses James Purdey & Sons, Boisdale Restaurants and Taste of Game teaming up to launch the inaugural Eat Game Awards. They are on a national search for those individuals and businesses that have shown success, innovation and…