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…
News
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…
£190k raised for Great Ormond Street at charity shoot
The Royal Berkshire Shooting School (RBSS) has raised £190,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital and Marie Curie at its 20th annual charity clay pigeon shoot. The event, which has been chaired each year by Andrew Taee, fundraising patron for both charities, saw 25 teams of four Guns compete in a…
Use of airguns in England and Wales under review
The Government is being urged not to introduce additional legislation restricting the use of airguns in England and Wales, which is under review after a child was wounded in Bristol. The Countryside Alliance (CA) said that though it is right that gun laws should be revisited when tragedies occur, “we…
Scottish estates urged to seek rates relief
Scottish landowners are being urged to take advantage of rates relief to avoid paying “eye-watering” new sporting fees. Scottish Assessors has issued notices to around 6,500 landowners after repealing rates exclusions on shoots and deer forests brought in by the Land Reform Act. The rates will apply to any landholding…
UK declared bird flu-free
The UK has met the international requirements to be called bird flu-free, but the Government’s top vet has urged all poultry keepers to remain vigilant. Between December 2016 and June 2017, there were 13 cases of H5N8 avian influenza confirmed in UK poultry. Restrictions on movement put in place by…
BASC appoints new chief executive
BASC has appointed a new chief executive, due to join the team in February 2018. Ian Bell, a brigadier in the British Army, will take up the role at BASC when his current deployment as Commander British Forces Germany comes to an end. Mr Bell has a huge enthusiasm for…
Owners shocked to see wanton damage to family shoot in badger cull zone
I would like to make other shoots aware of what may happen if they are in a badger cull zone after what has happened to our small shoot. Wandering poults Last Sunday, my four-year-old daughter and I went down to our shoot, which has been run by our family for…
Scottish keepers restore wild grey partridges
Wild grey partridges have been returned to the Tomatin moors in Inverness-shire thanks to local gamekeepers and some unusual help from bantam chickens. Wild greys had not been seen on the moor since the late 1990s, but in 2011 the team at Clune estate set out to bring them back.…
Wildfowling Club of the Year award now open for entries
The purpose of Shooting Times’s new award is to highlight the incredible contribution made by fowlers across the UK. Wildfowling Club of the Year award now open for entries Editor Patrick Galbraith explained: “Wildfowlers are possibly the finest ambassadors that shooting has. Their conservation work, appreciation of the landscape they…
Salmon facing myriad threats
A huge decline in the number of young wild salmon returning to British rivers could lead to a national shortage, according to the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). For 16 years, the GWCT, along with the Government’s Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, has monitored the number of…