Natural England has issued a two-year licence approving brood management trials for hen harriers as part of Defra’s recovery plan. The six-point Hen Harrier Action Plan was published in early 2016 — after two years of calls from conservation groups — and was created to help the recovery of the…
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New angling rules for salmon
The Environment Agency has announced new plans to help protect plummeting salmon numbers across English rivers and the river Esk in Scotland. Proposals include halting the taking of salmon from the majority of net fisheries by next year and the introduction of a mandatory requirement to return all salmon caught…
Honorary President of National Gamekeepers’ Organisation receives Royal Victorian Order (LVO) from Her Majesty The Queen
Awards in the Royal Victorian Order are in the gift of Her Majesty, who made the presentation in person. David Clark said: “It is a great honour to have been made Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order, for which I would like to thank Her Majesty The Queen. I will…
Game sales are sky-rocketing
The popularity of game meat is rocketing, with sales in the UK rising by 8.6 per cent in the last year and some Scottish game dealers reporting a five-fold increase in demand for grouse. A new report by independent market researcher Mintel says that general UK sales now stand at…
Golf club criticised by locals following decision to cull Canada Geese pests
West Essex Golf Club has instructed pest control experts to shoot increasing numbers of geese found on the greens. However this decision has drawn a furious response from local residents and some club members. Members have been told that marksmen will mount an “aggressive campaign and try to shoot 3…
Abbey Ling named Clay Shooter of the Year
Abbey Ling was voted Clay Shooter of the Year at the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (CPSA) Awards, held at The Belfry Hotel & Resort this weekend (Saturday, 3 February). After winning the World and European Championships as well as the English, British and UK titles in Universal Trench in 2017,…
Scotland bans electric dog training collars
Electric dog training collars are to be banned in Scotland, after the Scottish Government made a U-turn on its previous decision not to prohibit their use. Scottish environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham has dropped plans announced last year to introduce regulation to ensure that collars could only be used under the…
GWCT launches SAMARCH salmon project
The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) has launched a new project, SAMARCH (Salmonid Management Round the Channel), to provide vital research on rapidly declining salmon and sea trout populations. SAMARCH is a cross-border project, with 10 partner organisations — five in France and five in the UK — and…
Massive support for Commonwealth Games petition
The Shooting Times petition to put shooting sports back on to the programme for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has been signed over 50,000 people at the time of writing. Shooting is to be excluded from the competition for the first time in more than half a century, at least…
Shooters can help deliver new environmental plan
Shooters and farmers have a big part to play in delivering the Government’s new 25 Year Environmental Plan, say rural groups. The plan for a “cleaner, greener Britain” was launched by Prime Minister Theresa May earlier this month and includes the creation of the previously announced Northern Forest, along with…
Defra boss shares rural vision
Rural groups have welcomed the commitment to British farming shown by Defra secretary Michael Gove as he set out his vision for the future of the industry in a speech earlier this month. Speaking at the 2018 Oxford Farming Conference, Mr Gove highlighted issues he wished to tackle to ensure…
Fury as councillors end shooting on Ilkley Moor
Bradford Council’s Labour Group has refused to renew the grouse shooting lease on Ilkley Moor in a move shooting groups claimed was made to appease the animal rights lobby. Bradford Labour has majority on the council and a decision to renew the lease rested in its hands. The lease had…
New Northern Forest to be planted
The Government has announced plans to create a new Northern Forest spanning more than 120 miles between Bradford, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. With backing from Defra secretary Michael Gove, the Woodland Trust and Community Forest Trust propose to plant more than 50 million trees along the M62 corridor from Liverpool…
Lobby your MP for fair firearms licensing
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…
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…