It’s the Glorious Twelfth, marking the start of the 2019 Red Grouse and 2019 game season, and one of the busiest days of the shooting season. With those fortunate enough to be planning trips to the grouse moors of Scotland and Northern England, we are once again faced with low grouse numbers across much of the countries shooting grounds.
Last year we seen the beast from the East and one of the hottest summers ever on record hit the country causing a significant decline in heather growth. This in turn saw the grouse population hit hard resulting in the cancellation of over half the countries shoot days.
All the speculation in the press coming to light in the last week, has really sparked the conversation on the importance of the game industry on rural economies which depends heavily on the attraction of the sport to support many local communities.
BASC’s chairman’s Eoghan Cameron had the following message, highlighting the importance of supporting these communities in a time a hard-ship.
“The overall prospects for grouse this year are a mixed bag, but it is reassuring to know that this essential work shall continue. In areas less likely to enjoy a productive grouse season, the challenge for rural businesses, whose prosperity relies to such a significant degree on grouse shooting, cannot be overstated. My thoughts are with these businesses and I would urge the shooting community to do what we can to support them as the prime tourist season draws to a close.”
Not only does the game industry provide an ever important role in the success of so many rural economies, the conservation work put into ensuring the survival of our great sport is unfortunately often overlooked. Working hard in the background are a hardened and dedicated force of gamekeepers and landowners who despite the challenges presented by a changing climate are doing an outstanding job in preserving a maintaining the moorlands. The conservation work done on our grouse estates doesn’t only ensure a good days sport, but provides crucial habitats for so much wildlife. So much so, that the density of mountain hares, according to an SNH report, was found to be 35% higher on managed driven grouse moors than those not for shooting purposes, highlighting the importance of the work our gamekeepers and landowners do for our countryside.
To all those who are lucky to have a day on the Grouse, we are sure you will have some great sport as our game season gets of to a start. We can’t wait to see some photos of you all out in your Diemme Boots.
Thanks, Josh
