#glourioustwelfth

Over the last few seasons’ grouse shooting has generally been excellent, with good numbers of birds across the moorlands of Northern England and Scotland. This has been due primarily to favorable spring weather conditions, good management and good investment by shoot owners, such that the moors have become more reliable in producing good numbers of grouse.

However, The Moorland Association have suggested “some of the worst breeding conditions in living memory” may well cause a significant reduction in available grouse shooting this season, with an estimated 40 percent of all days being lost across the season across all areas.

Late spring snow, heavy frosts, persistent low temperatures and heavy rainfall all impacted the crucial nesting and hatching period from May through to July. This meant early hatchings struggled to establish themselves in any number, and certainly not in the numbers needed to sustain a full shooting calendar. 

Many moors have already cancelled a significant numbers of days, with some shoots cancelling early days in the hope that there is some recovery in numbers (through later hatchings) for the latter part of the season, but the outlook remains worrying.

There does appear to be some variation in the geographical impact with the The Peak District and the higher wetter moors of Cumbria taking the brunt of the impact in England, and these are likely to see a significant reduction in the amount of available shooting this season.

There is a slightly more positive outlook for the North and South Pennines, parts of the Yorkshire Dales, and the North York Moors. 

Robert Benson, chairman of The Moorland Association, whose members manage one million acres of England’s uplands, summarised by saying “In general, the further east and the lower and drier the land, the more promising it looks. It’s impossible to predict at this stage, but it looks as though the worst hit may be down by as much as 70 percent with 30 percent being a realistic figure for many.”

In Scotland the situation has been even more extreme, the wettest March for 20 years coupled with the unusually wintry springtime are thought to be the key reason for the sharp decline in the numbers of wild birds.  It is reported that potentially half the grouse shooting estates in Scotland could be forced to either postpone or cancel the season due to the wintry springtime.

At Orion Sporting we have seen this first hand, with some clients seeing days cancelled already, and some who have seen their diaries cut back.  We suspect this will have a knock-on impact to later season driven shooting with the top high pheasant shoots likely to be the beneficiaries as people adjust their commitments. So don’t leave it too late to fill your diary with alternatives.

All we can suggest is to put those grouse days in pencil and not ink and make sure you have the right insurance that covers you for late cancellation of your days - you will need to have your insurance in place early to be able to make a claim, the “Triple Barrelled Cover” offered by http://www.gunsonpegs.com is a good one to look at.

For those of you who will be lucky enough to get your days in, stay safe, shoot well and enjoy the wonderful experience that is shooting driven grouse in some of the most spectacular scenery in the country –  we’re not jealous at all!

  For more information on Moorland position - http://www.moorlandassociation.org/2015/08/grouse-season-hit-by-calamitous-conditions/

For more information on insurance - http://www.gunsonpegs.com/shooting/buy/shooting_insurance.php

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