The most controversial aspect of gamebird shooting is whether you call its unwilling participants gamebirds or game birds. Aside from that it is widely agreed that things must change. But mass shooting of gamebirds has become a habit, a bad habit, and the macho so-called leaders of the shooting industry are so stuck in the…
Category: SHOOTERS
News from the Moorland Association
Given that the Moorland Association has been strangely quiet recently it is worth noting that they are now trying hard to appear very very reasonable. It’s all a bit odd. Their responses to the RSPB statement on burning and Birdcrime report are rather moderately worded. I will be interested to see what the Moorland Association…
Oh no he wasn’t …
There is an old expression about bird records from long ago, ‘What’s hit’s history, what’s missed, mystery‘ but it seems that even when you have a pile of bird bodies some can’t identify their quarry. It was in 1977 that Lady Diana Spencer, then 16, was first introduced to a 29-year-old Prince Charles. Charles was…
Welcome back, Moorland Association
After a break of a couple of months, the Moorland Association Twitter account is back although it isn’t saying very much these days. I do like their profile picture with the abbreviation of their motto; No Harriers Survive
Rule of six? Hit for six!
It was such a bad move from the shooting industry to lobby for exemption from the Rule of Six for gamebird shooting. Drawing attention to yourself when you are in such a poor position is never a good idea. Just now, and it may only last for a while, millions of people are sensitised to…
Christmas is cancelled – but the grouse must be shot
A day at the races? No. An afternoon at the football? No. Jogging with six friends? Of course not. A day on a grouse moor? Of course old boy. Rich people travelling from the towns to the uplands, drinking and shooting and then travelling home? An epidemiologist’s nightmare! The track and trace records for these…
Social distancing and shooting
You can’t shoot a virus. If I were running a shoot, which I’m not, I’d be pretty uncertain as to what I am allowed to do from Monday onwards when the rules in England change. But the rule of 6 seems to apply to everyone, including those shooting Red Grouse and Partridges, whose seasons are…
Dull title, important paper
You may remember the EMBER study which was published in 2014? I’ve always thought that it was an important study and a good study, although it deals with a bunch of science that is not my area of expertise. Certainly, if true, its findings are important because it forms part of the basis for the…
How many Hen Harriers?
In late June the Moorland Association jumped the gun and said there were 12 Hen Harrier nests on grouse moors in England this year. They also said that this equalled the number in the whole of England last year (not true according to Natural England). And they said that 6 of these nests were in…
Where are they now…?
I’m still worried about Amanda Anderson and the Moorland Association. I did hear that Amanda was sighted on a zoom call by DEFRA staff a while ago but the image was fuzzy and the normal incessant calling associated with this species was lacking – so it’s not really an acceptable record. The Moorland Association Twitter…