Glorious? It was hilarious!
IT may have been a damp and misty start but members of the Scottish Ladies Shooting Club found plenty to laugh about when they gathered to celebrate the Glorious Twelfth start to the grouse season.
The festive occasion kicks off four months of activity for landowners around Scotland and the ladies started their season with a shoot on Forneth Moor, Perthshire.
‘A day out shooting is as much social as it is sporting,’ said Sheila Eastwood, 57, from Bankfoot, Perthshire.
‘The first day of the season is tremendously exciting and there’s no doubt that grouse shooting is a great Scottish story.’
Justine Muir, from Cupar, Fife, said: ‘Being able to shoot on the very first day of the season is a great thrill and I’m delighted that so many local businesses such as hotels benefit from any day when shooting takes place.’
Shooting for sport in Britain dates back to before Victorian times, with the grouse season starting on August 12 or the following Monday. The season, which runs until December 10, nets £32million a year for the Scottish economy and forms an important part of life for rural communities, where it supports 2,640 full-time jobs.
But the sport has been condemned by environmental campaigners who claim that, because grouse moors are intensively managed to ensure that high numbers of birds breed, other native wildlife such as foxes, mountain hares and birds of prey are affected. The number of mountain hares on moorlands in the eastern Scottish Highlands has fallen to less than 1 per cent of the level recorded more than 60 years ago, according to a study by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
This year, landowners have reported a drop in grouse numbers as a result of extreme weather conditions. Consequently many Scottish estates have decided to cancel shoots in a bid to protect grouse numbers for next year.
Andrew Grainger, of the Scottish Country Sports Tourism Group, admitted: ‘We know that it will be a challenging season this year – but people who enjoy shooting are extremely passionate about it.
‘It was great to see such a mixture of people out today, including young lads and ladies.’