MY GENERATION

It strikes me, even at 21 years old, that there is a crisis facing our sport. With the rise of big bag days, where the focus is on quantity rather than quality of birds, it seems that shooting has lost its way. The ever-increasing cost is making our sport all the more exclusive and inaccessible to potentially interested parties.

At a recent inter-university student clay-pigeon competition, it was remarkable how many people were interested in shooting yet had their experience limited to clay days because they could not afford to game shoot.

Shooting is having its life blood sucked away from it as accessible rough or small driven days for a reasonable price prove harder to come by. I am nervous that the essence of shooting, as we know it, may not survive my generation.

To ensure a new generation of guns comes through, the focus must come off big bags and back to the humble beginnings and origins of the sport: an excuse to appreciate the countryside in the company of close friends, with a view to coming home with some well-shot sporting game to be enjoyed that evening as glorious, home-cooked British food. As with many things, the most important components cost nothing.

James Tufnell

By email