Glorious? Grouse shoots are in crisis
IT is known as the Glorious Twelfth of August, the start of the grouse-shooting season on the vast moors of Scotland.
But this year the annual tradition – worth more than £60million to the economy – is facing a crisis.
The summer heatwave and Beast from the East snowstorms in March have both badly affected bird breeding rates.
Estates across the country have been forced to postpone or cancel shoots – due to begin this Sunday – prompting concerns over the impact on tourism and jobs.
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association has warned that grouse stocks in the Lammermuir Hills, Berwickshire, are lower than expected, and there will be limited shooting in the Tomatin area of Inverness-shire, with reports of cancellations around Loch Ness.
Tim Baynes of the Scottish Moorland Group, which represents the owners and managers of shooting estates, said: ‘The cause is a combination of the Beast from the East causing late snow and cold, which meant the heather was in a poor condition, followed by an extremely hot summer that stressed a lot of birds and animals and caused a shortage of water.
‘A lot of estates are cancelling shoots. Some may look at doing days later in the season. Rather than push it, [some estates] will leave the birds alone, which is a blow to their finances, but they want to make sure they don’t start shooting breeding stock.’
Alvie Estate, in Kingussie, Inverness-shire, has cancelled all shooting, while Atholl Estates, near Pitlochry, Perthshire, and Cardney Sporting Estate, in Dunkeld, Perthshire, have limited shoots.
Andrew Bruce Wootton, factor of the 145,000-acre Atholl Estates, said: ‘Stocks were already weak as a result of that long and hard winter. The late snow has meant we are not in good shape for the start of the season. Numbers are disappointing but we are not cancelling fully.’
Cardney owner Vernon Waters said the estate was unlikely to host shoots until next month, when partridge season begins.
He said: ‘Estates have curtailed or pulled programmes. We’ve had calls from people who had arrangements but they’ve been cancelled and they have nowhere to go.’
The grouse season lasts for 121 days, attracts 40,000 visitors to the UK and generates £61million, according to the British Association of Shooting Clubs.
Peter McKenna, co-owner of The Gannet restaurant in Finnieston, Glasgow, said he had been promised only a small number of grouse by his supplier and had been warned prices would be higher.
He added: ‘There’s a high demand for grouse by our customers at this time of year and some, inevitably, may be disappointed.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said: ‘The poor breeding season looks certain to curtail some activity and if fewer sportsmen and women are arriving in Scotland, then that means less tourism spin-off.’