Season faces some uncertainty

The jury is still out on this sporting season, with the pandemic and a sketchy outlook for grouse casting a bit of a shadow over proceedings.

“There is excitement across the board,” says Debbie Collins of BASC.

“It will obviously take time to repair the damage caused by Covid, but the optimism from the shooting community is inspiring.”

But BASC is cautioning that COVID-19 restrictions have had an impact on the grassroots. The number of shotgun certificates issued in March was the lowest since 2009. BASC has now set out to encourage new applicants and is calling for firearms licensing departments to “get back to full capacity”.

For sporting agents working with international Guns there’s uncertainty over travel rules. “We had huge, huge demand for days, more than ever before,” says Ed Darbishire of Darbishire Sporting Agents. “But there have been question marks over whether people can come over from abroad.”

Travel aside, “prospects for the forthcoming grouse season look increasingly patchy,” according to Richard Seaman of Goldsmith & Co. “Spring 2021 was probably one of the latest and poorest I can remember in my lifetime and this, combined with increased tick burdens, has led us to consider that 2021 will be far from a halcyon year.”

Agents agree that pent-up demand and cautious estates will make it harder to book days. “The return of the ‘sporting staycation’ means that there are precious few opportunities for those looking for last-minute shooting or stalking,” says Seaman.