Estates prepared for inglorious 12th
Low stocks mean many operators are cancelling or limiting shooting
TODAY is better known as the Glorious 12th, but many estates expect a poor grouse shooting season after the dismal summer affected the number of birds bred this year.
Many estates have been forced to limit their shooting schedule, while others have been declared gun-free in a bid to let numbers recover. One estate is said to have lost £180,000 after calling off shooting days.
SCOTLAND’S grouse-shooting estates face a less-than-Glorious 12th after calamitous summer weather conditions badly hit the number of birds bred this year.
Many estates have had to cut shooting days, while others have declared their moors gun-free zones to help numbers recover.
Grouse need fairly warm weather to successfully breed, but the cold summer and days of rain mean that populations of the birds are down across the country. The situation is little better south of the Border, where around 40 per cent of shooting days are likely to be lost because of low temperatures, heavy rain and even a severe hailstorm at the beginning of July.
Wildlife photographer Keith Ringland has visited many of the shooting estates, and said business would be down across the board.
He said: “One of the estates said it’s going to be down by about £180,000 this year because of the weather, and they have cut the number of days from 18 to eight.
“The number of breeding birds and young grouse has not been this low for a very long time and they have to keep some to breed for the future. You can’t shoot them all.
“Some estates say there will be no shooting at all this year, and I’ve even heard of one that’s going to close for two years to let stocks recover.”
He added: “This will have a huge knock-on effect as there’s a lot of jobs that depend on the income grouse shooting brings in.”
The Moorland Association warned the loss of shooting would hit local communities who relied on income generated from grouse shooting – for example, casual staff, restaurants and hotels.
Chairman Robert Benson said reports indicated there would be little shooting in the Peak District and some Cumbrian moors, though parts of the North Pennines, York- shire Dales, South Pennines and North York Moors were faring better.
“The situation elsewhere is not good at all,” he said.
“It’s impossible to predict at this stage, but it looks as though the worst-hit may be down as much as 70 per cent, with 30 per cent being a realistic figure for many.”
Meanwhile, a hen harrier found dead on a grouse moor was illegally shot, analysis has shown.
The news the young female bird of prey “Annie”, who was satellite tagged as a chick, was illegally killed in Scotland, is likely to worsen the dispute between conservationists and the shooting industry ahead of the start to the shooting season.
Rare hen harriers are protected by law but conservationists say they are shot because they prey on red grouse, with some wildlife lovers even calling for a ban on grouse shooting.
But the industry says grouse estates spend millions of pounds a year on conserving rare moorland habitat which supports wildlife, while shooting provides jobs and boost to upland economies, and have called for other steps to boost hen harrier numbers.
Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland, said: “This is just the latest incident of criminal persecution of this species.
“It is little wonder these magnificent raptors continue to be absent from large areas of our uplands.”