Glorious Twelfth: The signs are pointing towards a much better shooting season - Adrian Blackmore

As many headed out onto our moors on the Twelfth of August, they did so hoping that this year’s grouse season would be far more glorious than those most recently experienced. And it was whole communities across Yorkshire and across the UK, not just moor owners and guns, that were eager for this to be the case.

Two years ago, constant cold and wet weather in April and May saw many nests fail. Although grouse will have a second brood if the first is lost, many of these were also lost due to bad weather continuing into June and July. For those chicks that did hatch, there were not the insects needed for their survival. As a result, there were vast areas of moorland without a sustainable surplus of grouse to allow any shooting to take place, with numerous estates having to cancel most, if not all, of their days.

Because of this, last year was always going to be a case of many moors having to rebuild their stock. However, despite a good breeding season there was then a major setback with widespread outbreaks of heather beetle that thrived in the hot, dry conditions, which decimated great swathes of moorland. The resultant loss of food and shelter saw many moors that were already facing a lean season having fewer beats that could be shot, leading to further cancellations.

For a second year running, the financial impact on affected moor owners - who use the income from letting days to help offset the cost of year-round management carried out regardless of whether shooting takes place - was considerable.

However, what many do not appreciate is that grouse shooting is not just about individuals, it is about whole upland communities. A poor season has a direct and immediate impact on all those casually employed on a shoot day, as well as many businesses in our uplands that rely on the income generated.

On a typical shoot day, it is not unusual to find 50 or so beaters, flankers, loaders, and pickers-up with their dogs out on the hill. Given that neighbouring moors ensure well in advance that their shoot dates do not conflict, many of these casual employees can be out for up to six days a week at the height of the season, bringing in income that is of significant financial relevance to households. For the last two years, that loss of income was sorely felt, which is why so many welcomed the arrival of what is shaping up to be a far better season for most this year.

Being totally wild, red grouse cannot be bred and released from captivity. It is their wild nature that makes them so special, and why their management is so vital. Living on our northern uplands throughout the year, grouse populations can be affected directly or indirectly by extreme weather, as demonstrated over the last couple of years. The availability of prey, habitat quality, predation, and disease also have a direct impact on their numbers with populations that can fluctuate enormously from year to year and from moor to moor, meaning there can never be any absolute guarantee that shooting will be possible.

Those managing moorland for red grouse work tirelessly throughout the year to create optimum conditions. However, like the weather, some factors are increasingly beyond their control. The government’s recent extension to restrictions on burning in our uplands has more than tripled the area over which controlled burning is effectively banned, which will result in increased fuel loads and a growing risk of devastating wildfires, the environmental damage of which are severe, with impacts felt for many years to come.

The government’s belief that wetter peatlands are automatically more resilient to wildfire is misguided, ignores available science, and demonstrates a lack of practical understanding regarding moorland management. While rewetting peat is an important tool, unlike controlled burning and cutting, it does not prevent the dense surface vegetation from drying out and catching fire. Surface fuel will still dry in warm weather and ignite, even if the underlying ground remains saturated, as was seen when 22 square miles of Scotland’s Flow Country, a UNESCO world heritage site that is widely considered the most outstanding example of a blanket bog ecosystem in the world, was damaged by a wildfire which burnt for six days as a result of the vegetation becoming overgrown.

Wildfires are a huge threat to moorland communities. With their specialist equipment, expertise, and intimate knowledge of the ground, gamekeepers play a pivotal role in their prevention and control, whether on their own property or assisting on neighbouring land.

The Twelfth of August marked the culmination of all the hard work that is undertaken by gamekeepers throughout the year, in all conditions, to preserve and improve this unique, internationally important habitat which supports some of our rarest fauna and flora. And now that the season is underway, it is a time for rural communities to celebrate. The signs are pointing towards a much better season for most this year and given the considerable economic and social importance of grouse shooting to so many of our remote uplands communities, it is hoped that this does indeed prove to be the case.

Adrian Blackmore is the director of shooting at the Countryside Alliance.