Countryfile Shooting Estate

It was interesting to watch this week’s episode of Countryfile on the BBC. A programme that I would say normally steers clear of controversial topics has chosen to deal head on with a subject that polarises views of the countryside.

I was pleasantly surprised by the coverage. The main focus seemed to be on the economic benefits to the countryside. The shooting industry is worth £2 billion to the UK economy. It supports many thousands of jobs, not just those working directly on estates but also industries such as hospitality. The gamekeepers interviewed on the programme, young and old, explained clearly how their whole lives were tied up with the estates they live and work on. With the pressure on pheasant shoots this year due to avian flu, it is apparent how precarious this industry is.

For me of course, it was enjoyable to see the gundogs being used to work on the shooting estates. It was great to see young keepers beating and picking up with their enthusiastic dogs. There was also a focus on gundog training (I noticed the trainer was transporting his dogs in TransK9 boxes of course) and the value of a good dog for both guns and keepers.

Rewilding a shooting estate

The current buzz word in countryside management is ‘rewilding’. Quite what this means is open to interpretation. In the UK, we haven’t had a ‘wild’ landscape for millennia. We are a nation of farmers, living off the land. Countryfile profiled a former shooting estate in Perthshire that was being ‘rewilded’ by the current owners. They had discovered that you still need to graze the land and had cattle and pigs to turn over the ground. This encouraged new species to grow.

Watching the programme, you could clearly see the contrast between the estates. The estate managed for grouse was plowing a lot of their income back into the land in the form of conservation work. This land management encourages ground nesting birds and controls invasive species. This then maintains a landscape that has existed for thousands of years. In contrast, yes the rewilded estate had otters, but the land looked scrubby and chaotic. I know which I prefer.

The programme is well worth a watch – see what you think. The shooting world is one that I’ve been involved with for many years. It’s not always the case but most often, it’s where you will see examples of good land management and respect for wildlife. It’s also an extremely sociable environment. Working alone on the farm, I can appreciate the value of working as a team. Of course it’s important that the industry moves with the times. However, I feel it would be a great loss to the rural way of life, our countryside and our heritage, if shooting were to disappear from our landscape.

Posted: January 10, 2023