Gamekeeper (left) with a shooter on a driven grouse shoot in the Scottish Highlands (1922)
Driven grouse shooting is a field sport in the United Kingdom involving the shooting of red grouse. It is one of two forms of the sport, the other is walked-up shooting. Driven grouse shooting involves grouse being driven (i.e. encouraged and corralled by beaters) to fly over people with shotguns in fixed positions. In walked-up shooting the participants walk forward in a line and flush the birds as they go. Walked-up shooting is more physically demanding than a driven shoot and typically involves fewer birds being shot.
The grouse-shooting season begins on 12 August except in the Isle of Man where (were it not for a voluntary ban) it would start on 25 August. It ends on 10 December, except in Northern Ireland (30 November) and the Isle of Man (31 October). 12 August is sometimes called by adherents of the sport the "Glorious Twelfth".
The sport first appeared around 1850 and became fashionable amongst the wealthy in the later Victorian era. The expanding rail network allowed relatively easy access into the remote upland areas of Britain for the first time and driven grouse shooting developed in tandem with this by providing shooting in a convenient and reliable form. Large numbers of birds are driven over a fixed position providing a regular supply of fast moving targets without the need to seek out the birds. The development of the breech-loading shotgun was also an essential ingredient in the development of the practice as it allowed more rapid reloading in the field matching the availability of target birds.
Shooting takes place on grouse moors: areas of moorland in Scotland, northern England, and Wales. These areas, some 16,763 square kilometres (6,472 sq mi) in extent (about 8% of the combined area of England and Scotland) are managed to provide a beneficial habitat for red grouse.[1] In the period from 1870–1965 the sheep population of Scotland dropped by around 500,000 animals (because of commercial competition from Australia and New Zealand). In consequence, areas of former pastureland were made into deer forests or grouse moors.[2]
Management techniques for grouse moors include heather burning (known as "muirburn" in Scotland), to ensure a supply of both young and old heather, and predator control – principally foxes and predatory birds such as corvids (including crows and magpies). Some people oppose these practices because of the killing of certain species for the benefit of others, although proponents of managed moorland argue that the species targeted are abundant, whilst those that benefit are of greater conservation importance, including ground-nesting birds such as lapwing, curlew, meadow pipit, golden plover, redshank and woodcock.[3]
There has been controversy over alleged persecution of raptors on grouse moors. Raptors are protected species in the United Kingdom. Opponents also argue that managed moorland prevents wildness, natural landscapes, forest and bog regeneration, and ecotourism.[4]: 167
^Defra (21 June 2017). "UK natural capital: developing UK mountain, moorland and heathland ecosystem accounts". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
^The Changing Distribution of Breeds of Sheep in Scotland, 1795–1965 W. J. Carlyle THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY R£VIEW Vol 27 page 19 https://www.bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/27n1a3.pdfRetrieved 6 September 2023 from website of the British Agricultural History Society
^"New study shows grouse moor management is helping to slow curlew decline". Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. 8 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
^Cite error: The named reference rebirding was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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