Nominate your game hero to win a day's shooting with Purdey

It is no secret that here at GunsOnPegs we love game. Not just game shooting, but eating it too. In fact, we think that eating game is even more important than the shooting, since it is from this - the consumption of game - that the rest of our outdoor lifestyle follows. Research carried out by GunsOnPegs and Lycetts in The 2019 Game Shooting Census shows that many of us are eating game at least once a fortnight. But outside the shooting community game doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.

 

There are many unsung heroes in the world of game shooting and cuisine… chefs and cooks, farmers’ market stalls, producers, restaurants, pubs, butchers, estate managers and retailers. Now in their second year, the Eat Game Awards are determined to honour these people and businesses to highlight their fantastic work. Now’s your chance to nominate those who ensure we get to enjoy this tasty, healthy, sustainable food.
 

Nominations are open until the end of this week, and by submitting a nomination, you’ll be entered into a draw to win a peg shooting with the Purdey team on a day during next year’s game season (August 2020 through to 31st January 2021). To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is nominate your game hero or vote for them via the Eat Game Awards website. Nominations close on Friday 9th November.

 

James Horne - Co-founder of the Awards and Chairman of Purdey - explained why the awards are so important to him: “The Eat Game Awards are not only vital to help build the profile of this healthy, homegrown meat, they also support and encourage small businesses championing this industry. Local and national recognition through awards can have a significant effect on sales and credibility. It can give a business confidence to progress. I was overjoyed to see the huge number of small businesses that entered the awards last year and how they were deservedly celebrated, and I’m hoping there will be even more this year.”

 

 

Adam Henson, farmer and TV presenter, is a fan: “Farming is my first love, but other rural pursuits run a close second.” One of last year’s Eat Game Awards presenters, he continues: “I think that people are a little afraid of game, because they’re not sure how to get hold of, handle or cook it. Well, the Eat Game Awards are to changing all of that.”.

 

People can be nervous around game, but there’s no need. There is no rule book. Chefs love that. “Eating game is one of life’s no-brainers, given that it is so abundant in this country,” says Chef Proprietor of Michelin starred Elystan Street Phil Howard.

It behoves all of us in the shooting community to encourage more people to enjoy eating game, and to support the people and businesses that are making these amazing meats more accessible to the general public, where once it was the preserve of the wealthy.

 

And you don’t have to be a Michelin starred chef to enjoy cooking with game. Game is now available all year round from butchers and, increasingly, supermarkets – fresh during the seasons and frozen outside of them. The Eat Game Awards celebrate the diversity, creativity and enterprise in the wild game world and they’re encouraging people to engage, spread the word and, most of all, reap the rewards and pleasures of eating game.