How has shooting changed in the last decade?

To an outside observer, shooting is an unchanging, even anachronistic world. There we go, parading around in our funny tweed trousers and flat caps, engaging in esoteric customs, referring to arcane etiquette rules dreamed up to catch out the uninitiated, oblivious to the turning of the wheel of time, immersed in an activity preserved in aspic, with feet of clay and as unchanging as a  statue.

And this is, to an extent, true. Shooting’s traditions and hangovers are part of the charm and enjoyment  of the thing.

But if you look beyond the weird clothing and unfathomable unwritten rules, shooting changes and evolves over time, just like everything else in life. From developments in equipment to changing gamekeeping practices and opinions, over the decades there are few aspects of shooting that are unchanged. However, change is often a gradual thing, and only becomes apparent when observed over a number of years, or, importantly, unless you can measure it.

Since 2013, The Game Shooting Census, which for the last few years has been sponsored by the rural insurance broker Lycetts, has taken an annual snapshot of the shooting world. Ten years down the line since the first Census, we can take a look at how things have changed in that time.

Who goes shooting?

In the last ten years there has been much discussion around how to get more women into shooting. The work of the likes of BASC and various ladies’ shooting groups does seem to be having an impact, with a notable increase in the proportion of women completing the Census, up from 2.67% in 2013 to 5.32% in 2013.

Perhaps less encouragingly, there has been a marked increase in the average age of respondents. In 2013 the average age of a game shot was a youthful 50. In 2023 that has risen to 59… However, this could simply be a reflection of the fact that in 2013 older game shots were less confident using the internet, so the figure back then could well be an underestimate. Nevertheless, the average age of game shots is probably higher than is healthy for the sector.

Another interesting change, and perhaps a more encouraging one, is that the income profile of game shots seems to have shifted. A decade ago 62% of game shots earned at least £50,000. This year’s Game Shooting Census reveals that this figure has dropped to 53%, suggesting that shooting’s reputation as being an activity for the wealthy is becoming less and less true as time goes by.

Changes in shotguns and cartridges

Although the kit we use on a shoot day hasn’t gone through too earth-shattering a change, there are some trends that are worth mentioning. Perhaps the most surprising is that side-by-side shotguns, the death of which has been widely reported, are actually more popular now than they were in 2013. In 2023 side-by-sides are used by 23% more game shots than in 2013, up from 26% in 2013 to 32% in 2023. This is not merely a statistical blip - the proportion of guns using a side-by-side has been steadily growing since 2019.

Despite all the thousands of inches of newsprint, the hours of video content and the gallons of digital ink that have been expended on the apparent obsolescence of side-by-side shotguns, it would appear that the inherent charm, style and beauty of them, and perhaps the value for money, has captured more and more people as time has gone by.

The average amount that people spend on their main gun has increased by ⅓, from £4,309 in 2013 to £5,733 in 2023. However, this does not necessarily mean that people are buying fancier guns, since the rate of inflation over the last ten years in the UK is 46.63%, so in reality people are spending roughly the same as they were back then when you adjust for inflation.

Of course, the single biggest equipment story of the last ten years has been the voluntary phase out of both lead and single use plastics in cartridges. Leaving the lead aspect to one side for a moment, even before the proposed changes were made public in early 2020, there was change afoot. In 2013 nearly one in five game shots preferred to use plastic wad cartridges for their game shooting. By 2019 only 3% felt that plastic wads should be permitted, and by 2021 we felt that it was no longer worth even including the question. 

Conversely, the initial hesitancy around the move to non-lead loads, which drove 35% of guns to say that they would refuse to attend a shoot that insisted upon the use of non-lead cartridges in 2020, seems to be dwindling over time, with only 24% reporting continued distaste for the alternatives. Nearly half of all game shots have now tried a non-lead and eco-friendly wad cartridge, with 80% of those guns reporting them as ‘acceptable’ or better for their typical shooting activities.

On the day

Contrary to popular belief, the data does not show a marked increase in the size of bag that people shoot. In fact, the average bag in 2013 was 131, and the average bag in 2023 is 130. Of course, thanks to the GWCT’s National Game Bag Census we know that the number of birds released has been steadily increasing for decades, so we must conclude that there are more days taking place, rather than that people are shooting bigger bags.

When it comes to quarry, there has been a notable decline in the number of shoots offering mixed pheasant and partridge days, down from 43% of shoots in 2013 to 32% in 2023. This may be at least in part due to the difficulty of sourcing partridge poults in the 2022/23 season. This is backed up by the fact that the number of shoots that describe themselves as exclusively partridge shoots has dropped from 8% to 2%.

There has also been a significant change in what guns expect in terms of catering and hospitality on a shoot day. For example, the proportion of guns who expect to get some kind of elevenses has grown from 71% to 79%.

However, this bucks the overall trend, which is towards a lowering of expectations, especially where meals are concerned; the proportion of guns expecting a three course evening meal after a day’s shooting has dropped from 36% to 27%, the proportion who expect a pub lunch has dropped from 28% to 20%, and the proportion who demand a three course lunch has dropped from 25% to 17%. 

This lowering of expectations is backed up by the growth of the group who say that the level of hospitality is not important to them, from 10% to 18%. One possible explanation for this is the impact of the COVID social distancing rules, which prevented many a shoot lunch from taking place; perhaps people realised that it wasn’t as important to them as simply getting out there with their mates.

One difference that you are likely to see on a shoot day in 2023 when compared to 2013 is that there will likely be more dogs around. A decade ago, 62% of game shots had a dog, a figure that has risen to 73% in 2023 - perhaps another COVID effect.

The cost of shooting

Of course, the most noticeable difference between shooting in 2013 and in 2023 is the price. As we documented earlier this year, the average price of a shot pheasant or partridge has risen from around £30/bird, by about £20/bird to £50/bird, a rise of 68%, well above the rate of inflation.

Guns’ attitudes towards the price of shooting have more or less moved with the times. In 2013 only 0.61% of guns would be prepared to fork out £50/bird or more, whereas in 2023 that figure is 17.48%. 

However, the above-inflation increase in prices has had an impact. In 2013 28% were prepared to pay the average price per bird, and a further 39% were prepared to pay an above average £/bird price. In 2023 only 17% are prepared to pay the average price, and only 24% are prepared to go over that average, indicating that rates are starting to outstrip what the market will bear, following years of rising costs. Will we see a correction for next season, or even before?

What does the future hold?

Predictions about the future rarely stand the test of time, so we won’t attempt to prophesy here. What we can say is that the shooting world is a constantly changing picture, as the community responds to fluid social mores and trends, and the sector responds to the various pressures upon it.

It is no secret that there are a variety of external factors in play, from NRW’s plans for the release of game birds in Wales to the ongoing impact of Avian Inflluenza to the phasing out of lead shot. There is a tendency to look at these factors and develop a ‘woe-is-me’ outlook, but in order to continue to move shooting forward, it is vital that we keep sight of the positive changes as well as the challenges. It is these that will strengthen the community as a whole, whether that’s increased willingness to adapt with the times or the greater diversity of people involved in the sector.