Where to go shooting

Shooting is often thought of as a deeply local thing. We talk of the importance of syndicates and farm shoots to local communities, fostering a sense of belonging and bringing people together in the cold dark months. Yet we also highlight the importance of shooting to rural areas, bringing custom to country pubs and hotels when the rest of the tourists have gone home. 

The Game Shooting Census, carried out by GunsOnPegs and Lycetts, in association with BASC, GWCT and Countryside Alliance, is the biggest annual survey of the shooting world, and as well as gathering data on the opinions and thoughts of game shoots and shoot operators, it also offers some fascinating insights into the demographics and habits of the game shooting community, and quantifies those two truisms above. 

Where do the game shots live? 

More than 70% of those who completed the Game Shooting Census live in the countryside, with the remaining 28% living in towns and cities. When you look at the data by region, it reveals that despite London being the second most populous region of the UK, with 14% of the total population (Statista), only 3.7% of game shots are Londoners, making it the region with the fewest game shots per capita. 

Similarly, the north west, home to about 12% of the population, is only home to 3% of game shots.  On the other hand, there are a few regions that are game shooting hotspots, most notably the south west.

Only 9% of the population live here, but 17% of respondents to the Game Shooting Census 2022 call this region home. East Anglia is also home to more game shots than the population density would suggest. This being said, since these two regions are the most rural in the UK, this is perhaps not as surprising as it might first appear, given what we now know about the town/country balance. 

Where are the shoots? 

When it comes to the shoots themselves, nearly one in four of all game shoots are found in the south west, and when you add in the south east and East Anglia you account for 49% of all game shoots. Yorkshire and the Humber is home to about 10% of shoots, as is Scotland. Perhaps surprisingly, given how largely the principality looms in our shooting consciousness, there aren’t all that many shoots in Wales - just 5% of the total. 

What kinds of shoots do people do most of their shooting on? 

If you ask an Italian where they are from they are most likely to tell you that they are Florentine, Venetian or Neapolitan rather than that they are Italian - their sense of identity is tied up with their city or region, far more so than it is with their nationality. The phenomenon is known as ‘campanilismo’, (from campanile: a civic belltower) which could be translated to something like ‘local pride’. It has been said that Italian society, rather than being a single picture, is rather a mosaic, with each village or quartiere representing a tile that together make the whole. 

The tiles that make up the mosaic of the UK shooting community are syndicate shoots. 70% of Guns will belong to a syndicate of some kind this season, and 45% of Guns did the majority of their shooting on a syndicate last season. Around 80% of syndicates are static (as opposed to roving), so it is fair to assume that the majority of Guns do the majority of their shooting close to home. Nevertheless, we can assume that the roving syndicate cohort, that 20%, travel around a fair bit for their shooting. 

This season, around half of Guns planned to visit at least one new shoot, though that number rises to 70% when you look only at those who belong to roving syndicates. Of those who planned to visit new shoots, they plan to visit an average of two, but there are those who plan to try out more than 10 new places this season. 

Where do people shoot? 

The most common region for Guns to shoot in is their home region, so it is not surprising that the south west tops the charts as the most popular region to shoot in. 

However, the Census shows that lots of people like to incorporate an overnight stay into their shooting trips, with around half staying over either before or after a day’s shooting. Overall, around 50% of Guns shot in two or more different regions over the course of last season, and among those who travelled to shoot, the average number of regions visited was three.  

However, when we look at where people choose to travel to, Scotland comes out as the most popular region to visit for shooting; Caledonia was the number one destination of choice not only for the residents of the comparatively local Yorkshire and the Humber, and the north east, but also for residents of East Anglia and the south west. 

The south west still does well, with a second place overall ranking when it comes to shoots visited outside of someone’s home region. It is the most probable destination for residents of London and the south east. Yorkshire and the Humber and Wales tie for third place, the former finding favour among residents of the East Midlands, and the latter among residents of neighbouring West Midlands and north west, demonstrating that proximity plays as much of a role in determining where people choose to shoot as much as the quality of the shooting.  

It is, however, of note that the top four regions - Scotland, south west, Yorkshire and the Humber and Wales are all famed for their steep terrain and high birds and are home to some of the most famous shoots, suggesting that people are prepared to travel for a challenge or a red letter day. 

Shooting overseas 

One in 20 respondents to the Game Shooting Census 2022 ventured overseas to shoot last season, and around one in five has shot abroad before. 

We anticipated that the shortage of birds this year might prompt some Guns to look to replace their syndicate or let days with a trip to the continent. To our surprise, only 15% said that they were keen to try shooting abroad, with one in four saying that they had no interest at all, and a further 9% reporting that they were ‘indifferent’ to the idea. 

These statistics are gathered from a dataset of thousands of game shots and hundreds of shoots, drawn from the membership bases of GunsOnPegs, BASC, Countryside Alliance and GWCT, so give a pretty good picture of the shooting world as a whole. Overall they demonstrate a trend that we have seen since the Game Shooting Census began, which sees Guns more and more willing - excited even - to explore the great variety of shooting opportunities that can be found in the UK.  

Speaking for myself, last year I was fortunate enough to visit three regions, as well as shooting in my native south east. Each shoot I attended had its own flavour, its own unique landscape, and presented new and exciting challenges. This season I’ve ventured to the Hebrides, Cornwall, and I’ll close my season shooting driven pheasants in Slovakia; what an adventure that promises to be! If you’re one of the homebodies, who hasn’t ventured beyond your local syndicate yet, I wholeheartedly recommend it!