Grouse Shooting Over The Last 150 Years

Grouse Shooting as we know it today has largely been unchanged for about 150 years. Grouse driving first occurred in the later part of the 19th Century, allegedly because the then owner of Snailsden Moor in the Peak District, did not feel up to continuing to walk-up Grouse on a particular days’ shooting, so instead stood in an old pit hole and got his two sons to drive the Grouse towards him. He thought that this was such fine sport that he would not bother walking up thereafter! It was interesting that at the time, letters appeared in The Field magazine, condemning such practice as unsporting.

Although we have had changes in guns (hammer to hammerless), cartridges (paper black powder to plastic nitro and shortly to steel/bismuth), the essential form of the two types of Grouse Shooting, walked up over a wide variety of dogs, but originally pointers or setters, and driven Grouse, with the Guns standing in butts, have largely continued as before. I doubt that our ancestors would quite understand the necessity for so many vehicles on a Moor as occurs nowadays on a large driven Grouse Shoot, nor perhaps the quality of the elevenses and lunches (theirs tended to be pretty simple fare), but the fundamentals would still be eminently recognisable by these often whiskered Gentlemen smoking their pipes, wearing wonderfully formal but eminently practical shooting wear.

What would be different, is the dramatic decline in the number of “dogging” Moors in the North of Scotland, which has largely occurred over the last 40/50 years. Previously, it would be perfectly possible for some of these vast areas of land in Catheness and Sutherland, to shoot seasonal bags of up to 2,000 brace, all walked up. The kennels on some of those Estates bear witness to the amount of input which went in then to keeping this variety of the sport going. The other change would be the significant decline (almost eradication) of Grouse Shooting in Wales, which literally was throughout the Principality; from the Berwyns in the North, right down to the head of the South Wales Valleys, Grouse were to be found and were shot, often driven, on most heather Moorland areas.

The few Grouse on Dartmoor and Exmoor have virtually been extinguished as well, but I hear reports of small walking days from back in the 1970’s. It is a fascinating thought that the record Black Grouse shooting day in England, was on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire! There are no Black Game there now.

In the stronghold areas of Grouse Shooting from North Derbyshire to the Scottish Border and from there up to the Highlands, in the main there continues to be a very successfully functioning Moorland Management system, with the resultant shootable surpluses of Grouse in most years. It has been tough in the last few years, with few Grouse in the Highlands in particular and two or three generally poor seasons in the North of England. However, last year saw better breeding success on many English Moors and this season is looking nicely positive. Not all Moors will have a shootable surplus in the North of England this season, but many will and hopefully this will be a very good foundation for the coming seasons.

On the surface, therefore not that much has changed over a long period of time. However, underneath and in terms of detailed Moorland Management, much has. Burning which has been the mainstay of Habitat Management for at least a couple of hundred years, has been banned over deep peat Moorland and cutting of heather, which was never seen 30 years ago, is now a major management tool. Time will tell whether this is long-term either as effective or as good for the Moorland habitat as burning, but at least it does give us the ability to control heather and provide young fresh heather on a rotational basis. The spread of wildfires, so dangerous on large Moorland or heath areas, is of real concern to owners and Keepers, and Government inaction or action in the wrong way, increases the risk of wildfire in a world which does seem to be getting a whole lot warmer and drier.

However, despite all of this, Moorland Keepers continue to do a fantastic job, managing the habitat, controlling the vermin, producing Grouse to shoot (in most seasons) and our purple heather clad Moors continue to be a source of inspiration for visitors to look at and for people from far and wide to enjoy in different ways, but all dependant on this form of active land management.