Walked up grouse shooting. The Reality

Grouse are a totally wild bird, not artificially reared or released, and are only found in Britain - no where else in the world. Fewer grouse are shot 'walked-up' because of the speed at which grouse fly and the effective range of a shot gun. Only birds flushed within 20 metres of the walking guns present viable targets. Any others that get up and fly off are out of range and not seen again that day. Walking across open moorland in pursuit of an illusive bird is hard work, and is not for everyone.

In driven shooting, the birds are flushed from areas as large as a square mile or more by many beaters walking in a line. The birds fly toward the waiting guns presenting very many more chances to shoot. But flying low at up to 80 mph, red grouse present the most challenging form of game shooting in the world and as a result the number of people that want to take part always outstrips availability.

The average price paid to shoot two grouse (a brace) 'walked-up' is half of that commanded by a brace 'driven'.

If a commercial grouse shooting estate switched to walked-up shooting on its own, the lower income generated would have knock-on effects on the management that could be afforded. It would mean that the number of keepers employed would be reduced leading to an increase in predators to the detriment of all ground nesting birds. The grouse population would dwindle and the number of grouse actually shot would reduce further creating a downward economic spiral. Investment in bracken control and burning would cease and the profitable heather uplands would revert to valueless scrub.

Today, it is only where driven grouse shooting remains that the iconic heather moorland habitat is stable and protected from decline. The red grouse is already on the Amber List of conservation concern because its habitat has been lost and its range contracted. It is in areas where just walked-up shooting occurs that the Red Grouse is most at risk of becoming locally extinct.

This bleak picture would have serious ramifications for the socio-economics of the remote rural communities that service grouse moors, as well as the biodiversity designations that Defra and Natural England are charged with protecting.