The truth about grouse moor management

Time Well Spent June 15, 2022

Ahead of the Glorious Twelfth and the start of the game shooting season, here are some moorland management myth busters to help spread the huge benefits of grouse moor management

With the Glorious Twelfth just around the corner, shooting of all kinds – but especially grouse shooting – will be under close scrutiny from those opposed to grouse shooting and the associated moorland management practices.

It seems that everything from raptor persecution to wild fires gets blamed on grouse shooting in the wider media. In many cases the claims are disproven at a later date, but even if apologies are printed or false claims corrected, the damage has usually already been done and false facts about moorland management and grouse shooting continue to spread like wildfire across social media.

Petitions to ban driven grouse shooting often surface around the Glorious Twelfth, and with this in mind it is important to get the actual facts about moorland management out to as wide an audience as possible so that the huge benefits of grouse moor management and the grouse shooting itself can be better understood.

BASC has busted plenty of moorland management myths here

The Countryside Alliance has shared a study outlining the positive economic, social and health effects of grouse shooting

The Game and Wildlife Conservaion Trust has an incredibly comprehensive guide to grouse shooting and moorland management based on 46 years of research, and has also made this video explaining why moors were drained in the first place and what’s being done to re-wet them, and this video explaining how grouse moor management helps rare wading birds to thrive. Share them far and wide!