Fieldsports News

Shooting’s popularity in the UK is growing. Following a significant downturn in certificate numbers after the Dunblane massacre in 1996, both gun owner numbers and gun numbers have been growing.  There are 1.35 million licensed shotguns in the UK as at 31 March 2017; an increase of 1% compared with the previous year. With 560,000 […]

The Government has seen off a small group of MPs – Karin Smyth, Louise Haigh, Vicky Foxtrot – who tried to sneak in a ban on children using airguns. The Government already wants to ban .50cal rifles and Mars action rifles because it believes that the almost zero criminal activity from legal gun owners is […]

The Welsh Environment Minister has written to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) stating that the Labour Government in Wales “does not support commercial pheasant shooting or the breeding of gamebirds”, because of “ethical issues”. If the Welsh Government pushes through a law on this, it will mean the end of famous shoots such as Brigands and […]

It looks like Namibia is banning trophy photos on social media. Wildlife populations in Namibia are booming thanks to hunting. However, the country is scared of the negatve publicity that trophy photos generate in the wider media. This letter is from the Namibia Environment and Tourism Department, and demands big game hunters do not post […]

Most actors who use guns in films  get issued them by an armourer. Not Vinnie Jones. Gamekeeper’s son Vinnie is filming London Calling – and he gets to use his own rifle, a WInchester 44. The film is about British businessmen laundering money via oil in the Appalachian region of the USA. It is filming […]

Did animal rights activists stage the death of Fred? On 15th February 2018, BBC presenter Chris Packham released a film on YouTube suggesting that a golden eagle he calls Fred, hatched last year, was killed by a gamekeeper. Its satellite tag, maybe still attached to the eagle carcase, was apparently dumped in the North Sea. […]

The Home Office may be about to attempt to force gun owners to pay their GPs for filling out an ‘initial medical records check’ and adding a marker to medical records. This is likely to be accompanied by a change in guidance to the police making it a requirement that an applicant’s GP responds before […]

Oil is good for woodcock. Birds returning to Europe and Asia from the UK encountered strong easterly winds last week. This picture posted on the North Sea Bird Club Facebook page shows them breaking their journey on the Tartan oil platform which lies midway between Aberdeen and the coast of Norway.

The home nations picked up a remarkable collection of medals in rifle shooting events at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 – but Commonwealth domination goes to India, followed by host nation Australia. In the Queen’s Prize Pairs, England’s Parag Patel and David Luckman take gold, Chris Watson and Gareth Morris of Wales silver and […]

Kenya has taken the first steps towards bringing back hunting. Following a conference in the European Parliament held by Africa’s hunting nations – which have the bulk of Africa’s wildlife – Africa’s non-hunting nations are considering big game hunting as a method for reintroducing species that have been wiped out since their bans. Work on […]

British bird charity the RSPB is to back off from wildlife crime cases after the police told RSPB that its actions could jeopardise prosecutions. Newly-released documents seen by The Times newspaper reveal the  Police predict the RSPB would “kick and scream” if excluded from investigations into crimes such as the suspected poisoning, trapping and shooting […]

The Danish hunting association and the association of gundealers are to phase out  non-bio-degradable materials in shot shell wads. Non-degradable shot shell wads will be gone from the market after a ‘short transition period’. There are bio-degradable alternatives on the market. The two organisations hopes that this initiative will spur further technological development.

The Crufts Best in Show award ceremony was disrupted when a protester from animal rights group PETA ran into the arena just as the winner was declared. The man, who was holding a sign reading “Crufts: Canine Eugenics”, was swiftly tackled to the ground by security staff. The winning two-and-a-half-year-old whippet bitch, Whippet Ch Collooney […]

Tesco has bowed to animal rights intimidation and removed a fox hunter fancy dress costume for children from sale after hunt saboteurs complained. The “red fox hunter jacket” is designed for children aged 7 and older on the supermarket’s website. However, antis say it is “encouraging children to become animal abusers”.

Sad news for the wildlife of Tanzania. The US trophy import ban on Tanzanian elephant and lion trophies is now having real – and potentially devastating – consequences, including the loss of decades of successful nature conservation. The following sad message is from Eric Pasanisi, one of the largest outfitters in Tanzania. Until now. “I confirm […]

A ‘stag selfie’ craze is emerging among walkers in urban and suburban public parks that contain deer. Members of the public have been pictured posing in front of fallow deer at London’s Richmond Park in order to get a good picture for Instagram. Others have been condemned for doing the same with red stags at […]

The British government is exploring the possibility of another gun ban as it releases a consultation paper on .50 calibre rifles. Despite the extensive background checks required to become a firearms licence holder in the UK, it believes that a ban on the rifles will stop them being used in criminal and terrorist activities. The […]

The vote to ban trail hunting on National Trust land was narrowly defeated. The result of the vote shows just how little anyone cares about hunting, just 30,686 people voted in favour of trail hunting, a figure that makes up just less than 1 per cent of the overall membership of the trust. Just 2% […]

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he is ‘not keen’ on grouse shooting and is looking forward to a review of Bradford Councils contract on grouse shooting on the Ilkley moor. The Ilkley Gazette asked Mr Corbyn whether the Labour-led authority should end the arrangement. And he told the reporter that he has “never been grouse […]