Sporting Management

Context

A large proportion of common land (approximately 30% across England) is managed for red grouse. The managers are usually the owners of the common though the sporting rights may be severed from the land and belong to someone else, or the owner may have let them to a tenant.

Grouse moors are managed to enhance the wild population of red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scoticus) for shooting. The management of common land as a grouse moor affects grazing and conservation interests. In some areas the interests overlap, in others they can diverge. In recent years, a significant effort has been made by all interests to work together for more integrated management.

Grouse Management – the basics

Moors have been actively managed for grouse shooting for over 130 years. The grouse season runs from 12 August until 10 December each year and grouse are only allowed to be shot in this period.

According to the Moorland Association, an average estate of 3000 ha will be used for grouse shooting on 16 days during the season and on these days approximately nine guns will shoot grouse from permanent butts (shelters, often made of stone topped with grass) arranged in a line. The grouse will be driven towards the guns by teams of beaters and the objective is to shoot the grouse as they fly over the butts. The guns will then move on to another line of butts, or drive, and repeat the process.

Grouse are counted in pairs or brace. Success is measured by the numbers of grouse shot each year and the value of a moor will correlate with the average numbers of grouse shot over a number of years.

Gamekeepers are employed throughout the year to manage grouse moors with one keeper looking after approximately 1,500 ha of moor. Key management activities are heather burning and the control of predators and disease. Red grouse are a wild animal and management focuses on creating a mosaic of different aged heather that provides the necessary food and shelter for grouse at different stages of their life cycle. Other activities include management of drainage channels (grips), heather reseeding and bracken control as well as the maintenance of tracks and butts for the shooting. Grouse numbers correlate with the weather, parasite levels and the condition of heather.

As the condition of heather is in turn affected by grazing intensity, many moor owners seek to negotiate with the farmers to manage sheep numbers to optimise the conditions for grouse. Grouse numbers are cyclical and, to smooth this boom and bust cycle, gamekeepers count the numbers of grouse every July and decide how many can be shot that season. If the number of grouse is estimated at less than 2 per ha then no shooting takes place.

As well as employing 200 gamekeepers in England, grouse shooting contributes to the local economy on a seasonal basis through engaging beaters and all the accommodation and catering requirements of the people shooting and their families. Furthermore, many houses, buildings and woodland areas are maintained and restored as part of managing a traditional upland estate.

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