Two months to fight for the future of shooting

A call for evidence on every aspect of game shooting in England has launched and your input is crucial, urges Conor O’Gorman, BASC’s head of policy and campaigns.

Defra has today (4 September 2026) launched a call for evidence on the impacts of gamebird rearing, release and shooting in England. It covers red grouse, pheasant, red-legged partridge and mallard and the opportunity to have your say ends on 1 November.

Make no mistake, as BASC asserted yesterday when the call for evidence was announced, we should view this as a fight for the future of shooting.

We know that game shooting has a positive impact on the environment and we have the research to back that up. However, we are up against a relentless campaign by those that want to see shooting shut down.

Join the fight

Together, we beat the antis in Wales – plans to ban gamebird releasing were shelved after a massive response to a consultation on the proposals as a result of BASC’s Act Now campaign.

BASC continues to lead the fight. Yesterday we won again in the High Court against Natural England over its approach to gamebird release licensing.

Now we need you to join the latest battle by participating in Defra’s two-month call for evidence. Sustainable shooting is a force for good, but we need more case studies to reinforce the science.

Every gamekeeper, every shoot, every beater and picker-up, every shooter, land manager and rural business must put their evidence on the record. This is not the time to leave it to others.

Show the jobs, livelihoods and local businesses supported. Describe the woodland, hedgerows, habitats and wildlife sustained. Submit figures, records, photographs, monitoring results and specific examples of responsible management.

What kind of evidence is needed?

Let’s look at two great examples that will hopefully inspire you to tell your story.

Monkwood shoot in Derbyshire is brimming with wildlife across its 240 acres thanks to the creation of a range of habitats including ponds and game cover crops.

The Peppering Estate in West Sussex has created over 30 miles of new hedgerows alongside various types of cover crops benefitting rare birds, invertebrates and plants.

There are thousands more stories like this, but we don’t hear enough about them. Now is the time to come forward; keeping our heads down will hand victory to the antis seeking to paint a negative picture of shooting.

BASC is producing guidance on responding to the call for evidence and we will publish that next week. Keep an eye on your emails and sign up here to BASC Live – our weekly newsletter.

Meanwhile, visit the call for evidence webpage to see what’s involved, and feel free to email me at conor.ogorman@basc.org.uk with queries or suggestions.

This is an opportunity to put the argument to bed once and for all – game shooting is not a problem that needs solving, it’s a solution that needs supporting.

Conor OGorman

Conor O’Gorman has worked in a variety of conservation, policy and campaigning roles at BASC over the last 20 years. A zoology graduate with a PhD awarded for grey partridge research, he has over 25 years’ experience in conservation and land management.