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Game Shooting – A Harmless Recreational Activity? MICHAELA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_and_ shooting_in_the_United_Kingdom#Game_ animals
https://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac. uk/2011/10/pheasant-shooting-bad-forpheasants-worse-for-humans/ www.theguardian.com/ commentisfree/2020/oct/12/the-guardianview-on-game-shooting-the-threat-is-tonature-not-sport
https://whoownsengland.org/2019/04/02/ the-english-shooting-estates-that-rear-20million-pheasants-a-year/
www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/ feb/26/defra-challenged-over-unlawfulrelease-of-57m-game-birds-in-uk
www.league.org.uk/what-we-do/shooting/
GAME SHOOTING – A HARMLESS RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY?
By Michaela
Since the prehistoric ages hunting has been practised in Britain and was a crucial activity for survival. Game shooting became more popular during the 18th and 19th centuries due to the improvement of shotguns and, under the 1831 Game Act, Game Laws were relaxed meaning anyone could obtain a permit to shoot rabbits, hares and gamebirds, the most popular being the common pheasant. Today, according to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) over a million people a year participate in shooting from the 1st of October to 1st of February. Up to 146,000 pheasants, 5,300 red grouse and 38,300 red-legged partridges are shot every day in the UK, during their respective hunting seasons. As game shooting is legal, and annually participated in, is it simply a harmless recreational activity?
Surprisingly, game shooting does have some benefits. Game managed woodlands had more woodland birds and wood-edge butterflies, evidence of some increased wildlife and habitats in areas that game inhabit. Thousands of jobs in game management and woodland control are also provided every year. Glynn Evans, BASC’s head of game and deer management, said: “Game shooting is good for conservation, good for economy and game meat is very good to eat”. It unites those who have a common passion for game shooting and the countryside, whilst encouraging people to enjoy the outdoors. However, this is perhaps rather trivial when considering the lives of the creatures that are intentionally mass bred and then destroyed as a result of this recreational activity.
There are many negatives of, and surrounding, game shooting. Often, bred pheasants are kept initially in cramped intensive farming conditions before being released onto the estates area. In some USA cases, the birds are kept in cramped spaces before being deposited into the field to be shot. Many birds are imported from France, Belgium, Spain and Poland, representing nearly half of the UK’s total game bird population. Even though grouse cannot be reared intensively, the heather moorland in which they live on is intensively managed to maximise numbers. In the UK, minimum standards exist for the protection of animals bred or kept for farming; however, this did not apply to birds farmed for the ‘game’ shooting industry. Although landowners rearing game are around 2.5 times more likely to plant new woodlands, high densities of game birds can negatively impact ecosystems, increase predator numbers and create competition for food.
Furthermore, hundreds of other animals and birds are trapped, snared and killed to protect the game birds, which will soon be shot themselves. In early January 2022, it was announced gamekeepers will be able to legally shoot crows, magpies and jackdaws to defend their game birds.
A large volume of lead ammunition is discharged every year over the countryside, causing harm to the environment, wildlife and people. Although the government is considering a ban under the UK’s new chemical regulation system, research by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust shows that 50,000 to 100,000 wildfowl had already died each year due to ingesting lead from pellets. Lead ammunition can make its way into the food chain, harming habitats.
Many people do not eat the peasants they shoot, so if factory farming animals is justified by the fact that we eat the animals, then how can game shooting be justified? A Savills Shoot Benchmarking Survey in 2017/18 found that on average only 48% of the birds shot will be taken by game dealers, and even less of this percentage will be used further. Even those that shoot with the intention to eat, in modern, developed society this is an unnecessary act, as sustainably sourced meat can be bought from the supermarket. Rather than food, the game shooting industry is about money. The guns (shooters) will have paid anywhere from £25 per bird they wish to shoot, and the total number of birds shot can range between 10 to even 400 depending on the budget and quarry. Over several days, large amounts of money will have been collected in exchange for the lives of millions of game.
In many households, children are taken on shoots, occasionally to act as beaters, and to help collect and kill the birds. Children are highly impressionable, so it seems likely they will pick up the idea of hurting and killing as a fun day out, rather than learning to value and protect the creatures living in precious habitats. Should a child be taught that it is acceptable to kill any animal, no matter how small its experience of life is compared to humans? It is important for society to value life, and care for it, rather than exploit it. Wounding in game shooting is common, and according to a 2015 shooting industry survey, 76% of shooters were unable to accurately gauge distance, meaning up to 40% of birds are wounded, rather than killed outright.
A poll by the League Against Cruel Sports and Animal Aid showed that nearly seven out of ten people (69 percent) in Great Britain want bird shooting made illegal. Whilst game shooting provides a sense of community and has both benefits and negatives in terms of the environment, it cannot be denied that this sport needs changes, not only for the wellbeing of people but more importantly for the game birds. Rather than spending months fattening up bred pheasants so as they’re slow and easy to shoot, people should turn to clay pigeon shooting. Many already enjoy the sport in this form, in which a firearm is used to shoot a special flying target known as clay pigeons, or clay targets. This form does not result in the death of a bird, but still provides a community, and sense of game shooting; whilst being far better for the environment.
