Sam Carlisle of the Campaign for Shooting answers your burning questions

You may have tuned in to our recent Q&A on the Campaign for Shooting that took place over Facebook LIVE, where our Shooting Campaign Mangager, Sam Carlisle, answered questions asked by members and supporters. For those who missed the video, we have collated the most popular questions and their answers below.

How will shooting be affected by COVID next season?

If there's one thing we've learnt from this pandemic, it's how unpredictable it has been. However, what we do know is that shooting is growing in popularity, with more participants than ever before. And with many people now yearning for a return to normality and those experiences, from having a pint with friends to a shoot day, I am sure we'll see strong demand for shooting in the coming season. This is vital for the shoots themselves, who lost 2 months of their season, and also those rural communities who rely on the income generated by shooting.

What is the current situation with general licences?

New licences were issued by Defra for 2021 which were a great improvement on the previous year's versions. Importantly, Defra took notice of our lobbying to ensure that they remained in control of General Licences, rather than reverting them to Natural England, who have proved incompetent at managing them.

While an improvement the licences are not perfect. Some of the conditions are either unworkable or absurd. However, they do allow gamekeepers to mostly continue their vital work. We are continuing our lobbying efforts to ensure that these areas or concern are ironed out in the future.

Is it true that Defra want to licence or restrict shooting on SSSI?

This is not true, but was misleadingly reported by both The Telegraph and The Daily Mail. We have complained to both papers about this inaccuracy, having fielded plenty of calls from our members in the mean time! Defra is suggesting a temporary licencing system, while the current system of 'consents' is reviewed, on shots operating on or within 500m of a European protected site. To put this in context, there are 4,500 SSSIs in England, and 85 European protected sites.

What is the latest on the transition away from lead shot and single use plastic in game shooting?

We are now a year on since the joint announcement by 9 rural and shooting organisations. In that year many new products have come to market, including cartridges in 65mm. For 12 bores, there is now an alternative to lead at a similar price point for almost every gun, except those with Damascus barrels.

Personally, I've been shooting steel out of my 1889 English side by side this season, and actually found them preferable to my norm 28gr 6 lead cartridges. I think because of steels superior patterning qualities, and the fact that I wasn't shooting at much at an extreme range. Certainly, I run out of skill before the cartridge runs out of oomph!

If you have any other questions about the Campaign for Shooting, you can email them to [email protected]