ShootingShooting does not face an outright ban – yet. However, we should never forget that shooting faces regular threats whether through restrictions on the guns we use, the ammunition we fire, the birds we rear, the land we use or our very presence in the countryside we love. It was only a year ago when 10 per cent of MPs declared their support for a total ban on game shooting. The potential knee-jerk response to the shootings in Cumbria, the move to ban lead ammunition and to place restrictions on game rearing all demand an intelligent, robust response. Alongside our political lobbying, winning public support is essential. Our public opinion research drives our campaign focus and ensures that we know which buttons to press. We know it makes a difference because we discovered that a significant proportion of the public supports shooting only because game is eaten. Our hugely successful Game-to-Eat campaign has increased game sales by more than 60 per cent is a direct outcome of our research and hard work. Other Alliance projects, include getting more young people involved in shooting and National Shooting Week, which has introduced thousands of newcomers to the sport, all help to create new attitudes towards shooting. |
 Public bookings now being taken for National Shooting Week!Tuesday, 1 May 2012 Bookings from the public are now being taken for National Shooting Week 2012, which will take place between 2nd and 10th June, so please take a newcomer along to an event! During the week, shooting clubs and grounds are offering discounted lessons to all newcomers. Absolutely no experience is necessary and lessons can cater for people of all ages. Read more Getting youngsters into shootingFriday, 27 April 2012 Countryside Alliance Executive Chairman Sir Barney White-Spunner writes: Some readers will have seen that last weekend I was in various newspapers talking about my vision for the Countryside Alliance and British countryside in general. You can read the articles in full by clicking the links at the bottom of this piece, but I wanted to share a couple of the key points that I made in the interview. Read more Shooting Times' lead shot scoopThursday, 26 April 2012 Shooting Times magazine has this week reported that “Leaked papers reveal the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust's campaign aims to focus public concern on consumption of game that has been shot with lead. The council of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), the charity founded by the wildfowler and conservationist Sir Peter Scott, has approved a strategy which will see it campaign publicly for a ban on the use of lead gunshot for all shooting in England within the next three years”. Read more Population trends for UK birds of preyWednesday, 25 April 2012 Recent figures produced by the Government in response to a Parliamentary Written Question on Bird of Prey numbers have shown that with very few exceptions, birds of prey are increasing in numbers, in some cases significantly. Read more Ditch the Laptop and Try Shooting and FishingMonday, 23 April 2012 The new Executive Chairman of the Countryside Alliance, Sir Barney White-Spunner, was across the media at the weekend urging kids to ditch their computer and come down to National Shooting Week in the first week of June and try their hand clay pigeon shooting or go out fishing this summer. Read more April shoot updateTuesday, 17 April 2012 Welcome to the Shooting Campaign's monthly update, brought to you by David Taylor, campaign manager. This month's update includes the results of our shooting survey, a short film on pigeon shooting, a shoot seminar in the Northern region on 27th April and a spring game recipe. Read more Countryside Alliance - Shooting Survey resultsMonday, 2 April 2012 Shooting Campaign Manager David Taylor writes: Last year the Countryside Alliance embarked on an ambitious project to identify the issues young people face when starting in shooting. To help us discover the answers we conducted a National Shooting Survey between June 2011 and February 2012. In this survey, we asked the shooting public just what they thought of the problems associated in bringing young people into shooting. We hope the results will be invaluable to the future of our sport. Read more David Taylor writes on snaringFriday, 30 March 2012 Shooting Campaign Manager David Taylor writes: It is sometimes pointed out to me that I am obsessed with shooting. My wife frequently mentions that all I ever want to do is go shooting. I argue that this is not the case, if only to defend myself, but deep down I know she is probably right. Personally, I prefer the term passionate. Despite this, there is one trap that I try and stay away from – thinking that everyone else’s world revolves around shooting. Read more Taylor's travels - pigeonWednesday, 28 March 2012 It's crop protection time. David Taylor, CA Shooting Campaign Manager at the Countryside Alliance meets game chef Mark Gilchrist who is trying to keep the wood pigeons off the spring crops. He also gets his hands on the new Browning pigeon (and pheasant and clay) gun: the B725. Read more Calling all clubs and grounds - sign up for National Shooting WeekFriday, 16 March 2012 Shooting clubs and grounds are invited to sign up to run an event in National Shooting Week. This is the sixth annual event aimed at encouraging newcomers into shooting sports. In Olympic year National Shooting Week will run from 2-10th June. Clubs that sign up at www.nationalshootingweek.co.uk will receive free CA trade membership for a year. Read more |
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