Shooting and countryside news, events and politics | Sporting Gun

Stolen shotgun leads to £3,000 fine for owner

A man who had a loaded shotgun stolen from his car has been fined £3,000 for not storing it in a secure place and breaching the terms of his shotgun licence.

DEFRA plans for dog owners to undergo competency tests

The government is considering plans to make all owners of dogs undergo a competency test, microchip their dog and take out third-party insurance.

Deer stalking: Year-round season for male deer rejected

Deer stalking: More than 8 out of 10 respondents to the Scottish Governments consultation on proposals to reform existing wildlife laws have rejected the controversial proposal to legalise shooting male deer all year round.

Scottish shooting estate home to 'extinct' species

Fifty-six rare species were found at Dundreggan Shooting Estate in Glen Moriston, Inverness-shire. All are included in the UK's Biodiversity Action Plan as priority species for conservation action.

Game keeper admits shooting buzzard

Graham Kerr, 53, was caught with one buzzard he had killed and admitted he was planning to poison more of the protected birds of prey.

Shooting championships set to break competition records

The UKs biggest sporting clay competition, the Beretta World Sporting Championships, will be held on July 2-4 at Meon Springs Fly Fishery, Hampshire.

Deer stalking: Deer stalking under threat as Scotland's cold weather continues

The Deer Commission for Scotland warns that thousands of deer face starvation as freezing temperatures continue.

Firearms licensing officers admit selling guns

Two police firearms licensing officers have admitted being involved in selling guns that had been handed in by the public to be destroyed.

Pensioner receives 5 years for firearms collection

Gun collector and firearms licence holder Roy Bennett, aged 71, was given a five-year sentence for possessing illegal firearms recently.

Shooting groups welcome NFU’s roost shooting initiative

Shooting groups have welcomed the NFUs move to promote roost shooting to help farmers control rising pigeon numbers.

Crimestoppers move to tackle poaching in Scotland

The Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland has introduced a new campaign to encourage the reporting of poaching to their local police or through Crimestoppers.

South Yorkshire Police arrest 17 in poaching crackdown

The South Yorkshire Police Wildlife Crime Unit recently launched a night of intensive action in response to feedback from rural communities that they were experiencing an increase in poaching, trespassing and criminal damage.

Shooting charity event raises £11K for air ambulance

A clay shooting and black tie dinner event has raised £11,250 for the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

Police arrest five poachers in dawn raids

Sussex Police investigating a deer poaching operation in the Rother area of East Sussex made five arrests following dawn raids.

Shooting restrictions in Scotland due to cold weather

Shooting of certain bird species to be suspended in Scotland for the first time in 13 years because of the prolonged spell of snow and ice.

Waitrose backs the British Deer Society

The British Deer Society has been nominated by Waitrose as one of three charities to benefit under its 'Community Matters' programme.

Scottish firearms offences plummet

News of a 17% drop in firearms offences in Scotland has been welcomed by BASC.

Commercial shooting hit hard by economic recession

Commercial shooting is being hit hard by the recession, with 60% of shoots expecting their income to fall over this season - according to a survey of lowland and upland shoots by Smiths Gore.

Prince's Trust clay pigeon shoot raises £135,000

More than 300 shooting enthusiasts have helped raise more than £135,000 at the annual Prince's Trust Clay Pigeon Shoot, at Auchterhouse Country Sports, near Dundee.

Midland Game Fair set to break records this weekend

More than 87,000 shooting fans and general visitors are expected to attend this years Midland Game Fair.

Heavy restrictions on Humber wildfowlers' shooting rights

Natural England has finally granted two Humber wildfowling clubs shooting consent  but with heavy restrictions.

Police want to tag medical records of gun licence holders

The shooting community is up in arms over a controversial new proposal to electronically tag medical records of gun licence holders.

RSPB steps up calls for government to regulate shoots

Shooting organisations are frustrated after the RSPB recently stepped up its calls for the government to regulate shooters.

Shooting more popular than football according to poll

Shooting has come out ahead of football, rugby and golf in a Sport England poll about peoples satisfaction with the quality of their sporting experiences.

London 2012 Olympic shooting row continues

The London 2012 Olympic shooting row continues with the resignation of British Shooting chairman, Phil Boakes.

RSPB's Game Fair message causes controversy

Are shooters and conservationists like chalk and cheese? That was the message emblazoned across this years RSPB stand at The CLA Game Fair.

Appeal to shooting community over dumped poults

More than 2,500 dead or dying day-old pheasant and partridge poults were found by the RSPCA dumped in boxes in Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, on 1 July.

Game keeper sues estate owner for 'damaged hearing'

Gamekeeper, Christopher Mulqueeney, who sued billionaire estate owner Sheikh Maher al-Tajir for £10,000 over claims he had been left with impaired hearing after working on the estate, agreed an undisclosed out-of-court settlement on 21 June.

Shoots to call on game feed manufacturers to lower prices

The current economic climate has sparked a price war within the game feed sector, according to manufacturers, who warn shoots run the risk of lowering their feed quality as a consequence.

Legally held guns at 10 year high in Scotland

The figures, released by the Scottish Government, show the number of firearms held on certificate went up by 4% from 2007 to 69,481, the highest for 10 years.

Council permission no longer neccessary for firearms possession

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, in the West Midlands, had sent tenants a letter detailing proposed changes to its tenancy conditions which required owners of licensed firearms to obtain the councils written permission to keep guns in a council property.

Invasive species cost £10bn a year to monitor and control

Sika deer, Canada geese and grey squirrels have all been listed as some of the most damaging invasive species in Europe, and the UK has these in abundance.

Leicestershire police asks shooters to notify them about all shooting events

The shooting community has reacted with concern after Leicestershire Constabulary launched a controversial initiative, urging shooters to voluntarily notify the police of all shooting events in the area, in a bid to stop police wrongly sending out officers to investigate public reports of firearms use.

Grey partridge in decline despite DEFRA schemes

The national decline of farmland bird species, including the grey partridge, has continued, despite new figures from DEFRA showing there has been a large increase in the area of Englands farmland under agri-environment schemes.

Shooting: Game keepers urged to display trap tampering poster

The Campaign Against Accidental or Illegal Poisoning (CAIP) is encouraging game keepers and shooting enthusiasts to display a poster designed to discourage members of the public from interfering with legal traps.

Shooting organisations call for Coastal Access Bill protection

Shooting organisations are urgently calling on the Government to clarify certain parts of the controversial Marine and Coastal Access Bill in a bid to safeguard the rights of wildfowlers and shooters.

Firearms licence: Police cannot tell how many people own firearms in UK

BASC has requested a meeting with the Home Office and the National Police Improvement Agency to discuss how best to resolve ongoing problems with Government figures on firearms and shotgun certificates.

Pigeon shooting: European Union clarifies law on shooting

European Commission launches guide clarifying the hunting requirements of the 1979 Wild Birds Directive.

Hunting: Anti-hunting protestor accused of gyrocopter murder

Anti-hunting protestor, Bryan Griffiths, aged 54, from Bedworth, Warwickshire today appear in court accused of murder.

CLA GAME FAIR: CLA Game Fair to be held at Belvoir Castle

This years CLA Game Fair returns to Belvoir Castle, near Grantham, Leicestershire on Friday, July 24 - Sunday, July 26.