Shooting UK: Increased Costs for the 2008/09 Season

Alistair,

In the greater scheme of things, the diffenece between say a 30 and 50 bird day is not that great - £75 per gun (shooting 8 guns) based on the price of £30/bird.

In some ways, as you say, it may be a cost saving too far, as the logistics of getting any number of birds to fly over the guns remain the same: Getting them to a stage where the can fly, cover crops, feeding them, pest control, heat light & power etc remain the same. So the additional 400 birds released (based on a 40% return to give you the additional 20 birds a day) is not a vast increase.

I agree that the cost of cartridges is the smallest part of a day's shooting, my point being that last year we used a great many on pest control and the cost increase has to be found from somewhere!

I would hate for our sport to only be available to the well-off, as this not only gives those who disagree with shooting a rod to beat us with, but take away the sport from those who work hard to enjoy it.

The very real danger is that costs will rise so far that many of the smaller shoots will either pack up or go DIY and if they employ a Keeper, this will lead to a situation where work becomes hard to find for Keepers.

Shoots either need to diversify to maintain the balance and survive or risk going under.

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