Hunting and shooting in the United Kingdom

Hunting has been practised by humans in Britain since prehistoric times; it was a crucial activity of hunter-gatherer societies before the domestication of animals and the dawn of agriculture.

During the last ice age, humans and neanderthals hunted mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses by driving them over cliffs; evidence has been found at La Cotte de St Brelade on the island of Jersey.

In Britain, hunting with hounds was popular in Celtic Britain before the Romans arrived, using the Agassaei breed.[3] The Romans brought their Castorian and Fulpine hound breeds[4] to England, along with importing the brown hare (the mountain hare is native) and fallow deer as quarry. Wild boar was also hunted.

"The Setting Dogg & Partridgs" (detail) by Richard Blome, from The Gentlemans Recreation (1686)

The earliest known attempt to specifically hunt a fox with hounds occurred in Norfolk, in the East of England, in 1534, where farmers began chasing down foxes with their dogs as a form of pest control. Packs of hounds were first trained specifically to hunt foxes in the late 17th century, with the oldest such fox-hunt likely to be the Bilsdale in Yorkshire.[5] By the end of the 17th century, many organised packs were hunting both hare and fox.

Shotguns were improved during the 18th and 19th centuries and game shooting became more popular. To protect the pheasants for the shooters, gamekeepers culled competitive species such as foxes, magpies and birds of prey almost to extirpation in popular areas, and landowners improved their coverts and other habitats for game. Game Laws were relaxed by Parliament in 1831, which meant anyone could obtain a permit to shoot rabbits, hares, and gamebirds, although shooting and taking away any birds or animals on someone else's land without their permission continued to count as the crime of poaching, and continues to do so today.

Hunting was formerly a royal sport, and to an extent shooting still is, with many kings and queens being involved in hunting and shooting, including King Edward VII (r. 1901–1910), King George V (who on 18 December 1913 shot over a thousand pheasants out of a total bag of 3937),[6] King George VI (r. 1936–1952) and Prince Philip, although Queen Elizabeth II (r. 1952–2022) did not shoot. Shooting on the large estates of Scotland has always been a fashionable country sport. This trend is generally attributed to the Victorians, who were inspired by the romantic nature of the Scottish Highlands.

As of 2020 game shooting and deer stalking are carried on as field sports in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Hunting with hounds in the traditional manner became unlawful in Scotland in 2002 and in England and Wales in 2005, but continues in certain accepted forms. Traditional foxhunting continues in Northern Ireland. Following a trail (similar to drag hunting) rather than a live quarry has subsequently grown in importance in Great Britain, as has hunting foxes with a bird of prey. In 2005 it became unlawful in England and Wales to shoot game birds while they are not in flight, an action which has long been considered unsporting.

In the UK "game" is defined in law by the Game Act 1831. Other (non-game) birds that are hunted for food in the UK are specified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. UK law defines game as including:

An English Springer Spaniel in a typical English shooting scene

Although there is no close season for hare outside Northern Ireland, the Hare Preservation Act of 1892 makes it illegal to sell, or offer to sell, hare between 1 March and 31 July. Deer are not included in the definition, but similar controls provided to those in the Game Act apply to deer (from the Deer Act 1991). Deer hunted in the UK are:

• Red deer
• Roe deer
• Fallow deer
• Sika deer
• Muntjac deer
• Chinese water deer
• Hybrids of these deer

Other birds and mammals shot in the UK include:

Ducks

• Mallard
• Wigeon
• Teal
• Shoveler
• Pintail
• Common pochard
• Common goldeneye
• Gadwall
• Tufted duck

Geese

• Greylag goose
• Canada goose
• Pink-footed goose

Other birds

• Wood pigeon
• Woodcock
• Snipe
• Golden plover

Mammals

• European rabbit

Mean ± SE numbers of birds recorded in 4 ha plots in woodlands managed for pheasants compared with unmanaged woodlands in southern England. * indicates statistically significant difference. Created using data from Draycott et al. (2008).

Habitat destruction and fragmentation are major drivers of biodiversity loss in the United Kingdom,[11] however landowners that participate in field sports, particularly hunting and shooting, are more likely to conserve and reinstate woodlands[12] and hedgerows[13] because they are used by quarry species. A study in 2003 showed that they are around 2.5 times more likely to plant new woodlands than landowners without game or hunting interests, and also conserve a far greater woodland area.[12] These habitats are essential for the persistence of a wide range of other British wildlife, and consequently it has been suggested that field sports can provide valuable tools for wildlife conservation in the UK, without the need for governmental subsidies or protective legislation.

Landowners undertake management measures to improve habitats for quarry species, including shrub planting, coppicing[14][15] and skylighting[16] to encourage understory growth. Roger Draycott of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust has reported the conservation benefits of game management schemes in the UK, including woodlands with denser undergrowth and higher abundances of native birds.[17] However, overall evidence that game shooting is beneficial to wider biodiversity has been inconclusive: high densities of game birds are known to negatively impact ecosystems, resulting in shorter grassland vegetation,[18] lower floral diversity in semi-natural woodlands,[19] fewer saplings in hedgerows leading from such woodlands,[20] and possible reductions in arthropod biomass attributable to predation.[21]

Cover crops such as maize are planted in strips to provide forage and shelter for game birds during the winter months

The rearing of both wild and released game birds requires the provision of food and shelter during the winter months,[22] and to achieve this landowners plant cover crops.[23] Generally species such as maize or quinoa, these are planted in strips alongside arable land. Cover crops are also utilised by a variety of nationally declining farmland birds such as linnets and finches,[22][24][25][26] providing valuable food resources and refuge from predators. One study assessed the response of bird assemblages to the implementation of a multi-dimensional game management system on a farm in Leicestershire, England.[27] It was found that the populations of several declining species increased significantly, suggesting that game management strategies may indeed play a major role in the conservation of wildlife in Britain, particularly threatened farmland passerines.

Prior to the Hunting Act, fox hunting also provided a major incentive for woodland conservation and management throughout England and Wales, with higher species diversity and abundance of plants and butterflies found in woodlands managed for foxes according to a survey of mounted hunts in 2006, verified by The Council of Hunting Associations.[28]

Chatelherault, built by William Adam in 1743 as the Duke of Hamilton's hunting lodge.

A sporting or hunting lodge is a small country property specifically used for organising hunting parties. It can also be called a hunting box, shooting box or shooting lodge.

Such places might be quite separate or detached from the main property, or in a different part of the country.

The lodge may have a special room for hanging game and a gun room where guns were lodged and ammunition stored.

Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, formerly known as The Great Standing, is located in Epping Forest. It is an example of such a Tudor installation.[29]

• Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
• List of renewable resources produced and traded by the United Kingdom

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hunting and shooting in the United Kingdom.

• The Science and Sociology of Hunting: Shifting Practices and Perceptions in the United States and Great Britain from The State of the Animals II: 2003 ISBN 0-9658942-7-4
• British Association for Shooting and Conservation website