Depending upon the Estates Terms and Conditions, which you must read with care, the liability for any cancellation typically falls upon those buying the shoot day. Whilst many shoots have, in the past, been able to be flexible around offering alternative days, in the event that a booked shoot day needs to be cancelled or curtailed the financial dynamics resulting from an outbreak of bird flu could make this impossible.

The policy of DEFRA, which is likely to be followed by the devolved national Governments, is to put in place a restriction zone of up to 10Km from the centre of any outbreak. Shooting is likely to be banned in those zones so no matter how good the bio-security measures operated by a shoot they could still be unable to function for long periods, typically up to 90 days, which could encompass most of the shoot season.

Insurance for teams of guns is available with rates starting at 2.5% of the cost of the shoot day.

For more details visit www.shootprotect.co.uk or call 03303 211254.