After a warm winter and relatively mild spring and early summer the grouse counts in England will bring a smile to the face of the expectant gun anticipating his days on the Moors!
The news from the Pennines and the Yorkshire is very promising, and some moors in the Dales and even further North have reported counts up on last year and even a few record counts.
Further north into Scotland there seems to have been a different story. Heather beetle ‘Lochmaea suturalis’ whose populations can expand into huge outbreaks, in which millions of beetle grubs can decimate hundreds of hectares of carefully managed heather has had its effect. This has a detrimental knock on the grouse as they just simply move away from affected areas. In a couple of cases in the Highlands this has led to the cancellation of the moors shooting program.
Although saying this some moors on the west and east side of Scotland have had some great counts and are anticipating good to record numbers. As always it is a mixed bag and we are reliant on mother nature who will always have the last word.
There are as still a few available days and a couple of moors are already putting on extras days. However these will sell quickly so please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to arrange a memorable day for you.