September can be a lovely month in the UK, with golden light and only a whisper of autumn. The perfect time then to embrace the great outdoors . . . by going to
Hundreds of shoots face financial ruin and gamekeeper redundancies are stacking up following the change to general licence 43 (GL43) in late May. Introduced in 2021 following a legal challenge from Wild Justice, GL43 allowed the release of gamebirds on or near European protected sites. But under the new rules, shoots must apply to Natural England for an individual licence to release on or within 500m of a Special Protected Area (SPA). Shooting Times is already aware that all shoots operating on Salisbury Plain, none of which are commercial, have been refused licences. Several of these shoots are used by servicemen and ex-servicemen, including the CEO of BASC, and all of them are now unable to operate. Shoots operating on the Bowland Fells, the Norfolk Brecks and in the New Forest have also been refused licences. Tim Weston of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation commented: “The area affected is enormous and includes anywhere within 500m of a chalkstream or a schedule one coastal