Glorious 12th

Grouse, unlike deer, don't need to be shot "per se" in that they would otherwise damage crops or woodlands that have a cash value.

But they do need to be managed to ensure a healthy population that the food resources of the moor can sustain. So an over abundance usually leads to pressure on their natural food supply and birds in poor condition/fewer birds by the start of the next year's season.

Also by late September or early October they are usually too "wild" to be walked up and rise well out of range for that to be difficult. But it's capital sport (other than having to carry a bleeding game bag about). And, of course, there's the black game (with the black cock and grey hen) and, in Scotland, blue hare to mix the "bag" a bit.

Just be sure who carries what, though, if you shoot a blue hare! All in it's a good day and twenty cartridges per "gun" is adequate walking up.
 
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I seem to have, in the back of my mind, something about too high grouse densities leading to parasite problems.
 
But it's capital sport (other than having to carry a bleeding game bag about).

I now use a lightweight canvas roe-sack with broad flat straps for my big walk days & find it much more comfortable than the usual Brady bag plus it's easier to carry the other bits & pieces that you might need. The other advantage is that if you need to climb you'll find that a broken side-by-side sits very well through the straps against your back leaving your hands free.
 
In the olds days u were right JTO, was dependent on moor but most were cyclic sort of 5-7 year cycles of boom and bust due to the strongyle worm, now wih medicated grit it is almost thing of the past. Infact some moors have stopped putting medicated grit out as worm burdens are so low almost zero to stop any tolerance/resistance being built up.

Red grouse in paticular can breed quite quickly and succesfully if condions, habitat and weather are right, broods can be in double figures (think average survival is about 4-6 in scotland and about 6-8 in eng)
Was far more of a problem in old days with the worm but if u had a really good breeding season the biggest problem u have is shooting enough grouse, end of the day the hill can only support so many over winter so most keepers try to get down to that number as quickly as possible as if weather closes in they may lose big numbers to it and starvation. so u might lose ur next years shooting if u leave to many or gamble on it being a mild winter and leave some extra stock for the next year
Have heard of some moors having 10-15 keeper days to try and get rid of them, but that was quite unusual

Cheers enfield, must admit i didn't think the price of a brace had rose that much, althou i'm not really in a position to buy lways nice to window shop;)
 
Also cock grouse are very territorial, and will not tolerate another male in his territory at breeding time,ianother reason why they need to be shot hard when numbers are high, the objective
being to kill the old grouse where possible, a cock grouse in his first year will have a small territory hence if the majority of birds are young you will have more nests in a given area,each subsequent year that he lives he will claim a larger territory,resulting in less nests.

Disease can still be a problem when too many grouse are left to over winter though medication has gone a long way to prevent it, and in recent years things like bulgy eye have appeared which is causing some concern


In my fathers day it was common practice to go round shooting old cocks with a .22 when they were asserting their rights to a territory, thus giving the young birds a better chance.

Shooting grouse over pointers can also be a good way to cull older birds,but you need to be quick as the old birds tend to be the first to get up
 
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