Fieldsports Journal

02/09/2026

Hooké arrives in the UK next week and Trout & Salmon is proud to be a launch partner.

Canada's original fly fishing and outdoor apparel brand is one of the coolest things to happen to our sport in years, and founder Fred Campbell is coming over to launch it in person: TwinPeakes Fly Fishing on Royal Deeside on Wednesday 9 September, and Wadswick Country Store in Wiltshire on Friday 11 September, both 6pm to 9pm.

Food over the fire, drinks, and giveaways from Yeti. Places are limited, RSVP details on the invite.

01/09/2026

The shooting season gets underway today, and Fieldsports Journal is here for every part of it.

From the latest shooting news and expert advice to new kit and reviews, we’ll keep you informed every step of the way.

Subscribe to Fieldsports Journal and save 20% on your subscription.

👉 Subscribe here: https://shop.twsgroup.com/SEASON26

31/08/2026

“The Estate Hill is our workspace.”

North Chesthill has removed the signs at the centre of the Glen Lyon access row and says every walking route will remain open when its cull begins on 1 September.

But the estate says repeated disturbance is moving deer away from traditional areas, making cull targets harder to meet.

Where should the balance sit between an open hill and a working one?

https://fieldsports-journal.com/news/glen-lyon-cost-of-a-busy-hill/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fieldsports-journal-newsdesk

30/08/2026

Before a visitor to the North Pennines takes a bed or raises a glass this season, the moors will already have put over £1 million into local wages.

A survey of 31 driven moors found 318 days planned, with the money going directly to beaters, flankers and pickers-up before keepers, caterers, loaders and local businesses benefit from the wider spend.

That is the value of grouse shooting to the local economy.

https://fieldsports-journal.com/news/north-pennines-grouse-economics/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fieldsports-journal-newsdesk

29/08/2026

Why does one moor's grouse stock fail while the neighbouring ground thrives?

Two hard seasons have made that the question of the uplands, and the GWCT's Maternal Grouse Project is now built to answer it: 111 radio-tagged hens across the North Pennines and the Highlands, followed from nest to fledging, with heather nutrition, craneflies, worm burdens and rainfall measured against 45 years of counts.

The answers could shape how estates manage their moors for a generation.

https://fieldsports-journal.com/news/maternal-grouse-project-estates/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fieldsports-journal-newsdesk

28/08/2026

The fish that came home to one Wester Ross river have reopened a forty-year argument.

DNA shows 40 per cent of the Carron's seagoing smolts were bred in its hatchery from native stock, and they survived the Atlantic as well as wild fish. WildFish counters that the river was still downgraded last season.

Hatchery or habitat: where should a river's money go?

DNA from the River Carron shows stocked salmon surviving at sea at wild rates. What the evidence means for the owners of Scotland's salmon rivers.

26/08/2026

The tunny has returned to Yorkshire. Two bluefin of around 320kg were landed off Whitby, almost 90 years after the giants disappeared from these waters. With stocks recovering, could the Yorkshire coast see a second big-game era?

Full story: https://fieldsports-journal.com/news/bluefin-return-yorkshire-sporting-coast/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fieldsports-journal-newsdesk

23/08/2026

“He just stuck at it, day after day, at nearly 80 years old. He wasn't going to leave peat burning there.”

Davie Taylor, a former head gamekeeper, spent three days and nights fighting the Dava fire, Scotland's largest on record, then 22 more digging the burning peat out with spades, axes and five-gallon drums of water drawn from a burn. At Moy Country Fair, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association created a one-off award to thank him.

Who carries the cost of keeping a moor safe, and who should?

https://fieldsports-journal.com/news/dava-fire-keeper-moy-award/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fieldsports-journal-newsdesk

22/08/2026

Ask the people who know the same ground day in, day out.

In the Yorkshire Dales, every farmer interviewed for a BTO, national park and RSPB review supported predator control on their land, while most welcomed keepers working across farm boundaries. Six had seen fox and crow numbers rise after a neighbouring estate lost its keeper.

So what happens to a landscape when the keeper disappears?

Full story: https://fieldsports-journal.com/news/keepered-ground-curlew-dales/

22/08/2026

When does a game gun become something more than a game gun?

Five over-and-unders up to £20,000 show where the money goes once function is no longer the question.

From the Browning 825 Game Prestige to the Beretta DT11 EELL, the differences are in the action, engraving, walnut, barrel work and, ultimately, how the gun feels in the hands.

Which would you have on the peg?

Full story: https://fieldsports-journal.com/gear/finest-game-guns/