It is not just about the keepers and shooters, it is the whole entourage that come together during a day on the hill.
Forty beaters, a dozen pickers-up, the guns, the loaders, it is unbelievable seeing everyone head out onto the heather. I have also been impressed with the professionalism of the keepers, their tweeds, their care for the job and the respect and pride with which they work. For a young person starting out in the industry, it is a great example.
This year has been special due to the large numbers of grouse. This is down to management, predator control and working with nature. We have had nice weather in the spring and early summer for the last couple of years, lots of insect life and good, mixed weather at hatching time. The careful use of medicated grit also helps the health and condition of the birds, overall.
It is quite amazing how many people are employed and how much money it brings in. If you extend that across Scotland, it is significant. I don’t think there is any other economic activity that could replicate the benefits for communities in these areas. Without it, I think we would see a lot more Sitka Spruce across our hills. I think it’s almost certain that we would have had more incursions of such species onto endangered heather moorland, if people had not been so keen to have grouse. Alternatively, these upland areas might have been over-grazed by sheep because that would be one of the few other possible land uses. What we would have in our uplands is large areas over-run with bracken, less income and none of the wider community benefits or jobs we see from grouse-related activity, and that’s not just for the moor owner. The benefits to other species, too, is massive. I personally think that, if a naturalist was to write a book in 100 or 200 years’ time about our history as we know it now, he or she would acknowledge we wouldn’t have nearly so much wildlife if it wasn’t for the management of keepers. When they look back on it, they will say, ‘thank god someone was interested in achieving a balance’.
