Farming Today This Week: Shooting for sport

Shooting is a contentious issue. To some, it's a traditional country pastime, to others, a cruel and outdated sport. Sybil Ruscoe is joined by Andrew Gilruth from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust and Pat Thompson from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to discuss the key issues that underpin the shooting of grouse, pheasant and pigeon. This includes the environmental management of grouse moors, the killing of animals that predate on these birds, the illegal practice of killing of raptors such as Hen Harriers as part of game management, and whether in fact it's still right and proper to kill birds for sport. Also contributing is Gamekeeper Duncan Sinclair-Willis who says that that the industrialisation of shoots is driving Gamekeepers to release more and more birds into the environment at the expense of proper moorland management.

Producer: Toby Field