Sporting spirit will live on

The COVID-19 crisis is having a huge impact on the economy, not least shooting. Jamie Tusting looks at some of the possible outcomes

- Jamie Tusting

The future of shooting this season is looking extremely uncertain

The situation surrounding COVID-19 is changing rapidly and opinions are shifting. One of the few things that meets with general agreement is that the pandemic is going to have a huge effect on all aspects of life in this country.

Perhaps in the short-term the impact is being felt more keenly in towns and cities, where lockdown has resulted in confinement to flats and apartments, and the only fresh air available is a lap of an overcrowded park, or the queue to get into a supermarket.

In the countryside, farmers are still out in the fields and lambing sheds, continuing to feed the nation. I’m working from home, tucked away from the world in my cottage — I can’t go fishing but that is more or less where the disruption ends.

The shooting industry, however, seems to have been hit with a massive dose of uncertainty. Just at the critical time of the year when deposits for days are being collected and poults being ordered, the chain has ground to an uneasy halt. There are going to be winners and losers and I’m sure there will be positives, as well as the inevitable negatives.

I have heard of a number of shoots cancelling their seasons altogether, with businesses not able to stomach the potential losses of buying and feeding birds then not being able to generate income by shooting them. Some of the big shoots, which rely on corporate shooting days to pay the bills, are simply looking at the situation and backing off.