Where'd all the wabbits go?

Tony is disheartened by the lack of rabbits in the fields around his house, and makes a discovery on his daily lockdown stroll that gets him thinking about the good old days...

- TONY JACKSON

Hopefully, by the time this issue is published, there will be some light on the horizon and a glimpse of a return to normal times. Writing well ahead of publication date, one can only speculate on the likely outcome for the forthcoming shooting season. However, there is reason to believe that while the sport will be on a reduced scale, particularly in the case of commercial shoots which rely on pre-season bookings, many of the smaller syndicates and DIY shoots will go ahead, albeit with a reduced number of birds.

One shoot where I pick-up may be curtailing the number of poults put down by half, but encouragingly has received virtually total support from the normal team of Guns, while another smaller local shoot, run on a DIY basis with a part-time keeper, intends to continue as normal.

Yes, there will be problems, and I’m afraid some game farms may suffer severely, but I have not the slightest doubt that we will all come through this appalling period with renewed strength and determination to preserve the countryside and its traditional ways of life. This includes hunts across the country that, against all the odds, have survived until now unscathed and will be determined to maintain kennels, hounds, and a traditional way of life. I have little doubt but that the Packhams of this world will see this as an opportunity to further their own unpleasant agendas, but they will make no headway.