CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR SHOOTING SPORTS IN ENGLAND

If you love shooting sports, you should already know that, in order to practice them, you must comply with a whole series of rules created exclusively to guarantee your safety and that of the people who share any experience with you.

In England, they know this well and, for this reason, the British Association for shooting and conservation has created a code of good practice for shooting sports, which not only covers safety issues in this sport, but is also concerned with wildlife conservation on the tracts of land where any shooting sport is to be carried out.

A code that, as a good shooter, you should always have at hand.

Today we are going to focus on the most important sections of it.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR SHOOTING SPORTS IN ENGLAND

Shooting sports have a long tradition in Great Britain. Two of the most popular are hunting and Simulated Game Days, which we told you about in this blog post.

Both require large tracts of land that need to be managed in the best way to ensure their conservation, the marked improvement of the landscape and the enhancement and maintenance of wildlife.

Annually, the practice of these sports moves approximately 2 billion pounds in the United Kingdom, an amount that represents a substantial contribution to the rural economy, where, sometimes, income from other means is scarce.

This is a great argument for promoting these sports in England. However, shooting sports also have their detractors. Not everyone likes the same things, that’s for sure!

The aim of this code is to avoid, or even reduce as much as possible, this number of detractors, involving all lovers of these sports to comply with good practices necessary for a good coexistence with the rest of the population.

Knowing the code and disseminating its understanding among the shooting community is of vital importance to prevent any practice related to this sport from being misjudged by how its participants and suppliers behave.

WHAT DOES THIS CODE OF GOOD PRACTICES CONSIST OF?

The code of good practice establishes the correct framework for any shooter to follow to ensure sustainable shooting, paying attention to the habitat and avoiding disturbing others.

It is made up of 10 sections, some of which we will develop below, offering advice on how to develop a sustainable shot and to achieve best practices, thus avoiding any deviation that needs some kind of justification.

BEHAVIOR DURING A SHOOTING DAY

Any shooter or person involved during a shooting day should act as a good ambassador for the sport, complying with the code and encouraging others to do the same through actions such as these:

• Abide by the rules of safety, observance of the law and good customs.
• Respect the quarry, the habitat and the landscape.
• Seek help and support associations that represent and promote this sport.

RESPONSIBLE SHOOTING

As far as shooters are concerned, the code of good practice indicates actions such as the following:

• They must be assured of their skills and capabilities.
• They must recognize the target and use the correct lead shot according to regulations.
• Inexperienced shooters should work to improve their skills through practice with clay targets and should be accompanied and supervised by a suitably experienced professional.
• Shooters should avoid depositing lead pellets in wetlands, as they are important for feeding waterfowl.

WITH REGARD TO THE RECOVERY OF HUNTING…

During a hunting day, shooters must take into account these indications:

• Do not shoot in places where it will not be possible to recover the prey.
• The organizers of the day must ensure that everything necessary to recover the dams is available.
• Each shooter must be concerned with picking up his own prey and helping others when it is in his power to do so.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR OTHER PARTICIPANTS IN A SHOOTING DAY

Respect, courtesy and care for the interests of the other participants in a shooting day must be the main premises to be taken into account:

• Everyone involved in a shooting day must have respect for others and ensure their safety at all times.
• The frequency of firing should not result in too much disturbance to neighbours, particularly noise.
• Those in charge must ensure that they have applied for the relevant permissions prior to the start of the shooting day.
• Shooters should use cartridges with degradable wads whenever possible, disposing of all cartridges and other debris after each shot.
• Managers and shooters must ensure that roads, paths, trails and walkways are not obstructed, including the installation of information signs.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR A SHOOTING DAY

The person in charge of the shooting day, his employees and the shooters must comply with the legislation in force. In particular, special attention must be paid to the following:

• Shooters must comply with the firearms law and have the corresponding certificate.
• Organizers must inform participants about safety issues and risk assessment.
• The use of lead shot on salt marshes or beaches is prohibited.
• Empty cartridges should be deposited in special landfills as contaminated waste.

These are just some of the points that the code of good practices takes care of. To view the full content, you can do so here.

In any case, if you are in England, you can always contact the British Association for shooting and conservation where they will inform you of everything you need to know.

Or you can contact us by any means you prefer, and we will try to guide you as much as we can.

Did you already know about this code of good practices?