Glorious Twelfth in United Kingdom

This is one of the busiest days in the shooting season, with large numbers of game being shot. The 12thAugust is a sacred date, dubbed by some the 'New Year's Day of hunting', as it marks the start of the 121-day grouse shooting season – commonly known as the 'Glorious Twelfth'.

Grouse shooting got going when the Victorians built railways that made it easier to get up onto the moors, back in the mid-19th century. The UK Government was recently petitioned to ban driven grouse shooting. In response, it finally released a statement recognising that: “When carried out in accordance with the law, grouse shooting for sport is a legitimate activity and in addition to its significant economic contribution, providing jobs and investment in some of our most remote areas, it can offer important benefits for wildlife and habitat conservation”.