Grouse season is upon us. 12 August is known as the ‘Glorious Twelfth’ and marks the official start of Britain’s 121-day grouse hunting season. This year it actually starts on 13 August as the Twelfth lands on a Sunday, when hunting game birds is forbidden, but the ‘Glorious Thirteenth’ doesn’t really have the same ring to it.
Considered to be the king of game birds, red grouse are unique to Britain and highly prized. They represent the ultimate test of shooting skill, as they can fly at speeds of up to seventy miles per hour, often fly close to the ground, and can change direction in the blink of an eye. Understandably, the red grouse is a well-respected bird; it was the mascot of Scotland’s national rugby team, and is the current emblem of the well-known whisky brand.
All red grouse are wild and are never farmed or reared for hunting (like partridges and pheasants). Their heather moorland habitat is carefully controlled and managed by teams of gamekeepers, who try to maximise the size of the bird population each year. This is done by a process of burning selected patches of heather in a rotation system in order to control its growth and optimise its height. The tradition of the Glorious Twelfth dates back to the Victorian era and coincides with the advent of railways, which enabled hunters to access the northernmost parts of the country far more quickly and easily.
