DEFRA's Gamebird Consultation Isn't Just a Shooters' Issue. If You've Got a Gundog, Read This.

The window closes at midnight on 1st November. And right now, the people who want to see game shooting restricted are putting their evidence on record. The people who rely on it - shooters, handlers, trainers, beaters, pickers-up, working dog competitors - aren't keeping pace.

BASC have said it plainly. There are an estimated 650,000 people involved in game shooting in England. The response so far? A fraction of that.

This post is for everyone who's thought this doesn't apply to them. Because if you own a gundog, train one, compete with one or work one - it does. More than most people realise.

What the DEFRA Review Actually Is

On 4th September 2026, the government launched a formal call for evidence on gamebird rearing, release and shooting in England. It covers pheasant, red-legged partridge, mallard and red grouse - the rearing, the release, the land management that goes with them.

DEFRA says they want to understand both the positive and negative impacts. That sounds balanced. What it means in practice is that the evidence submitted will directly shape whatever comes next - and "whatever comes next" could include new licensing requirements for shoots.

BASC's own description of that prospect: "licensing is a wolf in sheep's clothing, hunting for a ban."

This isn't scaremongering. This is what happens when the people who care about something don't put their case on the record, and the people who want it gone do.

The consultation closes at midnight on 1st November. That's the line.

Why This Affects You Even If You Don't Shoot

Here's what gets missed in most of the coverage of this review. The shooting community tends to talk to itself. Shooters respond. Non-shooting handlers and trainers think it's someone else's fight.

It isn't.

Think about what game shooting actually supports. It's not just the people on the peg. It's the beating lines and the picking-up teams. It's the training grounds - the fields, the woodland edges, the land managed specifically to hold game - that working gundogs train on. It's the working tests and field trials that give competitive handlers something to aim for. It's the scurry leagues, the simulated shoot days, the cold game days, the competitions that our members work towards all year.

The whole world of the working gundog sits inside an ecosystem that game shooting maintains. Take a hammer to game shooting and you don't just affect the shooter. You affect every handler, every trainer, every organisation that exists in that space.

BASC confirmed it themselves. The consultation explicitly asks for evidence from gundog trainers and handlers. Your experience is listed as exactly the kind of evidence DEFRA needs to hear.

Right now, it's just not being submitted.

What DEFRA Actually Wants - And Why Your Story Counts

This is the part that surprises people. When they hear "call for evidence" they picture formal submissions. Data. Research papers. Reports commissioned by organisations with policy teams.

That's not what DEFRA is asking for from individuals.

They want personal accounts. In your own words. What game shooting and the working dog world means to you. What you've seen on the land you train on. What would change - for you, for your dog, for your community - if shooting were restricted or shut down.

A beater describing what a season means to them. A handler explaining how working tests have given them a goal to train towards. A trainer talking about the land that exists because shooting exists. That's the kind of evidence DEFRA has asked for, and it's the kind the opposition cannot produce at scale.

There are 650,000 people in this community. The only reason the opposition are competitive in this process is that the people who should be responding aren't.

The Bigger Picture

This isn't an isolated consultation. Earlier this year, BASC raised concerns about separate government proposals where the wording was broad enough to catch gundog training, Kennel Club field trials and working tests - not by intention, but because nobody from our side put their experience on the record in time.

This is a pattern. Countryside activities, working dog sports, rural ways of life - they're all connected. When one piece gets pulled, the others feel it. Responding to this DEFRA review isn't just about defending game shooting. It's about putting the whole of the working countryside on the record before someone else's version of it becomes the one that sticks.

Here's Exactly What to Do

BASC have made this as simple as possible. There's a template. You don't need to write from scratch. You don't need to be a policy expert.

Step 1 - Go to the BASC guidance page and pick up the template: 👉 basc.org.uk/thevoiceofshooting

Step 2 - Use the template as your base, then add a paragraph in your own words. What does this mean to you? What have you seen? What would you lose?

Step 3 - Email it to DEFRA: 📧 gamebirds@defra.gov.uk

Step 4 - Copy in BASC so your response counts in their formal submission too: 📧 evidence@basc.org.uk

Ten minutes. A template to follow. A deadline of midnight, 1st November.

Don't Leave This to Someone Else

If enough people in this community respond, the evidence on record reflects reality. If they don't, it doesn't - and policy gets made on the version of reality that was submitted.

You don't need to be a shooter. You need to own a gundog, train one, work one, or care about the countryside that makes all of it possible. That's enough.

Send your response. Share this post. Forward it to everyone you know who has any connection to working dogs and the countryside.

The deadline is midnight, 1st November.

Don't sit this one out.

Common Questions

Do I need to shoot to submit evidence? No. BASC have confirmed that gundog trainers, handlers and anyone connected to the working dog community is listed as someone DEFRA wants to hear from. Non-shooters who train or work gundogs are actively needed.

What should I actually write? Write in your own words about your personal experience - what the working dog world means to you, what you've seen, what you'd lose. Use the BASC template at basc.org.uk/thevoiceofshooting as your starting point.

Where do I send it? Email gamebirds@defra.gov.uk and copy in evidence@basc.org.uk so BASC can track responses and include yours in their formal submission.

When does it close? Midnight on 1st November 2026. Not a day later.

Why does this affect gundog clubs and trainers? Game shooting supports the land, events, working tests, field trials and training grounds the working gundog community depends on. DEFRA has explicitly asked for evidence from handlers and trainers - not just shooters - because they recognise that connection.