[Mr. X]

Shooters have been dealing with some of the issues we have been encountering recently for several decades:

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1. The new Code of Good Shooting Practice

Those fortunate enough to be able to go grouse shooting are already off the mark, but this week it was the turn of the foreshore fowlers to try their luck. With the arrival of September 1st, partridge shooting can also officially get underway, though many choose to wait. Either way, as summer departs, the thoughts of many Alliance members turn to the shooting season proper.

With the advent of the new game shooting season, the major organisations representing shooting have launched an improved version of the Code of Good Shooting Practice. The Countryside Alliance, along with the Country Land and Business Association, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, the National Gamekeepers Organisation, the Game Farmers Association, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, the Scottish Rural and Business Association and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, decided that it was time for a new edition of the popular and respected code.
This extract from the foreword sums up the need for the code: 'We must never be complacent about the future of shooting. Shooting and shoot management practices will be judged by the way participants and providers behave. Our sport is under constant and detailed scrutiny and we must demonstrate that we conduct it to high standards. The Code of Good Shooting Practice brings together these standards and makes them easily available to all who participate.'
The code is a good example of using self-regulation to fend off Government intervention. By its voluntary nature, not all may adhere to it, but over time it has proved an invaluable tool whether dealing with politicians or supermarkets. It points the shooting community in the right direction.
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One for Podge?

2. Get nominating in the Countryside Alliance Awards

The Countryside Alliance Awards, formerly the Best Rural Retailer competition, are now open to nominations, so cast yours here. Daily Telegraph columnist Andrew Pierce recently started the hunt for the rural politicians of the year. The political awards and the title Rural Hero of 2008 will be judged for the first time this year alongside the now familiar (and much coveted) prizes for the best rural retailers. So get nominating and put your rural community on the map. If you would rather put pen to paper than vote online, download a form here and post it to 367 Kennington Road, London, SE11 4PT.