Emily Graham: The Countryside Needs Commercial Shoots but They Must Adapt [13 min listen]

We all know commercial shooting is often one of the Achilles heels of the shooting debate but why do they need to survive, who do they help, what benefit do they bring and how do they need to adjust? Commercial shooting seems to be a close second when it comes to criticism of the shooting community by the shooting community, as well as from outside it. Number One being raptor persecution. I do not shoot, and I could easily be swayed to be as negative about commercial shoots as I am about raptor persecution if I did not take the time to look harder at the situation. As a member of the Why Moorland Matter volunteer team, there is no doubt raptor crime is the shooting industry’s Achilles heel and as a recent guest described “it is like a game of snakes and ladders, every time there is a raptor crime reported, our community slides to the bottom again.” However, there is no doubt that I have witnessed all the good shooting does, for people, communities, habitat and wildlife in general, if done right.