Fieldsports Journal Magazine Fieldsports AugustSeptember 2016 Back Issue

It's a pivotal date, the Glorious Twelfth. The game Shot's sporting year turns on its hinge and once again the breeks and garters make their way to the front of the wardrobe. For the fortunate, it's grouse, cordite and heather pollen on the breeze. Lunch on the fell, laughing with friends – the dogs all tongues and energy. For others it marks the start of the countdown to autumnal sport in earnest – anticipation of escape from the trappings of modern life.

It's a treasured escape... One found on the riverbank, too, and in the high seat, on the hill and in the hide... But now also in the comfort of your own home. The August/September issue of Fieldsports affords this luxury to those who turn its pages.

We ought to begin with the 35 grouse-filled pages (we don't take themed issues lightly). Read about a moor in North Yorkshire adapting particularly well to the curveballs thrown its way, or the joys of walked-up sport and the keys to management success. And then there's expert instruction from Simon Ward, memories from Rupert Godfrey, and informative accounts from the coalface.

Meanwhile, Lord James Percy discusses the need to restore and nurture the hydrology of our uplands, David S. D. Jones looks back on the memories of a grouse moor owner in the early 1900s, and we highlight the strides being made online by regional moorland groups.

Of course, away from the moors there's much to explore and many people to meet. We talk to sporting artist Sarah Ellis, and learn more about British Shooting's Olympic Skeet coach Joe Neville, whilst Jonathan Kennedy tells the tale of his very first grouse, and we give recognition to those game Shots who truly deserve it, for all of the right reasons.