More than 10,000 people have emailed the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in response to its review of game shooting in England, BASC told members on Friday, 23 October, and the association says thousands more are needed before the call for evidence closes at 23:59 on Sunday, 1 November. Businesses that benefit from shooting are explicitly within scope, and the trade’s evidence is the part of the picture most likely to go unwritten.

What is the review and who may respond?

Defra’s call for evidence covers the rearing, release and shooting of gamebirds in England. Anyone with a connection to game shooting in England qualifies, whether or not they live there: Guns, beaters, pickers-up, shoot managers, farmers who host shoots and businesses that benefit from shooting. For the trade that means the gun shop whose autumn depends on the game season, the cartridge maker, the game dealer, the feed and equipment supplier, the gunmaker whose order book is written at the shoot lunch and the clothing retailer whose busiest quarter is this one.

BASC asked Defra for more time; the department refused, calling the two-month window reasonable, so the 1 November deadline is final. Defra is obliged to consider every submission within the review’s scope, and it has commissioned an independent economic assessment alongside the evidence it receives.

Why is BASC pressing so hard?

“Anti-shooting groups, including Wild Justice and Protect the Wild, are urging their supporters to respond to Defra’s call for evidence,” the association wrote in its email to members. “They want to use this review to create a negative story around shooting to justify a ban. Let’s make sure the real story of shooting is told.” It asked members who have already responded to forward the appeal to “three friends who shoot, beat, pick up or work in the countryside”, because many still do not know the review is happening.

What should a trade response contain?

Evidence, in the plain sense: turnover attributable to the game season, staff employed and the months their hours depend on, stock bought ahead of the season, the share of custom that comes from shoots and syndicates, and the knock-on trade for the local economy a shoot sustains. BASC’s campaign page carries a template email, and the association urges respondents to add their own lines “because personal accounts carry far more weight than identical letters”. A dealer’s own figures, however rough, are exactly the kind of account that a template cannot supply. BASC also asks respondents to copy its evidence team in, so it can track engagement and shape its own overall submission, and it has produced posters, leaflets and a written response form for shoot rooms and shop counters.

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) has published its own template, and shooting organisations across the sector have spent October driving responses. The Gun Trade Association’s members have the same deadline as everyone else.

What happens next

The call for evidence closes at 23:59 on Sunday, 1 November. Defra will then weigh the submissions alongside the independent economic assessment it commissioned, and the sector’s organisations are expected to publish their own full responses. Evidence can be sent by email until the deadline; BASC’s template and guidance on what counts as evidence are on its campaign page, linked below.

Useful links

BASC – the Be the Voice of Shooting campaign page with the email template

GWCT – the trust’s template for responding to the call for evidence

Defra – the call for evidence itself

ShootingUK – the group’s full account of BASC’s appeal to members

Frequently asked questions

Can a business respond to Defra’s game shooting review?

Yes. Businesses that benefit from game shooting in England are within the review’s scope, alongside Guns, beaters, pickers-up, shoot managers and host farmers.

When does the call for evidence close?

At 23:59 on Sunday, 1 November 2026. Defra refused BASC’s request for an extension, so no later submissions will be taken.

What evidence counts from the trade?

Turnover tied to the game season, jobs and hours that depend on it, stock bought ahead of the season and the local trade a shoot sustains, written in the business’s own words rather than a template alone.

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