Shooting traditions

The shooting of game birds, especially pheasants still exists in the UK, with the British Association for Shooting and Conservation saying that over a million people per year participate in shooting, although this figure includes game shooting, clay pigeon shooting and target shooting.^[11] Shooting, as opposed to traditional hunting, requires little questing for game - around 35 million birds are released onto shooting estates every year, some having been factory farmed. Shoots can be elaborate affairs with guns placed in assigned positions with assistants to help load shotguns. When in position, "beaters" move through the areas of cover swinging sticks or flags to drive the game out. Such events are often called "drives". The open season for grouse in the UK begins on August 12, the so-called Glorious Twelfth. The definition of game in the United Kingdom is governed by the Game Act 1831.