How are the Grouse Faring?

The winter so far has been pretty good for Grouse health and whilst we would like it to get colder and drier, the Met Office are forecasting that this is going to be a dry over winter period; at the time of writing this, that seems rather unlikely! Grouse like cold dry weather and the strongyle worm does not. As the strongyle worm is perhaps the Grouse’s greatest threat, what we do not want is a mild wet winter, which will only increase the worm burden. 

Grouse numbers on many Moors improved in 2025 after a disastrous 2024 breeding season. Whilst stock levels are not where they would ideally want to be on some Moors, they are undoubtedly at a better level than we have seen for the last couple of years and that gives us good confidence as to what the potential could be going forward. If you have an even modest stock of Grouse, they over winter well and then we have a really good spring and early summer, the 2026 season could be good to very good. If you already have a really nice stock and the same weather going forward, it could be a great season. There is as a result much more confidence in the air from Moor owners, Managers and Grouse Keepers. We are definitely not back to where we were even four/five years ago, but almost everyone is very much more optimistic.

There is also in England, a much more determined feel in this sector, having been subject to restriction after restriction in recent years (and under the Conservatives as well as the current shower). This more optimistic feel is largely because of much better leadership in the Moorland Association. The legal challenges to further heather burning restrictions on top of many applications being made by Moors wanting to be allowed to burn, has given a spring in many steps; we appear at last to be fighting back. It is absolutely ironic that the Scottish Government who was intending to impose legislation restricting burning, had second thoughts right at the last minute, because of the wildfire in Morayshire which burnt 30,000 acres of Upland. That Natural England just across the border seem incapable of understanding this, is deeply frustrating. Making predictions is always difficult, but it seems very likely that we will see our first 100,000 acres wildfire within only a few years, given increasing fuel load and more prolonged periods of dry weather. The scale of such disaster one would have thought, would have encouraged the Government and Natural England, the organisation that is set up to oversee such matters, to really look at this in a meaningful way, but alas not. They are so fixated on re-wetting and cannot understand how Vegetation Management to include sensible controlled burning, is a vital ingredient to prevent damage from wildfires.

Anyway, enough of the gloom – the Grouse are looking good and from our perspective, we are optimistic for the coming season!

This article was taken from the joint JM Osborne Rural & Sporting and William Powell Sporting Winter Newsletter. To read or download a copy of the newsletter please click here.

Article written by Mark Osborne