The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) is a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, whose mission is to promote and protect sporting

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...

and the well-being of the

countryside In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. It has a membership of over 150,000. Its magazine ''Shooting and Conservation'' had an average circulation of around 135,000 in 2017. Sporting shooting includes

wildfowling Waterfowl hunting (also called wildfowling or waterfowl shooting in the UK) is the practice of hunting ducks, geese, or other waterfowl for food and sport. Many types of ducks and geese share the same habitat, have overlapping or identical hunt ...

, game, and rough shooting,

deer stalking Deer stalking, or simply stalking, is a British term for the stealthy pursuit of deer on foot with the intention of hunting for meat, for leisure/trophy, or to control their numbers. As part of wildlife management, just as with rabbiting an ...

, target shooting and air gunning,

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

shooting and

pest control Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest; any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage done and will range ...

gundog Gun dogs, or bird dogs, are types of hunting dogs developed to assist hunters in finding and retrieving game, usually quail, dove, or duck. Gun dogs are divided into three primary types: retrievers, flushing dogs, and pointing breeds. Types ...

s and promoting practical habitat

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

. BASC is also involved in the political representation of shooting, training and the setting of standards in shooting sports and the association undertakes research in its area of interest.

History

WAGBI

BASC began as the Wildfowlers Association of Great Britain and Ireland (WAGBI), founded by Stanley Duncan, an engineer and gun shop owner from Hull, in 1908. Duncan was a wildfowler and naturalist who feared for the future of wildfowling which was under threat from attempts to control the foreshore. He was also concerned to protect coastal habitats to preserve wildfowl and defend shooting from "protectionist extremists" wishing to ban the sport. The first president was Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, a notable

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

shot and author of several books on shooting. Duncan remained the secretary of WAGBI until 1946. Duncan was also a member of the Zoological Society. For his fowling expeditions Duncan stayed at the Black Hut on Patrington Haven on the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between t ...

. The first WAGBI meeting was held in an hotel in Hull. The Black Hut was allegedly washed away by a big tide in 1969 but was more likely destroyed by a digger clearing the site. Following this, WAGBI appointed its first full-time director, a former naval officer and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

businessman, Commander John Anderton, who summed up his agenda as "doing one’s best for something one likes – backed by the conviction that what one is doing is right." Under Anderton WAGBI focused its efforts on raising standards among wildfowlers and establishing a network of wildfowling clubs to preserve local shooting and maintain records of wildfowl populations. In 1975 the Gamekeepers Association merged with WAGBI and in 1977, the association was a founding member of

FACE The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

, the federation for shooting sports in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

BASC

In addition, shooting had become more open with individuals pursuing several forms of the sport. The change of name to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) was agreed at the Annual General Meeting in 1981 in recognition that shooting sports required a single representative body and that WAGBI was the most suitably placed organisation to take on the role.

Modern day

BASC is a representative body for shooting sports and is a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. Each member has one share in the association. BASC is governed by a council elected from the members. The council is advised by a series of committees for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, game shooting, deer stalking and wildfowling. Marford Mill, the association's headquarters, was acquired in 1976. The property is a former water mill at

Rossett Rossett ( cy, Yr Orsedd ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Rossett is served by the A483 road. At the time of the 2001 census, Rossett community (including Rossett itself and the villages of Bur ...

, in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. Among the collections held by BASC at the headquarters are firearms such as Irish Tom, a

punt gun A punt gun is a type of extremely large shotgun used in the 19th and early 20th centuries for shooting large numbers of waterfowl for commercial harvesting operations. These weapons are characteristically too large for an individual to fire from ...

of unusual length and bore and Col.

Peter Hawker Colonel Peter Hawker (24 November 1786 – 7 August 1853) was a celebrated diarist and author, and a shooting sportsman accounted one of the "great shots" of the 19th century. His sporting exploits were widely followed and on occasion considered ...

's double punt gun. The association has country offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as four English regional directors and their staff based in the North, Central, the South East and the South West. While the main purpose of the association is the protection and promotion of country shooting and its associated conservation activities, BASC also runs the wildfowling permit scheme, deer stalking schemes and the Goshooting initiative which links those looking for a shooting opportunity with those providing them. Members can also request advice from BASC's expert staff on issues involving shooting and firearms certification and licensing, land management and gamekeeping. Other projects include Green Shoots, which links members to local biodiversity plans; Young Shots, which seeks to educate young people about field sports; and Taste of Game which promotes game meat. BASC is a signatory to the Code of Good Shooting Practice and produces a series of codes of practice on aspects of shooting. In politics BASC operates on an all-party basis and they ensured that shooting was not damaged by the

Hunting Act 2004 The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably Red fox, foxes, deer, European hare, hares and American mink, mink) with dogs in England and W ...

, preserved the legal right for young people to continue to go shooting with airguns, where they have the permission of the landowner, and secured an exemption from the ban on the cosmetic docking of dogs tails for working gundogs. Hunting dogs with catch

The patron of the association was

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

, who held the office from 1967 till 2021.

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

accepted an invitation to succeed her father as Patron in October 2022. Richard Ali succeeded John Swift as chief executive of the association in 2013, a position he held until March 2017, when the association announced his dismissal due to gross misconduct. BASC has announced that Ian Bell took over as chief executive in February 2018. BASC has in the past opposed attempts to ban the use of lead shot, despite the stance of its former chief executive, arguing that further restrictions do not have a robust evidence base and that compliance with the law and proper processing of game meat manages the risks. In February 2020, BASC, alongside eight other shooting and rural organisations, announced a voluntary five-year transition away from lead

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 f ...

and single-use plastics for live quarry shooting. The statement claimed significant recent advances in technology has enabled the transition to take place. Despite this, in June 2020 BASC strongly opposed EU legislation to restrict the use of lead shot around wetlands. A year into the transition, a study found that of 180 birds tested, 179 were shot with lead.

References

External links