Airgun

Gun discharged by compressed air or gas

Artificial Target

Clay or card target used for shooting competitions or practice.

Antlers

Pair of bony outgrowths on the head of a male deer

Bag

Total number of birds or animals shot in one day/session

Beater

Person who flushes wild game

Bullet

Single projectile fired out of a rifle

Cartridge

Metal (rifle) or plastic (shotgun) casing containing propellant charge and projectile

Clay pigeon/clay

Disc of pitch and chalk thrown into the air as a target for shotgun competitions or practice

Close season

Dates during which a quarry species is protected by law and may not be shot

Code of practice

Set of rules by which the shooting industry regulates behaviour

Country Sports

Sports carried out in the countryside, such as shooting and fishing

Cull

To kill selectively (especially old and weak) individuals, to maintain the health of the herd

Decoy

A dummy designed to lure birds, especially woodpigeon, within shooting range. Also refers to a pond used for trapping ducks

Deer Stalker

Person who approaches deer without being noticed in order to shoot selective animals

Driven (shoot)

Form of sport in which game birds are flushed over the standing Guns

Estate

Land over which farming, forestry and shooting activities take place

Estuary

Tidal area where a river reaches the sea

Fieldsports

See Country Sports

Flight

Movement of pigeon or wildfowl at dawn and dusk between resting and feeding areas

Flightline

Paths in the sky routinely taken by birds to move between roosting and feeding areas

Flight pond

Area of water into which wildfowl drop to feed and roost

Flush

To rouse game

Game

Selected wild animals and birds defined in law and hunted for sport and food

Gamekeeper

Person who rears game birds for release into the wild and manages their habitat

Ghillie

A hunting guide, particularly in Scotland, who accompanies shooters or fishermen

Gundog

Specially bred and trained dog for locating, flushing and retrieving game

Gun

Another word for a shooter

Hanging

To suspend meat so that the flavour matures

Head (of game)

Number shot

Hide

Place of concealment blending into the natural environment

Hunting

The pursuit and killing of a selected wild bird or animal for food, sport or management

Inter-tidal

Area covered by water only at high tide.

Lamping

Night shooting of pests and predators using a powerful spotlamp

Open season

Dates during which quarry species may be taken legally, also known as the shooting season

Over-and-under

Shotgun in which one barrel is on top of the other

Pest

Animal that damages crops or wildlife stocks

Picker-up

Person who retrieves dead and wounded game with the aid of gundogs

Plucking

The removal of feathers from a bird destined for the table

Poacher

A person who kills or takes game belonging to another person without permission

Predator

An animal which hunts for food

Prey

An animal hunted, or captured, by another for food

Rearing and releasing

The act of breeding game birds for release into the wild

Refuge

A safe haven for wildlife where human activity is restricted

Rough shooting

Form of sport which is not pre-planned. See Walked up

Shot

One of many pieces of lead or steel fired out of a shotgun cartridge, the person using a gun

Side-by-side

Shotgun in which one barrel is alongside the other

Stalker

See Deer stalker

Sustainable harvest

The amount which can be shot without detriment to the population as a whole

Syndicate

Group of people who shoot together, sharing the costs of a day's or season's sport

Trap

Mechanical device to capture legal pest and predatory species. Also the device which throws clays

Trophy (head)

Head or full body of an animal or bird preserved for display by taxidermy

Twelve bore

Standard shotgun

Velvet

Furry covering on the newly formed antlers of deer

Vermin

See Pest and Predator

Walked-up

Form of shooting in which the shooter flushes the quarry as he walks through cover

Wildfowler

Person who shoots ducks and geese on the foreshore