“Yes, it’s that time of year again when the bounty of our countryside’s larder throws open its doors and allows us to sample one of its best commodities.

I’m talking about the game season, which kicked off on 12th August with the start of the grouse season. These illusive birds that live in the highlands of Scotland and in Yorkshire are the first of the small game species to get the ball rolling. Grouse are incredible birds that choose to make their home in some of the most beautiful yet inhospitable places in the country, living on the highlands where the snow is a frequent guest that will come to stay throughout the year.

These birds live on a nearly exclusive diet of heather, a hardy plant that grows at altitude and, as I was told once by my good friend Nick HM, has the nutritional value of Astroturf. Not many animals live on heather as it is hard to digest. The only competition that the grouse have for the heather is blue hare, which also have guts of iron to be able to digest it and live in the same areas.

At the moment reports are sketchy on the numbers of grouse this year. A friend of mine was on the west of Scotland last week and reported good numbers with large covies being driven up, but on the east coast the weather seems to have put a delay to any numbers being seen even though this area had an abundance of these famous game birds last year.

In shooting and falconry, grouse are the panicle of the sport. Grouse fly high, fast and seem to have the ability to dodge shots which makes them a good test for any gun. Over the next few weeks, we will see grouse on the menu; done well it has what I can only describe as a taste of the moor as the heather flavours the meat. So go try some grouse.”

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