The data published by Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) in concert with estate agent Savills, illustrating the contribution that shooting makes to the financial and environmental wellbeing of the countryside, is a welcome addition to the now substantial body of evidence showing what a force for good the activity is. Also welcome was the news that commercial shoots have witnessed a healthy growth in incomes with demand from punters remaining high despite those shoots surveyed raising prices by an average of 5% last year.
Among the facts to emerge is that the average salary for a full time gamekeeper is just over £23,100pa. That’s £4000 shy of the national average salary. Of course gamekeepers enjoy such benefits as free housing and transport is usually provided, but in the case of the former the benefit attracts tax and the in the case of latter example the transport is more of the practical variety than the luxurious. Set against this the sort of skills which a gamekeeper has to deploy and the very long hours which deploying them entails, those pay and benefits start to seem a little parsimonious. And remember what we are talking about here is the average salary, from which we can conclude that some gamekeepers are paid a fair bit less than that figure of £23000. It is safe to assume that most of those who take up the profession do so for reasons other than to line their pockets. If not then they might be better off working in the public sector where for example they can earn the same amount of money as a gravedigger (currently being advertised for in Essex) or a Deputy Outreach Co-ordinator (London) for a massive £38k.