The Glorious Twelfth: A fine selection of photos from the start of Grouse season

Today the Glorious Twelfth marked the start of hunting season for Grouse as up and down the country enthusiasts donned their Barbours and trudged out in their Hunter wellies to celebrate.

The Glorious Twelfth is the first of 121 Grouse hunting days, and brings together about 40,000 shooting visitors from all over the world to the UK’s grouse moors every year. According to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation an estimated 70,000 red grouse were shot in 2014 – worth £61 million.

Here are what these stylish killers might look like today.

Members of a shooting party are pictured on a shoot near Glenclova

Peter Snaith, Head Keeper of the Danby Estate, checking over the heather moorland above the Valley in Danby on the North Yorkshire Moors

A member of a shooting party is pictured on a shoot near Glenclova

A labrador is pictured with a caught grouse on a shoot

A gamekeeper is pictured holding a brace of Grouse that were shot near Glenclova, Scotland today

Shotgun shells are seen in a bag on a shoot near Glenclova