With the news that the government has thrown out a petition to ban driven grouse shooting, George, Jake, Avian and Sam are in chipper mood. They celebrate the organisations and individuals who have helped to see off the attack, by engaging politicians and taking them to see the moors in all their glory. George, recording from the fishing lodge on the banks of the River Carron, is keen to get back to the river in a desperate attempt to save his blank week, but not before hearing about the various clay-busting adventures of his co-hosts. Listen out for important village notices about the Game Fair live show and the 2025 Order of the Garters Shoot Day.

Ollie Medforth - as seen (briefly) on The Apprentice - is a yorkshireman to his boots. Long time friend of the podcast, he's a purveyor of award-winning fruit liqueurs and his family host one of Yorkshire's leading driven shoots, and one of the most highly regarded sim shoots in the country. Ollie gives us some insight in the what it takes to make and sell industrial quantities of sloe gin, as well as his love of his native county. We also issue a Game Fair invitation and give some more details of the live recording we'll be hosting at the show.

It has been a busy month. George, Sam, Avian and Jake gather around the mics to compare notes on Rally Clays, the World Gunmakers' Evening, talking to politicians about shooting, removing cows from rivers (long story) and lots more besides. PLUS there's an update on Avian's latest apply challenge and news of the GunsOnPegs Podcast at this year's Game Fair.

Tim Furbank is a founder and director of Oakbank Game & Conservation Ltd, a company which supplies clients across the UK with seed and advice, helping them with grant applications, ecological surveys, and habitat creation and management. He's a keen game shot and is lead judge for the Schoffel Countryside Awards. Marcus Janssen, Executive Director of Schoffel Country, needs no introduction, this being his third appearance on the GunsOnPegs Podcast (albeit always with a friend as moral support.) He's as passionate a countryman as you could wish to find. Tim and Marcus join us for a special edition of the podcast to talk about the new Schoffel Countryside Awards, which aim to shine a light on the finest displays of working conservation across the UK. Find out more about the awards here

The warm, dry weather that the country has been experiencing in recent weeks has brought with it a rash of wildfires from Dartmoor to the Highlands, prompting a fascinating discussion about the conflict between traditional landscape managers and environmental campaigners over how to manage our wilder spaces. The wide-ranging discussion takes in questions about land access, the recent Why Moorlands Matter events, new research showing the devastating impact on ground-nesting birds of the cessation of predator control, and the need for an outcomes based approach to conservation. We've also received an email from our correspondent in Sweden, who details a refreshingly robust approach to a potentially traumatic roadkill incident, as well as clear guidance from BASC on what to do (and what not to do) in a similar situation here in the UK. Finally, we set Avian an appropriately West Country challenge. No badgers were harmed in the making of this episode.

Ian Sweetman joins Chris and George to talk about his life in the guntrade. Having started at the bench at age 15, and having worked at some of the country's best-known gun brands before striking out on his own, there are few better placed to offer an insight into the life of a gunmaker. Ian is also one half of the husband and wife team behind the new rural-focussed social network 'Stile'. Ian helps to offer some advice to two young game shots ahead of a red-letter shoot day next season, and his views on the dangers of flaming headlights on the A1.

George, Jake, Avian and Sam gather at the mics once more. Avian's been to the BASC 'keeper's conference, Sam's been lambing, Jake's been behind the lens once more. We celebrate the first Order of the Garters wedding (that we know of) and discuss the value of engaging with your local MP to demonstrate the value of your syndicate to the people who make the decisions that affect us all.

Leon Challis-Davies, game cook extraordinaire and the man tasked with promoting wild meat to the wider catering and food industries, joins Chris and George on the morning after the Eat Game Awards. He struggles through a hangover with the aid of a powerful cocktail to help the boys resolve a particularly outrageous shooting dilemma involving brotherly betrayal, and plagiarism. Later he shares the latest news from the frontlines of the battle to get the public eating more game.

Inspired by the conversation in the previous episode,George, Avian, Sam and Jake gather around the mics to share their suggestions for a suitable mix of events to make up the Cirencester Pentathlon, with ideas ranging from the Welly Wang to Ice Axe Fighting. We also learn about a shotgun named for one of our number, and dig deeper into questions around rewilding and reintroductions.

Tim Weston, Director of Environment, Policy and Politics at the National Gamekeepers Organisation, joins Chris and George for a wide-ranging conversation taking in everything from the morality of breaking up an pair of old English sidelocks, drinking on shoot days, and George's new chicken coop, to the trouble with hare coursing and the challenges inherent in the reintroduction and translocation of species. Tim shares the latest news from the NGO and his Desert Island Shooting

George, Sam, Avian and Jake look back over the shooting season just gone and ask themselves what lessons they've learned along the way that they'll take forward with them into the next one. We also hear from our undercover agent north of the wall, Agent Jock Strap, who has more intel on that epic bar bill mentioned in The Curious Outsider Episode. PLUS Sam laments his 'White Lightning' 24/25 shooting season, while Jake boasts of a 7 out of 9 close to his. Avian reflects on his first season running his local syndicate and George tries Sri Lankan Arrak for the first (and likely last) time.

Callum McInerney-Riley is, on the face of it, an unusual choice of guest for a game shooting podcast, because he doesn't actually shoot game. He does, however, shoot people who shoot... with his camera. Callum is a photographer, whose work has graced the pages and covers of leading fieldsports publications, and he's one third of the Countryslide podcast, alongside co-hosts (and former GoP Podcast guests) Richard Negus and Rich Prideaux. Callum's job as a non-shooting fieldsports photographer gives him a unique perspective on the shooting world - he is a self-described 'curious observer' of the people and culture of shooting. As we wave goodbye to another wonderful game shooting season, Callum shares his journey into fieldsports photography, and his outsider's perspective on everything from tipping the keeper to the sartorial mores of the sport and how shooting is perceived beyond the shoot gates. Get more from Callum on the Countryslide podcast

After an eventful Festive break, George, Sam, Avian and Jake reconvene at the microphones to compare notes on their adventures (much to Sam's chagrin). The team dig into the GoP inbox to pick up on some listener reactions and responses to recent episodes, including facilitating some office bullying/banter [delete as applicable] and discussing the challenges of building up a network of shooting buddies.

For the second episode in a row, Chris and George have packed their wellies and their cartridge bags and set off on a jolly. This time the destination is Branches Park, the Suffolk Estate where their fellow podcast host Jake Woolf runs walked-up/mini-driven shoot days in beautiful surroundings. Recorded in Branches Park's luxurious and cosy lodge, Pond Barn, once the team were back in after a successful day in the field and woods, Chris, Jake and George sit down with the estate owner, Peter Bailey, relaxing drinks in hand, to relive the day's shooting, learn more about the estate, and the ethos behind the intimate and hugely enjoyable shooting trips that the estate has to offer.

Shortly after the Game Fair, Chris and George received an email from listener Gary Pettett, whose nomination of his step-father Bill Barling as a 'Shooting Hero' had been featured in the live podcast recording in the Game Fair Theatre. Gary's email was an extraordinarily kind invitation to come and visit the shoot that Bill set up in 1977, to see the effects of nearly half a century of conservation and habitat work, and to enjoy a day's shooting. On the Saturday before Christmas, Chris and George travelled to the Horsham Farm Shoot to take Gary and Bill up on their offer. After a challenging day's shooting in strong winds, they set up the microphones in the the syndicate's shoot room to find out more about the shoot, the people who run it, and what makes it so special.

Fuelled by a batch of Jonny's Ginger Thing, George, Sam, Avian and Jake pick up on a few themes from the previous episode, digging deeper into the world of driven pterosaur hunts, six-wheeler Range Rovers and gun cleaning techniques.

Jonathan Young - former editor of both Shooting Times and The Field - is the special guest in this wide-ranging episode, which takes in everything from whether its right to shoot English Partridge on a species day, the difficulty of finding beating opportunities, prehistoric beasts and the secrets of publishing trade. With more than 30 years working in the shooting press, and having travelled the world in pursuit of game, fish and good times, Jonathan is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom, JY's thoughts on a tricky Whose Bird is it Anyway Dilemma and a thought-provoking Unpopular Opinion are well worth paying attention to. As the mastermind of The Field's Macnab Challenge, what will he make of the this episode's MacPodcast itinerary?

This episode marks yet another transitional moment for the GunsOnPegs Podcast, with the blooding of not one, not two, but THREE new hosts. George is joined by Jake Woolf, Avian Sandercock and Sam Turner, who will be taking on some of the hosting duties, giving Chris a bit of headspace to focus on other projects. The chaps check out some follow up correspondence from recent episodes, and look deeper into the topic of peg numbering systems and the traditional number of guns on a shoot day (if there is one!). The also discuss the relative merits of taking on that high pigeon on a driven day...

Oliver Preston is one of the UK's leading cartoonists. His work has graced the pages of leading rural publications as well as numerous books, including the much-loved and ubiquitous 'How to be Asked Again' by Rosie Nickerson. As a lifelong observer of the nuances and peculiarities of the shooting world, he is well placed to help Chris and George tackle a couple of thorny Unpopular Opinions. He also shares some insight into his creative processes, and tells us why he believes that cartoons are not only far more powerful and important to British culture than we might suppose, and why the downstairs loo is really a place of honour.

Despite some questionable gun safety practices and even more questionable morality, will the new TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's Rivals bring more people into the British countryside? What is the correct proceedure when your dog starts a fight on a shoot day, and should Beaters' Days take place in October instead of January? What would happen if you shot a pumpkin at 30 yards, and how can we help gamekeepers to tell their stories and showcase their work in the media. As always the GunsOnPegs Podcast asks the big questions, this time with special guest Camilla Swift to provide the wisdom.