He was an active advocate and supporter of shooting and hunting all his life, and not just for the rich, but for everyone.
From the British Association for Shooting and Conservation:
BASC has extended its deepest condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal family following the death of the association’s patron, His Royal Highness Prince Philip on 9 April 2021 at the age of 99.
BASC chairman Eoghan Cameron said: “Everyone at BASC is deeply saddened at the passing of Prince Philip. Our thoughts are with Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal family.
“The Duke of Edinburgh was the association’s patron for more than half a century and exemplified the ideals of sporting shooting and conservation. A keen shot, who enjoyed punt-gunning on the Wash as much as game shooting at Sandringham, he also had a passion for conservation.”
Prince Philip became the first royal patron of the Wildfowlers’ Association of Great Britain and Ireland (WAGBI) – later to become BASC – in the year of its diamond jubilee, 1968.
BASC president Lord Geoffrey Dear said: “We extend our deepest condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal family on the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip.
“Prince Philip keenly understood the importance of a strong relationship between conservation and shooting. He served first WAGBI and then BASC as patron for more than 50 years and shooting will forever be in his debt for the guidance he provided during a period of unprecedented change in shooting and the countryside.”
Always taking a keen interest in the affairs of BASC, Prince Philip wrote a personal introduction to The Handbook of Shooting – the Sporting Shotgun – which has been continuously in print for more than 30 years. He continued to advise the association until his death.
Also
Inevitably his love of shooting led to questions being asked about his role as president of the World Wildlife Fund International (WWF), a position which he held from 1981 to 1991. On the BBC’s Natural History Programme he was asked how, as a conservationist, he could justify shooting. “It’s not a question of justifying it,” he replied. “The majority of people who have taken the initiative in the world of conservation have been people who learnt about the need for conservation through their hunting or shooting activities, because you very soon discover what’s happening in the countryside if you are involved in a sport.
“Hunters and shooters want to make sure there’s something there the following year. There’s a big difference between the conservation of species and the survival of the individual member of a species… we’re concerned with the practical problem of the survival of the species as a whole.”
