It’s the Northern Shooting Show 2023: Harrogate 6-7 May

Organisers are set to welcome 25,000 visitors to the annual Northern Shooting Show when it returns to the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 May. BASC members will enjoy complimentary entry and guest discounts on advance bookings and, new for 2023, there’s free parking for all courtesy of Browning. With the tagline “What’s a shooting show if you can’t pull the trigger?, the hugely popular event will draw people from all over Britain as the nation celebrates the coronation of King Charles III.

Alongside have-a-go stands and demos focusing on clay shooting, airguns, rifles, gundogs, gunmaking and airsoft, the bucket-list event will showcase wares from hundreds of shooting and countryside-focused exhibitors from around the world, for a truly special shopping experience. (Win tickets to the Northern Shooting Show.)

The EJ Churchill clay line

Award-winning shooting ground and gunmaker EJ Churchill will be running the clay line, offering clay shooting novices to seasoned experts alike a hands-on chance to get involved across the weekend. The EJ Churchill clay line is set to include have-a-go stands, a 50-bird English Sporting competition, a 25-bird Sportrap competition and the Coronation Cup, which is a one-time, open-entry competition to commemorate the King’s coronation. The competition boasts a £1,000 cash prize for the High Gun and further generous cash prizes up for grabs for ladies, juniors and veterans.

BASC members can attend for free

The Gundog Field

The Gundog Field, hosted by popular gundog trainer Darren Kirk of Kirkbourne Spaniels, will showcase exciting demos and thrilling competitions for handlers of all levels. The competitions, which last year attracted over 200 dogs, include the long retrieve, the scurry, a junior handler class and the extremely competitive working test. Darren and his dogs will also be appearing in the arena three times a day, so don’t miss the chance to see them in action.

The World Hunter Field Target Championships

Aimed at elite airgun shooters, 240 competitors from all over the world will shoot two 40-target courses, made up of four standing targets, four kneeling and 32 prone, on both days of the show. The overall winner will go home with a specially commissioned trophy and there are medals for the top three in each classes – open, veterans, ladies, junior, .22, springer and international team.

The bucket-list event is a great day out

The Airsoft Experience

Head to the Airsoft Experience to learn more about this fast-paced combat game. Have a go at airsoft, browse the latest equipment and chat to experts to learn more about the sport. New for 2023, the Xsite Practical Shooting Club is organising a level three IPSC Action Air Match with 12 stages to be shot on either day of the show, open to anyone with a short gun competition licence from the UK Practical Shooting Association.

The BASC Hunters’ Kitchen ​​

Whet your appetite with cooking displays from some of Yorkshire’s best game chefs as they create imaginative dishes using nature’s larder. Chefs already confirmed include Simon Whitehead of Pakefield Ferrets who will be creating a tasty rabbit dish, chef Cai Ap Bryn giving a deer butchery demo, and Sophie Bagley with her moorland to microwave business Glorious Game.

There will be plenty of four-legged friends at the show as well

The .50 Cal Experience

Visitors can fire the only sub-10,000ft/lb muzzle energy .50 calibre target rifle in the UK using a film blank, and it will cost just £5 a go. The blank gives off a thrilling muzzle flash, satisfying bang and puff of smoke without the thump of recoil from a real .50 calibre round.

Organised by the Fifty Calibre Shooters Association (UK), this new attraction gives visitors a rare chance to learn how to handle, load and aim a .50 calibre rifle under instruction, and is open to everyone, including those totally new to shooting and children (aged eight and over).

Practical shooting, including Mini Rifles

Fancy having a go at practical shooting? Magload will be running a Practical Shooting stand, giving newcomers of all ages the chance to try out both Mini Rifles and Practical Shotguns. The UK Practical Shooting Association will also be there to help answer any questions people might have about the sport and how to start in practical shooting.

Have-a-go archery

St George’s Archery Club will celebrate its golden jubilee this spring as they return to the Northern Shooting Show. They have exhibited at the event for the past five years, offering their archery experiences to hundreds of visitors. In fact, a record 400 people took part last year, using a recurve bow to fire arrows up to 15 yards into a traditional straw target under the watchful eye of an instructor.

Rabbiting demos

Britain’s best-known rabbiter Simon Whitehead is set to once again bring his highly popular team of ferrets and lurchers to the Northern Shooting Show. Simon will be giving two 40-minute demos in his dedicated Pugs & Drummers arena on both days, plus a rabbit butchery and cookery demo in the Hunter’s Kitchen on the Sunday.

As well as watching his entertaining and informative displays, visitors can interact with the ferrets and pre-order his latest book, Pugs & Drummers: A Ferreter’s Fable.

Tickets

• To buy tickets visit Northern Shooting Show
• One day adult tickets cost £20.
• Weekend tickets cost £28.
• Child tickets (15 and under) are free, courtesy of BASC, when accompanied by a paying adult.
• BASC members enjoy complimentary tickets to the show, all they need to do is pre-register using their valid membership number.