These rules apply to game shoots, sports shoots and mobile clay events arranged by The Gamekeeper. Pest-control work has separate terms. Each participant must accept the current sporting terms in their private account.
Version 4 · 29 October 2026 · sporting-booking-terms-v4-2026-10-29
The short version
Arrive prepared, sober, on time and ready to follow the safety briefing. Bring every original identity or firearms document requested. Ordinary rain, cold and mud are not reasons to cancel. Thunder or lightning, flooding and other dangerous conditions mean we postpone and arrange another date. See the separate cancellation and refund policy for those arrangements.
1. Booking and lead time
An enquiry and a proposed date are not a booking and do not hold a date. The Gamekeeper will offer available dates and the customer must choose one. The date remains open to other customers until the agreed deposit has been successfully paid. If another customer pays first, the date is no longer available and another offered date must be chosen.
The booking is secured when the selected date and agreed price are recorded and the deposit is paid. The deposit is deducted from the agreed total. The remaining balance is due 28 days before the event. Relevant land, participant, document, insurance and safety checks must still be completed before the event takes place.
Sporting events normally require at least 14 clear calendar days between deposit payment and the event. The Gamekeeper may require longer and is not obliged to accept a short-notice request.
2. What every participant must have ready
Keep an acceptable photographic identity document available: a valid passport or photocard driving licence. Anyone who intends to handle a firearm must also have the original FAC, SGC or other evidence requested for the lawful route being considered. A website upload never replaces the original document where an original must be inspected.
If a private upload is requested, complete it within 72 hours of the request and no later than seven clear calendar days before the event. Do not email documents or place certificate numbers in public enquiry forms. Failure to supply required information by the deadline may prevent that person from participating and may affect whether the event can proceed.
3. Certificates, exemptions and suitability
A declaration that somebody holds an FAC or SGC does not establish authority for every firearm, ammunition, quarry, location or activity. Each person must answer accurately, disclose relevant conditions when asked and comply with the route confirmed by the organiser. No participant may lend, borrow, possess or use a firearm or ammunition unless the organiser is satisfied that the proposed arrangement is lawful and insured.
The Gamekeeper may refuse participation where identity, age, authority, experience, sobriety, behaviour, equipment or documentation is inadequate. That decision is a safety decision and must be followed immediately.
4. Weather and safety postponements
Ordinary rain, cold, mud and the wet or wintry weather normally expected during an English autumn or winter are not, by themselves, reasons for a customer to cancel a shoot or receive a refund. Please bring suitable clothing and footwear.
Safety comes first. If thunder or lightning, flooding, dangerous wind or visibility, unsafe ground, blocked emergency access or another serious condition makes the planned activity unsafe, The Gamekeeper or the appointed person in charge will postpone the shoot and contact you to arrange a replacement date. The decision is based on the conditions and the site-specific safety assessment, not simply on an unfavourable forecast.
A weather postponement is not treated as a customer cancellation. Payments will be transferred to the replacement date. If a suitable replacement date cannot be agreed or The Gamekeeper cannot provide the service, any refund due for the service not supplied will be made in accordance with the booking agreement and applicable law. Nothing here limits a right that cannot lawfully be excluded.
5. Cancellation, changes and refunds
Tell us as soon as possible if you need to cancel or change an arrangement. Send the request to enquiries@thegamekeeper.co.uk and include your booking reference. A cancellation takes effect when we receive it.
Any cancellation charge will be based on the reasonable, direct loss caused by that cancellation. We will take account of the notice given, costs already committed, costs saved, refunds obtained, and any place or date we can reasonably rebook. We will not recover the same loss twice, and any charge is capped at the agreed price for the cancelled service. We can explain the calculation and provide a reasonable breakdown on request.
An advance payment or deposit is credited against the agreed price. It is not automatically forfeited. If a charge is due, we may deduct the lawful amount and refund any remaining balance. If no charge is due, the payment is refunded.
If a written quote or booking offer sets out a different service-specific cancellation arrangement, it applies only where it is clearly shown before acceptance and expressly agreed. Any such term remains subject to applicable law.
Game and sports shoots
Game and sports shoots are planned around a short seasonal window. The date may require advance commitments for land, game, gamekeepers, beaters, ammunition, equipment, catering and other event costs. Please give at least fourteen clear calendar days' notice if you need to cancel or change a booking.
If you cancel fourteen or more clear calendar days before the event, we will try to rearrange the date. If that is not possible, any charge will be limited to direct, event-specific costs that are already committed and cannot reasonably be cancelled, refunded or reused.
Cancellation with fewer than fourteen clear calendar days' notice, a no-show, or a late reduction in party size can leave significant costs and an unfilled place. We may include unavoidable commitments and the net contribution lost for capacity that cannot reasonably be rebooked, after deducting savings, refunds and replacement bookings. The full agreed price may be due only where that calculation supports it; it is not an automatic penalty. Any charge is capped at the agreed price for the cancelled places or booking.
If a participant can no longer attend, ask promptly about transferring their place to a replacement. A substitute may attend only after The Gamekeeper has approved them and completed all required checks. We will not unreasonably delay that decision, and any charge will be limited to reasonable additional costs caused by the change.
Clay days
Clay days require full payment before the booking is confirmed. If you cancel or request a change, we will first try to move the booking to a mutually agreed date. Where that is not possible, any amount retained or requested will be calculated under the general loss rule above.
For a cancellation received at least seven clear calendar days before the event, we will normally be able to avoid or recover more of the arrangements. Any charge will be limited to event-specific costs that remain genuinely non-recoverable, such as agreed land or equipment hire, transport, consumables or third-party charges, after savings and refunds.
A cancellation received less than seven clear calendar days before the event, or a no-show, may leave additional staff, transport, equipment and unused-capacity costs. We may recover those direct losses only to the extent they remain unavoidable after reasonable steps to reduce them. The full price is not automatically forfeited; any balance after a lawful charge is refunded.
Participants must attend the full briefing; obey the shoot captain, safety officers and land instructions; treat every firearm as loaded; keep muzzles in a safe direction; keep fingers away from triggers until ready to fire; use only authorised firearms and ammunition; wear required eye, ear and other protection; stay within permitted areas; and immediately report any incident, defect, unsafe act or change in health or capability.
Alcohol or impairing drugs must not be consumed before or during shooting. Prescribed medication or a condition that may affect safe participation must be disclosed privately before the event. The organiser may exclude anyone whose conduct, condition or equipment presents a risk.
7. Serious breach and removal
The organiser may immediately suspend or end a person's participation for unsafe firearm handling, ignoring an instruction, intoxication, violence, harassment, deliberate damage, false information, unlawful conduct, entering a prohibited area or conduct likely to endanger people, animals, property or the business's permissions and insurance.
Where a participant's serious breach causes their removal or the event to be stopped, they are not entitled to a refund for the service already provided or losses caused by that breach. Any further sum retained or claimed must remain proportionate to the actual loss and applicable law. Minor or remediable issues will be addressed proportionately where it is safe to do so.
8. Arrival, clothing and behaviour
Arrive at the stated place and time. Late arrival may mean missing the compulsory briefing and being unable to participate. Wear weatherproof clothing and suitable field footwear; bring any prescription glasses, medication and protective equipment specified. Follow parking, access, livestock, biosecurity, smoking, photography and confidentiality instructions.
9. Changes by the organiser
If The Gamekeeper cancels or makes a material change, we will contact you promptly and offer a reasonable alternative date or arrangement. If the service cannot be provided and you do not accept an alternative, we will refund payments for the part of the service not supplied, subject to any lawful amount for work already completed and your statutory rights.
10. Acceptance and evidence
Each participant must open their private account, read these terms, tick the required declarations and sign electronically. The account records the terms version, signer, signature and acceptance time. Customers can print or save this page for their records. Acceptance does not override firearms law, the participant's certificate conditions, the event risk assessment or a lawful safety instruction.
11. Account closure and retained records
Closing an account removes account access and its profile. It does not cancel an order, booking or land permission, or automatically erase separate business records. We retain only information needed for the purposes below, with access restricted to authorised people.
Account access and profile
Removed when account deletion completes. Sessions, unused links, pending registration, address book and account profile are removed. Separate business records remain restricted.
Unsuccessful enquiries
Normally 12 months after closure. Delete or anonymise sooner if no longer needed; active matters and documented preservation holds are reviewed separately.
Completed or cancelled work, bookings and attendance
Normally six years after completion or cancellation. Keep only necessary contact, arrangement, accepted terms, payment, safety and correspondence evidence. Account closure does not restart the period.
Land permissions and boundary inspections
While permission is active, then normally six years after it ends. Keep the signed authority, relevant maps, inspections and changes needed to evidence the arrangement.
Financial records
The applicable tax period, if longer than the service period. For a sole trader: at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline for the relevant tax year. For a company: six years from the end of the relevant company financial year, with applicable longer tax requirements.
Raw identity and firearms-certificate uploads
Normally deleted 30 calendar days after the confirmed booking date. Account closure does not extend this period. A minimal check record can form part of the six-year service record; the raw document copy does not. Uploads remain subject to the existing operational approval gates.
Minimal account-deletion audit
Normally 12 months after closure. An opaque account reference, actor and deletion time; no copy of the deleted profile. Relevant evidence may remain longer only under a documented obligation or claim.
These are normal business retention periods, not a blanket legal requirement to keep all personal information for six years. We review records at least quarterly and delete or anonymise information when it is no longer needed. An inactive account is reviewed after 24 months; this is not a reason to keep unnecessary information.
Where a genuine police investigation, court order, tax enquiry, insurance matter or legal claim requires preservation, we may retain the relevant records beyond the normal period. We document the reason, scope and review date and review an open hold at least every 90 days. Incidents involving children, capacity issues or delayed claims may need a separately justified period. We do not keep every record indefinitely in case the police might ask.
We verify police requests, assess the applicable lawful basis or legal obligation, and share only necessary information securely. A request is not automatically a legal obligation or unrestricted access. We record the decision and disclose it to the individual where required, unless a lawful restriction applies.
You can ask for wider erasure or a review of retained records at enquiries@thegamekeeper.co.uk. We normally respond within one month, explaining any lawful exception. Closing an account does not waive your data-protection rights. New registration with the same email creates fresh account access; it does not automatically restore access to a deleted account's retained records.
12. Questions and accessibility
Ask before accepting if anything is unclear. Email enquiries@thegamekeeper.co.uk. Information can be provided in another accessible format where reasonably possible, but safety and legal requirements continue to apply.
