Will I be hunting & gathering in 2026? My New Year's update

The quick answer to the question above is - yes, obviously - and although some fantastic things happened in my life last year, now it's definitely time to focus on the year ahead...

I never make New Year's resolutions. Instead, I make mini promises to myself throughout the year, that I work hard to turn into action in the months ahead. So, what's the latest promises I've made? And have any of the promises from the last few months come to fruition yet....?

Promise 1 - Focus on my wellbeing

This promise included starting a workout regime (yawn), visiting my local masseuse - and listening to my son's advice about investigating ADHD in our family. So before I get into the shooting stuff, I wanted to share my news of receiving an adult diagnosis of ADHD and what a positive difference it has made to my life. As it turns out, I've had it my whole life and I'm high on the spectrum. Considering I used to teach children and teens who had special educational needs, I can't believe I didn't spot it sooner!

What does this diagnosis mean to me? It means I understand what makes me tick (and what doesn't), I can put mechanisms in place to help me more with the things I struggle with, and I can prepare others who may be subject to some of my impulsive behaviour - I interrupt people - a lot.

Most importantly - I accept myself more. Now, instead of crying over spilt milk (literally, on a regular basis), I can stop beating myself up over things that I can't help doing. Don't get me wrong, it's still a journey and every day is different, but overall I love that I have this new understanding that it's just the way I'm wired - I can now laugh things off, apologise when I need to, and move on.

Promise 2 - Conversion starts at home...

Last year, I promised to make a more conceited effort to convert more non-shooters to eating game meat and understanding/entering the world of fieldsports. Below are 2 examples of how I have achieved that in my personal life before moving onto the wider audience of the Nation...

Last year I had a zoom meeting with a web design client and his son. I was wearing my camo top ready for an evening out on the rabbits, so of course they questioned it - and the result was a conversation that totally opened the eyes of 2 non shooters, who knew nothing about pest control, the effects of pests on the farming industry and the amount of protein they could get from game meat (since my client Ray used to be a personal trainer this protein thing really hit home for him!)

This year, they are not only eating game meat but Ray has joined a rifle club and is looking at getting his licence and doing his DSC1. Absolutely epic.

Secondly, I shared on my Instagram recently that my best friend Lucy and her 12 year old daughter visited for Sunday lunch. Although Lucy grew up in the Wiltshire countryside with pet sheep and game shoots in her back yard, she has been a vegan for about a decade. And her daughter has grown up as a townie and - well, she's 12. So when I suggested they try venison it was a tricky conversation to have, or so I thought.

Lucy was over the moon that she got to try something that someone had harvested 'ethically', and that she knew what the animal had ingested. Her daughter Havana wasn't keen initially, but my promise to take her out hunting with me convinced her to try. Safe to say, they both loved it! So now I have even more people to share my venison with in future...

Promise 3 - Spend more time with friends

I decided that I was fed up of only seeing my friends from the Fieldsports community at events once or twice a year. It's a wonderful community and I've met some fantastic people both in person and online. So I've put my money where my mouth is - well, into the car for fuel - and spent time visiting people at their homes, rather than just at The Game Fair.

On a recent visit I took a friend deer stalking and we had such a beautiful time enjoying the outdoors, learning more about each other (and she learned more about one of my favourite bits of kit, the HikMicro Falcon thermal spotter). Ali also tried hare meat for the first time which she loved, and I'm looking forward to spending more time this year with her and others, bonding through food and laughter!

Promise 4 - focus on my other passions in film, tv & events

I recently began a part time presenting job at Wayfair UK. As well as adding to the 'buy new guns' savings account, it was a good way for me to get used to working with a production crew again after many years, ahead of the other endeavours I'm working on this year...

I have been scriptwriting for several years now and have recently started to gain traction with producers and directors interested in my work.

One of my scripts focuses heavily on the Fieldsports world, and if commissioned it will be my way of reaching more of the audience we need to reach (non-shooters/the general public) and helping to challenge the stereotypes of how society views hunter-gatherers, the shooting community and society's views on how wildlife is managed.

This has also resulted in me signing with an agent, who was intrigued by my perspective of the countryside and wants to ensure I am exposed to the best opportunities in the wider outdoors and media sectors, and that I am treated with the respect I deserve irrelevant of my background or number of followers on social media. So - watch this space! Which leads me to my final promise...

Promise 5 - Celebrate each win un-apologetically

It's taken a long time, but after years of fighting for my place in the world, then being embarrassed by the success that followed and compliments that I didn't believe I deserved, I have finally learned to celebrate myself. With grace. Sometimes.

So, as a result of all the promises I made to myself, and by putting those thoughts into action, I've achieved several wins that I am taking into 2026 - and I'm hoping the British Shooting Award for Media Contributor of the Year will be one of them too! If you'd like to vote just click the picture to fill out the form - voting ends Jan 13th 2026. Wish me luck! And in the meantime if you have any questions for me feel free to get in touch.

Happy Shooting!