Are they gunning for us next?

At the time, in early September, 2002, the main country sport under threat was hunting with hounds, but speaker after speaker at the conference urged shooters to watch their backs, too.

Gamekeepers, shoot organisers, leaders of field sports groups and even a couple of local Tory MPs warned of what was described as "legislation by the back door" against game and rough shooting.

Now, with the hunting issue on ice after a Bill to ban it was stalled, shooting people are wondering whether they really will be next.

Will they make an easier target than hunting, which can always use pest control as part of its defence. A line that is not open to pheasant shooting, in particular, where birds are bred specifically to be shot from the skies.

Fears have been stoked recently by a series of anti-shooting Press stories.

You may remember the articles. One involved a primary school at Sandringham where, according to a teacher, pupils became upset after seeing pheasants shot in a nearby wood. Another concerned a mass burial of pheasants after a day's shooting, rather belying the belief they go into the food chain. The third was of HM the Queen whacking an injured pheasant over the head with a walking stick to kill it.

Then, only last week, in the Evening News, the League against Cruel Sports alleged birds of prey were being killed on a Worcestershire shooting estate.

A neat clutch of stories in a very short space of time.

The obvious question to ask about the first case is why now? Presumably both the school and the woodland have existed alongside each other for many years and shooting has always gone on around the wood. What has changed to make an event that must be familiar to everyone in the area suddenly worth pages of coverage?

And who tipped the same papers off about the mass pheasant grave and why the interest?

As for the Queen, well she's probably dispatched a thousand injured birds in her time. She obviously knows how to do it. But that didn't prevent her being pilloried.

Taken in isolation, these events would be probably be inconsequential, but coming so close together, for the shooting fraternity they have unnerving echoes of a warning given by Richard Burge, then chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, at that shooting forum.

"The anti-gun lobby and anti-country sports factions have formed an 'unholy alliance' and they are already threatening the sport of shooting in several ways. There will be a steady drip, drip of attacks," he said.

For the most part, these threats are very much lower case, involving limitations on cartridge sizes, seasons and other measures, including raising the age for unsupervised use of airguns from 14 to 17, which quietly make shooting a much more restrictive sport than it was a decade ago.

None of these, until now, have been in the same league of Press interest as balaclava'd protestors clashing with hunt followers on horseback.

But suddenly the shooters have found themselves and their sport in the line of fire.

So those with their fingers on the trigger have good cause to feel a bit twitchy.

However, the official line from the shooting organisations is "Don't panic, chaps."

Just before Christmas, officials from the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, attended a meeting in Downing Street with the Prime Minister's policy unit to discuss shooting issues.

They emerged quietly confident after being assured of the Government's support for "safe and responsible" shooting sports.

Director of communications Christopher Graffius who led the BASC team, pointed out: "Environment minister Ben Bradshaw stated there is a firm commitment in Labour's manifesto not to introduce further restrictions on shooting or fishing. The Government recognises the significant contribution shooting can make to the social, economic and environmental well-being of rural areas."

Whether the BASC emerging from Downing Street smiling will echo Neville Chamberlain's pronouncement of "Peace in our time" after meeting Hitler at Munich remains to be seen. Because Governments - although they are loath to admit it - are very aware of media pressure and none of the gory headlines over the Sandringham incident or the others had appeared by the time Mr Graffius met the PM's representatives.

Of course, shooting's best way forward is to keep its house in order.

"There must be strict adherence to the nationally agreed Code of Good Shooting Practice," said Mr Graffius.

"Game shooters should promote the fact they produce good quality food for the table.

The days of shoots killing massive numbers of pheasants are long gone and this 'burying the bag' is an animal rights myth. Several incidents have been alleged, all have been investigated and none have stood up to scrutiny."

That may well be so, but as long as an activity involves the death of a living being, there will be people who oppose it, for all sorts of reasons.

For the first time, shooting is starting to feel some serious heat, so its powder had better be dry.