The grouse shooting season has opened with a vow to make it more accessible and move away from the perception that it is "just a sport for the very rich".

The season traditionally starts in mid-August on the day known as the "Glorious Twelfth", and a shooting party of around a dozen men and women set off into the hills of Glencova, Angus, this morning to mark the occasion.

Amid Scottish Government plans for land reform, calls for licensing of grouse moors and general opposition to the activity, industry bodies have launched a campaign to highlight the contribution it makes to the economy.

The Scottish Moorland Group claims tourism, employment and conservation all directly benefit from grouse shooting - an industry that supports more than 2,500 jobs in rural areas.

The group also hopes to change perceptions around the sport which is often viewed as a hobby only for the wealthy.

Leaders of the group want to reach out to "urban Scotland", and said the cost of a day on a moor is similar to a round of golf in some places.

Tim Baynes, director of the Scottish Moorland Group, said: "We want to make it more accessible, this is not just a sport for the very rich, it can be done at all levels from driven to walked up shooting and available to a whole range of people.

"And an increasing range of people are doing it, men and women, old and young. There's something for everyone.

"At the top end of grouse shooting it is expensive and it's something that's done by people from all over the world and that tends to be what is seen, but beneath that there is a whole range of different grouse shooting days that people can take part in. It's no longer the preserve of rich men."

Robert Rattray, a partner at CDK Galbraith sporting lets, said: "You could have a day for £400 depending on how many grouse you shoot, each brace costing about £100.

"It can be a family day and the expense isn't far off a round of golf in some places.

"Some of the bags can be small but it doesn't detract from the day and going for a walk in wonderful countryside with dogs and a good group."

With grouse numbers thought to be smaller this year due to the poor summer weather, some moorland groups in southern Scotland hope to team up with restaurants and hotels to get more people to try game dishes such as fresh wild grouse.

But the League Against Cruel Sports is urging restaurants not to serve grouse because of the ''by-catch'' of other wild animals it causes, caught in snares used to protect birds from predators, the shooting and snaring of mountain hares in the Scottish Highlands over disease concerns, and birds of prey illegally persecuted.

Tom Quinn, director of campaigns for the organisation, said: ''The collateral damage caused by getting a grouse to the table leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.''

He said people are giving the impression shooting game for the table is healthy, sustainable and environmentally friendly, but that it is none of those things.

''Millions of other animals and birds are deliberately killed to protect the grouse shooting industry. The environment is being devastated by the burning of grouse moors, and millions of tonnes of lead shot are left to poison the countryside.''

Mr Baynes said: "There will always be groups opposed to shooting and we respect their views and that is understandable, but what we would say is that you don't realise how important this is to jobs and people in many remote communities and we would equally ask people to respect that and appreciate it and understand it."

An appeal for information was launched on Tuesday after it emerged that a bird of prey found dead on a grouse moor was illegally shot.

The hen harrier was found on remote moorland near Daer Reservoir in South Lanarkshire at the end of April.