IMO shooting grouse is only 'fine' in relation to all the other animals killed for human amusement/consumption, viewed on its own it's as much of a ridiculous past time as foxhunting, or most other forms of hunting TBH. If they used bow and arrow so it was somewhat traditional and there was a modicum of skill involved then it may be slightly more understandable.
Regards the landscape, I'd love to see the moors allowed to grow as they wish, I assume large areas would stay as heather due to the soil types, etc. but it would be interesting to see the development over the years.
Now we're getting somewhere. So could we sum up the UKB Hive Mind point of view as being that:Grouse shooting is fine, provided the keepers don't trap or poison raptors.
Our whole countryside and our perceptions of it are pretty fucked up really. It 'should' be a mixture of scrub and forest (of varying types - depending on altitude, climate and geology roughly..). Grazing - and managed moorland like Grouse stuff keeps it how it is... Of course the 'should' is all dependant upon our perception - and we tend to think pretty green fields with sheep in are what our countryside should look like.
Maintaining the land in its current state is a good thing. We like the cultural landscape that we have.