Ray Mears

[Mik the Miller]

Deer Stalking Code of Practice | The British Association for Shooting and Conservation

BASC.ORG.UK

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Deer stalking Code of Practice 1. Introduction This Code of Practice has been produced to provide an introductory guide...

 

[David Cropper]

1 minute ago, Rough Hewn said:

I’ve not got an fac yet so a newbie really.
But I’ve heard many stories in France of hunters unloading both barrels at a boar and it’s either run off or attacked.
When the locals round our way went boar hunting, they’d have a line of shooters and flush a whole woodland towards them.
Feckjng chaos!
As they’ve all been drinking since 3-4am
Had this happen right outside our house one Sunday morning.
Sounded like apocalypse now, but with French swearing.

Chaos is quite right! The batteu is when they drive the beasts forward to the waiting guns, usually waiting in rides or in high seats. You've then got the stalking type of shooting, a lot safer in my opinion. The worst ones, safety wise, are the local village lads, frightened the crap out of me. 

[woody paul]

50 minutes ago, Paul in the woods said:

It's frowned upon because if the deer moves you could leave it without a jaw to starve to death.

I agree totally, it can be done if you observe the moment of a muntjac and don't take any shots you are not happy to but so many people do. 

[roboted]

19 minutes ago, Johnsond said:

22 Hornet is not a reliable humane everyday roe calibre regardless of who’s on the trigger.  I’m well aware of my own capabilities, I shoot 22rf,17hmr,223,243 and sect 1 shotgun in the field, each has its place. Many is the time I’ve had opportunity but not the right tool. Each to their own but it would not be me using it on roe. 

Fair enough.

[Paul in the woods]

5 minutes ago, woody paul said:

I agree totally, it can be done if you observe the moment of a muntjac and don't take any shots you are not happy to but so many people do. 

I know, I've met a pro stalker that does.

 

From a personal point of view I know I can place a shot within an inch of where I want it but I know that by the time I decide to pull the trigger the deer could easily move. The number of times I've shot a squirrel that seems to move the moment I take a shot.

 

Certainly not something for a novice to attempt.

[David Cropper]

When I was an Army deer manager, we held a symposium every year at Bovinton Camp in Dorset for the Services Branch of the British Deer Society. This entailed a three day intensive study, lectures, deer viewing and most importantly, a range day. We had to put 3 rounds into a target at 100 metres, prone, 3 rounds from a high seat, then a simulated stalk where deer targets were placed in various natural settings. One trick was to have a roe target with a collar around it's neck. Shoot that and questions were asked about your competence. If you failed the shooting tests, in theory, you couldn't stalk on MOD land until you did pass the test. A pity that more organised testing isn't in place for both the deers' benefit and general safety. The shooting lobby, to coin a bad pun, come under a lot of fire for some of their failings.

As to shot placement, it was stipulated that under 30 metres, with the beast side on, take a neck shot, at the base of the neck, otherwise take a heart shot with the beast side on and still. If it moves, don't shoot, wait till he is stopped again. There will always be another chance. Don't bugger it up because you haven't the patience. If you've seen deer that some git has taken a bad shot at or let fly at what he thinks is a safe shot, then having to find and dispatch it, you would think twice.

Edited March 25, 2021 by David Cropper

[Paul in the woods]

Anyway, back to something more simple. Tonights dinner was a wild garlic omelet. Wild garlic picked from a patch I've planted and nurtured in our young woodland as part of my attempts to make it more useful and productive. I'm a sort of terraforming bushcrafter. 

[Mike Hill]

What was the point of putting a collar on a Roe deer?

 

If I saw a Reindeer with a red nose,I would still shoot it.

[David Cropper]

4 minutes ago, Mike Hill said:

What was the point of putting a collar on a Roe deer?

 

If I saw a Reindeer with a red nose,I would still shoot it.

 

5 minutes ago, Mike Hill said:

What was the point of putting a collar on a Roe deer?

 

If I saw a Reindeer with a red nose,I would still shoot it.

Because the MOD is the UK's biggest conservationist body, collars are sometimes placed on deer to monitor their movements. Are you the git who stopped Santa delivering this year by shooting Rudolph?  Hang your head in shame!

[woody paul]

9 minutes ago, Mike Hill said:

 

If I saw a Reindeer with a red nose,I would still shoot it.

With comic relief the other week maybe not a good idea.