Hunting in the UK

[waz77]

Yes you could do, most of my meat is what I've shot myself, swap some venison for home reared pork from the neighbour, as said getting a fac at present is a long drawn out process, but you can use an estate rifle until you get your own sorted, there's plenty of places charging around £80-£100 a stalk, you'd usually pay extra for the carcass, an average sized roe around £40, you usually only need dsc if you're taking on a lease of your own although a few might want you to have L1

[Guest Gimlet]

9 hours ago, Johnsond said:

Forestry commission throughout the UK has passed the buck in regards deer control. The methods used and shots taken by some leave a lot to be desired.

You're not kidding. The FC are a law unto themselves. And like all quangos, pretty much completely unaccountable. That extends to their deer rangers who often consider themselves above scrutiny. They never seem to have trouble sourcing ammunition either, and I know some who get through an awful lot of HMR rounds.Perhaps they've got very tall rabbits in some plantations..

[Guest Gimlet]

12 hours ago, JLA1990 said:

I have heard similar from a few people awaiting licenses. I’ve also looked into organised stalks/shoots and I couldn’t believe how expensive it was, I appreciate paying for an experts time, costs etc but then add on between 350-600 for a decent muntjac/roe/fallow buck! I will probably head to my local gun shop and see if they can give a steer.

 

If a license is at some point granted would approaching estates/land owners work at all or is there insurance issues to deal with? 

Deer control in the UK is in an absolute mess. There has been a feeding frenzy taking place on all sides. Firstly, there are too many people with rifles looking for somewhere to shoot, caused in no small part by organisations like BDS and BASC making easy money by churning out "qualified" stalkers on a production line through their DSC course, most with little experience and nowhere to shoot. Landowners cottoned on to this over-supply and saw stalking leases as a bit of easy money, and often tax free money. Leases became more and more expensive. Those who have ground and can afford it are greedy for more and to pay for their leases they offer over-priced paid stalks to the army of surplus stalkers who have no ground, spawning a pethora of "professional" stalkers who take out paying guests. Except that there's nothing professional about most of them. Very few of them derive their entire income from deer management. They are hobby stalkers essentially sub-letting to pay for their ground and pocket some cash. 

This does nothing for meaningful deer management because most paying stalkers want to shoot bucks and stags, when it's the surplus of juveniles and females that needs culling to control numbers, while dominant males defend territories and compete with rivals, preventing a breeding free-for-all. So the animals that should be getting culled are left untouched and the animals that should be left alive to defend territory are getting shot. 

Now the latest thing is syndicate shooting, which is basically subletting. He who has deepest pockets buys up all the contiguous ground he can and then makes a packet selling places for silly money to desperate FAC holders who need to show some action to keep their tickets. I've known several "pro" stalkers who have small parcels of ground they don't pay for, but supposedly control the deer for the landowner for free in return for the odd carcass. When really, they are using the free ground as a nursery/refuge to produce males to repopulate their neighbouring ground which is teeming with females but has been shot out of saleable bucks. They only visit once in a blue moon to show willing but rarely shoot anything and any meat they give to the landowner has probably be shot somewhere else. 

On top of that you have the FC running feral and doing whatever they like. 

The casualty is meaningful deer management and small landowners who don't shoot and are getting eaten out of house and home by a glut of deer pushed over their boundaries. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Gimlet

[waz77]

1 hour ago, Gimlet said:

Deer control in the UK is in an absolute mess. There has been a feeding frenzy taking place on all sides. Firstly, there are too many people with rifles looking for somewhere to shoot, caused in no small part by organisations like BDS and BASC making easy money by churning out "qualified" stalkers on a production line through their DSC course, most with little experience and nowhere to shoot. Landowners cottoned on to this over-supply and saw stalking leases as a bit of easy money, and often tax free money. Leases became more and more expensive. Those who have ground and can afford it are greedy for more and to pay for their leases they offer over-priced paid stalks to the army of surplus stalkers who have no ground, spawning a pethora of "professional" stalkers who take out paying guests. Except that there's nothing professional about most of them. Very few of them derive their entire income from deer management. They are hobby stalkers essentially sub-letting to pay for their ground and pocket some cash. 

This does nothing for meaningful deer management because most paying stalkers want to shoot bucks and stags, when it's the surplus of juveniles and females that needs culling to control numbers, while dominant males defend territories and compete with rivals, preventing a breeding free-for-all. So the animals that should be getting culled are left untouched and the animals that should be left alive to defend territory are getting shot. 

Now the latest thing is syndicate shooting, which is basically subletting. He who has deepest pockets buys up all the contiguous ground he can and then makes a packet selling places for silly money to desperate FAC holders who need to show some action to keep their tickets. I know of several "pro" stalkers who will have small parcels of ground they don't pay for, but supposedly control the deer for the landowner for free in return for the odd carcass. When really, they are using free ground as a nursery to repopulate their neighbouring ground which they've shot out. They only visit once in a blue moon to show willing but rarely shoot anything and any meat they give to the landowner has probably be shot somewhere else. 

On top of that you have the FC running feral and doing whatever they like. 

The casualty is meaningful deer management and small landowners who don't shoot and are getting eaten out of house and home by a glut of deer pushed over their boundaries. 

It's about to get a lot worse too with FLS deciding not to renew stalking leases in Scotland where a lot of stalkers rely on for their stalking ground, in favour of night shooting with contractors, a step closer for wee kranky to stop recreational shooting altogether 

[Guest Gimlet]

1 hour ago, waz77 said:

It's about to get a lot worse too with FLS deciding not to renew stalking leases in Scotland where a lot of stalkers rely on for their stalking ground, in favour of night shooting with contractors, a step closer for wee kranky to stop recreational shooting altogether 

That will indeed make thongs worse. Hobby stalkers will flood over the border to an already heavily over-subscribed England.

Snippy seems to hate deer and wants to wipe them out. She also seems to hate all forms of private enterprise and wants everything controlled by the state. So if she can wipe out deer like vermin with state-controlled night shooting, no more amateur stalking, no more big privately owned stalking estates. I'm sure that's the attraction. There is no ecological case for what she has planned.  

[MattyF]

To answer the op, yes, speak to your local game dealer or stalker and you can buy a whole deer carcass butcher it yourself and freeze it.  Or you could go down the rabbit, pigeon, squirrel route. What are you after?
 
Matty, isn't it there any qualified stalkers around you who could help?

I've had some right weirdos wanting too , I got on well with the last ranger and we had an agreement ... he's been moved on and to be honest I would rather do it myself as I'm always at a loose end when the salmon fishing season is over.. it just meant I didn't do any planting but broadleaves in shelters this year and that was limited as shelters are bloody expensive !

[Johnsond]

3 hours ago, waz77 said:

It's about to get a lot worse too with FLS deciding not to renew stalking leases in Scotland where a lot of stalkers rely on for their stalking ground, in favour of night shooting with contractors, a step closer for wee kranky to stop recreational shooting altogether 

100% correct 

SNP hate field sports or the countryside for that matter, they’d rather see wholesale slaughter than let sensible experienced people manage things. As always the press will give them a free ride. I’ve already seen the results of cheap night vision and thermal aids etc, head, gut and even one carcass literally shot straight in the backside 😡😡😡absolutely disgraceful and criminal behaviour sanctioned by those supposedly paid to look after our countryside. Also no deer equals no good reason to possess a firearm 🤷‍♂️something the snp would love to fetch in. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Johnsond

[5thelement]

19 hours ago, JLA1990 said:

Is it possible in the uk to source your meat solely from hunting (I’m talking game, deer only obvs not shooting daisy the cow)? Is there groups, clubs etc as it’s something I would like to do.

 

Any tips/info appreciated, I live in Gloucestershire/Cotswolds.

 

cheers, 

Without getting embroiled in an SNP/ FC whine ‘o’ thon, the answer to your question is ‘Yes’ it is possible to be self sufficient with meat depending on your location and who you know.

I have several friends who hunt regularly and have a constant supply of venison, rabbit, pheasant and duck. They also swap venison with one of the local farms who produce rare breed pork products.

[Guest Gimlet]

20 hours ago, doobin said:

Yes, but you’ll end up craving a nice fatty pork chop. 
 

UK game tends to be devoid of any fat. A well fed pheasant is probably the best you’ll get. 

There's a lot of truth in that. If you don't eat meat in every meal or even every day, you can get away with purely wild meat without feeling you're missing anything. But if you like a pan-fried slab of something, you will miss the fat. At the very least, you need to fry in butter and beef dripping. 

My favourite venison is Sika because they tend to carry a bit of yellow beef-like fat. You can't eat it because it goes very tough but it does moisten the meat and impart flavour. Roe is very lean.  

 

I've noticed up in Durham where I am now, the rabbits on the ground I've got, though in good heath are on the scrawny side. Every one I've shot has been pretty stringy and none have any fat around the kidneys. The ones I used to shoot in Dorset were full of fat. I don't know why that should be. The grass up here is lush enough. Perhaps the Dorset rabbits were getting fat on cereal crops. Not many of those round here. 

 

As 5thelement says, swap someone a deer for a pig carcass I guess.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Gimlet

[jmac]

4 hours ago, Johnsond said:

100% correct 

SNP hate field sports or the countryside for that matter, they’d rather see wholesale slaughter than let sensible experienced people manage things. As always the press will give them a free ride. I’ve already seen the results of cheap night vision and thermal aids etc, head, gut and even one carcass literally shot straight in the backside 😡😡😡absolutely disgraceful and criminal behaviour sanctioned by those supposedly paid to look after our countryside. Also no deer equals no good reason to possess a firearm 🤷‍♂️something the snp would love to fetch in. 

Is it not still illegal to shoot deer using thermal or night vision scopes. None of the contractors about here use them, only spotting scopes then switch to spotlight for the actual shot.