Actually stalking your ground?

JockStalk

Well-Known Member
I'm always on the look out for 'syndicate place' type threads on SD and read one yesterday where the OP 'limited' the offer to people who would regularly stalk the ground.
Do folk really take on ground or join syndicates and start with the intent of sitting on there blunt ends at home?
Why?
Seems like a daft idea to me - thought the point was to stalk the ground.
What am I missing here?
JS
 
Many people want to stalk more but Wife ,kids and life in general get in the way. To go out regular comes at a price and I'm not talking about money.
 
This is quite true that people buy places in syndicates and simply don't turn up or when they do are not good enough to get any deer. I have what I call killers who get the work done and enjoy the site. Then we have the I've been 20 times and not seen anything type. we have the one's that get their firearms certificate with the permission then not hardly bother. I try to get a balance .I don't mind a few of each as long as all are happy and carryout a deer management plan. Then we have the poachers that think they are in the syndicate.

One thing is that syndicate places are very hard to get so look after it if you have one . woodfordfallow
 
People also take ground on themselves, turn up a few times get wet/cold/see nothing and stop going.
I know as I took a load of ground off someone who did just that.
This also links into the distance thread on here recently, the people I took over from lived about 30 miles away - so maybe that just added to their lack of enthusiasm.
 
A lot have the mentality of "it's better to have too much ground than not enough"

ive got access to 3 pieces of ground but it took me almost 2 years to get my first deer as none of the piece of ground are very big or hold any deer, just get the occasional fallow passing through. I manage to get out at least once a week if not more and shoot plenty of foxes and rabbits. I've got one friend who has good ground with plenty of roe and he only goes out once every 2 months or so as that's all he can manage to get out yet he has taken on a stables with a deer problem and has only been once in the last 6 months and not seen anything there.

Some people just want the most amount of ground or just new ground as they get bored easily. As someone said above if you get in a good syndicate or good ground then go regularly and do a good job so you can keep hold of it, don't waste it or just hold it so someone else doesn't get the chance.
 
ive just been offered a spot, two or three lads dropped out as they where traveling a good three hrs each way together but the main drivers give up so the others have as well ,but to be honest i dont think the lads even went on it over a couple of seasons,so the lad in charge has had to keep going himself as he couldnt keep his cull figures up, heres hoping its ok for me,i know theres roe,possibly an odd fallow,so we will see,
 
Family is often the limiting factor. As a relatively young man, with little commitments other than work, going stalking is something you can do at the drop of a hat. Then along comes a serious partner/wife. Time is now much more limited, but you can still justify perhaps a couple of days a month. After all, she has her own interests. Then along come a little ankle biter or two. Job knackered! You can very rarely justify the time to go stalking. Is it fair to leave the other half with the pressure, lack of sleep and dirty nappies and swan off by yourself? So then, to keep yourself in the game you have to keep your permission, but visits may only be once or twice a year.

As time progresses and the kids become less immediately dependant, that gradually eases. Then you find yourself no more the young hunter/provider of old, but a middle aged stalker, trying to recreate the thrill of those young days. Such is life.
 
Family is often the limiting factor. As a relatively young man, with little commitments other than work, going stalking is something you can do at the drop of a hat. Then along comes a serious partner/wife. Time is now much more limited, but you can still justify perhaps a couple of days a month. After all, she has her own interests. Then along come a little ankle biter or two. Job knackered! You can very rarely justify the time to go stalking. Is it fair to leave the other half with the pressure, lack of sleep and dirty nappies and swan off by yourself? So then, to keep yourself in the game you have to keep your permission, but visits may only be once or twice a year.

As time progresses and the kids become less immediately dependant, that gradually eases. Then you find yourself no more the young hunter/provider of old, but a middle aged stalker, trying to recreate the thrill of those young days. Such is life.
Ain't that the truth!
 
It's a funny ole thing these Deer syndicates.
I joined one once and was only lucky enough to get in because, in the syndicate owners words " I've dropped one guy because he only comes down once or twice a year to shoot the bucks and I need carcases through the Larder"
As I lived quite close I tried to visit once a week, always took the rifle and lunch but sometimes only ate my lunch and came home.
I built up a bit of a relationship with the dog walkers and horse riders and enjoyed the scenery and occassionally put a few Deer through the larder.
However, when a new syndicate owner took over, I was immediately dropped as I was classed as taking the proverbial for the money I paid based on the number of times I stalked !
Do syndicate owners/leaders want regular stalkers to keep an eye on the place as well as cull Deer or just members money ?
 
I have a wife, 3 children, rifles, shotguns, vermin land, stalking land and a motorbike.....

Depending on which day of the week it is, I'm either the luckiest man in the world or the most selfish :doh:

It's getting easier though - the kids love the air rifles and air pistols and as they're getting older the more involved they become - although they've ruined the dog!

Priorities - do what you can but do what matters first :thumb:
 
We all dream of being one of the lucky few who has unlimited free stalking on their doorstep. Sadly the reality is that a lot of us (myself included) have to travel some distance to our stalking and we have to pay for our stalking and in order to pay for it we have to spend all the daylight hours we'd like to be stalking working our arses off instead!

At the end of the day it's up to the owner of the stalking rights to decide how to run their syndicate and who to have stalking and it's a balance between getting required culls, fairness between members getting equal opportunities, competence, safety and trust!

Alex
 
iv been through 2 wifes a few live in lovers and lots of arguments, one of the live in lovers asked if i wanted her to wrap ma pieces up in a road map and i told her if she never liked it wrap her stuff up in a bin bag and fek off, sometimes id be out 4 and 5 times a week at various country persuits im on my own now :doh: well kinda
:)
 
What with the wife work and life I only got to get out at most every other month.
Its very frustrating but hopefully give it a few years and Ill have more spare time.
 
same here ,ive got 6 grandkids and a grandkid loving wife but managed a good number of outings last year.its balance i stalk ,we babysit i stalk we go the zoo u get the picture.work stinks we used to finish early fridays now its two hours later so only 1 weekend in 3 is available instead of 1 in 2 so we haggle over "FREE" time
 
I'd love to get out stalking once a week, but as I live in Shetland, its either a flight or over night ferry before I even think of a few hours in the woods with a rifle.
Thankfully there are a few good folk out there who let me join them at short notice.
Cheers
Mark
 
I try to look at filling my places on my syndicates with guys who wont be out too often as some guys travel a long way to the ground i think it keeps it fair for everyone , I,m quite happy to have local guys as long as they arent expecting to stalk every week when other members travel from the other end of the country maybe 3 or 4 times a year
We have no targets to meet so no pressure that way , the main thing i want to see is good safe confident stalkers so usually guys i take on syndicates have stalked with me previously
 
Hi Dan, are you dropping out of your syndicate then? that's the trouble nowadays there never seams to be enough time fit it all in, these bloody day jobs are such a pain lol:rofl:
 
It's all down to luck
right place right time and speak to everyone about stalking and shooting it is surprising how many bit of ground I have come across from people with no interest and what you think have no connection to shooting but they have, funny enough most of my ground come through women contacts.
And like some of the other messages on this link I am the lucky b#stard with multiple free stalking on my door and a wife that understands that I have to be out min of 3 times a week
 
I was in one syndicate, the problem was they spent all there time walking about disturbing deer rather than culling them, it became hard work to cull the deer. I was asked by a landowner who had a complaint from a syndicate that there was no deer to cull, and they were too spooky, to see what I could find , culled 7 fallow over a weekend, apparently stalking is done from a highseat, and after 9.30 you do not see deer.
As to wives, only had one and she asks me why I am not shooting/ hunting at my best I would go with the buck hounds mon/fri fox hounds tues/sat and shoot deer or woodcock most evenings.
I have travelled all over the UK hunting, slept in cars while fell hunting, or on the pub floor, in houses of strangers. ( now friends ), flown to the USA to be collected at the airport by a stranger who had a passion for squirrel hunting, there are now 40 of us who attend every year, this hunting life is so hard.
I haven to admit it affected my children, they are worse than me, my son hunts and stalks when ever he can, usually four days in the winter.
 
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