Hi Mack,
I can very much sympathise with your situation, however let us look closely at how a Deer management co-operative can work. If you can link up with members of the site in the Hampshire area even without having any land you may still get some stalking. Of the five members in our syndicate only three have land yet we all get stalking. The thing is to stick your flag in the ground and say ‘Hi I’m Mack, I love anything to do with deer the countryside and shooting, who wants to be in my gang? Then other members of the site based in your area have a local link. You get together and form a co-operative. To start off with you may only be able to email, pm or phone each other. You will hopefully meet up and start setting out an agenda on how to get stalking.
Find yourselves a professional stalker and ask him if he can help you out. Offer to help him out on large scale culls gralloching and preparing deer carcasses, it’s all good practice and shows that you are prepared to graft for what you want.
You have now formed a small co-operative, you now have the ability to go and find land permission. You may decide to go and ask for land permission by yourself or as group. Some of your group may get stalking whilst others struggle, however what land you do get you must decide how to use it to benefit you’re group. For instance you may have got land by yourself but wish to allow your co-operative mates to stalk on it, you may have got some land and the co-operative have signed for it together. No problem but always make sure that at least one person takes responsibility for keeping an eye on the place, and liaising with the land owner. Make up business cards; pool your resources and qualifications.
At this point I draw on my Military experience, you have become a small unit of stalkers, decide what strengths the individuals in your group have and delegate out responsibilities. Start thinking about what you want, be careful not to make promises you cannot fulfil to land owners. Use the bigger co-operative to help you move forward, the bigger co-operative being the SD website. Link up with other co-operatives off the site, swap stalks, meet up at game fairs and SD events; always communicate and help out those members that are less fortunate than you.
Believe me it will come together. I am hoping that eventually this site will be an umbrella organisation for small co-operatives that will all work together communally to bring about high standards of deer welfare and set a good example to our stalking/deer managing peers. We are more flexible than the bigger organisations and have not got all the baggage to lug about. This will work, not just in Great Britain but we have the ability to work globally. Deer, boar and big game available to all, you just have to be prepared to work for it; nothing in life comes for free. Well this won’t be free but as close to free as we can make it.
I hope this helps.
Regards Steve.F