Your thoughts on this idea please?

stratts

Well-Known Member
I am getting to the stage where I am shooting more deer than I am able to consume or pass on to family and friends so need an outlet. The problem is to keep everything right and proper & to get more bang for my buck (see what I did there!) I need to register as a food business which poses a couple of issues.

1. I don't really want to register as self employed as it will just cause me a load of paperwork I could do without as I am directly employed day to day. This you have to do to register as a food business according to the website!
2. I don't have the room at home to get a dedicated area in my garage which will be required for the local food agency for carcass prep.

I spoke to a local butcher last week who is keen for me to supply them with venison in trade for other meats, but won't take them in the skin! This is where I need advice about an idea that may be a legal loophole.

Would it be ok to do the following?

Shoot the deer, gralloch and field dress, take the carcass in the skin straight to the butcher, skin it myself, tag it and leave it there for them to process. My thoughts are that although I am doing the skinning, it is being done on their premises which is obviously a registered food business. Could I be classed as an unpaid volunteer using their facilities or does it even matter?

I know I could take them to the game dealer near me, but apart from waiting for the money I don't want to get on the wrong side of the taxman and I think it would be better going straight to the butcher and trading.

Or am I over complicating the process of registering and are there guys out there who are registered but not self employed?

Cheers

Stratts
 
Last edited:
sounds like it entirely down to your butcher but......

i don't think you would be able to skin a deer your butchers premises as they are not licensed to take the in fur game so regardless of who is doing the skinning they are in breach as it enters the premises.

Also by providing a skinned carcase you are now supplying processed venison
You would present a risk to them working on their premises (lets say you slash your arm while skinning "their" or "your" deer, they would be liable)


Next issue is your status.
You may be surprised what your local authority require from you to become a registered food business

I am registered, have no dedicated prep space
but in Scotland I am meant to be a licensed venison Dealer in order to sell "processed" venison (even out of skin)

I am not aware of any requirement to register as self employed to register as a food business
the paperwork you would need to keep is minimal IMO
aside from your larder log from the taxman's perspective you are just keeping a tally of oncoming and outgoings
(if you are sensible about it you should be making a loss unless you are shooting an awful lot of deer. your expenses include every drop of fuel, rifle depreciation, reloading costs, safety equipment, work clothing etc etc)
You can do this in addition to your current full time PAYE status
Plenty of people have two jobs. One PAYE and one requiring a self assessment tax return

Be aware also that swapping venison for other meat will still be classed as earnings and you will be expected to declare the value of the goods as income.
 
Last edited:
You'll just turn your hobby into a job. By the time you've spent out on all the equipment and paperwork to process a few carcass you make a loss for the first 5 years. I had all the same thoughts myself but last thing I want is getting back from stalking and having to spend the next day butchering them while missing a day off work. I might just as well go to work and earn the money. Just sell the excess to your game dealer and be done with it.
 
Ah I did wonder why they said they wouldn't want the deer with the skin on, I never thought about the fact they may not be allowed! Could this also be the same reason they are paying through the nose for oven ready pheasants instead of sourcing from the local shoots?

I think I'll give the local authority a bell to see if they offer advice over the phone,

Thanks
 
Register as a food business, take them direct to a game dealer, register as self employed, pay your tax, and have a good nights sleep!
Cheers
Richard
 
Keep it simple, take any surplus straight to a local game dealer.
Prepare a good clean carcass and he will appreciate you.
remain and enjoy being a recreational stalker.
 
sound advice from badbob ,my ex father in law was a food wholesaler .burgers,beef,ham etc to the trade .as a registered food business the paperwork was a pain in the testiclackers.keep it simple life,s too short ,
 
Just thought I'd update on this.

Basically I have cleared a load of junk, bought a shed and so am in the process of creating a nice little larder and game prep area in my garage which will be clean with plastic walls ,etc, simply because I want to keep it seperate and hygenic for my own purposes. As I've had some more enquiries about offloading any spare venison to local butchers I thought I'd get in touch with the council for advice. Quite surprisingly considering the size of the area, I am the first stalker that they have had enquire about registering and we had quite a lengthy chat about stalking in general as the lady had no idea there were so many deer about!

She is popping out to see me next week to offer advice and go through the area I am creating and also to see if indeed I would benefit from even registering as I am a bit of a novelty for them!! She hadn't heard of DSC, the hunters exemption and didn't think I needed to register if I was just going to supply a game dealer in skin, which sounds strange!!

I'll post what happens after the visit next Tuesday but if anyone has any questions I could pose to clarify things stalking wise post em up and I'll ask,

Stratts
 
I would shoot less deer, you may have a glut of them now, or been lucky, but it does not need much for that to change.
 
That's been easy of late as I've blanked the last few outings!! :doh: More to do with me being clumsy or the frosty mornings though than no deer about!

I'm not talking about making my fortune out of deer, more that I like to do things properly. It may be that I still get my home larder set up, and carry on as I am but it'd be nice to clarify the situation with the inspector and post on here at least as it still seems ambiguous to me with varying opinions,

Stratts
 
Back
Top