Red Hinds
- Thread starter calumb
- Start date
Stevie/P
Well-Known Member
If you find any let me know
Day rate depends on est
We used to pay £250-300 a day plus tips
Before lockdown.
Looking forward too November in the highlands
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wildfowler.250
Well-Known Member
Do find quite a few estates don’t let the hinds out which is a shame
lochty
Well-Known Member
Probably because they're under pressure to get numbers. A mate of mine is cutting let days at hinds drastically because they've been threatened with a section 7 to get their numbers down. It's a balance between revenue and interference from nature Scot.
Stupid money these days. Check what you are getting for your money and shop around, there are still some places which are reasonable. Other people can contradict me here, but I would be avoiding Ballater and Braemar areas. Last time I was there the shooting was severely limited, and the price had gone up big time. We didn't even manage one hind each per day. I went mainly because a mate wanted to go. I do plenty hind culling. I got the distinct impression the stalkers were deliberately moving groups on. Wasn't born yesterday.
Quite right, hinds should never be let out.
wildfowler.250
Well-Known Member
I get that. And the weather can be unpredictable which might not suit some people. But you can’t beat a cold snowy day on the hinds. It’s a bit of a shame there’s not more let days available. I’ve only ever gone out through invites to be fair. Most estates that do offer it seem to be pretty full year on year.
Surely even if it’s a let day, a cull is a cull be it stags or hinds?
Nope.
An effective cull is shooting as many animals as possible in the shortest amount of time, using as few resources as possible. It would be great to be selective with each deer shot, but reality often gets in the way.
Hind stalking has always played two important roles on a sporting estate:
1. Thinning the herd down to a manageable level where reproduction (sometimes called recruitment) rates do not outstrip the carrying capacity (feed) of the ground. Artificial feeding during the winter is an indication that there are problems.
2. Useful time for training the next generation of stalkers, often serving as ghillies during the stag season. They will have an idea of where deer prefer to feed and lie up in certain conditions, which is more than half the game anyway. So the rest of the task is much like what the DSC2 tried to be, but never achieved.
Anyway, estates have suffered primarily due to landowners not having enough cash to run them properly. All should be factoring them in as a year on year 'loss' (in financial terms) but this expenditure should translate into a general improvement of the grounds and staff (much like a football club!).
In recent times, revenue has been sought through various means, such as government grants/tax breaks of deer slaying and
The death knell of an estate is selling hind stalking, as you can't make proper money off a day at hind's anyway ('trophy hind' fees anyone?).
Unless you happen to have a team of 'guests/rifles' who are happy to leave the lodge at 5am and return after dark, help with lardering (i.e mop the floors) and have an early night to do it again the next day, you are wasting time, and hence money.
Might get a few 'but I do that, and gladly pay for the opportunity' responses to the above. Well, that shows you have been taken advantage of by the factor, who is failling to employ staff that receieve experience, training and payment for their work. The only way forward for such an estate is to bin the factor, and possibly the owner too, and find someone with enough capital who appreciates what can be achieved with proper management and not exploitation.
Sadly, I think these days are over, if not fast approaching the end.
Terrydeer
Well-Known Member
Wow, very interesting and factual and I hope that this thread gets some traction.
Large estates take some funding ! and sadly there are few people who are willing to put their money into these now which is very sad. Having worked for these estates it really does matter who the factor/estate director is and what the owner wants to achieve.
Large estates take some funding ! and sadly there are few people who are willing to put their money into these now which is very sad. Having worked for these estates it really does matter who the factor/estate director is and what the owner wants to achieve.
devon deer stalker
Well-Known Member
I understand where you are coming from in relation to Scotland, but the same can't be applied to the small fields I have down here in Devon, you shoot a hind here and rarely do you get a second shot before they run, often to the nearby woods, the only way I find to shoot more than one is identify the lead hind, shoot her, and you will probably get a chance at another 1,2 or even 3.
People might criticise me for that, but some of the groups that are still around here (65+) need splitting up, and shooting the lead hind does just that.
Whilst at the moment I don't offer female culling it probably will change, it's nice to give the new stalker a cheap way of getting their first deer on the ground.
Cheers
Richard
wildfowler.250
Well-Known Member
Fair enough! Although there are more than a few well thought of estates that do let out days, you just can’t get on them because the same guests come year after year,(again fair enough).
5am sounds alright to me.. Better than 3.30am summer roe bucks!
Whitefront
Well-Known Member
I go on several hind stalking trips each season - and have done for years. I consider it to be a finer sport than stag stalking, for a variety of reasons. Certainly, hinds are warier than a rutting stag and you also get a lot more bang for your buck, as it were. It's also a great way to introduce youngsters and newcomers to hill stalking. There is no shortage of hind stalking available - including on some of the best estates in Scotland, but it does get booked up early. Hind stalking allows you an affordable opportunity to hunt on some of the most famous hills in the country, with some of the best professional stalkers. You normally expect to shoot between one and four beasts a day - though nothing is guaranteed. However, prices are certainly going up as demand increases; one famous estate, which uses ponies (yes, even for hinds) now charges in excess of £500 a day. More usually, you might expect to pay between £200 and £350 for a day's hind stalking on the open hill.
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