An Aussie wants to hunt something in the UK. School me up please

Just flicked through this thread and didn’t see anyone mentioning that there is an open season different for male and female deer and it’s slightly different in England vs. Scotland

There are also specific rules around what minimum calibre should be used for different types in different countries so please ensure you are aware of the rules before booking your trip as getting the wrong dates could lead to your not being allowed to shoot!

As someone else mentioned if you’re thinking of touring around you might want to consider not bringing your own rifle or lodging it with a firearms dealer when not shooting.

It’s fairly uncommon for people to walk around with firearms in uk and some hotels would take a dim view but it would probably ruin your trip if the rifle disappears from your hotel room and our police have to explain their expectations of what level of safeguarding is and isn’t acceptable I would expect it’s quite a bit more onerous than you would be required in Australia !!!

 
Just flicked through this thread and didn’t see anyone mentioning that there is an open season different for male and female deer and it’s slightly different in England vs. Scotland

There are also specific rules around what minimum calibre should be used for different types in different countries so please ensure you are aware of the rules before booking your trip as getting the wrong dates could lead to your not being allowed to shoot!

As someone else mentioned if you’re thinking of touring around you might want to consider not bringing your own rifle or lodging it with a firearms dealer when not shooting.

It’s fairly uncommon for people to walk around with firearms in uk and some hotels would take a dim view but it would probably ruin your trip if the rifle disappears from your hotel room and our police have to explain their expectations of what level of safeguarding is and isn’t acceptable I would expect it’s quite a bit more onerous than you would be required in Australia !!!

TBH he has done little research apart from YouTube films, which is fine, I can see why he has expressed an interest in hunting here, but he had had some information to follow up via an email I replied to.

On a personal level, when I hunted in America I learned as much about seasons, quarry lead etc before I even considered asking 3rd parties, and I actually enjoyed the research
 
TBH he has done little research apart from YouTube films, which is fine, I can see why he has expressed an interest in hunting here, but he had had some information to follow up via an email I replied to.

On a personal level, when I hunted in America I learned as much about seasons, quarry lead etc before I even considered asking 3rd parties, and I actually enjoyed the research
Indeed
But you don’t know what you don’t know
Not sure if some parts of Australia even have seasons 😉
 
Indeed
But you don’t know what you don’t know
Not sure if some parts of Australia even have seasons 😉

I will expand on that.
We don't have seasons as we don't manage game animals. The exception would be if there is a duck season

Most of our huntable species are introduced animals and are basically pest animals. Game licences are required to hunt in some states. That's sometimes in relation to public hand hunting not the species.

You you stalk deer 365 days a year in some places. Pigs are fair game as are foxes and rabbits .

Goats are wild animals but often mustered and sold to slaughter.

Anything native requires a permit to harm

@devon deer stalker sorry if I'm a little anxious, I enjoy the research but I'm new here and it made sense to start a thread and get some feedback.

As I'm not necessarily after a trophy or specific species or location I'm open to suggestions. My wife's happy to travel so if I follow through I would have loose plans to arrive and take the opportunity to hunt with a hire rifle.
 
My wife's happy to travel so if I follow through I would have loose plans to arrive and take the opportunity to hunt with a hire rifle.
Depending on time of year, summer visit plenty of time in the day to keep your wife occupied and spend time together, not such much in the winter.
I had a an American visit recently, he allocated a few days hunting, then the following few days were hers, worked for them.
 
Quite a few people on this forum have already mentioned that you’re going to need a guide with an “estate” rifle to be legal and this is probably the best forum to get advice on good guides.

At the risk of sounding like I’m regurgitating the BASC/DSC handbook, there are several species of deer in UK (Red, Sika, Fallow, Roe, Muntjac and Chinese Water (CWD)) and whilst everyone's idea runs to a magnificent Red Stag in the Scottish highlands, Reds are also prevalent throughout the UK with some areas more than others.

It’s possibly not obvious that highland deer can potentially be in different condition to lowland deer - I’m not an expert but this is the kind of stuff that you might want to discuss with a couple of potential guides and get different opinions

Obviously if you’re specifically looking for Reds then you want to be in the right place at the right time

These are the people that can best advise you on where to be and when

PS having watched the Aussie border protection programmes you might also want to acquaint yourself with import restrictions and regulations for trophies.

I’m sure you’ve already got that figured though
 
Quite a few people on this forum have already mentioned that you’re going to need a guide with an “estate” rifle to be legal and this is probably the best forum to get advice on good guides.

At the risk of sounding like I’m regurgitating the BASC/DSC handbook, there are several species of deer in UK (Red, Sika, Fallow, Roe, Muntjac and Chinese Water (CWD)) and whilst everyone's idea runs to a magnificent Red Stag in the Scottish highlands, Reds are also prevalent throughout the UK with some areas more than others.

It’s possibly not obvious that highland deer can potentially be in different condition to lowland deer - I’m not an expert but this is the kind of stuff that you might want to discuss with a couple of potential guides and get different opinions

Obviously if you’re specifically looking for Reds then you want to be in the right place at the right time

These are the people that can best advise you on where to be and when

PS having watched the Aussie border protection programmes you might also want to acquaint yourself with import restrictions and regulations for trophies.

I’m sure you’ve already got that figured though
Not much experience with border force as we have only visited South Africa. We took backpacks staying in a safari lodge. We did get asked if we had luggage,. No, I wasn't taking anything I couldn't keep on me.

As for the trophy import if required. I know a taxidermist so if he is not doing it he would probably set me straight on the requirements.
 
Just like home then. Oh but colder, wet and not my sort of weather.
Nae crocs in Scotland. Just Southern softies that get bothered by a few wee flees. :)

Depending on your timing, Highland Red Stag extracted with Garrons (ponies) is an archetypal hunting experience. July - 20 October is the season. Not everyone uses ponies though so you would need to check. You can whack them in the woods and haul them out on a quad anywhere. Not the same day out.

When I was in Sydney I was freezing my butt off BTW. Fleece and wooly hat required. :confused:
 
Nae crocs in Scotland. Just Southern softies that get bothered by a few wee flees. :)

Depending on your timing, Highland Red Stag extracted with Garrons (ponies) is an archetypal hunting experience. July - 20 October is the season. Not everyone uses ponies though so you would need to check. You can whack them in the woods and haul them out on a quad anywhere. Not the same day out.

When I was in Sydney I was freezing my butt off BTW. Fleece and wooly hat required. :confused:
I wear a beanie here in winter but I could get a Sherlock Holmes hat for Scotland.
 
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