BDS ?

[David Barker]

In Scotland it is really out dated and members have left in there droves to others like SGA and SACS. After the government introduced out of season for male deer then night shooting then thermol and removed season for males. I think the BDS being th voice of deer welfare kind of ran a bit thin.

 

[JockStalk]

BDS have been an excellent source of info on deer ecology for me and local branch members always a great source of info and support. Particularly skills development, marksmanship, practice sessions well attended and longer range practice. Sadly support for the local branch dwindled and post covid pretty much out of action which is a shame.
Most of the practical info I get off of here, with a large pinch of salt etc for some ‘contributions’ of course. BDS does seem to have made itself less and less relevant over time and not taken strong leadership/ influencing positions on welfare issues of late, as others have mentioned above.
I suspect if they don’t address that then it’s just a matter of time before it fades into history.

 

[Cris]

The BDS is for people who respect and want to know more than those that just want a creedmoor to shoot them.

 

[Overlay]

The BDS is for people who respect and want to know more than those that just want a creedmoor to shoot them.

ooh Deer - put yer hard hat on mate, you’ll probably have incoming

 

[Ronin]

So from subsequent replies of the first page posts it appears that the excellent sources of information are BDS LOCAL volunteers /committee members who are happy to help rather than HQ level ,,,,

 

[Cris]

ooh Deer - put yer hard hat on mate, you’ll probably have incoming

Haha yeah bit harsh maybe.

 

[Triggermortis]

So as a “charity” what charitable service do they provide and to whom/what is it provided?
What form of charitable assistance might one be able to request?

 

[timbrayford]

So as a “charity” what charitable service do they provide and to whom/what is it provided?
What form of charitable assistance might one be able to request?

Its the deer that the BDS does the charitable work for.

 

[Bowland blades]

I was very keen on the BDS for many years . Gosh it might be over 15 years or more since i packed in . Frankly no longer has a real purpose and BASC seem to hold sway in the area . One could equally say that BASC doesn't work for wildfowling as much as it did , spreading their wings out into airguns more and more etc. I suppose that's just how things progress . Cant do anything without money

The BDS is for people who respect and want to know more than those that just want a creedmoor to shoot them.

Cannot agree The BDS had the wrong attitude and no remit other than one they invented this last decade and a half . Used to be a committed member before that . The mention of a none relevant choice of what we may or might not use tells its own tail

 

[VSS]

I'd rather support the BDS than BASC. I think the BDS better represent my interests. They may lose their direction at times (don't we all!) but I feel that my opinions are at least listened to. BASC on the other hand is a bit of a closed shop. If your not in the clique then you're ignored.
If your interests extend beyond shooting deer to deer welfare, biology and ecology then please join the BDS.

 

[Bowland blades]

I'd rather support the BDS than BASC. I think the BDS better represent my interests. They may lose their direction at times (don't we all!) but I feel that my opinions are at least listened to. BASC on the other hand is a bit of a closed shop. If your not in the clique then you're ignored.
If your interests extend beyond shooting deer to deer welfare, biology and ecology then please join the BDS.

Well i have been a member of both as regards the BDS it depends totally on your local branch. They have no real influence and your info on where you stalk should be kept under your hat because i pretty much guarantee it will be mis-used

 

[Triggermortis]

Its the deer that the BDS does the charitable work for.

From their website it looks like they work to provide information and training to those that are seeking it?

The British Deer Society: Our work and what we do

To build a strong future for wild deer in the UK, BDS carries out a range of work both at local and national levels and behind the scenes.

bds.org.uk

 

[timbrayford]

From their website it looks like they work to provide information and training to those that are seeking it?

The British Deer Society: Our work and what we do

To build a strong future for wild deer in the UK, BDS carries out a range of work both at local and national levels and behind the scenes.

bds.org.uk

And a lot of other things too, with the public sector apparently hell bent on demonising deer it needs the expertise of the BDS to counter it. Especially with all those so called conservationists who seem to want every deer in the country exterminated

 

[VSS]

From their website it looks like they work to provide information and training to those that are seeking it?

The British Deer Society: Our work and what we do

To build a strong future for wild deer in the UK, BDS carries out a range of work both at local and national levels and behind the scenes.

bds.org.uk

I think they also provide funding for relevant research, for example postgraduate / PhD.

info on where you stalk should be kept under your hat because i pretty much guarantee it will be mis-used

I doubt it. You're thinking of the DI.

 

[Bowland blades]

I think they also provide funding for relevant research, for example postgraduate / PhD.

I doubt it. You're thinking of the DI.

No I have experienced it as have many others and via many. branches . there is good reason why such a small amount of active stalkers do not bother with them.

 

[Cris]

I was very keen on the BDS for many years . Gosh it might be over 15 years or more since i packed in . Frankly no longer has a real purpose and BASC seem to hold sway in the area . One could equally say that BASC doesn't work for wildfowling as much as it did , spreading their wings out into airguns more and more etc. I suppose that's just how things progress . Cant do anything without money

Cannot agree The BDS had the wrong attitude and no remit other than one they invented this last decade and a half . Used to be a committed member before that . The mention of a none relevant choice of what we may or might not use tells its own tail

Ahh a little fun and we can all dis agree on one thing or another. Me, I have been a menber on and off for 30 years or so and will always or at least for now support them as I beleive in what they do and find it interesting.
Caliber thing, well just a tickle, but the point remians. Some people are more intersted in the shooting than ecology, science, history, managment, reserch to name a few of the BDS activites, and thats OK, find an org that caters for what you like, but dont knock the ones that don't do it for you.

 

[Oldstalker]

I think they also provide funding for relevant research, for example postgraduate / PhD.

I doubt it. You're thinking of the DI.

As a Branch Chairman in the BDS I was often asked by landowners to suggest the names of suitable folk to manage the deer on their ground; it may have been in part because I was also a working land agent in the area and was trusted, but I was pleased to do so and recommended folk on their reasonable proximity (always within half an hour in case of a need for humane despatch or follow up from mistakes by others AND to provide a genuine management service). It may also have been because I was a member of 3 different deer management groups in the county to which I gave significant time and support. There is a need for trust in these circumstances and a much wiser man than me ( the late James Brodie -a local part-time gamekeeper) told me that trust is like a radioactive element i.e. it has a half-life and broken twice it is down to 25%, 3 times and you are at 12.5% (not a lot!).
Like @Ronin I do believe some of the verve has gone from the BDS at national level but they face a much harder task lobbying than when I served on the Management Committee or Board of Trustees in that politicians are much more disinclined to ignore sound scientific advice (vide recent decisions by the Welsh and Scottish governments) and more cynical management of the water companies with their appalling environmental records where "virtue signalling" over field sports on their land, and the revenue produced thereby, can be sacrificed to provide a smokescreen for some of their other activities. These are not good times to be trying to run an animal welfare charity of limited means and I applaud the current BDS management in their efforts to continue to produce good science.
And yes, I did hear of DI members taking on stalking areas previously done by others, BUT NOT in the S Lakes under Alastair Boston who farmed in the area also.

 

[Triggermortis]

The more I read this thread the clearer it becomes that it’s a postcode lottery as to who you get to deal with as YOUR point of contact, when I went to the shooting show last year the staff on the stand were a credit to the organisation, I however had the complete opposite at the Kent show some years back, arrogant, puffed up with self importance and standoffish just about covered it.
My mate and I were made to feel uncomfortable but they were all
over a landowner with a St Hubert’s badge.

 

[JockStalk]

Dare I say it may be time to dust off, redesign and re establish the red deer commission…..


……because the clowns in NatureScot seem to want to exterminate them. How many more OOS snd Night Licenses this year will they issue? How hard will they scrutinise the applications?

 

[Ronin]

Some of the branches were quite active, it very much depended on having a few keen individuals who pushed things on.
Unfortunately I think that many have as Ronin suggests became disillusioned, and with some exceptions you are left with just the old guard.

Dare I say it may be time to dust off, redesign and re establish the red deer commission…..


……because the clowns in NatureScot seem to want to exterminate them. How many more OOS snd Night Licenses this year will they issue? How hard will they scrutinise the applications?

Perhaps it’s time that the BDS was not involved in any training or deer managment and as they are simply not delivering

Remain a charity and provide funds for research from that and perhaps advice on welfare

Let’s have an organisation dedicated to deer management in the UK that provides sound scientific based advice to land owners and stalkers and training that is first class, applicable to best practice and second to none leading the field

Wait a minute ,,,,, didn’t the Deer Initiative deliver that