UK vs US deer stalking attitudes

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Tom C

Tom C

Well-Known Member
I’ve been scrolling through various social media pages lately whilst quiet at work and stumbled across many US country music stars and other celebs posting pictures with their whitetails they have shot this season.

Reading the comments, 99% of them are people congratulating them on the deer etc, like it’s just normal every day stuff.

You can only imagine the outrage / front page news if some celeb over here posted a picture of themself with a nice roe buck or whatever it may be.

Is this just a massive cultural difference and attitude to hunting between the two countries?

After all we are both shooting deer and putting meat in the freezer…
 
Tom C said:
Is this just a massive cultural difference and attitude to hunting between the two countries?
Click to expand...
Yes, and there is also a massive cultural difference and attitude to hunting between the UK and other European countries.

When I'm working in Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Scandinavian countries I often get engaged in conversations about hunting. It is not seen as anything unusual, and people often talk at work about their hunting trips. My job is to do with technology, so completely unrelated to hunting.

To me a lot of that difference comes back to factors such as the domination of the supermarkets in the UK - as a population we seem to have largely forgotten where food comes from - and the prevalence of a largely urban-focused mindset in organisations such as the BBC. Also this is a classic area where Conquest's Law would apply, viz "Any organization not explicitly right-wing will eventually become left wing".
 
Social media is an echo chamber mostly. Some of the celebs you saw may actually hunt but I would bet a good many of them are doing it for an image boost to a demographic. In the southeastern US hunting is very much an accepted part of life. You have your nay sayers and their numbers grow the closer you are to the cities.
Unfortunately I think that the younger generation is moving away from hunting and their is a very big disconnect of where food comes from. I know a good many families that live off game meat year around but I know probably 10 times as many that will not eat anything that didnt come from a grocery store and see hunting as cruel or no longer needed.
I cant speak for other countries, as I have no social media and Ive never been outside the US. To me from reading and watching videos, the culture of hunting is best preserved in countries were wild game is offered on restaurant menus and their are more stringent dietary laws regarding mass produced food.
 
That's it everyman can in the US, elitist wealthy land owners in the UK or how the media would like everyone to believe killing for fun and proof of position.
 
Good hunting in the states requires you to be in the “good ol boys club” or have money as well. Public land hunting is often over crowded and during certain hunts dangerous. Im not saying public land hunting is fruitless but you do not see any where near the number of or quality of deer as you do on privately owned lands. Either way I see how the opportunity is there compared to no access.
The UK hunting regulations do seem to require you to jump threw many more hoops than in the states, well compared to most states in the US.
 
Tom C said:
I’ve been scrolling through various social media pages lately whilst quiet at work and stumbled across many US country music stars and other celebs posting pictures with their whitetails they have shot this season.

Reading the comments, 99% of them are people congratulating them on the deer etc, like it’s just normal every day stuff.

You can only imagine the outrage / front page news if some celeb over here posted a picture of themself with a nice roe buck or whatever it may be.

Is this just a massive cultural difference and attitude to hunting between the two countries?

After all we are both shooting deer and putting meat in the freezer…
Click to expand...
No, it's because the news media like the BBC and Guardian have been hijacked by the do-gooding middle classes who believe that only right thinking people like themselves are entitled to an opinion
 
Tom C said:
I’ve been scrolling through various social media pages lately whilst quiet at work and stumbled across many US country music stars and other celebs posting pictures with their whitetails they have shot this season.

Reading the comments, 99% of them are people congratulating them on the deer etc, like it’s just normal every day stuff.

You can only imagine the outrage / front page news if some celeb over here posted a picture of themself with a nice roe buck or whatever it may be.

Is this just a massive cultural difference and attitude to hunting between the two countries?

After all we are both shooting deer and putting meat in the freezer…
Click to expand...
There actually seems to be a positive push by some of the younger stars.....check out 'Hardy'......tracks 'Sold Out'......'30 06'......and the tongue in cheek title..'Kill **** Till I Die'
 
Hardy Kill **** Till I Die lyrics - first verse and chorus.....imagine that on BBC Radio

When I was a boy
My pop bought me a gun
Said, "Son, this ain't no toy
It's time you learn to hunt
Buy bullets by the case
Put em' up on your shelf
'Cause there's a chance one day that
This world's gonna go to hell"

And he's damn sure proud of me
'Cause now my philosophy is

If ain't loaded, better rack one
Get a bloodhound that'll track one
Every buck could be your last one
When there's bombs up in the sky
You won't find me strapped for back strap
Crying at that crashing Nasdaq
You can bet your country ass that
I'ma kill **** till I die
Die
Kill **** till I die
Die (Kill **** till I)
 
Understand that painting deer hunting in the US with a broad brush is just as inaccurate as it would be to do the same with the UK.

We have regions in the US where hunting is quite out in the open and celebrated, and very much a part of acceptable culture. We also have the areas where being a hunter is something to be hidden lest you fall prey to the self righteous animal rights types. As a general rule, the more rural you are the more accepted. Conversely, being near large cities, especially in very Democrat dominant states, you will rarely see a hunter making themself visible. What camo you see worn is as a fashion statement not a functional bit of clothing

We also have a phenomen that is probably familiar, and that is on certain “opening days” people that really aren’t hunters step out and publicly pretend, primarily for the social aspect. Prime examples of this would be during the last presidential election, when the Governor of Minnesota and VP candidate went out pheasant hunting for the cameras. From his gun handling skills it was obvious this was not something that was a regular part of his life. I would expect you have the same, with some people anxiously accepting an invite to a driven shoot, mostly because of the important people that they can rub elbows with, not their keenness to the gun.

But I have seen the same in my trips to the UK. There are parts of Scotlsnd where I can freely bring up that I have come to visit and stalk. I think of a wonderful group I spoke with while I was hiring a car at the Inverness airport. The rental counter was obviously knowledgeable and we managed to find a stalking appropriate ride. At the same time, we stayed as invisible as possible during our 32 hours layover near Heathrow.
 
watercolour said:
Good hunting in the states requires you to be in the “good ol boys club” or have money as well. Public land hunting is often over crowded and during certain hunts dangerous. Im not saying public land hunting is fruitless but you do not see any where near the number of or quality of deer as you do on privately owned lands. Either way I see how the opportunity is there compared to no access.
The UK hunting regulations do seem to require you to jump threw many more hoops than in the states, well compared to most states in the US.
Click to expand...
I am expecting a tally of 100 plus deer by Feb (that is when I started my count) just narrowed the places where I stand/sit on parts of farms which are more productive. Then there are the foxes so it should be 50.
The "hoops" were jumped through many years ago but you need to go regularly and be able to deal with what you shoot.
The next couple of years is going to be a real headache for UK farming with big tax changes so I am mind full what will be going on.
 
Any celebrity will only share with their followers what they think will benefit them and support their image.

Jeremy Clarkson had a massive pheasant shoot on his farm, but that's been kept pretty quiet for his Prime TV series. Shooting a deer for conservation and cooking it up was fine as it fits the 'local produce' ethos he is trying to convey. Releasing thousands of non-native birds for his rich mates to shoot isn't going to keep the viewers happy and the support rolling in.

I always try to drop into conversations that I shoot deer and have never held back from saying so, even if I think others involved would be against it. In the best case scenario, I may make a new shooting acquaintance or even an invite for some stalking, and in the worst case, someone gets upset, but I've then learnt something valuable about them.
 
nun_hunter said:
Any celebrity will only share with their followers what they think will benefit them and support their image.

Jeremy Clarkson had a massive pheasant shoot on his farm, but that's been kept pretty quiet for his Prime TV series. Shooting a deer for conservation and cooking it up was fine as it fits the 'local produce' ethos he is trying to convey. Releasing thousands of non-native birds for his rich mates to shoot isn't going to keep the viewers happy and the support rolling in.

I always try to drop into conversations that I shoot deer and have never held back from saying so, even if I think others involved would be against it. In the best case scenario, I may make a new shooting acquaintance or even an invite for some stalking, and in the worst case, someone gets upset, but I've then learnt something valuable about them.
Click to expand...
Yet look at the huge media fuss about cutting down just one non native invasive Sycamore tree!
 
Great podcast from BASC talking to three hunters that I listened to today in the car - can you put a link up @Conor O'Gorman ? The vegan and south London lassie in particular show a real willingness to be open-minded and learn about the benefits of hunting in these isles.
 
Rake Aboot said:
The difference in private land ownership.

Hunting in the UK is for the rich and powerful , not for the scummy serfs.

Everywhere else , Joe Bloggs goes hunting on public land
Click to expand...

It really isn't. At the risk of sounding like a snob- when first getting into shooting I was surprised at how rough and "scummy" a large number of shooters are. Perhaps it's the circles I shoot in- but for every genuine landed gentry type (or real FU money) I have met- I have met 20 nouveau riche upper middle types- and about 40 working class/lower middle class normal shooters.

Lack of land and space is probably a factor though. We are a small densely populated island. France has a similar population and 4-5x the land mass.

We should all be grateful not many people in the UK shoot. If the UK population shot and hunted in similar percentages to many other countries - with our tiny landmass- we would all have to make do with 3 squirrels and 2 rabbits a year and a deer every 5 years.
 
billy_boyle_2010 said:
It really isn't. At the risk of sounding like a snob- when first getting into shooting I was surprised at how rough and "scummy" a large number of shooters are. Perhaps it's the circles I shoot in- but for every genuine landed gentry type (or real FU money) I have met- I have met 20 nouveau riche upper middle types- and about 40 working class/lower middle class normal shooters.

Lack of land and space is probably a factor though. We are a small densely populated island. France has a similar population and 4-5x the land mass.

We should all be grateful not many people in the UK shoot. If the UK population shot and hunted in similar percentages to many other countries - with our tiny landmass- we would all have to make do with 3 squirrels and 2 rabbits a year and a deer every 5 years.
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I’m well aware.

But that is the public perception and the historic truth of that fact is the reason.

Private land ownership is the main reason behind the difference in attitudes
 
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