Is deer stalking affordable for the Average Joe?

[CapeStalker]

I find deer stalking one of the most rewarding things to do, but are we pricing the majority out of this experience?

The initial costs of getting started - buying a rifle, decent optics, completing DSC1 / 2, insurance, and everything else are one thing. But finding somewhere to stalk is another challenge altogether.

Around my neck of the woods in Buckinghamshire, some of the prices being asked are, in my opinion, becoming difficult to justify. I recently saw a stalking package where the stalk was £180, the shot fee for a cull muntjac was £60, and if you wanted to keep the carcass, it was another £3 per kg. By the time you've finished, you're looking at around £300 to take home a Munty. If you happen to shoot a medal buck, you could easily be paying double that.... For a Munty!!! God forbid you take a Medal Fallow... You'd be looking at over £1000 for the pleasure.

Another business model that baffles me is where estates or syndicates sell the venison commercially, charge people thousands of pounds for a place on the syndicate, and then don't allow members to keep the carcasses because the meat is being sold. So, effectively, you're paying thousands to carry out the deer management for someone else, and you don't even get to take home venison from the deer you've shot.
But, to be fair, at least they are offering the opportunity (regardless of price). Finding a permission or a syndicate space is like finding a treasure chest these days...

I totally understand that estates, guides, and landowners have costs to cover and businesses to run, and they deserve to make a fair return. But surely there has to be a balance?
How is any of this affordable for the average person? When you speak to land owners or other stalkers, they will all tell you what a problem the UK has with deer numbers, yet on the other hand deer stalking is one of the hardest hobbies to get into unless you have a healthy disposable income.

I don't have an answer to any of this and I accept it for what it is... Just a bit frustrated I guess

 

[Stevie/P]

Unfortunately in this day and age everything revolves around Money greed has took over humanity it’s a fact in some cases Money comes before family friends even health and life itself.

 

[TringSaint]

Unfortunately, when you offer CWD and Munty stalking then you get a lot of foreign interest, any they will pay ££££££ to shoot them as they don’t exist on the continent.

That is why I am trying to help newbies get into the ladder, because it is becoming prohibitively expensive in certain areas, and the syndicate or DMG mafias are driving up the prices purely for profit and not for the purpose of managing deer.

IMHO, of course!!

 

[The Singing Stalker]

Forget estates, they rent out the shooting rights. That is life,
You need to look to the small landowners with well kept gardens, I have one spot, small wood, maybe 2 acres, produces a regular supply of muntjac and roe from a highseat.
Small landowners with out to 40 acres can be very productive, the problem is being in the right place with the right people and making connections.
I was in that situation, now I have had to cut down on some of the land, so the furthest and least productive land has gone in favour of land locally to me. Such a joy to find land 10 minutes a2ay and not an hour and a half.

Steer clear of the big places, look at the smaller places. Drink in the right pubs where you will meet people. It does take a lot of time. Shoot squirrels for one person, and it can open up deer there or with their neighbour.

 

[Mungo]

It goes in cycles.

Someone gets hold of an area and runs it for profit, charging recreational stalkers as much as the market will bear.

They seldom manage the deer effectively - the objectives of for profit recreational stalking and sustainable deer management differ greatly (let alone deer culling as pest control). So eventually the landowner gets fed up and either kicks the lease holder off, brings in contractors, or allows additional people onto the land (or an unholy mix of the above).

The trick is developing a reputation as being someone reliable who does what the landowner wants, when they want it.

 

[old 30-06]

If you go to an "expensive" place and stalk you are perpetuating the sport being expensive. Try and find a "reasonable" place, and give them your custom. Otherwise it just encourages the "reasonable" to become "expensive".

 

[Heym SR20]

All hobbies, pastimes, leisure activities etc are expensive. So too is owning land, particularly in southern england. Unfortunately the only open access to public land for shooting is crown land below the high tide mark For wildfowling. And even that these days is pretty restricted.

We don’t have public land per se. We have land owned by charities and government agencies that do allow “public access”. In Scotland there is the right to roam. But such agencies keep deer management in house and prefer to use employed staff to do culling. We don’t have any form of public land access for hunting, nor any form of tag type hunting as you get elsewhere in the world.

But UK deer hunting is still pretty affordable compared to elsewhere in the world, and pretty affordable compared to many many other pastimes.

 

[CapeStalker]

Forget estates, they rent out the shooting rights. That is life,
You need to look to the small landowners with well kept gardens, I have one spot, small wood, maybe 2 acres, produces a regular supply of muntjac and roe from a highseat.
Small landowners with out to 40 acres can be very productive, the problem is being in the right place with the right people and making connections.
I was in that situation, now I have had to cut down on some of the land, so the furthest and least productive land has gone in favour of land locally to me. Such a joy to find land 10 minutes a2ay and not an hour and a half.

Steer clear of the big places, look at the smaller places. Drink in the right pubs where you will meet people. It does take a lot of time. Shoot squirrels for one person, and it can open up deer there or with their neighbour.

Great advice... Thank you

 

[Tim.243]

I find deer stalking one of the most rewarding things to do, but are we pricing the majority out of this experience?

The initial costs of getting started - buying a rifle, decent optics, completing DSC1 / 2, insurance, and everything else are one thing. But finding somewhere to stalk is another challenge altogether.

Around my neck of the woods in Buckinghamshire, some of the prices being asked are, in my opinion, becoming difficult to justify. I recently saw a stalking package where the stalk was £180, the shot fee for a cull muntjac was £60, and if you wanted to keep the carcass, it was another £3 per kg. By the time you've finished, you're looking at around £300 to take home a Munty. If you happen to shoot a medal buck, you could easily be paying double that.... For a Munty!!! God forbid you take a Medal Fallow... You'd be looking at over £1000 for the pleasure.

Another business model that baffles me is where estates or syndicates sell the venison commercially, charge people thousands of pounds for a place on the syndicate, and then don't allow members to keep the carcasses because the meat is being sold. So, effectively, you're paying thousands to carry out the deer management for someone else, and you don't even get to take home venison from the deer you've shot.
But, to be fair, at least they are offering the opportunity (regardless of price). Finding a permission or a syndicate space is like finding a treasure chest these days...

I totally understand that estates, guides, and landowners have costs to cover and businesses to run, and they deserve to make a fair return. But surely there has to be a balance?
How is any of this affordable for the average person? When you speak to land owners or other stalkers, they will all tell you what a problem the UK has with deer numbers, yet on the other hand deer stalking is one of the hardest hobbies to get into unless you have a healthy disposable income.

I don't have an answer to any of this and I accept it for what it is... Just a bit frustrated I guess

I shot 1 farm for 3 years for foxes, then the muntjac/fallow moved in so he asked me to shoot them, picked up other bits shooting foxes/pigeons which in time has swung into deer.
But it takes time and this is the one thing people don't seen to grasp as many have said "I don't have the time to shoot foxes"
Yes it is affordable if you have a plan and the will to start at the bottom.
Note: Just off pigeon shooting

 

[CapeStalker]

I shot 1 farm for 3 years for foxes, then the muntjac/fallow moved in so he asked me to shoot them, picked up other bits shooting foxes/pigeons which in time has swung into deer.
But it takes time and this is the one thing people don't seen to grasp as many have said "I don't have the time to shoot foxes"
Yes it is affordable if you have a plan and the will to start at the bottom.
Note: Just off pigeon shooting

Maybe this is more of a problem around where I live, Most of the agri land is owned by a couple of families / estates who have rangers employed or have leased the shooting rights. Id be more than happy to help with foxes / pigeons if given the opportunity.

 

[VSS]

I think stalking is a very cheap fieldsports activity to get into.
You can kit yourself out with everything you need for under £500 by buying 2nd hand rifle, scope, binos, boots etc, and there's plenty of free stalking to be had if you're prepared to go door knocking, particularly if you're an established and known member of the rural community in which you live.
Insurance isn't compulsory, and neither is any qualification. The cost of a FAC isn't prohibitive, particularly when spread over the lifetime of the certificate.
And you can sell carcasses to offset costs.

What other hobby offers all that for so little?

 

[Scotty99]

I think it very much depends on where you live, if in a city or large town your opportunities are limited and you probably have to resort to paid for stalking which is expensive. If you live in a rural area there are lots of entry opportunities beating, picking up, squirrels, rats, foxes and ultimately deer once you are a trusted and known quantity.

 

[John Gryphon]

But UK deer hunting is still pretty affordable compared to elsewhere in the world,

Leave us out of it as ours is freely open on public land.

 

[VSS]

I think it very much depends on where you live, if in a city or large town your opportunities are limited and you probably have to resort to paid for stalking which is expensive. If you live in a rural area there are lots of entry opportunities beating, picking up, squirrels, rats, foxes and ultimately deer once you are a trusted and known quantity.

Anyone coming out of the cities to stalk should definitely have to pay for it. Rural communities need that injection of cash

 

[Mr. Gain]

Singing Stalker's point about smallholdings and large gardens is right on target. These places have no means of making stalking pay but will suffer damage from deer, and will often be keen to have some venison for their own table.
The challenge, therefore, is to find a way in, and if course to be as good as gold once you are there.
I've had success in printing calling cards and dropping them in the letterboxes of promising properties, pinning them up in village shops, and offering them when talking to stallholders at farmers' markets.
Put your qualifications on your card, and the name of your insurance provider to help show you are a responsible person. It's also worth quarantining/streamlining your lines of communication by using a dedicated mobile and email address (e.g. mg-wildlife@wherever.com) You might even consider recording a video introduction and making it available via SM, so anyone thinking of calling you has a better idea of who you are and what you can offer.
Remember, too, that the better the impression you can make on your first host, the sooner they are likely to speak well of you within their own circle ("I've got this super chap who comes in and keeps the deer from destroying everything I plant! He's doing a great job on the squirrels, too.") Conversely, if you stuff it up, you will find you have poisoned that well good and proper.
I've also registered myself as a food business. As well as making it easier for me to sell surplus carcasses (my landowners get anything they ask for as well as a box each Christmas), this has helped open some additional doors.
The upshot of this is that I can stalk pretty much whenever I want, in half a dozen venues, and there are always roe and muntjac, and some CWD, to go after. The cost of all this is courtesy and consideration - which when returned by my hosts, makes that no cost at all.
Of course there's also a lot spent on kit, fuel, etc.
It does take time to earn yourself a "lucky" break, but once in, other opportunities may quickly arise. Judgement is then required not to take on too much, or to leave your initial host in the lurch. Rural communities have strong communication networks and long memories.

 

[slider]

Forget estates, they rent out the shooting rights. That is life,
You need to look to the small landowners with well kept gardens, I have one spot, small wood, maybe 2 acres, produces a regular supply of muntjac and roe from a highseat.
Small landowners with out to 40 acres can be very productive, the problem is being in the right place with the right people and making connections.
I was in that situation, now I have had to cut down on some of the land, so the furthest and least productive land has gone in favour of land locally to me. Such a joy to find land 10 minutes a2ay and not an hour and a half.

Steer clear of the big places, look at the smaller places. Drink in the right pubs where you will meet people. It does take a lot of time. Shoot squirrels for one person, and it can open up deer there or with their neighbour.

Spot on.

While I am in a couple of syndicates in commercial forestry, I also have a couple of small patches - one about 8-10 acres 50/50 spruce and open land belonging to good lifers that are gradually removing the spruce and trying to encourage hardwoods. The other a 10 acre field in from of a former farmhouse that has been fairly recently panted with patches of woodland. This is surrounded by arable land that is teaming with roe that the farmers don't want shot. For both these areas I was contact through mutual acquaintances and ask how much I would charge to shoot their deer!

 

[Leec6.5]

Here the farmer charges £150 a day, fill your boots and keep the carcasses.

all seat work, I do all the organisation and deal with it all and then return. I get my own stalking on my doorstep for nothing all is fair and above board.

Admittedly, we only have 1 male group of stalkers the east are all female stalkers from the Artimis stalking group, and the days have been sold out now for years and continue to be sold out for years to come.

If you’re reasonably priced, you will always have customers, if you’re greedy in the end they will come a point where you will struggle.

 

[Dave_45]

It goes in cycles.

Someone gets hold of an area and runs it for profit, charging recreational stalkers as much as the market will bear.

They seldom manage the deer effectively - the objectives of for profit recreational stalking and sustainable deer management differ greatly (let alone deer culling as pest control). So eventually the landowner gets fed up and either kicks the lease holder off, brings in contractors, or allows additional people onto the land (or an unholy mix of the above).

The trick is developing a reputation as being someone reliable who does what the landowner wants, when they want it.

Syndicates rarely work

I know of one that exceeds expectations by a large margin with 8 members shooting 500 plus "recreationally"

They were twice set that target and met it fairly easily.


Syndicates are at odds with deer culling as most paying members want to see deer so don't shoot many at all.

And then you get the crackpots that pay for leases over the odds so they can talk down the pub and at game fairs about how much land they have , meanwhile the deer destroy everything in sight and no one else gets a look in.

 

[maximus otter]

Is deer stalking affordable for the Average Joe?​

I’d class myself as pretty average: 70, retired bobby, “Living off my wits and my pension, both hopelessly inadequate.” (Thanks, Spike Milligan.)

Affordable? Consider that smoking 20 Marlboro per day at today’s Tesco price would cost you £6,697.75 per annum. That’s considerably more than the collective price for every piece of stalking kit that l own.

Two daily pints of my favourite premium bitter in my favourite pub would cost me £4,380 per annum. That’s the cost of my stalking rifle/scope/mod and my Swarovski LRF binoculars every year.

The only challenge is the one that every tyro complains of: finding permissions. If l had a magic answer for that issue and could sell it, I’d own my own county…

maximus otter

 

[TringSaint]

Anyone coming out of the cities to stalk should definitely have to pay for it. Rural communities need that injection of cash

There are lots of people in the country down here who find themselves priced out. Too many big estates, ultra syndicates and dmg’s that are a closed shop.
I am lucky that I have 3 farms to shoot on that I can take friends onto for nothing or a small fee to the farmer based on a kill, but so many end up having to go to the likes of capreolus or deer box just to get regular shooting, but at a huge cost!
But, I do agree with houses with big gardens being very good for harvesting deer and would also recommend that approach.