Venison Shortage reported by major gamedealers.
- Thread starter Heym SR20
- Start date
HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
Spoke to a contractor a couple years back. He said they’d usually shoot around 20 red deer a night, recover around 12. The left were unaccounted for. He left because he couldn’t sleep at night knowing how many were left injured. Says something..
Head shot or rib shot is the same price,if you smash the saddle then you deserve to get deducted anyway,at £1.90 per kg to £2 per kg it’s crap money when we were getting £2.20 to £2.40 per kilo 25years ago??? And we used to get £2.50 for a brace of pheasants where now it costs a quid to make sure they go into the food chain! They are definitely shafting us but what option do we have if we want to be seen to be producing a food source instead of incinerating them or burying them. The game dealers know they have us over a barrel and there’s nothing we can do about it.
wellywoodie
Well-Known Member
Small pockets of deer, but nowhere near what was visible last year, much harder to find. So much food in the woods all winter, they have no need to move, come out on show, strange year!!
wellywoodie
Well-Known Member
Small pockets of deer, but nowhere near what was visible last year, much harder to find. So much food in the woods all winter, they have no need to move, come out on show, strange year
shakey jake
Well-Known Member
Surely thats how and where they are shooting them?
40% loss isnt normal for shoulder shot deer, short run maybe but then the deer will be dead not injured
Bo Diddley
Well-Known Member
A pheasants & deer comparison is like an apples & oranges comparison.
If you have processed any amount of gamebirds on the plucking machine, you will know that the number of presentable/saleable birds is fairly low. Plenty are only fit for pet food.
It's not as bad on a decent sized deer, even if the shot placement is not the best. Small deer are a bit of an exception.
TringSaint
Well-Known Member
I think that we will see a marked increase of wounded deer if this becomes the norm.
I will head shoot cwd up to around 150m if conditions allow, but I probably only shoot 20% of my deer in the head. I mostly use a low neck shot (probably 50%) and 30% is H+L - there or thereabouts.
But I don’t take anything to the game dealer, so my choice of shot placement is down to where I think the cleanest kill will occur, not where I will earn the most cash.
Definitely a lot of unusable birds but even if they took them for free it’s still better than them charging for a product that at least 70% of them are useable.
What ever price is paid you will find a high percentage of stalkers have long term employment starting work from a school/collage position learning a trade then working your way up life's ladder, then at some point want to take up stalking however they can't/won't give up that employment so shoot a few deer as a hobby then find some more ground but need an outlet so set up and run deer into a dealer.
The facts are there is enough info available to know where dealers are and what they pay which if you want to shoot more deer and run them in do your homework. It is like working local for x amount or sit in traffic 4 hrs a day to get to a job and earn xx amount.
Personally I have no problem with the prices as that way it ticks all the boxes for what I enjoy, back in the day with a good kill ratio we could cover the cost of shooting pigeons as they made 25p, these days they go to a ferret rescue centre.
We get kicked in the sack with cost of living prices every day which affects ALL the country not just a few scruffy stalkers complaining about x amount for deer
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shakey jake
Well-Known Member
Id be suprised if the market for birds is anywhere near as big as the supply. All the risk is with the dealer.
Hook'N'Bullet
Well-Known Member
Spoke to a contractor a couple years back. He said they’d usually shoot around 20 red deer a night, recover around 12. The left were unaccounted for. He left because he couldn’t sleep at night knowing how many were left injured. Says something..
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Iv never heard anything like that in my career. They would have lost their contract instantly if the landowner clicked onto that, sounds like excuses for someone who couldn’t hack it anymore. Contracts tend to be extremely tightly regulated, I would take anything you hear from that contractor with a pinch of salt.
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Iv never heard anything like that in my career. They would have lost their contract instantly if the landowner clicked onto that, sounds like excuses for someone who couldn’t hack it anymore. Contracts tend to be extremely tightly regulated, I would take anything you hear from that contractor with a pinch of salt.
By the sounds of it he wasn’t a very good contractor then and laziness got the better of him . I’ve worked for contractors for years and any that ran were hunted down and found by a DOG .. hence anybody shooting at night should have a well trained mutt . Very very rarely did we lose an animal .. if you couldn’t hang them in the larder then you don’t get paid
simple .
By the sounds of it he wasn’t a very good contractor then and laziness got the better of him . I’ve worked for contractors for years and any that ran were hunted down and found by a DOG .. hence anybody shooting at night should have a well trained mutt . Very very rarely did we lose an animal .. if you couldn’t hang them in the larder then you don’t get paid
The trouble is that this bull then gets regurgitated by those who have a bee in their bonnet about night shooting instead of educating themselves as to what it’s really like.
There is totally nothing wrong with nightshooting deer if done properly and systematically . I have bits of ground and nightshooting helps me keep on top of them a little bit easier espeacially on a new plantation , I’m not contracting on these bits it’s purely tree protection and my hobby , it gives you that extra tool to carry out your job BUT I only do it if needed . I prefer shooting in daylight hrs because it’s that bit easier but if I need to make a visit at night it’s there to help me simple . Thermal tools make shooting at night easier but I’ve seen me being lazy after shooting a deer at night and presuming i know where I shot it .. it’s over there.. I’ll be back in a minute I’ve got my thermal but thermals don’t pick up the dead deer lying in a ditch - behind a stump - in a mounding hole you will after time find them but the dog will find it quicker . All I do is find a bit of high ground and watch the dog wi the thermal .
For contractors every deer shot is £100-£120 each so I hardly think many (if any) contractors are going to say “ never mind that one it’s walked “ there going after it because that’s there pay .
simple . Thermal tools make shooting at night easier but I’ve seen me being lazy after shooting a deer at night and presuming i know where I shot it .. it’s over there.. I’ll be back in a minute I’ve got my thermal but thermals don’t pick up the dead deer lying in a ditch - behind a stump - in a mounding hole you will after time find them but the dog will find it quicker . All I do is find a bit of high ground and watch the dog wi the thermal . For contractors every deer shot is £100-£120 each so I hardly think many (if any) contractors are going to say “ never mind that one it’s walked “ there going after it because that’s there pay .
timbrayford
Well-Known Member
Lead has bugger all to do with it, E.Coli and other pathogens are the main issue.
Every contractor I’ve worked for has always always always had a dog and followed up with due Dilligence when things have went awry as they will do.
They wouldn’t be employed long if they just left deer lying for Joe Public to find.
Plus as Bugsy said , 8 deer at 1-120 a carcass is a lot of money to leave lying to rot.
They wouldn’t be employed long if they just left deer lying for Joe Public to find.
Plus as Bugsy said , 8 deer at 1-120 a carcass is a lot of money to leave lying to rot.
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