Trophy hunting ? extension from other thread.

bambislayer

Well-Known Member
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Originally Posted by stone

Grant
you might be getting in to the realms of trophy shooting here
which is a totally different thread altogether;)

I thought I'd just start a new thread as the meat damage one is going biblical:lol:

On ground where I set prices & terms, I do not charge a trophy fee, you get what you get, someone may get a slightly expensive cull buck but the next day he may shoot an extremely cheap medal, you pay the money and take the chance that is stalking.

I also try wherever possible to let stags by the day, so depending on how the day goes you may shoot more than 1 stag. This comes down to my expenses, I need x ammount a day to run things, these costs are the same no matter how many stags are or aren't shot. When I first started working the estate ,let "sport" by the day and it was up to the keeper and tennant to decide what would happen that day ie grouse, stalking , fishing, all the same cost, the tennants would take the lodge for x ammount of days/weeks . It was a simple and effective system, if you caught a fish in the morning then you'd head out for a stag and then possibly a grouse for your macnab, you pay for a day you get a day.

Back to topic! I never advertise trophies, or even mention them, but I would say 90% of clients will ask what the chances are of getting one within 1 hour of arrival!

Many agents will promise them to clients just to get trade, and when the client is met by the stalker and is told they have never seen one on their estate, you have one ****ed off client.

I like to see happy clients and their is nothing better than seeing someones eyes[or mine] light up when they see a prime animal close up, if we are dealing with stags then , there is no question about it , you don't shoot the best stags, however it seems the bucks are a different ball game, very few will pass them by especially with the price tag or tips involved.

Shooting times have their annual buck and stag review, both come from a completely different angle. the stag one looks at age, weight weather, the buck one - medals, when discussing bucks how often is age asked?????.

You will see on the list the same names appearing again and again, maybe because they have access to ground that produces a lot of bucks?????
Maybe they are trophy hunters????

I've had a few of the latter out, one who is a bit of a celeb has quite a unique roe set up:confused:

A custom 7mm rem mag with a night force mega scope, and stated that as long as he could see the medal he could kill the medal, when I approached the subject of meat damage, he flipintly stated he'd pay for it up front!!!!! and it would be worth my while:-|

Luckily my employer at the time didn't need the money and cared more for sport than people , so this guy was never back.

Keeping trophies is quite different from trophy hunting, trophy hunting does nothing for deer management or stalking and only has unscrupulous agents/owners to blame as they are fueling the market by letting it happen.

Rant over




 
Well that's got the dirty water off your chest. You are right though there are too many people willing to take money from folk who are not interested in stalking just trophies, and it is the magical Bucks that draw them. I have never understood how the best stags will be left with much wise nodding of the head and talk of when he is a year or two older, but Bucks are shot on sight, I think it is because a Medal Buck is much easier to deal with than a medal head stag:)

If I had any medal heads on my ground, but there are good representative Sika heads, I think my way of letting the days would solve the problem. Members of the site can shoot for £50 a day, no restrictions on numbers taken and no trophy fees, an extra ten bob per point or whatever. If you want the carcase then you buy it at dealer prices. However I don't get many takers, I think the 50 miles North of Inverness puts them off:D:D

John
 
John
I'd love to take you up on that offer.
I can do 50 miles north of Inverness.
Please PM me with some details
Alan
 
My dear JAYB I might have to put rifle acquisitions on hold and save a few pennies for a trip North instead ;) I have never yet had the chance to stalk Reds. As for Medals no they are priced beyond my meagre means. I have to finish my roe shields and then chat to the nice gentleman who offered to do my two roe heads. One I have had in the freezer for several years now. It's a nice 4 pointer with lovely pearling and he ate superbly :cool: the other is the one from April with John a nice mature Roe buck. perhaps when the head is done age can be determined. One hopes I could manage the ground? i will try to get fitter :lol: but not many hills around here. I believe we are 2 feet below sea level here.
 
hi john i havnt forgotton you,i just need to work out some dates and a pm will be inbound thanks,wayne.i do not go out stalking for trophys mainly for the meat and the thrill of the stalk it really doesnt matter if its a cull buck or a medal i am more after learning the stalk and every aspect thereafter and if it happens to be a medal i would take it if it was ok to do so,wayne
 
Well that's got the dirty water off your chest. You are right though there are too many people willing to take money from folk who are not interested in stalking just trophies, and it is the magical Bucks that draw them. I have never understood how the best stags will be left with much wise nodding of the head and talk of when he is a year or two older, but Bucks are shot on sight, I think it is because a Medal Buck is much easier to deal with than a medal head stag:)

If I had any medal heads on my ground, but there are good representative Sika heads, I think my way of letting the days would solve the problem. Members of the site can shoot for £50 a day, no restrictions on numbers taken and no trophy fees, an extra ten bob per point or whatever. If you want the carcase then you buy it at dealer prices. However I don't get many takers, I think the 50 miles North of Inverness puts them off:D:D

John

I would very happily take you up on this some time next year :D At £50 a day for stalking i wouldn't mind the trip and i will have a lot of time on my hands (forced gap year).

Although i would like to get a chance on a medal buck i don't mind if i never do. However I would still skull mount any roe buck to have him on the wall as a memento of the stalk. The one thing i would hunt as a trophy hunter as much as i am saddened to say it is a Buff. The reason i would deem that trophy hunting is since i was 3 i have wanted a buffalo skull as my granddad has one hung on the side of his house that he brought back from Uganda in the '60s when Idi Amin started to evict people and because of that i have always wanted my own and i will as its not just the trophy but the idea of hunting a big bull in thick scrub really get my hairs to stand on end with excitement :D

George
 
Trophys are what they are some think a spiker is a trophy as it may be there first or it may have been a trip away or any other reason, Medal hunting is differnt while i have shot more than my fair share it is always as part of my cull plan and i take great delight in takeing out a really old buck that has given me and his fellow roe deer A hard time. Last week i shot a possible silver he was about 8 - 9 years est and i had him bang to rights on no less then 8 occasions ONLY TO BE OUT DONE BY HIS GUILE but he fell to a well worked plan were he was the only planned deer that morning. But for me paying just for a medal would be wrong like BS i take people out if they get a large buck then fine if they get a spiker thats fine but they will not be loud to walk by a beast that fits in to my plans for removal.
Roll on the rut.
 
Here's my first roe buck 'trophy'. Still kept, and still remembered.

First Buck 001 (Large).JPG

Hopefully that clarifies my approach to trophy hunting. :lol:
 
Ahhh yes my first ever Roe Buck :-

P4230097.jpg


P4230096.jpg


I can still recall it vividly. The estate wanted it removed and had been trying fro a while. The stalker and I were walking along a metalled track past estate buildings towards a larch plantation where he had been seen when a Doe stood up just into the plantation then a few moments later he stood up. So the stalk was on. fate, luck call it what you will.
 
i boil every buck i have shot to date and evn those in velet and all are on mounts or waiting to be mounted. i boiled mt first doe also and she is in the garage.
respect for your quarry is paramount at all times. if i was born 150 years ago i would have been an Indian and not a wild bill.

atb f.

sorry bit of topic but in line with several posts.
no medal heads to date and to be honest all my heads are medals to me..
 
I think the word trophy is used by alot of hunters who don`t realy know the meaning of the word.
The trophy (imo) is the trip,the day/night out, the sounds,sights smells the company,it`s not just a head/skin stuck on the wall.
When I was taking people out on the boar, I hated it when the questions started like, "what is your success rate %tage? I refused to answer that one ! or, "whats the %tage chance of a trophy/medal?"wouldn`t answer that one either !!
All I ever promised was, yes there are Pigs there, yes I will do my utmost best to get you one or two or three.And I don`t think anyone went away disappointed,no-one could say I didn`t work to get them one either.
You cannot promise any better than that I think.
And I hated having American clients, they came with rifle and a tape measure (thats true from experience) Sorry Muir It`s a generalization I know;) but its happened to me..
 
Trophy hunting for me is about shooting some thing different or special
not about the size of it's antlers or teeth
I'm not a medal hunter, but can see why others are and also why they often fetch a high price
my most treasured trophy to date is a Cow of the PD variety and one day i hope to take a Bull
not every one's cup of tea I know, but something I hav always wanted since my first ever trip to Woburn many years ago
I hav never paid to shoot a medal head, of which I only hav one to date and I only had that measured by chance
A Fallow Buck that went bronze, which i shot of my own ground
but i hav spent a few pennies chasing the different species i hav in my collection which are all special to me;)
just wish i had the money at the time to of brought back some of the trophies I took in Africa, as the little 5x7 pics hanging on the wall just don't seem to look right compared to the others :lol:
 
My dear JAYB I might have to put rifle acquisitions on hold and save a few pennies for a trip North instead ;) I have never yet had the chance to stalk Reds. As for Medals no they are priced beyond my meagre means. I have to finish my roe shields and then chat to the nice gentleman who offered to do my two roe heads. One I have had in the freezer for several years now. It's a nice 4 pointer with lovely pearling and he ate superbly :cool: the other is the one from April with John a nice mature Roe buck. perhaps when the head is done age can be determined. One hopes I could manage the ground? i will try to get fitter :lol: but not many hills around here. I believe we are 2 feet below sea level here.

Well save your pennies, the ground is not difficult there is none of it that I cannot get to and I am about as mobile as a boulder, did I say I use a quad :) I'll try and find some old pictures I took when we had the stalking of all of it.

John
 
My last two "trophies" was taking two guys out to succeed in getting their first fallow. No charge and double the craic. My trophy animals are left to breed!
I'm hoping to do the same for trainees in the Deer Action Group South who are just getting their first FAC.
 
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