New Stalking ground

Hi lads and lassies, I decided on the Articles section as there is a bit of a story to it.
Hopefully it will raise the hopes of people without their own ground.

Back in the spring my wife and I went with Daughter and future son-in-law one evening to collect our grandson from his martial arts lesson. It ws a chilly evening and I slipped on my 'Deerstalker' gillet. At the end of the lesson we were chatting to grandson and the Chief instructor came over and said "You look to be a bit of a shooting man". I replied "I do a bit." Which caused guffaws of laughter from the family. My wife told him that I helped out on a shoot but mainly did stalking, to which the instructor replied. "Oh, my uncle has a farm north of Oxford and has a lot of deer causing trouble. He is looking for someone local to shoot some deer". "A man came down from the north a couple of times but charged him and charged to take the deer away". I showed surprise at this and said that I would not dream of charging anyone. He asid that he would talk to his uncle and let me know.
Several weeks went by without hearing anything then about four weeks ago my son-in-law said could we meet the uncle, his keeper and a couple of members of the syndicate at the weekend. We duly arrived at the farm five minutes before the appointed time and met their team.
After a chat lasting half an hour or so I was able to give them my background, answered a number of questions and felt that I had impressed them with my knowledge. The farmer suggested that I take the keeper round the shoot to look at the woods and the boundaries while they went in for a cup of coffee.
On the way round I was able to chat to the keeper and discuss the problem in detail. He is under pressure to apply for an FAC, does not mind shooting rabbits but does not really like the idea of shooting deer.
On the tour round the 350 acres or so, we saw five roe does under hedgerows and in the wheat and I had the impression that the main problem is the family groups that are seen over the winter months.
We came back to the yard after an hour and the rest of the group were waiting. I said what I thought the problem was and outlined my plan. I explained the seasons and what needed to be done with some new planting, which seemed to go well. The farmer then closed the meeting and said goodbye, while his nephew said that they would be going back into the farmhouse to decide that they thought of me.
Son-in-law and I discussed the morning on the way home and we felt overall that things looked favourable despite the farmer's slightly abrupt ending.
Another two weeks have gone by but on Friday evening I had a phone call to say that everyone really liked what we had to say. Can we make a start in the next couple of weeks on the deer and everyone would like us to join their pheasant syndicate.
 
Well done, its a great feeling getting some new ground. Our little syndicate have recently obtained a smallish estate just over the border and our feet have'nt touched the ground yet. Like your case it started with being in the right place at the right time then followed on from there.

Enjoy your new stalking, is it just the Roe or are there any other species present??
 
Well done techman ;) .

I have got a policy of always mentioning that i go deerstalking,

1, It`s a conversation starter.

2, You never know who you are talking to and what they might have got, or know somebody who has got some ground to stalk on.

The main thing is, NEVER feel embarassed of mentioning what you do as a past time.

wadas
 
techman really pleased to hear of your newly aquired ground youll probably pick up plenty more from surrounding farms now you have gained there trust we moved to a new house and the neighbour was a farmer with about 500 acres of land not stalked covered in roe i mentioned i would like the stalking if it was possible and would pay the going rate after about 12 monhs and helping out with a couple of jobs i was offered it free of charge i know of 1 gold medal and 3 or 4 very good heads . once you gain a farmers trust and keep your nose clean a lot more usually comes your way . pete
 
Well done, my Missus and eldest Daughter go to Karate, I'm going to pick them up next week in my Advantage Timber outfit!! :D

Good on You.

TJ
 
Techman well done.

Always nice to hear someone having some luck and picking up a bit of Stalking. Well done, bet your raring to get on there ;) and see how many bucks are about.

Look forward to seeing some piccies and stories, all the best to you.

Sikamalc
 
Thanks everyone on your messages.
My first stalking came along as a chance encounter and I have been there almost fifteen years.
There are muntjac also on the new ground and it is not far from a couple of deer parks where deer have escaped over the years, so may have fallow passing through. I have a minor operation on my thumb next week which will keep me away from stalking for the next two, but will keep everyone up to date as things pan out.
 
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