shared stalking ground dilema

swatty

Well-Known Member
i was out this morning on some ground ive only just picked up in the last 12 months and as its well farmed ie alot of stock mainly dairy cows its not that good in the summer although i shot a nice buck on there during the rut , this where i have a problem this perticular permission i know is shot by some local lads who are know to poach and are very well known for it around this area ,now this morning i stalked up to a nice area where i spotted a nice doe with a young buck follower which i glassed and both were in good nick with the young buck just starting to show a couple of buttons now in a ideal world or on my other ground these two deer would of been left out of my cull but due to the cercumstances ie other people shooting the ground id like to know others thoughts on what they would of done shoot the two off them or leave them . i watched them both for half hour and could of shot them 100 times over but i chose to leave them for another day and if they make it till summer ill see haw the young buck is doing and maybe shoot him then .
 
Its a tough one Swatty,are there any other deer on this land or are they shot on sight by these other lads?? its a hopless situation if its a competition to see who can shoot any deer first, any talk of MANAGMENT goes straight out the window..
I have a similar dillema, i have managed deer on a farm for 20 years or more, last year a young lad took the shooting on a nieghbouring farm, not long after a picture of a dead buck i had been watching for the previous 3 years turned up on this site. This lad is doing nothing wrong, but like you do i shot on sight or let them take there chances when cross the boundry fence???

Nell
 
any deer will be shot on sight generally through there nv or on the lamp and will be shot at any time of year wether in season or not last year i found a doe which had been shot from the road and left where it dropped but im guessing it was shot and ran as the shot placdment was poor also i found a red stgs head and jaw left in a field the other week there is never many deer on this ground but as it backs onto some ground i have which is a really good lump and if i wanted could garantee a shot everytime but i like to keep things right as its just as important to me to manage my deer as it is to shoot them
 
I have a similar problem near me, a few nice roe about now but the dog lads will run them first chance of soft ground.
Ive already found one with a chewed out neck just left in the field.
As the land here is mostly used for game shooting I'm afraid the choices concerning deer management go out of the window until one of the land owners decides he really doesnt mind see the odd deer around and the keepers dont see them as an attraction to the dog lads.
Living close to a large city has its drawbacks.
 
If there is no way of putting a stop in the short term to this poaching, personally I would be shooting on sight (in season obviously) with any deer that this group could come across, i.e. next to roads or on the march. Similarly, if I had neighbours to my ground who were shooting the deer legitimately, boundary deer that are known to cross over cannot possibly feature in a cull plan. Unless the neighbours are working to the same one.:rolleyes: I shot a silver medal buck a few years ago that I stalked for 2 weeks before getting him. 80% of the time he was on my neighbours land. If he had been a mile further onto my land, he would probably have been left for at least another couple of years.

Are you cataloguing any of the incidents to report to the local police? They will eventually slip up and whatever evidence is available may help to secure a conviction.
 
the problem is these deer will move off my other ground to this ground at certain times of year the buck i shot during the rut on this ground id watched 2 day previously on my other ground from my point off view shooting on sight dosnt make me much better than them apart from im doing it legally i like to think that at least im doing it by the book so to speak i personally feel that there are far to many people stalking now or should i say rifle owners who get a wee bit of ground and see a few deer so shoot what they see as the common miscoception is that there are now far more deer than there ever was so we need to shoot them which i feel is not true around my parts anyway ive seen this attitude with a few people ive taken out far to keen to pull the trigger rather than take there time and watch for a bit . as for the poaching problem around me ill have a wild stab in the dark and say the police are about as much use as a chocolate firegaurd just like all the other parts of the country, around me its well know who poaches the deer which game dealler they take them which pups the venison is sold in where they poach what the use how they do it but the police have never got a conviction yet and said poachers are making thousands from it
 
Collaberation is the Key get together with them over a few pints and have a real good chat .You will soon find out how hungray they are some times it can change yours and there aproach to the management plan or lack of it.
 
Last edited:
from my point off view shooting on sight dosnt make me much better than them apart from im doing it legally i like to think that at least im doing it by the book so to speak i personally feel that there are far to many people stalking now or should i say rifle owners who get a wee bit of ground and see a few deer so shoot what they see as the common miscoception is that there are now far more deer than there ever was so we need to shoot them which i feel is not true

Swatty

I have said it on here before, there is a difference between management in the true sense of the word and simply controlling numbers. There is nothing wrong with shooting deer on sight under certain circumstances.
 
trouble is guys there is always someone with a bigger wallet than us lads and lassies who like to do things by the "book" do what is right in your mind for your ground and your situation .ie if mr farmer dont mind seeing a few about gr8, if he cant stand the sight of deer and u dont shoot a good cull % he may well get joe rifle to just bang em down
 
trouble is guys there is always someone with a bigger wallet than us lads and lassies who like to do things by the "book" do what is right in your mind for your ground and your situation .ie if mr farmer dont mind seeing a few about gr8, if he cant stand the sight of deer and u dont shoot a good cull % he may well get joe rifle to just bang em down
i certainly dont have a big wallet ,and i doubt many farmers mind seeing a odd deer about and ivery much doubt they have any idea about cull percentages or even how many deer are on there ground at all ,.and id hazard a guess that they only know that the males have horns
or my farmers anyway ive herd all the so many deer per square acre stats etc and shoot so many % does etc but to me this is all toss that means nothing unless you know your ground well and what beasts you have etc .it goes back to the relativly new rifles just been out new t3 dsc done im now a top notch stalker get myself a bit of land go out and shoot 10 out of the 15 deer ive seen and then wonder why theres very little next year thats why this morning rather than shooting doe and a good quality buck follower i left them be at least im right in my mind that i made the right decission weather it was for the best as they will of probably been shot under the lamp by the end of the week if they are still about im considering trying to move them on with the dogs over the boundry where there safe till the time is right
 
Okay maybe a bit of a daft suggestion but I know of terrier lads who in the past deliberately made foxes lamp shy, easily done as we know, lamp them and miss them and they will not stand in a lamp again. Would the same work with your deer ?? Lamp them, miss them and scare the beejeezus out of them ?
 
Unless you have one huge lump of ground or have a collaborative policy with all around you it is near impossible to develop a true management plan. We will always have poachers and we will always have the thought- it's on my ground now but what if it jumps the fence. If your plan is to reduce numbers I would have no problem on shooting everything I see but if you are of the mind to operate a sustainable management plan you must, despite what may happen, stick to your plan. Your doe and buck kid can only be shot once.
For what it is worth I agree with your outcome. Many would have taken both and gave no thought to tomorrow or the welfare of the deer in your area.
 
Okay maybe a bit of a daft suggestion but I know of terrier lads who in the past deliberately made foxes lamp shy, easily done as we know, lamp them and miss them and they will not stand in a lamp again. Would the same work with your deer ?? Lamp them, miss them and scare the beejeezus out of them ?

we used to do this on the estate i worked on with the reds everything that stood in the lamp had a bullet some where near it which did work my problem is the poaching lads have nv and also have permission on this ground . im not looking to reduce deer numbers just keep them were everyone is happy the only plus is that this ground is so well farmed ie lots of stock then i guess any deer on there wont stay long i was talking to the farmer tonight and theres 500 wintering sheep coming this week so if they dont get shot between now and then then they will move on to safer pastures the only other plus is that the farmer told me theres a thousand pinks on some of his other land and iive got to get them shot before theres no grass left happy days thats this sunday morning sorted anyway
 
u did the right thing mate all i was trying to say was tom dick and harry down the road with a big wallet may offer the land owner some bigger bucks pardon the pun and shoot the lot didnt mean to wind u up !
 
Back
Top