DMQ Qualification..history of.

Cut+Squirt

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know a bit about the history of the DMQ qualifications?

Was there any sort of formal qualification prior to these, if so what?


I haven’t been stalking for that many years but have taken the DSC 1+2 as a means to an end, and as a bit of self preservation in the hope that they may assist me keeping / acquiring more and better stalking in time to come. {And of course as a learning tool}.

I can foresee in the future that it may well become a requirement to have these before being permitted to stalk deer at all......Forestry Commission anyone???

I know there are many on the site who have been at the stalking game for many many years, what’s your opinions on the DMQs, and what qualification did you require [if any] in years gone past? How does the new DMQs compare with the old system?

The deer stalking lark appears to be changing a lot, what with more emphasis on qualifications, health and safety, food hygiene, and personal responsibility.

What’s you opinion on the direction things are currently heading?


An open tread for anyone who fancies chipping in their tuppence worth.
 
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national stalkers proficiency course 1980ish run by the BDS but was a big thing formal training is Scotland with the west of Scotland branch of the BDS a stalker George coin and pat lennox took up much of the training issues here.
 
Tin hat time - my view is qualifications can only be a good thing. We should all want to better ourselves and do what we do properly. There's a lot of people who have been doing things wrong for a long time and are unaware of it. The only people I have seen behave in what I would call a dangerous way with shotguns are elderly gentlemen who have been shooting all their lives and should know better.

I took my driving test because I needed to, but took my Advanced Driving Test with the IAM to better myself - was not forced to.

In my professional work I am currently studying towards a Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice, because I want to.

I recently went on a BASC 'improve your shooting course' and have taken my DSC1 (assessment only route) because I want to learn more, not because anyone made me. I will do the level 2 when I get time to shoot some deer.

I suspect a lot of people who bash these qualifications and say that they have been doing it for so long are actually frightened of failure. There are many stories on here of 'experienced' shots cocking up the DSC 1 shooting test.
 
i think qualifications are a good thing. was told yesterday that a 2000 acre stalking lease in hampshire has been let for 10000 to posh city boys. that cant be any good for stalking !!

atb steve
 
have to agree with Cadex on this one, i know many see "voluntary" training as legislation by the back door, but it is increasingly becoming more the case whether we like it or not. I am fairly new to stalking and took the DSC 1 in order to gain my FAC, which i did not agree with at the time. However, i really found the course useful, highlighting some big gaps in my knowledge,so i guess its a bit of a double edged sword, extra red tape v more informed new stalkers.
 
National stalkers competency certificate was the precursor to DSC1, I lost mine in my move to Germany and had to do DSC1 as it was past the 5 year grandfather clause.
I have done the German jagdschein and saw some folks fail it on weapons handling issues so I tend to the feeling that a real qualification is a good thing to have as we do handle shootin irons which in the wrong hands ie stupid etc can be very dangerous.
It beats me why to get even a shotgun it is not a requirement to have simply done a safety course, even the USA requires you have it to get an over the counter hunting license issued.
My sister was a cooks assistant and had to get a qualification just to clean the kitchen in a school.
Martin
 
Orgninal BDS one was the Woodland Stalkers that developed into the National when BASC came on board, then we went to DMQ. Before that just the Saint Hubert Club Certificate.
S Woodland Stalkers Cert_1.jpg
 

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I very much agree with all the above, I too have a German jagdschein. If it was not for the DMQ I am sure that the Home Office would have bought in a national qualification that anyone who wished to hold firearms would need to pass.

No doubt a national qualification will be bought in in the future. It still amazes that shotguns are handed out without any training and potentially firearms can be too.
 
I passed the BDS Woodland Stalkers Cert. in June 1984 and got the DCS1 by Grandfathers Rights in January 1998 with the blue updated cert. on Jan. 2006.
I got the St. Hubert Club of GB qualified stalkers cert. in June 1985 , the NVQ Deer-cull module cert. U1023047 in Jan.1999 , the DMQ Level 2 cert. in May 1999 and the National Trust Certificate of Competence in Inspection of Deer Carcasses and Meat Hygiene in Feb. 2001.
I was made a DMQ accredited witness in July 1999.

These were a personal challenge to myself and not a perceived necessity.

HWH.
 
Thing that gets me is that the old WSCC was an "old fashioned" competence certificate,


of course nowadays its all about the money - and qualifications are an industry in themselves, rather than a test of competence, so the police, landowners and insurance companies say "we want to cover our arse, so you need the certificate"

So, the BDS go "you want the certificate, well you have to do the mandatory weekend course at one of our list of recommended training companies and you can have a guaranteed BDS cert for only £399 followed by a one week residential course to pass your level two for only £599"

Ker-f**king-ching! :coat:
 
There is a section on the history of the certificate in the guide you get with the DSC1 pack.

I found it interesting reading.
If it is correct it states that the soldiers learnt so much from the German game keepers post WWII that they set up the first unofficial qualification.
The test was adoptd by the Saint Hubert club, and this was adapted to what is now the DSC Lvl 1/2.
 
Aye we all went to Rhum and got largered up for a week. Then went back to our Estates as Qualified Deer Stalkers... those were the days lol
 
Hi Guys

I went to Rhum in the early eighties. Was really good as the Tutors were all head stalkers and yes learnt a lot about red deer , whisky and island culture cough cough !! :D

Alan
 
How do you do this course? Does it allow anything over and above the DSC2?

For 26 years I acted as a semi-pro for the National Trust and in later years they wanted to be squeaky clean and insisted we took that course.
It was held at Thirlmere and was run by Arun District Council.
Candidates arrived from a vast area.

Subjects covered :-
Hazard Analysis.
Meat and Food Hygene.
Personal Hygene.
Pest Control.
Cleaning and Disinfection.
Current Food Safety Legislation.
Techniques of Post Mortem Inspection.
Identification of Abnormalities in Deer Carcasses and Organs.

Contact Colin Rodgers, Director of Services if he is still there.
 
Is DMQ underpinned by the NVQ or HND qualifications scheme and are there alternative suppliers of through courses from agricultural colleges for example?

Regards

Wills
 
DMQ 2 was virtually identical to the NVQ Deer-cull module cert. U1023047, part of the game keeping NVQ. NVQ are externally verified (as is the Saint Hubert Lantra Award) but DMQ have always kept verification internal.
 
In Scotland all the underpinning knowledge required for DMQ 1 is taught within the new Scottish National Certificate in Gamekeeping deer and firearms related modules. DMQ 1 still remains as a bolt on qualification for college students and is an integral part of their College Course.

Alan
 
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