A bit of advice please?

Hyperion

Well-Known Member
Right here I go and hopefully this wont be too long winded.......

Having passed my DSC1 last week and having never actually shot a deer you can imagine i'm pretty keen to get out and give it a go.

Now this is the bit thats got me confused, as I dont yet hold a FAC i've been having a scout round on the interweb and on here looking at paid for stalking and trying to gauge if its for me and if I can afford it.

Trouble is its all far from straight forward, after lookng around it seems you can pay just about any thing from £75 for a morning out with no fee for shooting something to upwards of £300 plus fees for this, that and the other, then there are charges for damaging the carcass (not that I plan on doing so but even so......) which seems to mean all sorts of things from having to buy the whole carcass to being charged a percentage of what it would have been worth and then there is the "if you want to buy the animal you have shot prices will be at the going rate" ????

Plus add in the fact that neither I nor any one I know has ever booked a paid stalking trip and you can see why i'm a bit apprehensive.

I've no great visions of going out and knocking over a gold medal anything right away, more along the lines of a cull animal of some sort but then do I try to find some one who can put me onto a Roe cull buck or should I wait until the autumn and go for a cull Sika stag or fallow buck?
If any anyone could offer me some advice on What, When, Where, Who with and how much and what I should budget for for any aditional costs I would be very greatful indeed.

I know there is a lot to be said for just ringing around, speaking to people and finding out whats on offer, but just having a vauge idea of some questions that I should ask would also be helpful before i do so.

Many thanks
Pete
 
There are plenty of trustworthy sorts on here who could help, sika malc, jayb, jamross, jelen, bunwell shoot, glyn at Holkham.... to name but a few, a cull animal shouldn't cost you the earth, look at some of the reviews folk get and then pm a couple of people and see what response you get, they'll be far better equipped with the facts on costs etc, but thats what I'd do.
 
Fair shout Deerstalker, think I might have a word with Mike from Jelen as they are not too far from me.

I kind of guessed it might be a case of pinging off a load of messages and seeing what comes back but though I might as well put a post up too.

Cheers
Pete
 
The only advice I would give, is make sure you know all the costs and conditions before booking that way there will be no nasty surprises.

Enjoy.
 
check out the classifieds and compare them.

You will usually pay for "a stalk" and again if you take "a shot". (clarify this with each and every person you speak to)
If you miss completely (it happens) it tends to stand that the stalker has provided his (or her) end of the bargain and you will still pay full rate.
If you wound (requiring follow up, time out of their day to recover etc) there are charges, if recovered and damaged beyond reason the stalker will expect to recover the money that would have been paid from the game dealer
bank on £1 a lb or £2-2.50 a kilo for a roe
this is also the rate you will pay if you want to buy the carcase. (the going rate)

that all sounds very depressing and lots of "what ifs"
assume you go out once and shoot once, hit it where you meant to and go home. everyone will be happy.
chances are you may go out twice and only shoot once. dont assume your first visit is going to be successful, it often isnt despite the best efforts of the stalker.

ask lots of questions up front.
get fixed and variable costs in your mind before you start packing to go stalking.
Any stalker who is not crystal clear with their pricing is probably not the place to start.

Ask questions about blank stalks, weather issues, 3rd party disturbance (if the army are about to go on manoeuvres when you rock up there could be a problem!)
Ask about deer shot recently, how many stalks per shot previously to get an idea of success rates and more importanly what YOU should expect!

High seat "stalks" can be a good place to start. cheaper, offer you as a novice a stable platform to shoot from often over a predetermined distance. You always pay less for females (that rule only applies to deer though!) cull animals in doe or hind season can be very affordable

tag along with someone to get an idea of what is involved before you shell out your hard earned and take your own rifle.


there are places that will charge more than others and those which will have very varied and scaleable rates for cull animals, 4 point bucks, 6 point bucks, medal animals etc etc.
other just have a rate. you go, you shoot, you pay.

shop around. ask the members on here who have (actually) been out with any of your local stalkers what they think, easy enough to do by PM

most of all make sure you get plenty of practice with whatever rifle you can before you spend money on that dream day.
practice shooting in any possible position, use trees, fence posts, sticks, sitting, kneeling, prone, bipod, no bipod.
practice target acquisition and time yourself to acquire, mount and fire inside a specific time limit so that when asked to do it under field conditions you dont have a cartoon heart beat and bad case of the yips.

good luck,
 
Who did you do your DSC 1 with Hyperion ? We're there not any opportunities with them.
As .308 said there are lots of good guys on here you can also look at the Deermanagement.co.uk site with county based guides.
You would be best to find someone who could be available for a bit of mentoring also if you are going to apply for an FAC in the future.
Best of luck in finding one

All good advise above too
 
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Who did you do your DSC 1 with Hyperion ? We're there not any opportunities with them.
As .308 said there are lots of good guys on here you can also look at the Deermanagement.co.uk site with county based guides.
You would be best to find someone who could be available for a bit of mentoring also if you are going to apply for an FAC in the future.
Best of luck in finding one

All good advise above too

Hello Prometheus
I did my DSC1 through as part of my Deer management unit at Sparsholt college, they just dont have the facilities to take students out stalking.

Cheers bewsher, sounds like very good advice! :thumb:
 
Thank you to deerstalker 308 , I dont know if we know each other but thanks for the mention, we do try our best and if we feel wecant do what you want we we tell you. Also there are never any nasty surprises with us as we state our costs and will put it all in writing if required.

there are lots of good guys out there so have a look around and enjoy it.

Mark
 
The other thing I never thought to ask is will I need my own insurance? or is that covered by the company/person/stalker i'd be going stalking with?
 
I too found all these charges a bit confusing at first but there is another side to this...

It is you paying the money and so that gives you some level of control. So, phone up a stalker of your choice and make your position clear in the sense that you don't want to pay extra for trophy animals but rather want a good day out and be sure to tell them you are a beginner. My experience has been that every stalker I've ever been out with has been most helpful and very considerate of a beginner and I've learnt a lot. If you make your position clear from the outset it makes it a lot easy for an honest and reliable professional stalker to make arrangements that will suit you and fulfil your requirements - professional stalkers are in the service industry and they want you to come away happy and to come back for more.

If you are a Sparsholt you probably have some idea of how sporting estates make their money and so you can bear this in mind and act in a way you think is reasonable and fair to the professional stalker. Put yourself in their position and consider how they make their living and then it is easy to see why it might be the done thing, and the right thing, to offer to pay for damaged venison if you happen to take a very bad shot, for example. If you are honest and fair with them then I am certain they will also be honest and fair with you and that will lead to a productive relationship for both of you.
 
+1 for jelen deer give mike a pm, i did my dsc with him and he/ his team are very good he will sort you out. atb stu
 
Cheers Caorach

I'm on the conservation and wildlife management Diploma so don't really touch on the estate side of things though I do understand the principal of it being "you broke it you pay for it" if that isn't too blunt?, was a bit confused over why some places were saying you had to buy the whole animal but others you paid a % of what it was worth, am I right in thinking this means you EITHER buy the carcass at game dealer rates or make up the value of the damaged/lost venison?
 
Ian Farrington in Dorset worth a try mate. If you are at Sparsholt try asking Martin Edwards, he takes a few clients out on some of his ground.


All the best


M
 
Ian Farrington in Dorset worth a try mate. If you are at Sparsholt try asking Martin Edwards, he takes a few clients out on some of his ground.


All the best


M

Not sure how possible asking one of my lecturers to go stalking would be, always worth an ask when I go back next week mind you

Have already had a few good recomendations for Ian :thumb:
 
If Ian cant help you out let me know. I have just over 700 acres in Dorset for Sika and Roe. However I am booked already up to Christmas, but have space in January and February.

£75.00 per outing no kill fees on hinds and spikers. Carcase damage to be paid for, accommodation nearby the venue.

Sikamalc
 
If Ian cant help you out let me know. I have just over 700 acres in Dorset for Sika and Roe. However I am booked already up to Christmas, but have space in January and February.

£75.00 per outing no kill fees on hinds and spikers. Carcase damage to be paid for, accommodation nearby the venue.

Sikamalc

Brilliant thank you Sikamalc
 
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