Free access for stalking on FC land?

Open access for deer stalking good idea?


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Thar

Well-Known Member
On the back of the post about FC leases, it brought to mind the article in the latest BASC magazine. The jest is that every other recreational user of state forest gets free access, but deer stalkers have to pay though the nose for it, and then only after they have jumped though more hoops than you can throw a stick at.

In most parts of the world America, Canada, NZ etc you can hunt on state owned land free of charge or at nominal costs. Personally I have enough land to stalk over, maybe even too much, so it does not affect me, but it does seem unfair to me.

I think it would be fairer if stalkers did not have to pay twice for there land, once in taxes then again in lease fees to keep god knows how many civil servants in 4X4s and nice final salary pensions. :(

My own feeling is that a ballot system or tag system should be introduced; by all means anybody applying should have the right qualifications insurance etc.

What does everybody else think? Good idea or not?

ATB

Tahr
 
as i see it
most countries the hunting is run by the state in some way or another
when you hav free access to anywhere it is only to look not take
atleast in this country we do get a choice who shoots on the land and when
at at a cost that suits
the moment the state takes controll then your pocket will notice
i do feel we are quite lucky in some respects but treated badly for it
the worst part of any FC lease that i see is, you pays your money and the rangers come in and shoot your deer and there is nothing you can do about it :evil:
this surely is an act of daylight robbery in the modern day???
 
I don't think it should be free access or it would turn into the 'wild west' out there. There should always be some control over who is shooting where, and also what they are shooting. Especially as there are other users of the area. However, I think that the costs are far too high and should be more of a small admin charge rather than a huge lease fee!
 
Why don't they run a 'tag' system and just charge a nominal fee or admin fee.

Like people have said we are paying the taxes for this goverment 'land'

Mountain bikers, horse riders and walkers don't have to pay :evil:

Jonathon
 
my thoughts on this are that while mountain bikers etc dont have to pay, and the vast majority of other users of FC land seem to be reasonable people, the free access does let some serious numpties roam around. If you give aforementioned numpty a deer calibre rifle, then you have the same situation the mountain bike/ green lane/ dirt bike guys have: a few numpties giving our sport a bad name. Only in our case the other load of numpties would, for a moment take their hands out the till, and use aforementioned bad behaviour (deaths anyone?) as an excuse to ban this thing we all enjoy. It's not ideal that we pay so much (and I do) but the free access option is less preferrable
 
free stalking

I always thought the FC were just an extended section of government dept anyway, (Crown authority, etc) no F.A.C.'s / road tax?? 8)
 
I will first caveat my comments, as I have no personal experience concerning FC stalking leases. However, as venison (and forestry) has value herein lies the 'rub' when attempting to come up with your 'solution'. As the landowner, the FC no doubt maintain cull records and plans for all of the FC estate. Therefore, they should know annually how many deer should be taken off each piece of ground, and therefore how many 'tags' there are available for each estate ballot. Where there are insufficient (recreational/syndicate) bids, the remining 'tags' could be allocated/retained to/by local FC rangers. In essence, it is the maintainance of a healthy and sustainable deer population which must drive deer management, or else there will be no deer left for our offspring to stalk.
308RWS
 
Thar

Kevin,

It is not often i agree with sentiments on this site.

I was racking my brain last night to figure out an angle in which to approach the FC.

A FC stalking club or tag system seems the way forward to protect the stalker who is not a businessman using public land for a living.

How to be lobby the FC though?

As for numpties with deer calibre rifles???? That is a police issue mate not FC.
 
Re: Thar

308boy said:
As for numpties with deer calibre rifles???? That is a police issue mate not FC.

Agreed - and what about any numpties that already have an FC lease? :lol:

I think a tag system could work very well and could probably provide more effective management.
 
Re: Thar

finnbear270 said:
I always thought the FC were just an extended section of government dept anyway, (Crown authority, etc) no F.A.C.'s / road tax?? 8)

You are quite right, if you look in the window screen of any FC vehicle you will see no TAX disc, just a white exception certificate.

308boy said:
Kevin,

It is not often i agree with sentiments on this site.

I was racking my brain last night to figure out an angle in which to approach the FC.

A FC stalking club or tag system seems the way forward to protect the stalker who is not a businessman using public land for a living.

How to be lobby the FC though?

As for numpties with deer calibre rifles???? That is a police issue mate not FC.


It could be controlled on a similar way that Wildfowling clubs get access to the foreshore. Or a ballot system were you would get a block of forestry allocated to you or a group of friends.

The BASC have already started lobbying for it.

As for numpties, we are not asking for a lowering of the bar, everybody should be qualified and insured etc be that DS1,2 or whatever. But at least you would then get a return for paying all that money out on training, while at the minute you get told you must have it or no stalking. :rolleyes:

I think this would help newcomers get into stalking, and also drive the price of leases down in the private sector. None UK residents would have to pay to go into the ballot or be guided by a resident that had been successful in the ballot. This would give professionals a bigger profit margin than before.

ATB

Tahr
 
Spot on Tahr.

A ballot and tag system similar to that operated by many US Fish & Game Departments.

Let them stick on whatever qualifying criteria they want prior to application be it DMQs, insurance, etc.

At least it would be fair and open to all.

Roll on the Republic!!
 
I said ages ago that all the state owned land should be accessed by recreational stalkers, and fishermen, why should it be the privledged few.

If it was upto me all these huge areas of land would be nationlised and given over to the public, the only reason it is now held by a few individuals is that they stole it in the first place!!

What was the comment above, would turn into the 'wild west' :lol: well if when you had done your DSC2 you were deemed to be safe and permits were given out is the same way as the DOC ones in NZ, if you break the rules your permit is revoked and if you do something serious then you would lose your guns.
Over subscription would be balloted .. simples ;)

However in reality it will never happen because the people who lease these forest will be crying over their losses, my retort to them would be so how many deer do the FC lamp in your block regardless off the lease you hold?

Oh my ancestors have owned the land for centuries, well tough you have done well to hang on to your ill gotten gains for so long :lol:

I am sure to be corrected but wasn't most of the big estate land in the Highlands stolen from the previous owners in the clearances and given to the winners sidekicks, happened all over England.

In Chatsworth afarm they have was taken of the owners because they killed a deer on their own land that "belonged to the Duke".
We will never own land like this as individuals, unless we were bankers or Hedge Fund Managers :lol: so why should we protect these individuals or feel sympathy in any way if their massive estates were taken back to the people.
Hey ho we all have dreams :rolleyes:

Ooh and btw we would need a motivated individual to "caretake" all this land make sure hunting and fishing was up to scratch :lol:
sort of like the name Lord Rob keeper of the Common Lands, keeper of all he chucks in the back of the pick up has a nice ring to it 8)
 
legaleagle69 said:
Ooh and btw we would need a motivated individual to "caretake" all this land make sure hunting and fishing was up to scratch :lol:
sort of like the name Lord Rob keeper of the Common Lands, keeper of all he chucks in the back of the pick up has a nice ring to it 8)

just minus the photo's :evil: :evil:
 
You know what it's like Stone when you are in training to be Lord of the Common Lands you sometimes forget the little peoples :lol:

I couldn't find the card reader, the fragrant one had tidied it away :rolleyes:
will sort em for you asap and mail em over..

or if you want I can always put em on a disc an bring em over ;)
 
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