Sika Stalking price ??

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Just returned from my first paid stalking weekend and a little disappointed to say the least, me and a pal arranged 2 days , all good so far. First morning met the stalker and followed him to the ground.
First off we had to decide who went with the stalker ( Me) and my mate was pointed in a direction of where to go, meet back here in 3 hours he was told, Bear in mind this ground was totally alien to us and of a very steep terrain. I left with the stalker and after 3 hours of ups and downs we saw nothing, plenty of signs of deer though. My mate had a similar blank 3 hours. A 2 hour tea break followed. at 1 o clock we swapped places and my pal left with the stalker and I was basically sent to the same area my mate has just been round ??. Another blank 3 hours for both of us . back to the digs and some tea and a few pints.
Basically the next day was identical but I did manage to see 2 sika they were 300yds + and on the move very fast, my mate saw nothing.
I was told the price was £90 a stalk which was ok my question is this - Is this common practice to charge clients the same price for unguided stalking as guided ?? and to send stalkers on the same beat that has been covered earlier that day.
We feel a bit aggrieved parting with £360 each when our chances of a shot seemed remote. Needless to say we will not be returning
Not a bad weekends work if you can get it £720 Tax free.
Any thoughts guys or am I just tight
Brian
 
..........all deer have to be somewhere.

Metaphysics comes to SD - a great line!

Cumbrian - It sounds like you didnt get what you expected. Perhaps it all comes down to what we each mean by value for money, and might be best agreeing what your expectations are with the stalker before heading out. If you are not on the same page, dont go.
 
Well I was back out with paul wain today near Moffat for sika , am , seen a group of 6 hinds but no shot , pm , left at 12.15 after tea and into a group of 6 (same group ?) 100 metres , one in the bag , never seen another thing , worth the money , defo .
 
There are for sure very good stalkers but you will find also a lot of crooks trying to earn easy money.
The worst I've seen till now, was a so called professional stalker who took 3 rifles out for stalking (this was the minimum as he wanted normally 4 rifles at a time. It was high up in Scotland we had to take minimum 10 outings each on sika deer. He collected the money just after our arrival, even before we got the chance to introduce ourselves and even before we got a chance to have a shot at the range.
The first morning he send two of us out alone and took me out for stalking. To keep a long story short, everthing we did was bad for him. We could no do anything good. Our clothes, our bino's, our rifles, ... everything was bad. After the first stalking he refused to take out one of us for the second outing and we got to go on stalking on unknown ground, all three of us on ourselves. What made me angry was the fact that he took one of his scottish friends out on the same grounds jnstead of taking out one of us.
So for me, this was a real crook and I think this was his normal behaveour as I spoke with some other people over the years, who had been at his place also.
By the way, he was not scottish, but he came from the Manchester area. I don't know if he advertises on this forum.

On the other hand, I've met lots of good and friendly people and with some of them I've been out quite a lot of times. Some became good friends over the years.
Some days you see lots of deer but sometimes it happens that you rarely see on. This is stalking.
 
Drop me a PM as I have availability on the Stags for next year, although I have two weeks taken already.

One fee for the week, no add on and professionally run. Plenty of references available as well, and accommodation on the estate which I have complete rights to.
 
Well I was back out with paul wain today near Moffat for sika , am , seen a group of 6 hinds but no shot , pm , left at 12.15 after tea and into a group of 6 (same group ?) 100 metres , one in the bag , never seen another thing , worth the money , defo .

As I said the deer are there, but a lot of things he said is utter lies, the fact you have been out today is contrary to what he told us, I will not stalk this ground any more than fortnightly? We were there 6 days ago. Another was what a simple life if leads and has no computer but lo and behold, he has his own website?. Tried telling me he made £6000 from stalking last year and had to fuel his 2 year old ranger out of that as well.
Sorry lads but to me this guy talks s?ite.!!!!
 
It's always interesting that eventually over a period of time a picture emerges and the real image begins to show. I couldn't call the man with what I know now, but at least others will perhaps ask the right questions if they book and have read any of this.
So I think we must bear in mind that each guy may have a different opinion and will perhaps of had different expectations. But it's good that those experiences can be shared on here and people can make their own mind up.
 
I have been stalking with Paul wain a few times , sika and red , went to his ground near Moffat for sika some weeks ago , shot two stags and seen at least 20 hinds , sat and watched a group of hinds and calves for 30 minutes , then a stag appeared , 130 metres , bang , dropped on the spot , the other stag was so close could have hit it with the butt . I don't know paul other than booking a stalk with him , think he is an ok chap , might take too long of a tea break , but charges a working mans rate , unlike some . I have seen and shot deer every time I have stalked with Paul so I think you just had bad luck .
sorry to hear that you think you had a bad deal, as I was the one too put you on to him, I have been up there a number of time and always shot something, as for stalking alone I prefer this, I have seen lots and lots of deer on this pice of land and enjoyed every minute of it, my pal has also been twice when I was there and had no luck (that's stalking). Paul (the guid) is a fair and good man who seems to be getting the bad deal of this. Again sorry to hear hope you have luck next time with who you ever go stalking with. Sika are not the easiest of deer to stalk.
 
I am very lucky to have been going to an estate in Scotland for 25 years stalking roe red and sika at no cost.

My son I have just returned from this year visit, after five days stalking, out separately mornings and evenings.
Result, not much showing, the conditions were still. There was plenty of signs of sika activity.

First time we have blanked in all those years.

I consider myself an experienced stalker, but the few sika we did see, they saw us first.

My experience is that with sika nothing is guaranteed. They are there and then disappear for weeks.

I think your stalker might have reduced the price he charged you for a no results, if nothing else but to encourage you back.


Telecaster
 
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I have only met the guy once , it was a strange few hours
I was stalking on my ground very early one morning when a jeep came along the nearby road and stopped at my parked vehicle , not knowing who it was i tracked back to see who and what they were doing , i unloaded my rifle and jumped over the fence followed by my client , first thing he said was "i hope your not stalking my ground " i replied "you saw where i came from but he followed by saying just dont be going over here as he pointed to a small corner he stalks , Guessing that he was a bit cheesed off that i had probably spooked any deer on his patch when i parked in the lay -by , i thought best to move on so carried on on my outing
L ater that day i got a call from local police to pop in to see them , he had reported me for armed trespass , i had to take two officers out to show them where i parked , walked etc ,, i was told straight away it was all a waste of time
Wont get a booking from me . doesnt start early enough in the morning :D
 
It's made clear from the start you pay for the stalk not the shot! It's NOT a deer park these are wild animals!!! That said said if you can't find deer at Paul's place you must be walking round with pit boots and a BELL! I see plenty every time.
Maybe ur just useless and need to go back to basics!
 
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