Beginner Kit List
- Thread starter ColBaldr
- Start date
It is 24 at the moment 25 Monday and 27 Tuesday and will be warm for quite a while, harvest is starting fields will be clear access easy deer will be on the move so a good time to stock up as their cover has been taken away.
Having a basic chiller also gives people with busy lives a rest bite for a few days as getting permission is hard to get then not turn up a you don't have any place/time to put it.
The thread is about basic kit so for me keeping deer cool free from flies is important, they don't cost anything when switched off and have a 2x2ft foot print also dry storage when switched off! so it is a basic requirement for me.
I don't have cull targets to meet but understand what I shoot needs to be kept cool giving me time to go to work then time to do the deer, friends picked up 2 muntjac yesterday that I had bagged up as one chap has had a stroke so can't stalk the other his sister and family wanted to try venison so it is on the bbq.
They were shot 5 days ago and would know be green left in a "cool shed" in this weather.
Off out later as one farmer gave me a bag full of vac packed pheasant so a good swap will be a muntjac as there are far too many.
x 2 fallow livers/heart in the green asda bag, kidneys stay in until I get home.No one seems to have mentioned freezer bags to put the liver (+kidney/heart) in.
Knives, gloves, blue paper towel, freezer bags
![20240303_195349[1].webp](https://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/data/attachments/329/329684-880bbcdd89cc2c50215646dfe9ec1864.jpg?hash=NFvtZcP2mn "20240303_195349[1].webp")
Yes, that's all true enough, but anyone who just wants to fill their own freezer can shoot in the winter, when a chiller isn't required.
Not for nothing was there an old saying (pre-dating chillers) that you shouldn't kill a pig unless there's an "r" in the month, and the same theory holds good for killing other things too. (Although in our current climate you'd be stretching it a bit: Better to stick to November-December-January-February, which still gives you most of the productive period for Fallow, Red and Sika, most of the roe doe season, and the easiest time of year for muntjac. Plenty of opportunity to fill the freezer, I would have thought).
I didn't get a chiller until about a decade ago, but I've been killing and butchering all of the meat my family eats for 38 years. Not once did I feel compromised by lack of refrigeration facilities. I just chose the right time of year.
Absolutely I agree with you though, if any carcasses have to be held overnight (or even longer) before going to a Game Dealer, or being sold on through any other channels (whether processed or not) then a chiller is essential. And it would have to be inspected as part of your Food Business registration.
8x57
Distinguished Member
I hate gralloching in the dark even with the assistance of a head torch. It's something that I really try to avoid if I possibly can.
Best thing I have brought was this. mains/usb charging from screw fix
under £20.00 have the deer on the hoist and hang the light off a leg
LAP Rechargeable LED Work Light 1000lm - Screwfix
Order online at Screwfix.com. Features 2 lighting settings, LED power charge indicator and wide handle for easy carrying. FREE next day delivery available, free collection in 1 minute.
Yes.
You never feel like you can really see enough to be entirely sure about what you’re doing.
And it usually means you’re that much more tired, almost certainly wet, and already thinking about how long it’ll be before you get to bed. Or whether you’ll make last orders…
You are quite right of course, in that an individual could only choose to stalk in the cooler months.
But Tim243 makes a useful point. I joined a syndicate after a couple of years doing occasional guided outings and £50 on a secondhand larder fridge that did ten years solid service before I gave it to someone on here was a good investment. Staggering in at 11.00 on a Sunday night with work the next day and just being able to stick a deer in the fridge for a week was a godsend.
With your advice about basic kit you forgot to mention to the OP it was 2019> you have a funded unit (so FOC)
also have to keep a heard of fallow to keep you venison side going as "quote very few wild deer"
Which is not what the thread was about yes the VSS spin does it again.
As just quoted in #68
"A £50.00" unit made all the difference.
I'm just working on submitting a grant application 2019 to Welsh Government towards the cost of a combined chiller / food prep area.
For example, a converted container or refrigerated van back, approx 14' long, divided into two areas, one for hanging carcasses and the other for butchery. Must be complete with hanging rail system, and in good working order.
Could be new or second hand.
@ColBaldr
You're right, I did indeed get a grant towards the cost of a combined chiller / butchery area from Welsh government, and very grateful I was too.
But prior to that I had a few years use out of an old walk-in chiller that I scrounged from a local farm shop that was closing down, and prior to that I had a couple of years use out of an old coke fridge that was being chucked out of a shop that was refitting. And which I've subsequently passed on FOC to another stalker.
But prior to all that I managed many, many years without a chiller at all. As I'm sure most people did, if they've been stalking or home slaughtering for any length of time. So it's hardly something that can be considered "essential" to a novice stalker, but very handy nonetheless, and one of those things you keep an eye open for and grab when you get an opportunity.
Overlay
Well-Known Member
I’mPretty much THIS
I used to need to either flatten the back seats in my car (Landrover or estate car) or use the entire flat-bed of the pickup truck to get all the gear I "needed" with me, even for just one feckin session of deer-stalking!!
Now I can carry whatever stuff I've worked out that I really need with/on me in the pockets of a roe-sack and/or the pockets of my clothing
Extra bits of kit for a longer trip, mostly cleaning kit, can fit into a smallish toolkit which is left in the truck
What I need for the majority of MY stalking is;
Rifle, ammo, RF binoculars (thermal isn't an essential, but a sometimes), sticks, knife (I have a "few" fancy bits of kit but a Mora will do the job rightly), nitrile gloves, bag for gralloch, a few wipes
theres the extractor in use again Tim
worth its weight in gold, that’s saved some sweat and swearingI stalked recreationally without a chiller for 4 years. Up to about 15 deer a year.
No problem in winter, but we always butchered on the day it was shot during summer. Or at least broke it down into primals to fit in the fridge.
I got really fed up with it, and in summer it really affected when and where I stalked.
I bought a drinks chiller from a closing down pub for £80. It was absolutely transformational. Thinking about it, probably the single most useful bit of kit I bought before buying a thermal. And I’d now far sooner go without thermal than without a chiller. It means you can shoot when you want, and then butcher at your convenience later on.
Buying the chiller was the turning point for me to becoming a much more serious and involved stalker.
No problem in winter, but we always butchered on the day it was shot during summer. Or at least broke it down into primals to fit in the fridge.
I got really fed up with it, and in summer it really affected when and where I stalked.
I bought a drinks chiller from a closing down pub for £80. It was absolutely transformational. Thinking about it, probably the single most useful bit of kit I bought before buying a thermal. And I’d now far sooner go without thermal than without a chiller. It means you can shoot when you want, and then butcher at your convenience later on.
Buying the chiller was the turning point for me to becoming a much more serious and involved stalker.
Iamtheferryman
Well-Known Member
Not going to give my complete list but just 3 "game changer" budget bits that I always have with me. (In my sika sack)
1) a hat of sorts. It casts a shadow over your face, keeps the sun out of your eyes, use as a marker...........if its woolly you can cut up for bum wipes!
2) head torch if dusk shooting and may have to operate in the dark........also with my old rust bucket cars you never know when you ate under the bonnet
3) wet wipes.........clean knives, cuts, hands and if caught short save the hat!!
Atb
1) a hat of sorts. It casts a shadow over your face, keeps the sun out of your eyes, use as a marker...........if its woolly you can cut up for bum wipes!
2) head torch if dusk shooting and may have to operate in the dark........also with my old rust bucket cars you never know when you ate under the bonnet
3) wet wipes.........clean knives, cuts, hands and if caught short save the hat!!
Atb
I think so long as they're not left on the ground, then one or two wipes per deer gralloched is a minor addition to the landfill stats.
dpaterson
Well-Known Member
You’ll find what works for you in time, but below is what I take out day to day which I hope helps;
- Rifle, scope, mod, ammo, sling (as you say, you have this in hand)
- Binos, almost any 8x or 10x will do. Starting out you don’t a thermal (only my opinion)
- Mora knife and a small folding saw, think it’s outdoor edge
- Length of rope or drag rope
- Sticks of some sort - personally I like quad sticks
- Head torch - very important! Can’t believe how few above have mentioned a torch
- First aid kit on you if possible and wet wipes in the car
Iamtheferryman
Well-Known Member
I used biodegradable ones
That’s part of the reason for the long gauntlet gloves, finish gralloch, do inspection then the kidney, heart and liver all go in one glove, knotted up and placed in the otherNo one seems to have mentioned freezer bags to put the liver (+kidney/heart) in.
Knives, gloves, blue paper towel, freezer bags
Whatever you do, don’t put a liver in a freezer bag, hand it to your friend to put in his day sack, and then forget all about it. Only to be discovered 6 weeks later by friend’s wife wondering what the smell is…
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