Clients only? What a person/client wants?

[sharkey]

Game reserve?
is that like a park?

Yes. The deer are enclosed.

Just for extra insight the deer industry in Kiwi it has a few income streams ,venison, velvet & trophies. A trophy animal in its prime would still produce a couple of thousand dollars of velvet over the next several years if retained for this purpose. This is another opportunity cost which the land owner has to consider when pricing a "trophy". Typically the trophy fee for a similar scoring animal is twice the price in Kiwi than it is here in similar set ups (where legal) on the "mainland". Why?

Sharkey

 

[sikamalc]

Perhaps that was meAnd to me £150 a day is a lot of money,I was poking fun at sharkeys post about keeping the wolves from the door on such a pittance.£75 a stalk is fair and worth every penny when you are stalking through beautiful countryside.I was not for one minute begrudging pro stalkers their pay so keep up the good work!!!!!!!
dave

My apologise as I misunderstood your post. However we do have those that think every time they go out with a pro stalker that they will see and kill deer. That is not the way it works, having said that if this was the case with me they would get a free stalk or high seat.

I think one must try and be fair with clients, and a happy client is one that will return and tell others. This is the best form of advertising and the cheapest. So any pro stalker who does not take this into account will probably not last very long in this game.

 

[Vipa]

If its all such a horrible experience why do you do it??

I've re-read my post over and over and can't find anywhere where I said it was a horrible experience??? perhaps you replied to the wrong thread?

 

[Taff]

Sharkey, I have never hunted in a enclosure and would have no interest in shooting a reared deer, so would not know the cost.
There is hunting and then there's shooting.

 

[sharkey]

Sharkey, I have never hunted in a enclosure and would have no interest in shooting a reared deer, so would not know the cost.
There is hunting and then there's shooting.

Ok, you have made you ethical opinion now. Thanks. However, it was you who opened the door to discuss NZ in this thread?

Most of the professional hunting dollars in Kiwi are tied up in this industry (not to be confused with public land hunting). I think there was over 200 licensed reserves there last time I checked so many stalkers from around the world don't share the same opinion. Just for more background IMO there is much more "wild" deer & opportunities to shoot one, both on public & private land over here on the mainland than in NZ. NZ does offer different experiences than here in Aust, including spectacular scenery & a culture which doesn't demonise hunters or firearms.

Sharkey

 

[mchughcb]

I would like the guide to help with the carryout.

Depending on the price if possible I'd like a good place to clean up and sleep. Doesn't have to be posh but I've had enough of sleeping rough on the forest already, it maybe cheap but geezus it can be cold. After a hard day stalking its nice to sit in the hot tub looking at the northern lights getting drunk, discussing the hunt, the tactics for the next day eating smoked reindeer. That's the life.

 

[sharkey]

I would like the guide to help with the carryout.

Depending on the price if possible I'd like a good place to clean up and sleep. Doesn't have to be posh but I've had enough of sleeping rough on the forest already, it maybe cheap but geezus it can be cold. After a hard day stalking its nice to sit in the hot tub looking at the northern lights getting drunk, discussing the hunt, the tactics for the next day eating smoked reindeer. That's the life.

And all that for 75 pounds too? LOL

Sharkey

 

[Taff]

Sharkey, Chill bro, I only stated you cannot compare like for like in different countries, every deer I have shot was in the UK, in the wild, I only said I could hunt DOC land for free.

 

[sikamalc]

I would like the guide to help with the carryout.

Depending on the price if possible I'd like a good place to clean up and sleep. Doesn't have to be posh but I've had enough of sleeping rough on the forest already, it maybe cheap but geezus it can be cold. After a hard day stalking its nice to sit in the hot tub looking at the northern lights getting drunk, discussing the hunt, the tactics for the next day eating smoked reindeer. That's the life.

Indeed it is the life whether its sitting around the camp fire with cocktails in Africa, or in Scotland at the end of a long day by a log fire in a warm lodge with a single malt whiskey, or one of my famous breakfasts after an early morning stalk in West Sussex (yes for the £75 outing I usually throw in a full English back at the bothy) some people have been known just to come back for that . It all adds to the experience and the memories of a hunt.

 

[sharkey]

Sharkey, Chill bro, I only stated you cannot compare like for like in different countries, every deer I have shot was in the UK, in the wild, I only said I could hunt DOC land for free.

Yes I'll chill. "There is hunting & then there is shooting." However, I'm not the one trying to turn this into an ethics debate. What I am interested to hear/understand is how deer are valued for many different reason & in different ways. Paid hunting is an important piece of the picture as it provides employment particularly in regional & rural economies. It also places a value on wildlife & is low impact on the environment. So far the best comparison I can make is that a great deal of the UK deer hunters value deer the same general way we value kangaroos down here. I'm happy to be corrected on this.

Sharkey

 

[Heym SR20]

I have used guides in several different activities particularly in the mountains. Fundamentally the things I am looking for are:

1) an intemate knowledge of the local area. I can work a lot of it out from a map, google earth etc, but nothing like having that on the ground knowledge. If had several days or a season or two I could get it myself, but a guide short circuits this.

2) respect from both sides. I respect the guides wisdom, but equally I expect there to be an equal respect back and a two way decision making process. Too often I have seen guides in all sports be of the type, follow me and do exactly what I say. Ten days ago I watched several offpiste guides take groups of skiers through a very avalanchy area - they were on a set route and I doubt the punters even had a clue of the danger.

I have been out with some guides, where quite clearly as the punter, I am simply there to irritate, make his life harder and be between him and the pub. If I am making his hind cull more difficult he can simply do it himself without my hard earned cash.

I want want to challenge myself, and part of that is making decisions and also getting them wrong.

3) coaching / expertise - the older get the more I realise how little I know and understand and part of joy of stalking with others is cross fertilisation of ideas and techniques. This requires an open and honest dialogue, but a good guide / coach should have the skills to read the client, work with his strengths and develop his weaknesses. I am not as fit as I would like to be as I am not walking up hills all day every day - you only get so fit running up down the London tube! Stalking is physically demanding, but I don't expect it to be a trial of fitness either that leaves me in a comatose wreck.

for those offering guided services in any sport or activity, it's worth remembering that for most clients any form of Holiday is an expensive undertaking. Most of us get less than 20 days holiday a year - reduce that by half once you have done all the family, personal admin crap etc and you left with just a handful. If you are self employed or contractor you add in loss of earnings etc. Take the basic cost of the day - say £200, and buy the time you have added travel, accommodation etc, you can double that - say £400. And this after tax income, so in effect you are probably needing to earn £800 for that one day..

 

[Cootmeurer]

Thankyou for a straight answer.

Do you consider the cost of such a hunt in the UK represents very good value, relative to similar access for hunting in other countries?

Sharkey

Yes, as a matter of fact one of the reasons I talked my brother into coming back was the price and value. For essentially the same money as a semi-guided elk hunt in the Rocky Mountains, I was able stalk the highlands for sika and reds. My only major complaint is air fare.

I will also admit that both NZ and AUS hold interest to me, due to the ability to bow hunt (my primary form of hunting).

 

[Border]

Would you expect a stalker/guide to turn up in a Reliant Robin then? What would be your reaction to that?

I know a man who used to use a Reliant Robin as his shooting wagon. It did have offroad tyres however
You know who you are, I will not be bullied into naming and shaming.......just yet.

 

[Jagare]

Toby, Toby it was a Reliant Supervan i had. With large town and country tyres fitted. The game keeper and i shot many roe deer from that plastic tank. I've even crammed a fallow or two into the back of it. Happy days. Just thinking, that was over 40 years ago.

 

[Border]

Toby, Toby it was a Reliant Supervan i had. With large town and country tyres fitted. The game keeper and i shot many roe deer from that plastic tank. I've even crammed a fallow or two into the back of it. Happy days. Just thinking, that was over 40 years ago.

Like this?

 

[Jagare]

like this?
View attachment 55758

 

[sikamalc]

If you put a Red Stag in the back of that the front wheel will be off the floor Besides it should have Independent Traders along the side of it or is that stalkers?

 

[Jagare]

If you put a Red Stag in the back of that the front wheel will be off the floor Besides it should have Independent Traders along the side of it or is that stalkers?

I used the Reliant for about 5 years and it did good service. If we had Red on the ground in Sussex at the time i would have given it a go to get one in the reliant . I remember the time i shot a big rutting fallow and it smelt so strong packed in the back of the resin rocket that it even made my spaniel cough.
Driving through Midhurst one time when the river had flooded over the road the Reliant started to float as i drove through the water and had visions of me heading down stream.
I remember shooting deer in herringdean above Cocking hill and driving down in the forest with the Reliant to collect carcarses many a time. As i said , happy days

 

[Cloudhopper]

I only go out on paid stalks, 3 or 4 a year with BASC in Thetford plus a week in Scotland. BASC charges £120 per 3-4 hour stalk and they lay on all the facilities. The venue in Scotland charges £300 per day for hind stalking plus food and accommodation. They are very well set up and have all the facilities including land facing a variety of directions. I'm very happy with both arrangements.

I expect to be able to shoot any deer that presents itself so long as it's in season. I'm not a trophy hunter. If a potential guide starts quoting trophy fees he won't be getting my business.
CH