Farmers Weekly - How farmers can tackle the booming deer population

[Tim.243]

I don’t shoot deer for free. I’m paid to do it on every peice of ground that i manage. Pretty much all of my ground has previously been shot by amateurs who haven’t done the job properly. So yes, when deer become a serious problem farmers and land owners do often stop amateurs from coming on their ground for free and decide to start paying a professional to manage the deer properly. Despite what a lot of stalkers like to believe, the average guy who likes to go stalking once a fortnight often just doesn’t have the infrastructure or know how behind him to manage more difficult spots effectively. and by the way, I’m in an area where most stalkers moan that it’s impossible to get ground for free, yet I have a constant stream of landowners coming to me willing to pay me to manage deer. Despite what you might think, offering to manage ground for free doesn’t do you any favours.

How many foxes/pigeons do you mop up in the year along with your deer?

 

[Nickb]

But speaking as a farmer myself, I can tell that if a problem - whether that be deer or foxes or whatever - is actually having a significant negative impact on the productivity of the farm then the farmer is going to pay someone to come in and sort it out asap, and not wait for his weekend freebie guy to show up. That's a fact.

It ain't happening up here as I've already stated.
How many farmers do you know that are paying £60 a fox ? Probably only 1 ...

Out of all the thousands of fox shooters across the UK I bet only a tiny percentage get paid and they will be full time pest controllers.

How does a farmer know who to contact to control the foxes , is there a directory?

Next time I'm out shooting rabbits or foxes I will invoice the farmer , see what happens , get told to feck off that's for sure

 

[Nickb]

I don’t shoot deer for free. I’m paid to do it on every peice of ground that i manage. Pretty much all of my ground has previously been shot by amateurs who haven’t done the job properly. So yes, when deer become a serious problem farmers and land owners do often stop amateurs from coming on their ground for free and decide to start paying a professional to manage the deer properly. Despite what a lot of stalkers like to believe, the average guy who likes to go stalking once a fortnight often just doesn’t have the infrastructure or know how behind him to manage more difficult spots effectively. and by the way, I’m in an area where most stalkers moan that it’s impossible to get ground for free, yet I have a constant stream of landowners coming to me willing to pay me to manage deer. Despite what you might think, offering to manage ground for free doesn’t do you any favours.

Good for you but you will be the exception to the rule.
You will be running a business though , we are talking about the average guy getting paid to shoot vermin.
How much do you charge per fox ?

 

[Foxshot]

How many foxes/pigeons do you mop up in the year along with your deer?

300 foxes per annum, lamping 5 nights a week. I’m not in a pigeon area .

 

[RCS Deer Management]

Good for you but you will be the exception to the rule.
You will be running a business though , we are talking about the average guy getting paid to shoot vermin.
How much do you charge per fox ?

I run a buisness managing deer too, but one thing I will say is that I started very small. There is no reason why anyone can’t take a small income managing a peice of ground in their spare time and then build it from there. Just because you are the ‘average guy’ doesn’t mean you can’t charge for your services

 

[geoffw]

Time stalkers started charging properly for the service they provide, in that case. No different from mole catchers etc.

It's coming I think, albeit very slowly- for those that can deliver the numbers (ie have the facilities and the time) but that makes it a fairly full time job

For reliability.

and volume.

 

[Heym SR20]

That appears to be happening my way. There is now a collaboration forming of all the stalkers, whether they be the individual amateur or the paid group of professionals. The idea being that they will arrange days where everyone will be out on their permission. You shoot your permission, the deer move around. Maybe onto the next guys permission where he shoots them.

Excellent, and I suspect in the not too distant future this will result on this week we all at this end of area and we will help extract and larder all the carcasses and then go to the pub. And in a fortnight’s time we will go to the other end and …. It soon becomes a collective effort.

Farmers have often worked closely with neighbours - sharing machinery and offering assistance at gathering times etc. There is always the grumpy exception of course, but that’s life.

 

[Tim.243]

300 foxes per annum, lamping 5 nights a week. I’m not in a pigeon area .

Good for you, my stalking comes off the back of foxing/pigeons. The game dealer rate has gone up here by a big jump which is a good thing.

 

[SikaSeeker]

Good for you, my stalking comes off the back of foxing/pigeons. The game dealer rate has gone up here by a big jump which is a good thing.

50c per kg increase here in the west of Ireland

 

[Nickb]

I run a buisness managing deer too, but one thing I will say is that I started very small. There is no reason why anyone can’t take a small income managing a peice of ground in their spare time and then build it from there. Just because you are the ‘average guy’ doesn’t mean you can’t charge for your services

You are still not grasping my point , up here in Durham/Northumberland we only have roe predominantly and no farmer will pay to have a few roe shot as they dont do much damage.
It's a bit different when you have hundreds of red and fallow running about.

 

[Nickb]

300 foxes per annum, lamping 5 nights a week. I’m not in a pigeon area .

Brilliant but if you are lamping 5 nights a week when do you sleep and manage the deer ?
Unless you are night shooting deer too.

 

[Nickb]

I run a buisness managing deer too, but one thing I will say is that I started very small. There is no reason why anyone can’t take a small income managing a peice of ground in their spare time and then build it from there. Just because you are the ‘average guy’ doesn’t mean you can’t charge for your services

I see you are a farmer or farmers son so a bit different to the rest of us.
You will have a lot of contacts in the farming world and therefore handed it to you on a plate.
Us mere mortals have to struggle to get ground.

 

[Nickb]

I see you are a farmer or farmers son so a bit different to the rest of us.
You will have a lot of contacts in the farming world and therefore handed it to you on a plate.
Us mere mortals have to struggle to get ground.

 

[VSS]

View attachment 406221

Fair play to the chap. He's obvious come a long way in 14 years.
I started stalking around the same time.
Being a farmer is definitely a bonus when it comes to gaining ground, paid or otherwise.

 

[Nickb]

Being a farmer is definitely a bonus when it comes to gaining ground, paid or otherwise.

Should be relatively simple being in the industry.

 

[VSS]

Should be relatively simple being in the industry.

It certainly helps.

 

[JTO]

Some of the comments remind me of pigeon shooters who want to 'leave it until numbers build up'.

 

[Dickie]

Some of the comments remind me of pigeon shooters who want to 'leave it until numbers build up'.

That's the problem in many places they have and it's a massive catch up, then the lockdown in covid when only a few got out and those with acres of permission but take 2 a year for the freezer.

 

[BenBhoy]

In most cases though the foxes aren't really much of a problem at all, and the farmer is just humouring you by giving you somewhere to shoot.

Nailed it.

Unless they have a wild bird shoot or the farmer is very dedicated to ground nesting birds, then he's being generous giving you people somewhere to enjoy their hobby.

 

[Nickb]

Nailed it.

Unless they have a wild bird shoot or the farmer is very dedicated to ground nesting birds, then he's being generous giving you people somewhere to enjoy their hobby.

As I've stated previously, we shoot because we enjoy it , be honest.