Good Evening guys (and gals),
Thought I'd do a quick write up of the cull weekend I attended at Gap 180 on their recent cull weekend (25th to 27th October).
I am a relatively new stalker, although been rifle shooting for a while, DSC 1 currently and working towards DSC 2. I have no affiliation with Gap 180 or any of it's members and saw the advert here on SD.
I went to a single Sunday morning stalk previously with them as I wasn't able to make the entire weekend, on that occasion I didn't have much luck personally, but there were plenty of fallows and Muntjac being brought back to the larder by the other guys, including some impressive trophy grade Fallow and Muntjac. I decided that on the next cull weekend I'd try to get along for the whole weekend.
I arrived about 1:30pm ish on the Friday (25th), the plan was to stay over for the weekend, Friday pm stalk, Sat AM + PM and Sunday AM.
Having hastily packed my kit and checked and rechecked I had my gun, bolt and ammo, I headed up to the Hinxworth area from South London. Most of the guys shooting that weekend were already there, and many had traveled much longer distances from me, seemingly from all over England. I recognised a few faces when I arrived from the previous day I had done and was greeted warmly by them and new faces;
The first day we were met with a warm drink and some food and then a safety briefing with regards to safe shots and not drinking before stalking etc, a quick talk about the areas, a run down of the do's and don't (including club shooting limits on range) and a list of contact numbers for the organiser Paul and the permanent members of the syndicates.
All the shooting is high seats on the cull weekend, so you get driven out to different areas by the permanent members of the club and picked up at an agreed time later (3-4 hours usually depending on light etc). Whilst there are never any guarantees in stalking they try to make sure that everyone has a good opportunity to shoot something and move people around to different sites. They will also ask if you are particular about shooting a certain species or trophy animal. Personally I am trying to get experience at present so I was more about the cull experience but plenty of the guys there got some very nice beasts.
In the weekend, I saw plenty of both trophy and cull fallows (still on bucks only for fallow at the time) and loads of does that would be available the following week! I also saw quite a few Muntjac both Buck and Doe so the animals are definitely there. Personally I was able to get a fox (allowed on some grounds) and on the last day a Muntjac Buck. I saw way more than I was able to shoot, mostly because they didn't present a safe shot and I'm very risk adverse. There are trophy fees to pay on some animals and those are detailed on a print out on the wall and spoken about on the first day.
The weather was absolutely terrible for the weekend I was there apart from the last day, but even then plenty of the guys came back with animals each day. The organiser Paul said the cull count was quite low due to the weather, but it was more deer than I've seen shot in a weekend.
The sleeping facilities are fairly basic, but cosy enough. Shared rooms with 4 bunks in each. There are shower facilities too but I'm pretty sure a load of middle aged blokes there for the weekend didn't bother too much (I know I didn't).
I found everyone to be very friendly, loads of banter and as long as you don't take offense at having the **** taken then you'll get on fine. I am still learning so it was good to chat to guys who have more years experience than I've had hot meals.
Talking of which, the food was amazing! After each stalk you get a hot meal (breakfast or dinner) and I have to say I was really impressed with the food.
All in all a great weekend and I'll definitely go again, made some good friends and had some good laughs and honestly, if you can shoot some deer too, what more can you ask for in a weekend.
If you want to know anything more specific please PM or reply and I'll be happy to elaborate.
Cheers,
Jon
Thought I'd do a quick write up of the cull weekend I attended at Gap 180 on their recent cull weekend (25th to 27th October).
I am a relatively new stalker, although been rifle shooting for a while, DSC 1 currently and working towards DSC 2. I have no affiliation with Gap 180 or any of it's members and saw the advert here on SD.
I went to a single Sunday morning stalk previously with them as I wasn't able to make the entire weekend, on that occasion I didn't have much luck personally, but there were plenty of fallows and Muntjac being brought back to the larder by the other guys, including some impressive trophy grade Fallow and Muntjac. I decided that on the next cull weekend I'd try to get along for the whole weekend.
I arrived about 1:30pm ish on the Friday (25th), the plan was to stay over for the weekend, Friday pm stalk, Sat AM + PM and Sunday AM.
Having hastily packed my kit and checked and rechecked I had my gun, bolt and ammo, I headed up to the Hinxworth area from South London. Most of the guys shooting that weekend were already there, and many had traveled much longer distances from me, seemingly from all over England. I recognised a few faces when I arrived from the previous day I had done and was greeted warmly by them and new faces;
The first day we were met with a warm drink and some food and then a safety briefing with regards to safe shots and not drinking before stalking etc, a quick talk about the areas, a run down of the do's and don't (including club shooting limits on range) and a list of contact numbers for the organiser Paul and the permanent members of the syndicates.
All the shooting is high seats on the cull weekend, so you get driven out to different areas by the permanent members of the club and picked up at an agreed time later (3-4 hours usually depending on light etc). Whilst there are never any guarantees in stalking they try to make sure that everyone has a good opportunity to shoot something and move people around to different sites. They will also ask if you are particular about shooting a certain species or trophy animal. Personally I am trying to get experience at present so I was more about the cull experience but plenty of the guys there got some very nice beasts.
In the weekend, I saw plenty of both trophy and cull fallows (still on bucks only for fallow at the time) and loads of does that would be available the following week! I also saw quite a few Muntjac both Buck and Doe so the animals are definitely there. Personally I was able to get a fox (allowed on some grounds) and on the last day a Muntjac Buck. I saw way more than I was able to shoot, mostly because they didn't present a safe shot and I'm very risk adverse. There are trophy fees to pay on some animals and those are detailed on a print out on the wall and spoken about on the first day.
The weather was absolutely terrible for the weekend I was there apart from the last day, but even then plenty of the guys came back with animals each day. The organiser Paul said the cull count was quite low due to the weather, but it was more deer than I've seen shot in a weekend.
The sleeping facilities are fairly basic, but cosy enough. Shared rooms with 4 bunks in each. There are shower facilities too but I'm pretty sure a load of middle aged blokes there for the weekend didn't bother too much (I know I didn't).
I found everyone to be very friendly, loads of banter and as long as you don't take offense at having the **** taken then you'll get on fine. I am still learning so it was good to chat to guys who have more years experience than I've had hot meals.
Talking of which, the food was amazing! After each stalk you get a hot meal (breakfast or dinner) and I have to say I was really impressed with the food.
All in all a great weekend and I'll definitely go again, made some good friends and had some good laughs and honestly, if you can shoot some deer too, what more can you ask for in a weekend.
If you want to know anything more specific please PM or reply and I'll be happy to elaborate.
Cheers,
Jon
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