Recording your culls.

[Tim.243]

Always a different matter when money comes into it

That is why as there are good wages paid to someone sitting at a desk wanting to read it.

 

[Tim.243]

Perhaps we could all simply accept that landowners are different in what they expect from whomever they employ to do the stalking, and at the end of the day they are the ones who set the terms.

Every stalker has a choice - no-one forces them to take on more ground, and if they don't want to do the stalking based on the terms imposed by the landowner they can simply move on and try and find stalking elsewhere.

There are plenty of farmers around who are happy to do everything on a handshake, and I've had several of these type of leases over the years, However there are others for whom deer management is part of a broader strategy on how the farm or estate is run. As explained above, in situations where someone is claiming grants such as the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier they are required to have a Deer Management Plan in place. This puts a certain level of administration on whoever is doing the stalking, as otherwise the grant application won't be accepted and/or grant money that has been paid out will be reclaimed. So whilst you might see this type of administration as "crap pieces of paper", for the farmer or landowner it can mean getting grants or not.

For the stalker, these kind of records can also provide invaluable data, not just when coming up with the deer management plan but also when dealing with those who might have an interest in the estate - whether that's the farmers, foresters, estate managers, conservationists, NGO's, the general public or whoever.

The simple fact is that there is pressure on deer management to become more professional - whether that's through training, data management or interacting with other land users. We may not like it, and we might hark back to the days when everything was simpler, but the reality is that times have moved on.

As an example, I received another enquiry the other day through the BASC Competent Stalkers register offering stalking for fallow, roe and muntjac on 6 sites totalling nearly 170 hectares, run by the Woodland Trust. The details made clear that cull numbers were dependent on the Deer Management Plan, and payments were being made available for both site visits and carcasses. The details also mentioned that "There is a requirement to use the Woodland Trust application to record all culls". If a stalker can't be ar5ed with all the administration this requires, they don't have to bid, but for those who accept that these type of leases increasingly require them to show as much professionalism in deer management as in deer culling, they can go for the opportunity.

The deer stalking world should be big enough to allow both approaches to exist side-by-side, and accept that there are simply different ways of doing things.

The Video App via Essex
@Norfolk Deer Search

We shot one here
He shot one there
Then we shot them every ****ing where

 

[timbrayford]

Absolutely nothing wrong with keeping a game book diary, nice to look back on while warming your feet at the fire sipping a wee dram when your stalking days are a distant memory.
Have fun guys!

Oh, I only keep records for my own use and memories!

 

[Mike1979]

That is why as there are good wages paid to someone sitting at a desk wanting to read it.

Given your age and occupation I am amazed you now how to use a computer Tim Nowt wrong with sitting behind a desk...keeps the wheels of industry properly managed

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

Given your age and occupation I am amazed you now how to use a computer Tim Nowt wrong with sitting behind a desk...keeps the wheels of industry properly managed

I love a desk dweller

 

[Hazlett]

In my view, in an area where fallow/red are in problem numbers, any landowner who is happy with deer on the deck without asking for evidence from the stalker of the total cull and that at least 80% were female needs a wake-up call.

 

[Tim.243]

I love a desk dweller

The thing is Lee the little Desk Jockeys have their chairs on blocks and cut the table legs down, the difference is small lowercase to normal.
then they have to do this to get a shot..

 

[Nickb]

The thing is Lee the little Desk Jockeys have their chairs on blocks and cut the table legs down, the difference is small lowercase to normal.
then they have to do this to get a shot..

What are you smoking ?

What does the above actually mean ?

Glad you posted the game larder video AGAIN just shows how easy it is to shoot deer down South, overrun .

 

[Firefly]

Evening all.

I'm not sure what everyone uses to record their culls, but I thought I'd share my latest efforts.

I use MyHunt to record my grounds and culls, however on the cull record side I prefer the simplicity of a Google spreadsheet. It gives me much greater control over the data, such as breaking it down into gender, species, weights etc...

This brings me on to my next evolution. I got sick of having to fire up the laptop or computer every time. Editing on a phone was painful. Enter AppSheet. A Google app that enables you to turn your spreadsheet into an app.

View attachment 436683View attachment 436684

It may not be for everyone, but I started with a simple spreadsheet and now I've got this. I can view all my culls, view a dashboard with things like species split etc. I can also easily add culls, as well as marking the location on a map. It's free!

Not exactly hard to set

Custom database across various platforms.
Tag No.
Date
Time
Location
Area
Species
Sex
SJM Pricket score
Calibre
Range
Shot placement
Shot from (highseat,sticks,bipod etc)
Weight
Carcass destination.

 

[Taff]

In my view, in an area where fallow/red are in problem numbers, any landowner who is happy with deer on the deck without asking for evidence from the stalker of the total cull and that at least 80% were female needs a wake-up call.

When protecting crops , you shoot what you see, male/ female irrelevant, fallow and red being so transient in most areas in the south, you don,t wait to see a female and leave the rest.

 

[HonestJohn]

I think people can do whatever the hell they want, as long as they maintain good ethical practices in line with good management and biodiversity and herd structure principles, and vote to rejoin the EU when the chance arises

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

I think people can do whatever the hell they want, as long as they maintain good ethical practices in line with good management and biodiversity and herd structure principles, and vote to rejoin the EU when the chance arises

Best post yet

 

[Dickie]

People can keep whatever records by whatever method they like but for it all of a sudden be the ultimate attachment to go with their renewal is asking for trouble.

 

[VSS]

People can keep whatever records by whatever method they like but for it all of a sudden be the ultimate attachment to go with their renewal is asking for trouble.

Exactly this ^^^

 

[The Singing Stalker]

I was advised by my FEO to keep a record for when i wanted my license opened, and I kept going from there. It also thought me a lot about spreadsheets as I was running all kinds of formulas so I could ensure I was visiting the various farms on a regular basis.
And I had al sorts of charts I generated. Once generated, they automatically updated. I found it all very interesting, and no I am not a computer geek. However, when I started butchering and then I linked the spreadsheet to other pages which listed the breakdown so I had a list of for sale and then of course you needed a way to generate a sales invoice.
Ok, it worked. But then it started to take up large amounts of data.

So I developed and designed my own data base, using MS access.



Someone who knows the truth has just spat his tea across the screen. .


Someone else designed one that did everything from going out stalking to individual sales, invoices and records and even a spreadsheet that could be exported to p editor so I can print labels. Took me longer to work out how to use p-editor and import the spreadsheet than it took to learn the database, although that did take some time.

I wouldn't have a freaking clue how to do make a database. I trialled it, made suggestions and it works superduperly. Yes I just made that word up. It doesn’t unfortunately compile records and analysis as well as my spreadsheet did, but it does the important stuff which I need for record keeping and when I had my last inspection recently, the lady was very impressed with the traceability.

So, yeah, lot to be said for a computer, once set up, correctly, it is great. I can track any venison I sold back to the date, location and animal. I don’t do notebooks for anything other than make a reminder to transfer information to the computer.

And for those who do use a computer. Remember to keep a back up…. Just in case.
And I haven’t used it to reapply for my license.

 

[HonestJohn]

I keep records for memories sake, a hunting journal, in a lovely bound book, also shows me trends between weights, numbers, age, location and shot placement/reaction and distance they’ve run. I note the stalk memories, rifle used and ammo. It’s very informal and sits between my other shooting books, but it’s a nice piece to keep, I stick pictures in there too. I add who I was with, usually friends or family, if any, dog, weather etc in the notes. I also put a sticker behind each of my trophy shields I keep (keep the ones with good memories only), that can tie to the journal.

I hope to read it from my hospital/other bed in the days before I die. I hope that’s not too soon.

 

[timbrayford]

I was advised by my FEO to keep a record for when i wanted my license opened, and I kept going from there. It also thought me a lot about spreadsheets as I was running all kinds of formulas so I could ensure I was visiting the various farms on a regular basis.
And I had al sorts of charts I generated. Once generated, they automatically updated. I found it all very interesting, and no I am not a computer geek. However, when I started butchering and then I linked the spreadsheet to other pages which listed the breakdown so I had a list of for sale and then of course you needed a way to generate a sales invoice.
Ok, it worked. But then it started to take up large amounts of data.

So I developed and designed my own data base, using MS access.



Someone who knows the truth has just spat his tea across the screen. .


Someone else designed one that did everything from going out stalking to individual sales, invoices and records and even a spreadsheet that could be exported to p editor so I can print labels. Took me longer to work out how to use p-editor and import the spreadsheet than it took to learn the database, although that did take some time.

I wouldn't have a freaking clue how to do make a database. I trialled it, made suggestions and it works superduperly. Yes I just made that word up. It doesn’t unfortunately compile records and analysis as well as my spreadsheet did, but it does the important stuff which I need for record keeping and when I had my last inspection recently, the lady was very impressed with the traceability.

So, yeah, lot to be said for a computer, once set up, correctly, it is great. I can track any venison I sold back to the date, location and animal. I don’t do notebooks for anything other than make a reminder to transfer information to the computer.

And for those who do use a computer. Remember to keep a back up…. Just in case.
And I haven’t used it to reapply for my license.

yes, during my recent renewal I offered the FLD a copy of my cull records, they weren't interested, instead they were obsessed with their non-statutory land permission form, I've now told them 4 times that I stalk as a guest on multiple different permissions paying by the outing (as per 12.10 HO Guidance) and don't hold any such authority myself. I even gave them details of the "relevant organisation" that I frequently stalk with, they weren't interested in that either!

 

[JeffreyL]

I keep a simple note book which records date, location, species, sex and age. The only exception is where FC grants are involved, there I do a WhatsApp with the landowner which records the same details. In the last two years FC have said this should be accompanied with photos. Fine, except I have a pet aversion to photos of dead animals!!

 

[BenC]

Surprised no one has mentioned the Zeiss app yet, totally free, can map all your ground on Google maps with boundaries, will record cull data including photos if you want to record something interesting, high seats, cameras etc as well as cull locations and all done on a phone or ipad. You can pull data for any ground you have easily, I find it really good.

 

[barbel]

got the recording features on the thermal, and scopes, but never once used them, never recorded, never took a picture of what I shot, never kept a record of what I shot, distances and clicks on some ground yes, nothing else, except If I see something alive when I am close I may take a picture .