Stalking rent

Boarboy

Well-Known Member
I just wondered what other people generally pay in rent for their stalking ground, and wether they get to keep or sell the venison they harvest?

i have stalked a farm for over ten years as mainly crop protection, i have sold some beasts and butchered some for the owners. Now the owners suddenly want some rent off me, and also a share of any venison sales. They saw how much venison was selling in the supermarkets!

the farm in question is about 150 acres, and I normally take about 8-15 deer a year from it, if this helps!?

thanks.
 
Might be worth discussing exactly how much they want and agreeing a sum suitable to both parties. There will always be someone ready and willing to pay more than you, so if they're after cash best strike a deal before someone else does.
 
Might be worth discussing exactly how much they want and agreeing a sum suitable to both parties. There will always be someone ready and willing to pay more than you, so if they're after cash best strike a deal before someone else does.

This is good advice. I have known of stalkers losing their permission due to informal agreements, vague permission off the keeper and lack of liaison with the actual landowner. They are then surprised when they turn up and find someone else in charge of the deer. Hence the 'i'm not telling you where I stalk' mentality. If the landowner is happy with the job you are doing then you shouldn't be at risk of loosing it.

Strike a deal with the landowner that suits you both and you should be ok. Putting a price on it it difficult as there are many factors (species present, size of ground, cull figures etc) involved and many people do it differently. Keep the landowner happy.

All the best - M
 
dont forget to ask him how much a ton of spuds is ex farm, and then in the shop,
the markup is frightening.
just because venison is say £5 a lb in the shop etc.............
 
What deer are you shooting Red will be worth more than roe. FC up here were working on a £100 a deer on roe. So if you look at it that way you need to give him around 1000 for the ground.
 
What deer are you shooting Red will be worth more than roe. FC up here were working on a £100 a deer on roe. So if you look at it that way you need to give him around 1000 for the ground.
£10 an acre blimey :scared:

Id rather go down the good will ,odd jobs ,vermin control route oh and a bit of coppicing ,firewood route .
Yours
​a poor Norma
 
Times change, the farmer, if he owns the farm probably has an asset valued at nearly £2000000 when the stock and equipement added in.He deserves something in return for allowing you to have a free run
Sometimes it's money, for others its a helping hand when needed.
Where a stalker has skills or equipement and is prepared to use them for the farmers benifit occasionaly, that can often tip the balance
 
I just wondered what other people generally pay in rent for their stalking ground, and wether they get to keep or sell the venison they harvest?

i have stalked a farm for over ten years as mainly crop protection, i have sold some beasts and butchered some for the owners. Now the owners suddenly want some rent off me, and also a share of any venison sales. They saw how much venison was selling in the supermarkets!

the farm in question is about 150 acres, and I normally take about 8-15 deer a year from it, if this helps!?

thanks.

Sounds like they're pulling a fast probably having heard "stories" and thinking there's loads of money in it!

If you are doing crop protection for the farm I would say that service negates the rent they want to charge. The proceeds from the carcasses could then be fairly split 50/50. That is how many people I know in our area do it.

The tricky bit is to explain to the landowner it's only 150 acres (without being demeaning, I wouldn't turn my nose up at a 150 acres!) and not going to be making a bundle of money but will give you the pleasure in providing the service and a little cash for each party plus , if you do it, a little venison for them as well.
 
It is nothing to do with the size it is about how many deer is taken. Anyone who takes 8 to 15 deer a year should expect to pay. If you had a joiners shop would you let someone come and make windows in it for profit every weekend for taking off some rabbits around the grounds? It is the farmers living he is there to make money.
 
You need to play the trust card as well as the £ card, as you say you have been there a while he can trust you, however if he is considering going elsewhere you do need to add into the equation he knows and trusts you, but any new stalker might want to re-coup the dosh asap and not inform him of every deer he culls, take it from me it happens!
Best of luck, you might just need it.
Cheers
​Richard
 
Id be happy to settle for the sport and let him have all the deer !
That way you keep your shooting and he makes money out of the deer, that way he wont feel your making money out him !
 
I think a fair deal for him would be to offer him the venison or cash from every third deer shot on the land. That way if you go through periods of not seeing much your not paying for it!
 
I would make a generous offer in the way of cash say between £500 - £700 and say every third carcass is his to do as he wishes you may find that he may say after he's had a couple that he don't want any for a while
Good luck

Paul D
 
Thanks for all your replies. I have known the farmers for many years, it is the neighbouring farm to ours. We have run a shoot over both farms, and I pay them £700 per annum for the shoot rent, which I can get back off the guns. But I have always done the stalking separately. I realise there are people out there that would jump at the chance of some stalking and it is increasingly hard to find ground. So yes I want to hold on to it, but equally I've felt the odd fallow I've sold has been a bonus for helping them out now and again. It is an elderly lady and her daughter and I've done quite a bit for them in the past. I dont know how best to work it, wether to give them extra for the stalking or to give them any monies from deer shot on their land, which could get a bit complicated as I send off carcasses from both farms???
 
It is nothing to do with the size it is about how many deer is taken. Anyone who takes 8 to 15 deer a year should expect to pay. If you had a joiners shop would you let someone come and make windows in it for profit every weekend for taking off some rabbits around the grounds? It is the farmers living he is there to make money.

This only works if it was a deer farm surely......he's protecting crops, so it's like owning a joinery shop and letting someone come and kill your woodworm for free.......?
 
It is nothing to do with the size it is about how many deer is taken. Anyone who takes 8 to 15 deer a year should expect to pay. If you had a joiners shop would you let someone come and make windows in it for profit every weekend for taking off some rabbits around the grounds? It is the farmers living he is there to make money.
Really they should expect to pay?? I shoot several farms and woodland that I do in exchange for crop protection and foxing , the above attitude is what is contributing towards stalkers getting thier permission taken by the next highest bidder
 
If you can see yourself managing it for a few year & have resident deer, give him 20% of your take after a wage. it may take you 4-5 years to get them healthy & of quality, as the inbreed wild are very poor quality meat . Mineral licks & winter feed may come in too @ ££'s ;)
 
As an amateur stalker I believe I offer a service to the landowner therefore I will not pay for it. However I do make sure relationship-building is done properly with regular visits, a Xmas card + bottle, stay in touch, letters/emails/texts/newsletter, and offer the farmer/landowner a share of the venison on a regular basis. In most cases the relationship quickly turns into friendship and trust.
I have some 1,500 Acres of Cotswolds land to stalk over, including some prime woodland, and have never paid a penny, and keep some 80% of the venison. Admittingly several of my landowners don't have a serious deer problem and I take very few animals on some of the farms - maybe 2-3p.a. on a typical 300 Acres farm.
However I do make it very clear to my landowners that my activities are 100% non-commercial so I will never sell any venison or take paying guests, as that would be a game-changer.
I resent the SD posts where people appear to accept that they pay for access to land where they shoot a limited number of deer - however if in your case you can't get free stalking than you'll have to be pragmetic - but this could potentially lead to a situation where you put yourself under pressure to shoot more and more to get 'value for money' - is that in the landowners' or the herd's interest?

The situation for profs is of course entirely different- and the relationship should be based on sound contracts and business agreements.
 
Totally agree with the above well put .money spoils everything and is the route of all evil and may well be the down fall of stalking as we know it .
 
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