Venison Prices

It’s unlikely to change so we need to find a way to process ourselves or collaborate with local others, or suck it up.
Done properly and with an hourly rate booked, there is no money in that either, unless you’re using it as a tax rite off.

dealer rates pay the bar bill, nothing else.
 
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Then I ask the question, why bother?

Run then in and buy a couple of pints, toast the stalk
I'm same i basically run it at a loss

Why?

1. I use lot of the meat myself for family etc

2.after slowly making up my own set up / larder ... folk coming in would be hard to believe it was just a hobby / passion ... basically im lucky enough main job is good and I can afford to do it basically as an arse covering exercise

3. I did it to give another legal option to move stuff on

4. Breaking even or just allows me to stop getting hammered for more tax.

5. I see it as my own wee effort Into educating folk to our side .. hunters side of the argument and my token f*ck you tto the antis or militant vegans

It amazes me amount of folk who shoot bit don't use the meat themselves at all !
I get can't watch it all if big numbers but some won't look at it 🤷
 
If the game dealers paid good prices for good carcasses and refused to take any badly shot carcasses, do you think it would make people think twice about where they put the bullet?
That's exactly how it should be.
Badly shot or badly gralloched carcasses should be flat refused, and the good ones (mostly head shot) should command a much better price.
 
That's exactly how it should be.
Badly shot or badly gralloched carcasses should be flat refused, and the good ones (mostly head shot) should command a much better price.
Here lies the problem, they say there are too many deer, so everybody and his dog buys a rifle shoots deer, price drops!

They still say there are too many deer , so everybody buys thermal imaging, more deer get shot, price drops!

They say there’s still too many deer, now the talk is extending seasons and extending night shooting permits, making them easier to get etc, guess what will happen the price will drop!

Nobody wants it nobody cares for it. It will never be a staple in this country!

Sorry to break the bad news to you purists that is just the way it is!
 
Here lies the problem, they say there are too many deer, so everybody and his dog buys a rifle shoots deer, price drops!

They still say there are too many deer , so everybody buys thermal imaging, more deer get shot, price drops!

They say there’s still too many deer, now the talk is extending seasons and extending night shooting permits, making them easier to get etc, guess what will happen the price will drop!

Nobody wants it nobody cares for it. It will never be a staple in this country!

Sorry to break the bad news to you purists that is just the way it is!
Yes, and there's also the issue that when "everyone and his dog buys a rifle shoots deer" (as you so succinctly put it), carcass quality goes down too. So there's a double reason for the average price to drop.
Quality venison still sells for quality prices, and always will, but on the mass market the quality isn't there on the whole, so there's very little bargaining power when it comes to carcass price negotiations.
 
we need to find a way to process ourselves or collaborate with local others, or suck it up.
I tried. Even if you:

- Are registered as a food business
- Hold the relevant Food Hygiene Certificates
- Hold DSC1, including Large Game Hygiene
- Hold a Venison Dealers License
- Have a Council-inspected and approved butchery and chill facilities
- Hold Third Party Liability insurance.....

You're still not permitted to buy carcasses from other sources, unless you become an AGHE, which is completely out of reach of we little guys.

But even when I was looking to buy carcasses a couple of years ago (without realising it wasn't permitted), and offering £2.20/kg I still had guys telling me I wasn't offering enough 🤔

Like @sauer I ran at a loss for a couple or three years basically as a means to get local and wild venison in front of customers who possibly would've only had the option of the crap supermarkets are offering. It's purely for myself now though
 
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I tried. Even if you:

- Are registered as a food business
- Hold the relevant Food Hygiene Certificates
- Hold DSC1, including Large Game Hygiene
- Hold a Venison Dealers License
- Have a Council-inspected and approved butchery and chill facilities
- Hold Third Party Liability insurance.....

You're still not permitted to buy carcasses from other sources, unless you become an AGHE, which is completely out of reach of we little guys.

But even when I was looking to buy carcasses a couple of years ago (without realising it wasn't permitted), and offering £2.20/kg I still had guys telling me I wasn't offering enough 🤔

It's a little different in England and Wales. We have a couple of exploitable loopholes.

(And I would agree, offering £2.20/kg wasn't enough, if the carcases were up to the spec you wanted).
 
Yes, and there's also the issue that when "everyone and his dog buys a rifle shoots deer" (as you so succinctly put it), carcass quality goes down too. So there's a double reason for the average price to drop.
Quality venison still sells for quality prices, and always will, but on the mass market the quality isn't there on the whole, so there's very little bargaining power when it comes to carcass price negotiations.
There is no negotiation, it is what the price is
 
That's exactly how it should be.
Badly shot or badly gralloched carcasses should be flat refused, and the good ones (mostly head shot) should command a much better price.
The rules and system in Scotland feels like it’s set up to fail.


For instance , on night licence head shooting isn’t allowed.
(I’m sure this is still the case on comission ground anyway)
So for night shooting to make sure you aren’t looking too far for deer all night is through the shoulders with factory non lead.

Right away your carcass is starting from a damage point of view.
Here lies the problem, they say there are too many deer, so everybody and his dog buys a rifle shoots deer, price drops!

They still say there are too many deer , so everybody buys thermal imaging, more deer get shot, price drops!

They say there’s still too many deer, now the talk is extending seasons and extending night shooting permits, making them easier to get etc, guess what will happen the price will drop!

Nobody wants it nobody cares for it. It will never be a staple in this country!

Sorry to break the bad news to you purists that is just the way it is!
last two sentences sum it up nicely.

It’s just not viable
 
(And I would agree, offering £2.20/kg wasn't enough, if the carcases were up to the spec you wanted).
Wouldn't have been viable any other way, with my overheads and wanting to keep prices reasonable. And dealer prices weren't even at £1.50 at the time, just to put it into perspective. It's a moot point now though
 
What amazes me is that a 50kg or so lamb will sell at market for £200, but a deer would be £62.50. Difficult to do halal on a wild deer though.
 
Wouldn't have been viable any other way, with my overheads and wanting to keep prices reasonable. And dealer prices weren't even at £1.50 at the time, just to put it into perspective. It's a moot point now though
Whenever I buy in carcasses I set a very tight spec. I specify species, sex, age, shot placement, carcass presentation, etc, and I set a price for anything meeting that spec that is considerably higher than game dealer rates. If it doesn't meet the spec I'm not interested. Simple as that. Not so long ago I bought some carcases from another member of this site, and they were absolutely bang on perfect in all respects. If everyone could produce carcases to that standard, the world would be a better place! I paid him a very good price and he was happy, and I made a decent margin on them so I was happy. He had some other "out of spec" carcases in his chiller on that day that I could have had at a cheaper price, but I didn't want them. End of.

Have you ever had to track a head shot wild deer?
Not yet, but no doubt the time will come, and when it does I will deal with it to the best of my ability.
But it's no different from head shooting rabbits, which most people seem happy to have a crack at, and accept that they're going to lose a few. But wounded rabbits crawl away down holes to die, don't they? Out of sight, out of mind! Whereas deer are holy venerated creatures that we must honour and worship over and above all living things!
What a load of tripe!!!
Either someone is capable of taking a shot or they're not capable of taking a shot, it matters not whether it's a deer, a rabbit or a rat!
And if you've read enough on this site you'll know that 1moa is absolutely the minimum standard that everyone is capable of achieving before they'll even contemplate taking a shot at a deer, which means that any shot placement, whether that be head, neck or chest, is well within the cability of all stalkers. Either that, or most of them are liars.
I'll let you decide which.

. Difficult to do halal on a wild deer though.
Apparently it's not difficult at all.
 
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Not yet, but no doubt the time will come, and when it does I will deal with it to the best of my ability.
I hope you never have to, because I’ve tracked more than I care to remember!

The best way to deal with it is not to do it, then you won’t have to go through the anguish of failing to put it out of its misery.
 
Whenever I buy in carcasses I set a very tight spec. I specify species, sex, age, shot placement, carcass presentation, etc, and I set a price for anything meeting that spec that is considerably higher than game dealer rates. If it doesn't meet the spec I'm not interested
I didn't buy many, but if I'd set my requirements that strictly I'd never have got any all. Which made me wonder where all the stalkers bemoaning the lack of outlets for their carcasses actually were 🤔 So either most of them were happy enough with what they were getting from dealers, or there weren't actually that many deer being shot in this area in the first place
 
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