What is a Deer stalker?

Good one I have often asked the same question...

1. Land Manager may just view
a. Health​
b. Cull selection​
i. Also request​
. Shoot​
. Hunt​
. Stalk​
N.B may have qualification or not


2. Shooter (Qualified)
a. Carries out the cull​
i. Positioned as the manager knows location​
b. RTA register request


3. Hunter (not Qualified)
a. Locates an animal on request​
i. Manager doesn’t know the location


4. Hunter (Qualified)
3. above​
i. RTA incident requiring tracking​
ii. RTA requiring tracking dog


5. Stalker (Qualified) has land or employed to...
a. as 1. 2. 3. And 4. above​
i. Carries out 1a through to 4ii​
b. Takes clients out​
i. Carries out 1b


6. Shopper
a. A stalker that knows their land​
i. Drives to their ground knowing the animal location​
. Without much effort shoots (Shooter) a animal


7. Land Owner
a. As above but without qualification


8. Forum Stalker
a. No comment!!


9. There’s also European Hunter and International Hunter
a. Guided Shooter​
 
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The term is a very old one and has links in the highlands back to the likes of Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir, usually Duncan Ban MacIntyre in English, (http://digital.nls.uk/early-gaelic-book-collections/pageturner.cfm?id=78070469)

One of the early lairds who was into stalking was Cluny MacPherson : MACPHERSON, EWEN (d. 1756), of Cluny, Jacobite, was the hereditary chief of the Macphersons, a branch of the ancient clan Chattan and an ardent supporter of the "Young Pretender", 'On 4 Sept. 1764 the prince wrote him a letter asking him to come as soon as convenient to Paris, and to bring with him all the effects left in his hands, and whatever money he could come at............. before bidding a final farewell to the highlands, he is said to have called on a noted deer-stalker — Macdonald of Tulloch — and killed a deer' (Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, xvi. 212)

It was made popular in the South by the likes of William Scrope (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Scrope) in his excellent book The Art of Deer-Stalking: Illustrated By a Narrative of a Few Days Sport published in 1838.

It has quite separate roots from the term hunting, which usually refers to mounted pursuit with hounds, unless you are an European, or one of their descendants who took the term to America.
 
The term is a very old one and has links in the highlands back to the likes of Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir, usually Duncan Ban MacIntyre in English, (http://digital.nls.uk/early-gaelic-book-collections/pageturner.

Changing the subject slightly, but I was stalker for a times on the same ground as Duncan was his ruined cottage can still be clearly seen.

He had an interesting career Forester (stalker) Forester in this case related to deer forest not tree.

Soldier in the Royal army but had Jacobite leanings.

Poet toured the Highlands and became somewhat of a celebrity.

Finally joined the Edinburgh guard a militia which operated much like a Police force and could also be called to defend the city if it came under attack.

Duncan had a long life and is buried in Grey friars kirkyard in Edinburgh.
 
Ah! Another good old recurring SD thread. I wonder if it's about time for a .243 thread to pop up again too.

I don't really see that there's anything to get worked up about. We use the word 'stalker' because 'hunter' gets confused with persuit from horseback. So the simplest and clearest meaning is just 'killing deer by legal means'. All the other shades of meaning and interpretation are entirely arbitrary and personal. There is about as much point in getting worked up about it or trying to define it as there is in trying to determine whether red is the better colour than blue.
 
It's just what you call deer hunters in Britain, with this country's insatiable appetite for subdividing and cataloging. Nowhere else by default splits hunters into stalkers, game shots, wildfowlers, roughshooters, ferreters, foxhunters, which are different from fox shooters, or pest controllers, falconers, big game hunters. Everywhere else and in every other language that I'm aware of, those are all just types of hunting, all equally valid. And I haven't even touched on coarse versus game fishing. I wonder whether it's evolved that way because there's something in the British character that just wants to form a club that most people can't join...
 
If I'm hunting deer over hounds, it can hardly be called deer stalking.

I can tell you what stalking isn't - sitting at the internet talking about it.
 
Hi Bogtrotter

They would have been happy times, stalking in the shadows of Beinn Dorainn

Spent some time in that part of the world too, have taken a beast or two near his monument (not the one in Greyfriars, but the one behind Dalmally). There was a bit of a campaign going last year as the Monument was falling into disrepair, he doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

The connections between deer, going to the hill and the heights of the art of Gaelic poetry has a strong link, with Robb Donn MacAoidh and Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair all extolling what is called deer stalking. Unfortunately none of the gifts of the lyric art came my way. It was always one of my hopes as a young man to come across Robb's rifle which is hidden in the hills of North Sutherland to this day. Maybe we'll have a dram one day and share some stories.
 
What's a deer stalker? Simple really it's someone who will charge you an obscene amount for an outing stalking.
Then a cull fee, a trophy fee then charge you a ridiculous amount for the venison, he will charge you for a miss, and if you are unfortunate enough to to wound a beast and not find it he will charge you a cull fee, fee for the estimated loss of venison revenue, and a trophy fee, he will estimate what the trophy would have cost and you will need to pay that, unfortunatley all lost bucks are gold medals.

He will charge you for the use of the estate rifle ( although it's illegal) he will charge you for the bullets you fire
(this is not illegal) he will make you fire at least three shots at the target before you set off , so if you are sucessful
thats a minimum of four shots expect to pay around the price of a box of ammunition for this privilege.

However if you are sucessful he will prepare your trophy for you( expect to pay for this) he will also measure it for you with the BASC system this system allows them to be measured wet, more importantly this allows him to charge a slightly higher fee , than the CIC system which requires a drying out period especially when measuring a border line buck that might just have failed to make a medal under CIC


I know all the above to be true because I have read it all on here.:old:
 
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Thank God I pay 25 quid a year to hunt deer. That the easy bit. Finding the deer in the forest can take years.
 
What's a deer stalker? Simple really it's someone who will charge you an obscene amount for an outing stalking.
Then a cull fee, a trophy fee then charge you a ridiculous amount for the venison, he will charge you for a miss, and if you are unfortunate enough to to wound a beast and not find it he will charge you a cull fee, fee for the estimated loss of venison revenue, and a trophy fee, he will estimate what the trophy would have cost and you will need to pay that, unfortunatley all lost bucks are gold medals.

He will charge you for the use of the estate rifle ( although it's illegal) he will charge you for the bullets you fire
(this is not illegal) he will make you fire at least three shots at the target before you set off , so if you are sucessful
thats a minimum of four shots expect to pay around the price of a box of ammunition for this privilege.

However if you are sucessful he will prepare your trophy for you( expect to pay for this) he will also measure it for you with the BASC system this system allows them to be measured wet, more importantly this allows him to charge a slightly higher fee , than the CIC system which requires a drying out period especially when measuring a border line buck that might just have failed to make a medal under CIC


I know all the above to be true because I have read it all on here.:old:

:rofl:


Bob
 
Wow. Was it really worth all the banter just to answer a thread asking about the name Deer Stalker! Here's my 2d worth.
It does not matter where you may be, from walking the fields to walking through bush! If you are in pursuit of deer then, but this is entirely up to you! you could
be called a deer stalker. However you may wish to be called a deer follower? whatever floats your boat!, but the term Deer Stalker is not people/ Hunters trying to raise themselves to a higher than thou level.
If you feel this way I think it best if!( Providing you have firearms) you sell them, because you are clearly not in the frame of mind that a gun owner should be.
IMHO.
 
What's a deer stalker? Simple really it's someone who will charge you an obscene amount for an outing stalking.
Then a cull fee, a trophy fee then charge you a ridiculous amount for the venison, he will charge you for a miss, and if you are unfortunate enough to to wound a beast and not find it he will charge you a cull fee, fee for the estimated loss of venison revenue, and a trophy fee, he will estimate what the trophy would have cost and you will need to pay that, unfortunatley all lost bucks are gold medals.

He will charge you for the use of the estate rifle ( although it's illegal) he will charge you for the bullets you fire
(this is not illegal) he will make you fire at least three shots at the target before you set off , so if you are sucessful
thats a minimum of four shots expect to pay around the price of a box of ammunition for this privilege.

However if you are sucessful he will prepare your trophy for you( expect to pay for this) he will also measure it for you with the BASC system this system allows them to be measured wet, more importantly this allows him to charge a slightly higher fee , than the CIC system which requires a drying out period especially when measuring a border line buck that might just have failed to make a medal under CIC


I know all the above to be true because I have read it all on here.:old:
Now that I like spot on :lol:
norma
 
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