Whilst I’m in general agreement Tim, there’s a lot of stalkers out there who do not have local AGHE or simply choose not to put them into game dealers, processing and passing on the venison to friends, family and local consumers. Some of the grallochs and presented carcasses I have seen in the limited time I’ve been doing this have been appalling and, whilst I’d like to think that the offending supplier’s business would rapidly fall away, it does make me wonder also about the ability of some stalkers to recognise disease and parasites. Frankly, I never cease to be surprised by some of the FB posts I see questioning what should be basic knowledge.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m personally very happy with DEFRA’s and my local EHO’s approach to small-scale venison supply (and long may it continue) but a bit like other issues debated on here, as a community, we are “only as good as our last bad news headline” and I personally live in fear of one of our less than diligent stalkers screwing it up for us all with a highly publicised food poisoning outbreak.