UK deer hunting season drawing to a close

I'm sure you will have a great time over there. Just watch out for speeding farm tractors!

Dave N said:

I'm sure you will have a great time over there. Just watch out for speeding farm tractors!

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Duely noted. As well as "Yanks in a rental car" no doubt.

Sawtooth said:

Duely noted. As well as "Yanks in a rental car" no doubt.

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I must shamefully admit I fell into this category the first time I drove in the UK. Arrived in Glasgow got behind the wheel and first roundabout created anarchy...that looking right thing is a real bastard...lol

I have had a rental car twice in the UK. Both times without any major problems, but I did stall the engine a couple of times at stop signs trying to shift gears with my left hand. Takes a day or so to get the hang of it. Cars don't do so well when you try to go from first to reverse for some reason.

Had that same problem! That, and going the wrong way on a bus only street. Oh, the looks I got...

awesome! dream hunt

wllm1313 said:

Dave, so you don't think you could find a landowner that would let you go self-guided on their estate for a fee? I mean I would even pay the full guided price if they would just let me do my own thing, if I'm being pampered it just ruins the experience for me. If I wanted to just shoot a stag I could go to texas... I would rather actually hunt one...

Also I'm guessing using a stick bow would be out of the question?

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I asked the question, its a big 'no no', as Dave said, one guy said he had heard a rumour that one estate offers self guided hunts but that is all it was, a rumour.

Sawtooth said:

Richard,
I am just kidding about my "Gold Medal" expectations. If we find a good representation of the species it will be "icing on the cake". The experience of the hunt and being part of what it means to hunt in the UK is what I am most looking forward to on this trip. All my hunting has been in the backcountry, so hunting big game near farmland will be a new experience for me. I have shot plenty of upland birds and waterfowl in or near farmland but never big game. And I haven't forgot the fishing. With all the water we have been getting this winter and spring, I don't know when our rivers will get below flood stage. Hopefully it will be before July, so I can get in a little casting practice before I head over to your place.

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Yes i understood it was 'tongue in cheek' but you never know, i will try and get you a decent 6 pointer, Dave had a nice head, and a very unusual little 'button' which i had never seen before.
You will enjoy the fly fishing, but take this advice, its a small river, casting has to be well presented and pretty accurate, they are small fish but really challenging. What i would really like to do if we have time is take you night fly fishing for Sea Trout in the river (our Brown Trout version of your Steelhead) you will never forget that experience, but you are casting by feel, you will love it!
Gets some practice in!

Dave N said:

I'm sure you will have a great time over there. Just watch out for speeding farm tractors!

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That damned tractor driver almost wiped us out Dave, i suspect he was young and inexperienced, no excuse though, they are narrow roads at the best of time.
Perhaps i shouldn't remind you of the running repairs we did on your rental car!

Cheers

Richard

Richard so what your saying is Estates don't offer it not that it's a UK law requiring guides correct?

We must had done a pretty good cover up job on that bent rim. Those EXTRA PICKY people at the Heathrow rental place let it get past them. But they STILL got me for a tire with a bubble on a different one. No clue how that got there! Renters beware!

wllm1313 said:

Richard so what your saying is Estates don't offer it not that it's a UK law requiring guides correct?

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Its really complicated, ranging from the loan of a rifle, laws that need to be abided to, insurance, extraction of beast to meet guidelines, use of equipment, and the main one, trust, they just don't want anyone, whether they be an American or local hunting on their land without a guide.
So basically it is a non starter.
Cheers
Richard

devon deer said:

Its really complicated, ranging from the loan of a rifle, laws that need to be abided to, insurance, extraction of beast to meet guidelines, use of equipment, and the main one, trust, they just don't want anyone, whether they be an American or local hunting on their land without a guide.
So basically it is a non starter.
Cheers
Richard

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I see what your mean... I found a place that said you could go self guided provided you had insurance and a DMQ 2... I then looked up DMQ 2 requirements and they are a bit stiff. Seems like if I really wanted to invest the time I could eventually go self guided but it would be an expensive multi year process that would require building a long term relationship with an estate.

Guess I will have to live out my stalking dreams with a camera. Thanks for looking into it though!

wllm1313 said:

I see what your mean... I found a place that said you could go self guided provided you had insurance and a DMQ 2... I then looked up DMQ 2 requirements and they are a bit stiff. Seems like if I really wanted to invest the time I could eventually go self guided but it would be an expensive multi year process that would require building a long term relationship with an estate.

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Sounds like you have done some good research yourself.
Before you can complete DMQ2, you have to complete DMQ1.
DMQ1 (deer management qualification)also called DSC1 (deer stalking certificate) you have to sit in a classroom for between 2-4 days, complete various tasks, culminating in a shooting test, after this you may apply to complete your Level 2, this involves culling 3 deer in front of a witness, easier said than done, you might not find 3 deer, it can take time, you are grilled all the way through, various questions, too many to list on here, safety, disease, food hygiene etc
When you finally complete this it is sent away and an external verifier looks at everything and after another grilling the qualification is awarded, or not as the case may be.
Its a lot of work, i have done it, but to be honest the farmers where i shoot couldn't give a flying fart whether i had done it or not, i found the part 1 was interesting, and i admit i did learn some stuff, but the part 2 was unnecessary as far as i was concerned, i did it just to see if i could!

So in your case, not impossible to complete, but it could take a few visits to the UK to complete, just to get a small chance of stalking a red deer in Scotland, forget it, go to New Zealand and get your stag!

Cheers

Richard