My Deer Stalking Certificate, Level 1

[mirage]

Having been twice invited me up to Haggistan to stalk Red stags, and having had a superb time and taken 4 beasts, the bug bit. I decided to buy myself a stalking rifle as described here.



The next step, in my mind, was to get some training and a qualification in this litigious and Health & Safety-obsessed era.

The obvious first step was the Deer Stalking Certificate, Level One, henceforth described as DSC.1

I joined BASC (£10,000,000 insurance is part of the membership package) for £66. Application was on line; my membership was through within hours.

Looking through the list of DSC.1 venues available, I found that BASC were holding one only a few miles from my home from 19th to 22nd June inclusive. I treated it as an omen and booked it at a cost of £290.

A few days later my course joining instructions arrived, together with an intimidating bundle of reading material which I was apparently supposed to have read and committed to memory before attending. This comprised the 240-page DSC Level 1 Training Manual and the roughly 40-page Wild Game Guide, which describes hygiene and legal meat sale requirements.

If you're interested in the level of knowledge required, the question banks can be downloaded from here.

Hmmm... As a complete novice, there was a lot of work to be done.

I resolved to wait until one month before the course began, then do 30 minutes study per day. During the last week I would increase that to one hour per day. Absent unavoidable commitments I managed to keep to that.

Before the course started BASC advised me that the venue had had to be changed for unspecified reasons. The new location was to be Bradshaw's gun shop near the charming town of Oundle in Northants. This business has just moved to a new location in excellent premises, and is well worth a visit if you're in the area.

Day One arrived, and a very nervous Mirage walked up the stairs to the lecture room, suffering from those "First day at new school" jitters.

Our instructor was to be a chap called Andy Papworth, a massively-experienced stalker and all-round nice chap.

My 11 fellow attendees were a varied group including a farmer, an army officer, a grain feed salesman, a carpenter and a civilian employee of the police. A good bunch of blokes.

Here's an idea of the venue:



Training aids:





The targets on which we would shoot for qualification:



Of the four days, the first 2½ were "chalk & talk", consisting of lectures accompanied by PowerPoint presentations. All of the relevant course material was covered, though it would take a brave man to turn up on Day One having done no study and rely on absorbing it all in the classroom.

Bradshaw's supplied tea, "coffee" ( ) and biscuits. We brought our own food.

The practical shoot was, typically, held on the crappiest day, with rain being driven by high, gusty winds.



The "range", looking back from the targets towards the firing points

The qualification shoot is as follows:

1. Three rounds prone from 100m to check zero and group size. A 4" group is a pass. If you don't achieve that, you get a total of up to three attempts on the day.

2. Two rounds prone at 100m against a life-size deer target with a 6" kill zone. The kill zone is faintly marked, and can't be seen through your sights.

3. Two rounds kneeling at 70m against the same deer target. Sticks or a long bipod may be used as a rest.

4. Two rounds standing at 40m against the same target. Again, sticks may be used.

Here's my group for the six shots as described above:



A nicely-centred, round group of exactly 2"! Phew!



My targets in situ, the zeroing effort being bottom left



A dismal pic of me as Andy marks my targets. His congratulatory handshake was very welcome, believe me

The written exams are described here and I don't intend to reinvent the wheel.

Continued in Part Two.

mirage

[mirage]

Continued from Part One.

The single event that caused me most stress and problems was the simulated stalk, and I came very close to failing the course as a result. Read on:

The idea is that - as the title suggests - you perform a simulated stalk on several deer targets set in natural surroundings. There's no creeping around etc., it's all done at the walk. Being a bit of a Dudley Do-Right, I hadn't joined many of the others as they peered out of the classroom window, whence the targets were visible. I wanted to do it the fair way.

Anyway, the instructors (mates of Andy's who were helping out) met me at the start of the "stalk" and invited me to get ready. I uncased my rifle, keeping my finger well off the trigger, and ostentatiously pointed it at the ground preparatory to loading. Pow!, the instructor was on me: "Do you think that's safe?" Bloke, it's the ground well away from my feet! No, gravel over rammed earth is apparently not a safe surface at which to point your rifle while loading. Straight away I'm on the back foot.

I close the bolt on an empty chamber, then insert a "loaded" magazine. Pow! I should have "chambered a round". OK, that remark was fair; the lowland stalking rules in the Manual say "one up the spout", but this constant interruption was making me edgy.

He asks me a question, but at that precise instant we are buzzed and deafened by not one but two Chinook helicopters. Come on! Even the flipping armed services are against me!

After stammering an answer, I sling my rifle over my shoulder to move towards the first "stalk". Pow! He doesn't like my rifle sling, and makes me invert the rifle with the muzzle pointing at the ground, where it's brushing vegetation and potentially having foreign objects clog the moderator. Did I raise an issue about any of that? Did I hell. I just wanted this to end.

We make it to the first "stalk" point, and here's what I'm faced with:



I am to describe the position of the deer and say whether I'd shoot them. I confidently answer "No", as any bullet striking Deer 1 might exit and wound Deer 2. I'm about to walk on when, Pow! "How many deer are there?" I peered harder (we were told to bring binoculars, but weren't allowed to take them on the "stalks". WTF?), but finally had to be told that there were three deer there.

Here's a close-up (with saturation enhanced to make it visible) of what I apparently should have been able to see from about 30 yards:



Come on, is this a stalking test or a flipping eyesight test?

Next question: Would I take a shot at the single, "camouflaged" deer from a viewpoint where I had a good look at its chest area? "Yes!" I replied confidently, "there's an excellent backstop in that pile of soil!" Pow! Wrong! There's a ricochet hazard from the builder's rubble in that earth pile...

Anyway, after two more (better) simulated stalks, it ended with me a nervous wreck and seriously convinced that I had failed.

When the stalking instructor subsequently invited me to a side room for a one-on-one I thought, "Here it comes: Pick your date for a rerun." However, he announced that - as I was a target shooter and tyro stalker, used to different safety rules - after discussing with Andy my spotless safety record on the real-life shooting, he'd decided to sign off on my stalks. Whew!

The written exams followed.

Hygiene was mostly common sense.

Deer identification from slides was interesting, but not too demanding provided you'd done your homework.

The main exam - 50 multi-choice questions on deer life, law, habitat and management - was demanding but not evil.

Bottom line? Andy is 99.9% confident that we've all passed, subject to oversight from BASC!

In practical terms it doesn't mean a huge amount to me. DSC.1 is not a legal requirement in order to go stalking. However, many syndicates want potential shooters to have it, so it'll open more doors.

Also, I am now legally a "Trained Hunter", a qualification required since 2006 in order to be allowed to sell venison to a game dealer (Approved Game Handling Establishment). So, if I do luck onto any stalking, I can make beer money back.

All in all a challenging four days, and I'm glad that I won't have to do it again.

Unless I go for DSC.2...



The end result:



mirage

[Hatethatgiraffe]

Sounds like you had a good time despite all the difficulty mate
Read both parts, very good and informative.
Would be better for future reference if parts one and two were in the same thread though.

[mirage]

Would be better for future reference if parts one and two were in the same thread though.

Most forums don't allow a single post that long, hence the separation.

mirage

[Hatethatgiraffe]

I meant if part two was the second post! Might get a friendly mod to sort it!
Not a dig mate I enjoyed reading but it's more complete as a single thread.

[Karlo]

Thanks for taking the time to post this I am going to read it in full. I've shot for many years and had no need to take the time out to sit this course.

[ArkAngel]

So pointing the muzzle at the ground while loading is unacceptable but wandering around the countryside is?

any idea's on his thoughts on this? i can't work it out.

[Beachlover]

I meant if part two was the second post! Might get a friendly mod to sort it!
Not a dig mate I enjoyed reading but it's more complete as a single thread.

Done.

Excellent read too

[Chastiser]

excellent post, thanks for taking the time to do it. i found it very interesting. i like the princess leia impersonation with the ear defenders

[mirage]

So pointing the muzzle at the ground while loading is unacceptable but wandering around the countryside is?

any idea's on his thoughts on this? i can't work it out.

As I explained, it was the composition of the surface at which I pointed the rifle that was the issue. Soft earth would have been fine.

mirage

[Gizmo]

You must be really chuffed at getting that; congratulations! I really enjoyed reading this and could sense your frustration throughout. Oundle is just up the road from me and it's always interesting to know what goes on in the neighbourhood. So, once you have your (firearms?) certificate to use a rifle, where do you go from there with regard to finding somewhere to shoot deer? You mentioned a syndicate and so maybe that's the route for most people perhaps? What are the typical costs involved in joining a syndicate and how do they operate?

Sorry to ask a lot of questions but I used to have a thousand acres of land to carry out rough shooting with a 12 bore in my youth but no longer shoot today. I never did get around to using rifles hence I have no idea where you would start and then having qualified, where you would then go shooting.

[Martyn]

Well done midge and thanks for sharing a very informative post, particularly for anyone considering this in the future. A rare insight into the shadowy world of the deer hunter. A very worthy sticky I think.

I'd also like to put it up as a front page article - any objections?

[mirage]

I'd also like to put it up as a front page article - any objections?

Proud to help BB out, Martyn.

mirage

[Martyn]

As I explained, it was the composition of the surface at which I pointed the rifle that was the issue. Soft earth would have been fine.

mirage

So what direction are you supposed to point it if the ground isn't safe? Or was it just a question of where it was pointing when you put one up the spout? Serious question.

[mirage]

So, once you have your (firearms?) certificate to use a rifle, where do you go from there with regard to finding somewhere to shoot deer? You mentioned a syndicate and so maybe that's the route for most people perhaps? What are the typical costs involved in joining a syndicate and how do they operate?

Numerous firms provide paid stalking round the country. A quick Google reveals that, for instance, Boughton Estate offers stalking over 10,000 acres of Northants.

As to syndicates: they exist, but I've no idea of costs.

Most estates will supply you with a rifle if you don't own one.

mirage